“Everyone has his own definition of a success. My goal was to change my profession and I succeeded. This is my very own victory.“
Quitting your job is always a tough decision. But it’s even more challenging when you have to take a radical about-face and reskill completely. Wojtek had to desert his previous professional life as a physiotherapist and change it in order to become a programmer. Get to know his story and believe that anything is possible.
When I was little, my dream job was to become a firefighter, because my grandfather was one. During high school, I had to decide what I wanted to do in my life. It seemed that physiotherapy is a profession suited for me, so I went for that.
After moving to Wroclaw, I began to rethink my professional choices regarding my future and whether I still wanted to continue what I was doing.
The turning point occurred when I got to know some local programmers. The IT world has gone far forward in terms of technology. I found it to be a right place for me. I wanted to be a part of this world and offer something from myself in return.
It was a very difficult decision. I already had several years of experience and suddenly I had to start over. And I wasn’t 19 years old anymore.
It was a decision that was going to change my profession after several years of studies. I thought so, because I was sure I would have to go to a university in order to become a programmer.
But then someone has mentioned bootcamp and I started to delve further into this subject. I chose Coders Lab.
The first impression was a slight shock to me. I thought I would be one of the oldest people, and it turned out that I was one of the youngest. It was motivating, because it seemed that I was not the only one with the burning need for change.
The course itself was very nice. It was also stressful, especially before exams. The lecturers were amazing – all of them, without an exception. I have fond memories of all the moments we spent together during the course.
Currently, I have been working as a programmer for 7 months.
After the course ended, I was still in the process of quitting my previous job as a physiotherapist. When I started applying for a junior developer position, I generally got the message that if I am not able to start now, the companies are going to look for someone with greater experience. So I had to take the risk, make a change and finally quit my job. Despite the fact that I was not very attractive on the labor market in terms of experience, I could at least start to work right away.
I also had an idea to record a short video about me. I wanted to stand out and prove that a physiotherapist sending a CV on a programmer’s position is not some kind of a joke. I never mentioned the video – just always sent it as an additional attachment.
Every recruiter gave me positive feedback regarding the video and said that it was a great idea. In the last stage of recruitment I had to make a choice between a very large organization and a small company. Eventually, I decided to start my first job in a smaller company, so that I could learn more and gain more valuable experience. It was a good decision.
Everyone has his own definition of a success. My goal was to change my profession and I succeeded. This is my very own victory.
I identify as a programmer, although I know how much I still do not know and how much I still have to learn. And I will develop myself in order to succeed even more.
