Vocation programmer, chemist by profession
Today is the day of the programmer. Participants, have you already been congratulated? Whatever the answer, we wish you every success in the profession and satisfaction in the work to which you devote many hours of your life!
Under the cut, we will talk about people who today rightfully celebrate this holiday, although some time ago they had nothing to do with creating the code. Why? Because they got a completely different specialty at the university, but thanks to hard work they became developers from scratch.
According to the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), almost every second Russian does not work in his specialty. 30% of the respondents explained that they could not get a job or there were no vacancies in the profile, 24% said that the reason was a higher salary in another field, 20% of the respondents found themselves in a different profession.
We decided to conduct a similar study among the programmers of the Plarium Krasnodar studio. It turned out that only 4 of our developers came to the profession from other areas. It would have been different, now they would have worked in the field of data protection, in science and education. Why did the guys choose the profession of a programmer for themselves?
History of Timur
Timur Shaidulin, Full Stack Developer
I am an information security specialist by education, I graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. He began looking for work on the profile while still studying, but all such professions in St. Petersburg were then paid poorly. This did not suit me, since in a foreign city it was necessary to rent an apartment or room. As a result, having received a diploma, I returned to my parents in Nizhnevartovsk.
Attempts to find work there also failed. I sent a resume to all banks in the city (often information protection specialists are required in this area), but I received only a few answers saying that people are not needed now, but maybe someday ... I also looked for work as a system administrator, but to no avail . It was then that I caught the eye of a developer’s vacancy in a company that outsource software for an oil company.
We had programming courses at the university, and we also wrote scripts for building information models. Therefore, C # and Python I knew a little, but at the level of writing scripts, not serious programs. This was announced by the employer, responding to the vacancy. He said bluntly that there was no work experience as a programmer. I was taken on an unpaid probationary period for which I had to show myself.
For the next two weeks, I just sat and studied the existing program code. If I came across an incomprehensible site, I searched for clarifications on the Internet. I was helped by the MDN portals from Mozilla and Microsoft's MSDN (they collected a large number of materials in different programming languages), as well as other web resources. My colleagues also supported me - working with the database, query optimization and program architecture. As a result, they took me. Lucky: the first job, and immediately in the enterprise-development.
Once there came a time when I realized that I was not learning anything, that I had stopped growing. I constantly read specialized books and articles, but could not use my knowledge in practice - there was no possibility. I began to think about moving to a new place. Now I'm in Plarium, where I got a lot of experience with C # and TypeScript, with previously unknown tools. I continue to read, interested in new frameworks. Standing still and using the same thing, you cannot be sure that you are not behind everyone.
I am very glad that I did not get a job in my specialty: nevertheless, it is more a paper work in which there is no place for creativity. Just not sure I would be happy on her. Now I’m doing my favorite thing and I think that there is creativity in writing code.
Once on Habré I read a very cool story about a guy who came from the army to nowhere: he had nowhere to live, there was no work. After wandering around, he got into a bookstore with permission to spend the night there in the back room. The guy got access to a huge amount of information, he studied programming from books and six months later he began working as a junior. There is only one conclusion: people who have a desire, motivation and willpower can achieve anything.
Marina story
Marina Kornilova, Unity3D Developer
I studied at the chemistry department of Kuban State University, specializing in “Analytical Chemistry” (there was even a teaching right). Immediately after graduation, she got a job at the Research Institute of Applied and Experimental Ecology, was engaged in checking objects and analyzing their impact on the environment. Then I worked in several more places, but I was not interested. The routine turned out to be more than I thought, and the research itself, something new - less than I wanted. In addition, sometimes the work was harmful (for example, interaction with volatile solvents). Although, I think, if the tasks really pleased me, all this would seem a trifle.
When I met my future husband and found out who he worked with (Marina’s husband, Unity3D Developer. - Ed.), I became very interested in his profession. Not that I immediately wanted to become a programmer, but when I thought about where to go from chemistry, he said: “Just try.” It turns out that my husband inspired and motivated me. He became my mentor, taught everything, recommended books on programming. But the main plus - I had a lot of practice, that is, almost immediately I started to do something, and not just cramming.
I studied ActionScript.3.0 and C #, got acquainted with the basics of programming in C ++, php, in 1C. This is not counting Turbo Pascal, which took place at the university a couple of semesters. Then I decided to get a job: for several months I did an internship at Ino-Co, a company that developed games. More is more: salary, increase. This was my first job, and immediately a game dev. Then she got a job at Pragmatix, then freelance, now - developing games in Plarium.
If it was possible to turn back the clock and change something, I would, of course, receive a specialized education. When there is a good base, it is easier to develop in the profession. About reprofiling to a programmer as a whole I will say this: it is extremely difficult to force yourself to do something if you do not want to, but just need to. Even if forced, it will not last long. It should be interesting, then the result will be appropriate.
Vasya's story
Vasily (name changed at the request of the employee), BI / BO Integration Developer
I studied at the Sevastopol National University of Nuclear Energy and Industry, specializing in ensuring information security at nuclear power plants and other enterprises. Basically, this is, of course, paper work, but we were taught everything, from programming to breaking locks. What programming languages ​​did we learn? A bit of Pascal, a bit of C ++, but none of the students were particularly hooked - they passed briefly and very casually.
I remember that in the first year, because of programming, they wanted to kick me out of the university. :-) To stay, having received at least three, I had to go to a teacher’s courses for a couple of months. There I learned the basics of programming. But then it was not interesting to me.
By profession I did not work a day. I know that classmates, having settled on a profile, received a penny for this. After graduation, I went to the military department, and then returned home to the village, although I was offered to go to work at a nuclear power plant in a small town, which was not known where. Now I understand that, perhaps, I refused in vain. There was an option to work in a bank, but I also did not want to.
Just at that time in the Crimea, the IT industry began to develop actively, many of my friends were addicted to programming, got a job with good salaries. Looking at them, I also decided to go into IT, and if you are fumbling in engineering, learning programming is easy.
I asked the guys what programming language is more promising, I was advised by C #. I downloaded the tutorial and studied for 3 months, sitting at a computer for 10 hours a day, reading books on programming at the same time. Then, on the third attempt, he got a job - at Plarium. At that time, I was a little weaker than an ordinary junior, but when you work, the skill is rapidly improving. Within a year, they entrusted me with managing the server.
In general, everything turned out quite successfully, but it still haunts me that I retreated and did not go to work in my specialty once.
Gali History
Galina, Full Stack Developer
And we won’t tell you this story, because Galya is very modest. She did not want to discuss how, having a teacher education, she became a game developer. Perhaps her experience is similar to the experience of the guys above. Probably no. And among you there are teachers who have become programmers? How did it happen? Share your stories in the comments!
The moral of the story is ...
If you really want something, go to the goal. The lack of specialized education is not a hindrance, but in order to achieve success in the profession, you will have to study a lot and work hard. Enlist the support of familiar developers, read articles in which programmers share their experiences. And everything will turn out!
Under the cut, we will talk about people who today rightfully celebrate this holiday, although some time ago they had nothing to do with creating the code. Why? Because they got a completely different specialty at the university, but thanks to hard work they became developers from scratch.
According to the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), almost every second Russian does not work in his specialty. 30% of the respondents explained that they could not get a job or there were no vacancies in the profile, 24% said that the reason was a higher salary in another field, 20% of the respondents found themselves in a different profession.
We decided to conduct a similar study among the programmers of the Plarium Krasnodar studio. It turned out that only 4 of our developers came to the profession from other areas. It would have been different, now they would have worked in the field of data protection, in science and education. Why did the guys choose the profession of a programmer for themselves?
History of Timur
Timur Shaidulin, Full Stack Developer
I am an information security specialist by education, I graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. He began looking for work on the profile while still studying, but all such professions in St. Petersburg were then paid poorly. This did not suit me, since in a foreign city it was necessary to rent an apartment or room. As a result, having received a diploma, I returned to my parents in Nizhnevartovsk.
Attempts to find work there also failed. I sent a resume to all banks in the city (often information protection specialists are required in this area), but I received only a few answers saying that people are not needed now, but maybe someday ... I also looked for work as a system administrator, but to no avail . It was then that I caught the eye of a developer’s vacancy in a company that outsource software for an oil company.
We had programming courses at the university, and we also wrote scripts for building information models. Therefore, C # and Python I knew a little, but at the level of writing scripts, not serious programs. This was announced by the employer, responding to the vacancy. He said bluntly that there was no work experience as a programmer. I was taken on an unpaid probationary period for which I had to show myself.
For the next two weeks, I just sat and studied the existing program code. If I came across an incomprehensible site, I searched for clarifications on the Internet. I was helped by the MDN portals from Mozilla and Microsoft's MSDN (they collected a large number of materials in different programming languages), as well as other web resources. My colleagues also supported me - working with the database, query optimization and program architecture. As a result, they took me. Lucky: the first job, and immediately in the enterprise-development.
Once there came a time when I realized that I was not learning anything, that I had stopped growing. I constantly read specialized books and articles, but could not use my knowledge in practice - there was no possibility. I began to think about moving to a new place. Now I'm in Plarium, where I got a lot of experience with C # and TypeScript, with previously unknown tools. I continue to read, interested in new frameworks. Standing still and using the same thing, you cannot be sure that you are not behind everyone.
I am very glad that I did not get a job in my specialty: nevertheless, it is more a paper work in which there is no place for creativity. Just not sure I would be happy on her. Now I’m doing my favorite thing and I think that there is creativity in writing code.
Once on Habré I read a very cool story about a guy who came from the army to nowhere: he had nowhere to live, there was no work. After wandering around, he got into a bookstore with permission to spend the night there in the back room. The guy got access to a huge amount of information, he studied programming from books and six months later he began working as a junior. There is only one conclusion: people who have a desire, motivation and willpower can achieve anything.
I am very glad that I did not get a job in my specialty: nevertheless, it is more a paper work in which there is no place for creativity. Just not sure I would be happy on her.
Marina story
Marina Kornilova, Unity3D Developer
I studied at the chemistry department of Kuban State University, specializing in “Analytical Chemistry” (there was even a teaching right). Immediately after graduation, she got a job at the Research Institute of Applied and Experimental Ecology, was engaged in checking objects and analyzing their impact on the environment. Then I worked in several more places, but I was not interested. The routine turned out to be more than I thought, and the research itself, something new - less than I wanted. In addition, sometimes the work was harmful (for example, interaction with volatile solvents). Although, I think, if the tasks really pleased me, all this would seem a trifle.
When I met my future husband and found out who he worked with (Marina’s husband, Unity3D Developer. - Ed.), I became very interested in his profession. Not that I immediately wanted to become a programmer, but when I thought about where to go from chemistry, he said: “Just try.” It turns out that my husband inspired and motivated me. He became my mentor, taught everything, recommended books on programming. But the main plus - I had a lot of practice, that is, almost immediately I started to do something, and not just cramming.
I studied ActionScript.3.0 and C #, got acquainted with the basics of programming in C ++, php, in 1C. This is not counting Turbo Pascal, which took place at the university a couple of semesters. Then I decided to get a job: for several months I did an internship at Ino-Co, a company that developed games. More is more: salary, increase. This was my first job, and immediately a game dev. Then she got a job at Pragmatix, then freelance, now - developing games in Plarium.
If it was possible to turn back the clock and change something, I would, of course, receive a specialized education. When there is a good base, it is easier to develop in the profession. About reprofiling to a programmer as a whole I will say this: it is extremely difficult to force yourself to do something if you do not want to, but just need to. Even if forced, it will not last long. It should be interesting, then the result will be appropriate.
My husband inspired and motivated me. He became my mentor, taught everything, recommended books on programming.
Vasya's story
Vasily (name changed at the request of the employee), BI / BO Integration Developer
I studied at the Sevastopol National University of Nuclear Energy and Industry, specializing in ensuring information security at nuclear power plants and other enterprises. Basically, this is, of course, paper work, but we were taught everything, from programming to breaking locks. What programming languages ​​did we learn? A bit of Pascal, a bit of C ++, but none of the students were particularly hooked - they passed briefly and very casually.
I remember that in the first year, because of programming, they wanted to kick me out of the university. :-) To stay, having received at least three, I had to go to a teacher’s courses for a couple of months. There I learned the basics of programming. But then it was not interesting to me.
By profession I did not work a day. I know that classmates, having settled on a profile, received a penny for this. After graduation, I went to the military department, and then returned home to the village, although I was offered to go to work at a nuclear power plant in a small town, which was not known where. Now I understand that, perhaps, I refused in vain. There was an option to work in a bank, but I also did not want to.
Just at that time in the Crimea, the IT industry began to develop actively, many of my friends were addicted to programming, got a job with good salaries. Looking at them, I also decided to go into IT, and if you are fumbling in engineering, learning programming is easy.
I asked the guys what programming language is more promising, I was advised by C #. I downloaded the tutorial and studied for 3 months, sitting at a computer for 10 hours a day, reading books on programming at the same time. Then, on the third attempt, he got a job - at Plarium. At that time, I was a little weaker than an ordinary junior, but when you work, the skill is rapidly improving. Within a year, they entrusted me with managing the server.
In general, everything turned out quite successfully, but it still haunts me that I retreated and did not go to work in my specialty once.
Many of my friends were interested in programming, got a job with good salaries. Looking at them, I also decided to go into IT, and if you are fumbling in engineering, learning programming is easy.
Gali History
Galina, Full Stack Developer
And we won’t tell you this story, because Galya is very modest. She did not want to discuss how, having a teacher education, she became a game developer. Perhaps her experience is similar to the experience of the guys above. Probably no. And among you there are teachers who have become programmers? How did it happen? Share your stories in the comments!
The moral of the story is ...
If you really want something, go to the goal. The lack of specialized education is not a hindrance, but in order to achieve success in the profession, you will have to study a lot and work hard. Enlist the support of familiar developers, read articles in which programmers share their experiences. And everything will turn out!
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