Joanna Heluszka shares her story of becoming Android Developer: from self-learning proces, recruitment interviews to favorite resources. Enjoy!
Hi,
My name is Asia and I am a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
I would like to share with you how I became a software developer.
Hope you’ll find useful resources and processes that I share here.
My story
After a few internships and less than a year of working as a Process Engineer in a manufacturing company, I decided that I want my future to look different. I checked what are the most popular technologies in IT and asked my friends who already work in the industry for opinions. I chose Java and Android Development.
For the next eight months, I studied for 2-12 hours a day, depending on the time available. I studied alone at home, using books, websites, videos, Internet courses and creating my applications.
Next, I analyzed the requirements on the job market for Android Developers and started sending my CV. It took me about 1.5 months to find my first job as a Junior Android Developer.
How I learned to code on my own
First, I decided to pick up a base book to study. I was looking for a book that would introduce me to the world of programming, and guide me through all the most important issues of Java. I chose “Thinking in Java” by Bruce Eckel.
I worked through the book according to this process: after going through each chapter, I picked another book and found a similar chapter in it. Then I made another 3-4 coding exercises to make sure that I’ve understood everything.
When I finished the book and additional materials, it was time to learn GIT. I created an account on github.com and went through Internet guides on GIT version control.
Now it was time to start coding my projects. I designed a simple program, wrote it in Java, tracked all the versions on GIT, and published it in the public repository on Github.
After I learned Java, it was time for the basics of Android. Again I chose the base book – “Introduction to Android Application Development” by Joseph Annuzzi Jr., Lauren Darcey, Shane Conder. And I repeated the learning process. I also developed a new application, this one was much more advanced and required learning about communication with the server using the REST API.
By this time, I started sending out my CV, which I prepared visually and to showcase my technology stack and projects. In the meantime, I took a course at Kotlin Academy (run by Marcin Moskała) – it was great!
How I got my first job
Before I found my first job, I participated in some recruitments. Each of them was different, but here’s a summary of common elements:
First stage:
Second stage:
Third stage:
Fourth stage:
In the case of the company in which I got my job, there was only one stage in the recruitment process. I was invited to a meeting in the company’s headquarters with the IT Department Director and Senior Android Developer. We had a strictly technical interview about the basics of Android programming, the libraries I use, design patterns and my project. I was offered a two-week trial. For these two weeks, I was solving tasks prepared by a teammate. After the trial period, I got a job offer.
What I’ve learned during the process
My resources
