Flexible online learning
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Are you curious about IT but not sure if your background matches the job? Becoming a programmer without an IT background is possible, because I did it myself! Wondering how? Then read on!
Choice after high school
After high school, like many people with me, I “just” chose a course of study that was as broad as possible. Handy, I thought, because with that I would “still be able to go in any direction”. That's how I ended up graduating in business administration. Very broad, and that naturally also caused a lot of choice stress. Am I going to be a manager? And what exactly am I going to manage?
I couldn't quite find my way around my new job. I thought a lot about questions like, “Is this what I've been studying for all these years?” At work, I had to deal with the IT world, but becoming a programmer still seemed a long way off. Those guys at those desks in the corner, they arrange “things with code”. To make the distance even greater, there was often little communication with the IT department. You soon communicate via “tickets”, which you “shoot in”. Just to use some nice office terms for: “just write down what you want and we'll look at it later”. It didn't feel like an accessible world for a recent business administrator.
Fascination with IT
Nevertheless, my fascination with IT remained and I finally chose to retrain as a developer. Best decision of my career so far! Now that I'm the person who often says “just shoot in a ticket”, I can better understand what features you need to be able to successfully retrain yourself without an IT background. I would love to share these features with you!
Properties of a developer
There are two things that are important if you want to become a developer: you are curious and you are a problem solver. These two often go hand in hand, for example if you are the person who will immediately investigate alternatives when a problem occurs. Everyone has these properties differently, but if you have them, you're in the right place!
In addition, two other things to consider. You have to be okay with not being able to explain exactly what you do at work on birthdays. And I discovered one more very important quality you must have as a programmer, one that should not be missing. You have to be able to laugh at internet memes or you're lost!
