Making The Career Switch To Tech From Scratch

This is my first technically related copy and my first newsletter on Linkedin. I started this newsletter to document my career switch to tech from a zero technical background.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Abimbola Nwachiyeluba, I am African, a resourceful wife and a full time mum of three.?

Prior to four weeks ago, I had no coding or programming experience, not at all. My background was in Mass Communication, Customer Service and Relationship Coaching.

Sometime in early 2020, just before the Covid pandemic hit the world hard, I started having a sense of dissatisfaction and unfulfillment. I felt like I was underperforming and missing out on the digital wave enveloping the world. At a point, I felt like the world was moving on without me.?

Initially, I discarded the feeling and focused more on my family, maximising the global lockdown to bond more with them. But the more I tried suppressing the feeling of discontentment, the more empty I felt.?

Then one day while watching a documentary about how medical and technical researchers were trying to curtail the pandemic, something clicked in my subconscious. I immediately knew why I was feeling like I was underperforming despite everything I was involved in at the time - my life had become monotonous and uninteresting. There was no career challenge, just the same pattern of events week in, week out, year in, year out.

I knew then that I needed to start or get involved with something challenging that would shake up my career.

That was when I decided to switch to tech.

When I told my husband of my decision to switch careers, he assured me that I could do it and pledged his support. But then (just as it happens with every new venture), self-doubt kicked in. I started second-guessing myself. A Series of demeaning thoughts spiralled through my mind. Thoughts like:

- 'The technical field is male-dominated, what if I don't fit in?'

- 'What if I'm late to the party in regards to age and marital status?'?

- 'What if I had 'missed my bus' to tech?'?

- 'What if I am unable to cope?'

- 'What if I fail?'?

- What if...? What if....?

The 'what ifs' were almost choking. I battled with this mindset for over a year, until one day, while having a conversation with my six-year-old (funny right?), I got clarity and the conviction to make the transition.

It was then I started researching to determine exactly how deeply I wanted to go in the technical world. I had to know what training path was available for me; I needed to know the financial implications the training will have on my family.

As I was scrolling through my LinkedIn feed some weeks ago, I came across the inspiring post of a woman who had transitioned from being a complete novice to Software Engineering. She was one of the few who had just completed the 12-month ALX Software Engineering Program for her cohort.

That post contributed to my decision to dive into Software Engineering. I went on to read about ALX and found out that there was an ongoing registration for another cohort into their Software Engineering Program.

I wasted no time registering as the program was a round peg in a round hole for me since it required no financial implication from me because of Mastercard Foundation's full sponsorship of the program for the year.?

I got accepted for the program and that was the official landmark in my transition into the technical world.

The journey with ALX is to officially begin in a few days but my tech journey has begun already with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

With my acceptance into the 9th Cohort of the ALX SE program came a renewed vigour and determination to not only go through with my decision to change to tech but also to succeed in the field.?

During one of my usual searches on ALX and Software Engineering, I ran into a Nairaland forum discussion about the Program. On the thread were other applicants who had been accepted into the same cohort as me and some who had just started the program.?

The forum thread led to the creation of an unofficial WhatsApp group with the sole mission of discussing and preparing for the ALX SE program.?

The group is the first technically exclusive group I'll be in. And although it is a whole new world for me, we are fast becoming a family with the unifying goal of succeeding through the program. Being in such a group is priceless as it has helped structure my preparation for the journey ahead.

I intend for this newsletter to encourage and guide anyone interested in changing careers. Know that if I can transition to Software Engineering from zero knowledge of tech, then you can change your career to any field you so desire if you put your heart to it.

I will write to you weekly to document the process of my journey as an accountability measure for me and a guide for anyone desiring a change of career. Expect to read from me on or before this time next week. Till then, ponder on what Bill Clinton said: "The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change"