Switcher – is it fiction or reality in IT? Alex Bandurko: “Now I have exactly the kind of team I wanted to work in!.”
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We continue our topic about the experience of switching among our employees. And today, Alex Bandurko, our developer, will share his own switching experience.
“Note: before I switched to IT, I had worked as a cook, so everything I describe below relates to this profession.”
The main reason for changing the field of activity was the lack of money or better to say too low salaries. I didn’t see my future with such a low income, I couldn’t feed my family.
I didn’t like people I worked with (their attitude to life, beliefs, manners). The work was exhausting, unstable work schedule, work on weekends, sometimes I had to work 20 hours, and 4 hours shift. Often, we had a lack of staff, which almost always lead to the fact that an employee had 1-2 days off per month. Some people liked it, I didn’t.
Frequently the staff was treated like animals, I also repeatedly heard and experienced myself when salaries were not paid (because of dishonest employers).
Health problems: I have certain complaints about my knees, so I didn’t see the point in further damaging my health at a job I didn’t like.
My motivation was: a better life for me and my family.
Mastering a new field was accompanied by fear: it was frightening to search for a job or even an internship without any experience at all, and also questionable contracts with the so-called “galleys”, you were offered a contract for two years on the most unfavorable conditions for you, I would call those really slavish. My motivation was: a better life for me and my family. I was also supported by my wife and some relatives.
My studies began with courses called “Kyiv prog.ua” or something like that. In my opinion, that was a total scam. I learned the basics studying for 6-8 hours a day for 4 months and practiced on my own. I learned Front-end, so when I got an internship at our company, I had to relearn a little. I was surprised with colleagues, most of them are people who know their worth, what they want and how to achieve it.
I had some difficulties at the beginning: it was very difficult to enter the IT field without having at least some related knowledge. The first year at the company was full of stress, especially work stress: new projects, tasks, estimates, scrums, in short, a new world that had to be understood.
Tips for those starting to develop in IT:
- Improve your English: before I started the internship, I had completed upper intermediate courses, but the very first scrum with native speakers showed that I did not understand anything. It took time to begin to understand native speakers. Moreover, all the documentation is in English.
- You have to be patient, because if you don’t have any experience even minimal, it is very difficult to get motivated.
- Do not hesitate to ask questions and ask for help. There are many people in the company who will gladly help you.
- If you’re making a major career change, save money because you’ll need to eat and pay bills the entire time you’re studying.
One of the reasons why I changed my profession, I didn’t like the people I work with, I managed to work in about 8 food establishments, maybe more, and everywhere was the same thing.
Now I have exactly the kind of team I wanted to work in!
I never found idols for myself, I don’t have that kind of character, but I can say that I really wish to reach the same level of wealth that my other colleagues have, it really was and is an incentive for learning and growth.
I can say that I am happy with what I have at the moment, so it was not definitely in a vain!
#Speroteck Dream Team