My Career Story: From Junior Developer To Lead

When I started my path to becoming a web developer, the Internet was a dramatically different place. StackOverflow didn't exist (I think ExpertsExchange did) and MySpace was still the dominant and preferred social network. And Internet Explorer 6 was a browser that caused immense pain for developers because it didn't work, not supporting features we take for granted these days like SVG's and transparent PNG's.

Unlike many of my peers in the industry at the time, I had no degree in computer science/IT or a degree in any other field. I failed high school as well, only passing music and English subjects because I enjoyed those. By academic standards, I failed school hard and it was because it just didn't interest me.

Computers had fascinated me my entire life. Even as a young child I remember loving to disassemble electronics, computers and play with battery clips/wires and explore how things work. My interest in electronics led me to computers and computers led me to becoming a developer.

In primary school I remember going to the library of my lunch break and borrowing programming books, they were mostly books on BASIC language programming. I had no prior experience, but as a child, I remember being obsessed with books on BASIC and eventually got to a point where I could do basic things like program the computer speaker to play music or draw something on the screen.

As I understood more, I started borrowing more advanced books that focused on programming hardware through the serial port on the computer. My first project was turning an LED light on and off through a computer program, this was a huge achievement for me and keep in mind I was seven years old and my parents had no computing knowledge, I was learning this all on my own.

But, it was my next project that really stepped it up, I programmed a controller which allowed me to control a little 12v motor which eventually became a little fan after I made a stand and makeshift blade from an RC toy. I could control the speed of this motor through the program I had written. This was all learned from a book, I wasn't doing this from my own memory or experience.

It wouldn't be until high school that I would take an interest in programming properly. The catalyst for deciding to become a web developer was a gaming clan I was in for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Online. I was in a clan and we wanted a website, but nobody knew how to make one or where to start. This was in 2004, and I decided to volunteer and start building one.

The CMS I chose was called PHPNuke, it's regarded as the first PHP CMS and it was really the only choice at the time (this predates the popularity of Wordpress). It was messy and complicated, but I rolled up my sleeves and learned how to build something with it. I actually remember skipping days at school just so I could stay at home and program, after a couple of weeks I started to "get it" somewhat. The end result was disgusting, but it was a result.

After that, I was hooked on PHP and web development. I went to a bookstore and I bought a massive PHP book (that came with two CD's of code examples and software) using the money I earned from working at McDonald's. The book was pretty costly, it was like $75, but it was comprehensive and taught you everything you wanted to know.

While I spent all of my time in my bedroom coding, my parents were concerned I wasn't going to make something of myself because I ruled out university and getting a degree. Understandably, no parent wants to be supporting their child into their twenties, especially when it appears they're directionless in life and failed school so badly.

After a few months I built up my confidence, I had actually built a PHP application (complete with admin panel and interface) and managed to sell a few copies of it. It was an authentication platform product allowing people selling software to add in licence key protection that was server validated and supported customisable rules. I used the money to reinvest back into my learning, I even bought some domain names and hosting it as well.

And then I decided I would attempt to go out and get a job. There is nothing more daunting than being an introverted self-taught developer going out to job interviews and having to "sell myself" because I had no real world experience, I was self-taught and had no school grades I could use to bolster my case. Thinking back, I was probably a huge liability to any company that decided to hire me.

And then I somehow managed to land a development job. It was basic HTML and CSS, creating course content for medical professionals. The company had a custom ColdFusion CMS that underpinned their entire platform and allowed medical professionals to further their learning in specific fields of medicine such as cardiology. I lasted 3 months (not quite past my probation) and I was fired.

It's not I found the job difficult, I just found it boring. My title said web developer, but really it was monotonous data entry and not much more. The CTO did take a liking to my passion and actually gave me a free ColdFusion book to learn from, which I read from front to back and actually started programming in ColdFusion for a little bit, but never stuck with it because it didn't feel fun.

My next job was a little more serious, I got a job at a design/development studio (one of those all-inclusive companies that build complete websites). By this stage, my skill had grown somewhat and I was doing fun work, getting to work on a variety of different projects and a great team of developers/designers.

But ultimately, I was fired from this job after six months because I wasn't at the skill level they needed. The owner actually said to me when he fired me, "I have to let you go because you're costing me money" - which is code for, you're making mistakes and you're not fast enough.

Not once did I let being fired shake or deter me from pursuing a career in web development. All the while, my evenings were spent learning new things and refining my skills as a developer. It would take a few more months before I would find my next opportunity, a contract position for twelve months at a government agency.

I didn't get fired from this job, but it was soul-sucking and fortunately, at the end of the twelve months, my contract wasn't renewed. This position actually made me decide I loved Javascript and wanted to focus more on the browser side of things and less on the server.

Then my next opportunity was at a media conglomerate. They did advertising primarily, but were in many media niches like magazines and so on. I lasted here two years and learned a tonne, I got to work with Javascript a lot and I also got to experience and work with the Python programming language. This was the first long-term job that I wasn't fired from, I actually quit to pursue a different opportunity with another studio/design agency.

At this next opportunity, I ended up staying over five-and-a-half years, my longest job at the time. Although it was hard work and resulted in many excess hours to get projects finished and deadlines, I was given more responsibility as time went on. Eventually, I was leading projects by myself from start to finish. This job got me to where I am today, they knew I was relatively junior, but they admired my passion.

And then I quit, pursuing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity over in the United States. I got a job for a tech startup earning $180,000 AUD per year as a front-end engineer, I still don't know how I managed to get this job, but they must have liked my trove of Github projects and passion. It was the most money I have ever earned from a job, and best of all it was remote work (I did spend a few months in the USA first).

I grew up in a large family with five sisters (I am the only boy and I am the oldest) so we didn't have a lot growing up. My dad set a great example working his ass off for us every single day to keep a family of six kids fed, that sounds incredibly stressful. While we didn't have the niceties other families did, I never felt neglected or like I was missing anything important. So the significance of even earning half of what I earn is amazing to me.

Unfortunately, that opportunity ended when they couldn't obtain any more funding, but for one-and-a-half years, I was working in a dream job with a dream salary and I was doing really well, they were happy with my work. I would probably still be working there if they didn't lose their funding because of internal power struggles and politics from an existing legacy team fighting this new project at every turn.

In amongst all of this, I started a blog. It was never intended to be anything important or big, but over time as I found a passion for writing about development, my visitors would grow month-on-month, year-on-year. People were finding my blog by Googling problems that I had published solutions to, over time I had started to build a little rapport with the development community.

Starting a blog actually turned out to be the best thing I ever did. I kept writing, eventually focusing on specific Javascript frameworks and libraries, which bolstered my reputation and resulted in numerous contracting/consulting opportunities that came right from my blog. I propelled myself to the top by being seen as an expert in my chosen front-end field.

After the American job ended, I landed a job locally (right near my house) that still paid well by Australian company standards and my commute time was five minutes in the car or thirty minutes if I walked. A great small team, challenging problems and a fantastic culture. I am still here as I type this, and have been working for this company for three-and-a-half years, however, I just resigned for another opportunity.

I have been offered an architectural position with a small company where I will be making high-level decisions pertaining to architecture and other decisions related to the front-end of their suite of applications. The salary is a $45,000 per year improvement over what I currently earn. There aren't many people who can say they can go from one opportunity another and earn an extra $45k.

And although I am over ten years into my journey, I am only just getting started. Eventually, I will start my own company or specialise even further, but I feel as though my hard work has paid off and let me tell you it most certainly hasn't been easy.

This post isn't to boast about my successes or how great I am, it's to show you that you really do make your own luck. I am proof that you do not need to go to college/university to get somewhere in life. With enough drive, passion and determination you make your own luck and well, I have made mine.

What I do isn't magic or difficult to learn, anyone willing to put the hours in can learn and do what I do. If you're starting in 2018 or even started two years ago, you're living in the golden age of free knowledge, use it.

Tips

Did you see yourself in this story, have you faced similar hurdles and followed a similar path? Here are some tips from my hard-fought path paving to get to where I am today.

• Teach yourself as much as possible These days programming tutorials are everywhere; blogs, YouTube, Udemy in almost every form of media imaginable. Developers have never had it so good.
• Don't let failure stop you As cliche as this sounds, early in my career I sucked and I experienced a lot of failures. But the good thing about failure is mistakes are valuable if it means you learn from them. Every failure I encountered was an opportunity to prove those who doubted me wrong.
• Learn every day Everyone wants everything right here and now, but realistically to get what you want you to have to fight and earn it. Instead of watching Netflix or scrolling through your Instagram feed, you should be building stuff and refining your development skills. Early in my career and still to this day I devote on average four hours most nights to refining my skills and learning new things.
• Market yourself This is one of the biggest pieces of advice I have for any developer, you need to market yourself. I am not talking about advertisements or printing out brochures, start a blog, release free open source code, contribute to open source projects, become a thought leader, speak at conferences. Get yourself visible, make connections in the industry, be seen as a leader.
• You absolutely need a Bitbucket or Github account The number of applicants I have seen for front-end development positions who do not have Github profiles (or even Bitbucket), it's a red flag to me. A Bitbucket or Github is a developer's resume, it's important you have one and that you have some code on it because version control is an essential skill for a modern developer.