I worked in retail for most of my working life. I learned how to communicate with all kinds of people working for big box retailers, a skill that has helped me in my current role. I am really good at getting to the heart of the unmet needs of others.
One of the cool things about working with the public in this way is that you get to know them. It’s your job to get to know people. I learned about this world of tech, and I was so intrigued and genuinely excited about the possibilities for me in this space. I asked my customers a lot of dumb questions, but they lead me to answers that helped me figure out where to start with my journey towards becoming a software developer.
For the next 4 years I did a lot of dabbling with online tutorials for programming and computer science. I took classes at a community college for computer science, as I did not know the best way to pick up the skills necessary for the future job I was seeking. Learning this stuff was really hard for me. However, it was also a lot of fun, so I put myself out there and met people in the space. I asked more stupid questions. After about 3 years I was able to land my first technical support engineer role. I was ecstatic! It wasn’t a software engineer position, but I got to do things I was really good at; helping people with software and doing a little bit of coding.
I am still learning how to be a good engineer, and I wanted to share what I am learning with the world. Not just what I am learning about software development, but also other things I find interesting.
I hope you find it interesting too!