Hard Work Paying Off
On May 26th, I set out on a mission to learn web development and gain entry into the field. Every day since, I've spent at least 4 hours studying, building, learning and struggling, with hopes that one day it would all pay off. In the process, I've learned a lot about myself and become a better version of me. I learned to learn, have perseverance, accept rejection as everyday life, and most importantly, I learned an array of skills that will carry me to a brighter future for me and my family. Almost 4 weeks ago to the day, I broke my ankle in 2 places on the job, and was given time off up until today to recover. In those 4 weeks, I continued my studies, but I doubled down on my efforts to find a job and make the great leap into web development. Today, those efforts were realized.
I started off the week with an interview on Monday that I thought went rather poorly. It was highly technical, and given it was my first technical interview, I don't think I did that well. I was then given an assignment from them, as well as an assignment for a company I interviewed with yesterday. I found the assignment from the first company to be almost impossibly hard after spending about 6 hours that night racking my brain over it. I then woke up to a phone call yesterday from a local company asking if I would come in for an interview later that day. I jumped on the opportunity. Then, I had an interview with the other company I had received an assignment from. This interview went really well, and I got along with the interviewer swimmingly. I carried that momentum into the interview yesterday afternoon with the local company and knocked it out of the park. I decided I would turn my efforts to the assignment from the company I interviewed with yesterday, and was able to finish it up by the end of the night. Today, I received a phone call from the local company asking if I would come in for a second interview!
In this interview, I met with the CTO of the company and the lead developer, where the lead developer asked me some somewhat technical questions, but nothing that was meant to purposefully trip me up. I got along really well with this guy as well as the CTO. After about 30 or 40 minutes, they left and the CTO came back with the head of HR to discuss terms. They discussed my pay at my current job, as well as benefits with the company and when I could start. I wasn't formally offered the job, but all that's left is for them to discuss with the executive team to decide on what they will offer me. At this point, it is not a matter of if they will offer me the job, they will. It's just a matter of what the terms will be. I believe it may come in on the lower side of what I might want, but it's important at this juncture for me to get a foot in the door. I expect, given the fact I have no prior experience, I will be making less than the national average for this position, but there's plenty of room to grow in this company and I will be learning a ton from the lead developer. The experience alone will be well worth it, and finding my second job will be a breeze compared to this. This has been a long and arduous 6 months of grinding, and it's finally coming to a head. I'm finally going to be recognized for the hard work I've put in. But, the journey is just beginning. I will continue to learn at a fervent pace because I still have so much to learn. I have big plans for my future, and I'm just now taking the first steps.
Until tomorrow!
