Changing Direction
I never had a particularly clear idea of what I wanted to do when I grew up. Looking back, that uncertainty was pretty detrimental to me in the later years of the time I spent at school, I went from performing pretty well across the board to struggling, doing just above average through my exams. It was enough to get my into a decent sixth form (high school), but that was even worse - my attendance was dreadful, I didn't enjoy the majority of the subjects I chose and favoured hiding myself away in a quiet corner messing around with computers than actually turning up to lessons.
At the age of sixteen, my ambitions floated somewhere between wanting to be pursuing a creative career as a film director, game designer or writer or something physical and active; either joining the armed forces or being a game keeper.
I went to the college career advisor with these ambitions, hoping for a shred of clarity so I could focus on something rather than flitting around not knowing what life held for me next. Their advice was next to useless - go to university, do a general degree and it will help you out wherever you decide to end up. I couldn't bear the thought of it, and ultimately I ended up the only one in my class of thirty something students who didn't go to university, a decision that I was made to feel ostracised for at the time but a decision that I regard as one of the better choices I have ever made. I was thankful that from somewhere I found the balls to stick with my guns and stand up for myself.
The lack of clarity and direction meant that I found myself doing a variety of different jobs for the next few years. I worked at a supermarket collecting trollies, in a factory assembly line, I drove a forklift truck, I spent a number of years as a ventilation labourer and myself and my wife scratched an income breeding and selling shetland ponies.
When I hit my mid-twenties, I decided that I wanted something more. I was happy, but just about keeping my chin above water. I had no financial freedom or flexibility and I couldn't imagine doing what I was doing for the rest of my life, I yearned for a skill that I could call my own and dedicate energy and time to.
Stuck in rush hour traffic in my van one evening, I had the revelation that maybe learning to code was the best thing for me to do. It wasn't something that I had really thought about much - I enjoyed building websites back in my early teens, and made a bit of money selling simple websites and phpBB messaging boards to gaming clans with a friend - yet it seemed to tick the boxes that I was looking for. An outlet to be creative, as well as a career that had prospects.
My life became about learning code for the following six months. I woke up at five every morning, and spent three hours watching tutorials, taking courses and learning frontend development in particular. I would go to work, and then come home and learn some more. For the first time in my life, I had a goal, one thing that I was aiming towards and I could feel myself getting better the more effort I put in to learning. It was both addictive and rewarding.
I started looking to find a place to work almost immediately. It was a slog, and I went through every local agency and software company seeing if there was anything available for me - I was open to anything at the time, whether it be just on a part time basis. I ended up getting hired about six months into my journey, after a tonne of rejection both from my CV as well from failing technical/coding tests.
Fortunately enough, from that time to now I have worked my way from junior roles, through to senior, to tech lead and right through to engineering manager. I have worked for the 'most desirable startup in the UK' when I joined Monzo back in 2019 as well as being part of a small team that managed to raise $555 million for a series A funding round, one of the biggest ever - both companies considered Unicorns.
I am not particularly smart and not naturally intelligent. I am introverted and not a gifted networker or charismatic team member. I am usually the quietest in the room. The years spent in factories and construction yards are not the traditional underpinnings of a successful career in software and that moment in my van all those years ago where I decided to take a chance on myself set my life in a completely different direction to where it was heading.
As part of my job role now is to speak to people who are on the same journey I have been on, I have been reflective of some of the things that worked in my favour over the last decade. Christ, it hasn't seemed that long! In that time, I started making more money than I ever could have dreamed of, started working remotely and having built an education product and made my first proper amount of internet money from something I created from scratch. I have surpassed any expectations I ever had of myself, and here are some of the lessons that I have taken from having been through that journey.
I wish you luck on whatever you are trying to achieve my friends, whether it is changing careers, aiming for a promotion, building your own product or just trying to make a better life for you and your families.
You have this <3
Lessons from changing my career
Focus on one area.
When I started learning to code, I focused firstly on backend engineering, but pivoted fairly quickly to frontend. I focused very closely on website building, in particular getting really good with HTML/CSS and Vanilla JS & JQuery. This helped me to become an expert quicker than if I had been learning a bigger and more complex landscape. Often I see complex roadmap diagrams of "things to learn" and it is complete bullshit and overwhelming. Pick a technology (if I were going again today I would focus on React specifically) and get as good at it as you can.
This is still very much a principle I stay true too today. I work with teams of all nature and disciplines, but my technical skillset is very much frontend focused, in particular the design engineering discipline which could be considered a niche of frontend development.
Don't discount your prior experience.
The tendency when you are doing something new is to hide your past. I have coached a few career changers now, and they all have initially hid their previous career from their CV when they are looking for a new role.
There is value to any job role because there are a shared set of skills regardless of what you are doing for work. Communication, time management, relationship building etc. Don't discount your prior experience, but find the skills you developed that are still relevant for wherever you are heading next.
Define habits, stick to them.
In the early days I focused intensely on learning to code. It was something I dedicated several hours to and I would very rarely deviate from it. That consistency is vital.
As time has gone on, those habits have changed for me, and that is ok, as long as you are making steady progress towards a goal by being consistent with habits.
You will always never feel good enough. It's never too early to start trying.
I have spoken to loads of people who are hesitant from taking the next step. Whether it be reaching out to your first job roles, or interviewing for a position that is above your current seniority, there is seemingly an excuse "I am not ready, I will do it if X or Y have happened".
Something I have found is that all of my best decisions and the things that have helped my career the most have come when I feel out of my depth. If you try you always have the chance of failing, but better to fail than to never try at all due to fear or hesitation.
Every failure is a learning point.
Similar to the last point, but failure is good. I did 10+ interviews before I found my first role, and each set back was an opportunity to get better at interviewing.
There are numerous more examples of where I have failed at something and learned from it. I wouldn't trade those failures in for anything in the world. Each time they make you stronger, more resilient and wiser. Don't be afraid of rejection, failure or hard lessons.
Find your people.
My people through my career changing process where the developer community on Instagram. I made a group of friends who were at similar stages to me, as well as people who were already mature and established in the industry. Having people to take the journey with makes each step a little bit easier.
This has become much harder over time, especially as I try and stay away from social media more than I did back when I was starting.
Keep shit simple.
I am a big believer that people tend to overcomplicate the majority of things in their life. Taking a simple approach to goal setting, ambition and habits is always better than overthinking.
My goal was to be employed as a software developer. The route to get there was just to code as much as I could. It was simple, no thrills and it worked.
More recently, I have strayed away from the simple goals and felt the affect of it. It does become naturally harder over time I think to find that simplicity, but it is always there if you look hard enough for it.
Don’t hold back.
Dream big and aim high.
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