Why is this question quite popular now?

There are several reasons. First, the most terrible and unpleasant is the war in Ukraine. Many people lost their jobs and were forced to move and work for a penny.

In my opinion, the war has shown us the fragility of our postponement “for tomorrow.” Now more than ever, there is an opportunity and reason to start again. Yes, it may be a difficult path, but he who goes will come. For my part, I am ready to help you with your start, at least with this post.

Secondly, IT is high salaries relative to other areas. Many courses are very conspicuous with this, showing salaries for vacancies requiring experienced developers (5+ years of experience). Therefore, I will share with you the data for positions with less than a year of experience in Ukraine:

- $300–400 — Intern/Trainee Software Engineer, QA

- $600–700 — Junior Software Engineer, QA

- $300–500 — Junoir Designer

You can find more salary data for Ukraine here.

So…

I want to start by saying that you should not go into IT just for the money. Money is a good motivator, but it will not work every day. If you have no passion, it will quickly turn into a routine, and you will not leave thoughts about the meaninglessness of your work and time spent.

You should not go into IT just for the money

A little bit about my experience

Life is very unpredictable; as they say, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.”

I was graduating from the filmmaking faculty, so the end of my studies fell under quarantine. My worldview turned 180 degrees, and I had a redistribution of values and goals. The end of my studies was getting closer, and my confidence in my chosen profession was tending to zero.

Unfortunately, at the university, no one explains the current working conditions. No one even says you can’t feed yourself with metaphors or years of adoring the hope of getting money for your idea. Nobody explains that you need money for a graduation movie, which is difficult to earn because you spend twelve hours a day, seven days a week, attending endless classes and only have time to work at night. As you understand, this is, first and foremost, the destruction of your physical and moral health.

After the graduation exam, I was exhausted and disappointed. My best friend, a programmer, encouraged me to study design, and I am very grateful to him for showing me a different world, with varying conditions of working and cooperation. I will say that my craving for drawing and creativity helped me in rejecting web design myself. I started learning web design for 3–4 hours a day and tried to figure out what kind of miracle it was. I did not even think about where the button in the application comes from and who does the design.

Where do I start?

👉 It’s worth a shot

Let’s start with the fact that no one stops you from the attempt. I used to think that programming was tiresome and not enjoyable, and only some nerds do it, but everything is not so simple. Having solved one fundamental HTML/CSS problem, I felt wild euphoria and a desire to solve more and more.

But before, you might understand what EXACTLY you need to learn.

It’s worth a shot

🤹‍♂️ Use your talents

IT-sphere is more than just programming or design. The members of this team include managers, business analysts, human resource specialists, and accountants. An excellent place to start is with your current skill set.

My education as a film director taught me to look into human psychology, which helped me better understand the users’ needs of a website, application, or customer desires. So do not forget that what you already know can (should) be used.

• You have a financial/economic education — the road to the company’s financial management.
• You know how / like to draw — design, 3D, graphic design, and illustration is waiting for you.
• You know good English — try yourself in sales, management, and copywriting.

Write all your experiences, hobbies, and interests in one document — analyze your skills. This is a significant point.

Write all your experiences, hobbies, and interests in one document — analyze your skills. This is a significant point.

👩🏻‍💻 Googling

It is the best skill for you, I promise! The IT sphere is built on finding information quickly and analyzing it. Secretly, 90% of a website’s or application’s code is template-based, but to see the same template, you must know WHAT, HOW, and WHERE you are searching.

Nowadays, searching for information is much more critical than knowledge, so pay attention to this. Thanks to it, you will quickly find both materials for training and the job of your dreams!

You must know WHAT, HOW, and WHERE you are searching.

🤝 Networking

Do not hesitate to write to IT companies and ask them to study, so you will have the opportunity to gain commercial experience immediately. Many companies even provide paid internships and are ready to invest in your education. Moreover, now it is possible to do it remotely.

But an important detail: come to them with the base knowledge, show that you are interested in the topic, and the chosen direction, and are ready to learn. Do not forget about your enthusiasm! It will be your main pusher at the beginning.

Even in many unspoken conditions of hiring a junior specialist or intern, there is a clause called “shining eyes.”

Even in many unspoken conditions of hiring a junior specialist or intern, there is a clause called “shining eyes.”

🧐 Mentorship

I was amazed by the mentoring system. I have never seen it in other areas. In almost every company, more experienced people can help newcomers for free. It is crucial to start surrounding yourself with people who know more than you and already work in IT. Current social media can help you to find friends with similar interests and learn more about your chosen path in IT.

The main thing is not to be shy and write, for example, on Linkedin. It is vital to create a profile because it is the largest professional social network in the world. The platform provides opportunities to find a job and meet exciting people and real pros in their field or other social networks.

I also recommend the service ADP LIST. The service allows you to find a specialist from the largest IT companies in the world and make a 30-minute call. It is free of charge!

I want to focus on the mentoring system as more of a system of questions and advice, not training or courses. Very often, human experience is more important than general knowledge. I am also open to mentoring, so email me, and I will be happy to help you. Again, it’s all free!

Very often, human experience is more important than general knowledge.

👽 Start discovering

After you have analyzed your skills, realized your desires, and found or are looking for, start learning with inspiration!

Don’t forget about English. There are a million ways to learn it now. English not only opens up the opportunity to work abroad (which is an excellent addition to the skill) but also to absorb information much faster because many quality courses and scholarly sources are written in this language.

I watched a lot of content in English for a year, and I can already communicate fluently with native speakers. I believe that you can learn a lot on your own so I will leave a couple of useful sites:

dou.ua

Ukrainian IT community (vacancies, companies, exciting research, and articles)

FreeCodeCamp

The site for essential learning of programming languages

Projector

You can buy an annual subscription to their video library courses from design to marketing.

Start learning with inspiration!

I hope I helped you and you are one step closer to your goal! Of course, we all have our own experiences, and there is no one way to achieve the goal. The main thing is to go in its direction and not be afraid to ask even what seems strange or stupid. Everyone started with this.