From project manager to web developer

My journey begins

I am Christoph, 33 years old and lived in Hamburg. I would like to finally realize my desire to work as a developer by participating in the neue fische bootcamp! During my three-month course, I will take you with me on my journey and will regularly report on my experiences as a budding programmer.

After I finished my business studies in 2011, I was a bit at a loss. What now? Then I decided to do a Master's in Marketing first and then started my first "real" job in a large consulting firm. During this time, I mostly worked on IT projects and got to know the work of developers for the first time. I found it admirable what they could contribute to the project with their programming skills. So I often looked over their shoulders with curiosity. My interest in this area was aroused. Still, it took me a while to realize that I could become a developer myself!

Mindshift towards web development

After my time in consulting, I worked for a Hamburg-based corporation as a project manager for online expansion into new markets. After a while there, however, I realized that I would like to work more in the IT field. So I moved to a small software company, where I worked until the end. I was responsible for online marketing there and worked with the two founders and developers on a daily basis. A real "mindshift" for me was that both had taught themselves programming without studying computer science. I was now intensively involved in development and the more I learned, the more fascinating I found this area.

Therefore I got in touch with more developers to hear how others had acquired the skills. I found that there was a surprisingly large percentage of career changers without computer science degrees among them. So I thought to myself: What others can do, I can do just as well with motivation and perseverance! Since then, my goal is clear: I want to learn as much as possible about web development and become a developer.

What autodidacts and online courses lack: a mentor

As a first step, I simply started to build my own websites in my spare time and thus acquire some initial knowledge. This was a lot of fun, but also challenging when I got stuck despite hours of googling.
Since I like to acquire knowledge autodidactically, I spent a few hours a day coding for the next three months and completed an online course that lasted several months. This gave me great pleasure. However, it also means an enormous challenge to learn such a complex and multi-layered activity. I have already made many steps forward through the online course, yet after some time of self-study I was now increasingly lacking a mentor. Someone with a lot of experience with whom I could discuss tasks and difficulties in understanding. Therefore I was looking for a working group, because I thought that I could learn more efficiently that way. Through a conversation with a developer, I became aware of bootcamps and neue fische. 

What convinced me about neue fische: Content and practical relevance

When I had an on-site conversation two days later with the experienced developer Jerry, who leads the web developer bootcamps of neue fische as head coach, it was clear: This is the right next step for me!
In addition to the focus on JavaScript and modern frameworks such as React.js, I was particularly convinced by the collaboration with well-known companies, which played a decisive role in shaping the curriculum of the course. To work as a developer, I really wanted to learn what is actually expected and used in companies in 2018. The combination of an experienced coach, hands-on content, and the company contacts was therefore very appealing to me.

I also didn't want to waste time and get serious about my career as a developer as soon as possible. So I gathered my courage, quit and have now been in the bootcamp at neue fische for two weeks. In the coming weeks, I'll be telling you about my experiences here at the course. I'll also be talking about specific topics, such as why learning to program is such a worthwhile goal. I'm already looking forward to telling you more about the topic. 

See you very soon!