I tweet about this couple of days ago and Val ask me to share the story about it, so here is the story.
After 220 applications in one year and ten months, i got my first remote job. It is quite a journey. A journey filled with self-doubt, tears, depression, confidence, another self-doubt, and finally a hooray!
So let me share how the first time i got into coding.
I learn my first programming language BASIC in junior high but it didn’t interest me much and i continue playing games 
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My next programming language is Visual Basic that i used at work. I’m not a programmer at my work but the company only has one software engineer and a lot of requests from another department to create a custom report with Microsoft Excel. So i learn to read the existing code and try creating some automation with it. It works but with a lot of revise from my engineer friend. But that too didn’t interest me enough.
I got interested in this technology around 2015. At that time i already have a good business but wanted to expand more, so i thought about creating an app. Soon i got my app build by a developer i found at freelancer.com, but it didn’t become a 
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In Late 2016 when i surf into my medium’s article feed, i found an interesting article were 50+ years old started to learn coding. I didn’t even know what coding is and asked him where to start and he points me to freeCodeCamp.com. So i started learned coding from freeCodeCamp from 2017 until 2020. Yes, it takes me three years to finish all the certifications but the truth is i stop learning after JS sections (this was an old certification) and start learning other things such as React, Redux, React Native, deep dive into JS, Golang, and PostgreSQL. I got my first three fCC certifications in 2018 and stop it because fCC doing a major overhaul over its certifications and finished all of it right before the pandemic hits.
I didn’t think that this is going to be my future since i did it as part of a hobby besides running my business. But it all changed in 2019 when i decided to pursue this path as my future. I started teaching in my local town. I teach kids, teenagers, and even adults whose interested in coding. Teaching gives you unique experiences and makes you understand more about what are you write in your code editor and how the code works. This is really ‘* enhances*’ my skills in some way that i grateful for it.
When the pandemic hits, i have to shut down my business because it was a tour and travel business with 90% of my clients came from overseas. It was hard for me and my teams but we need to move forwards. Luckily the pandemic makes other businesses shine, interest in coding is growing, so i got more students to apply.
Since last year i decided to make a move and find international remote jobs. I realize that i need more experience since i think i was hitting the wall with my current skills. I want to learn from people who built a real app and upgrade my skills. So i was applying here and there and failed here and there too…
An interview is quite different. It needs a set of different skills and since i’m doing a career change it adds more complexity. I ruin my first and second interviews so badly that i began asking my self is this the path i wanna take? My first interview and coding task were quite easy with sets of take-home tasks but i forgot to disabled a button while fetching and loading data (yes they rejected me because of it). The second one i got nervous and can’t write flattening an array code (i practices this a hundred times really!). Finally, you will meet a company that will fit you, it takes time, just be patient. I got this job because i have experienced with my old career and also i did pass the task by adding code testing to it (
tip: learn how to test your code).
But the more interview you got, the better you become. Don’t worry, practice will make you better and better. So here is a quick tip for job hunting:
- Don’t write too much on your CV (name, contact list, work experience/projects is enough).
- Welcome your anxiety when being interviewed.
- Practice, practice, practice…
- And enjoy the journey, rejection will surely make you question your choice, but don’t give up and keep building projects.
If you made it to this paragraph then Thank you for reading it.
For me, the real hard work is starting and -a shameless plug- don’t forget to check my blogposts once in a while and if you on twitter, follow me 
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Ciao…
