The original question had no age. I just saw a lot of questions on the Internet about whether I am still suitable to become a programmer at the age of 25, so I felt the need to reveal my age.

In the past 2018, I jumped out of the small circle of new media art, taught myself programming, and switched to the front of the industry. Now I have joined a big company. The story is a bit long, so let’s start with resignation.

01 Wang

I don’t know what to do after I quit

On the last working day of 2017, I finished all the work handover and left my previous company. I don’t know what to do after I quit. All I know for sure is that I have to quit as soon as possible.

I seemed to have a lot of options back then. I could get a job in industrial design; You can do interaction design; You can keep working on hardware; Do not change careers to continue to do new media art; To be a lecturer at a second – or third-tier university; Do programming education for teenagers; Go back home to be a primary and secondary school teacher.

In that sense, I’m a slash-boy. However, “slash youth” is not necessarily a positive term in my context. That is, a little bit of everything, but nothing specialist. I couldn’t get anything done, so I had to hide behind the concept of a slash. In fact, it is not difficult to live an ordinary life. I’m just a little reluctant. I could find mediocre work in several directions, but none of it was “good.”

I like being a teacher, and I used to be a part-time teacher in New Oriental. I like being a teacher. At that time, I had nothing but a degree. What can you do with a degree? Be a teacher. My parents were a little worried and even helped me inquire about some ways to become a college teacher.

The story would have ended there, but I didn’t become a teacher.

If you become a teacher at this time, do you do it because you like it, or because you have no other choice? I think it was desperation. If I ever go back to being a teacher, I hope it’s out of love, not desperation.

As a young man of 17 years and more than 100 months, I still have an idea in my heart — I want to take a different road from my parents and see the scenery they have never seen.

As for which road to take, how to go, I do not know ah ~

02 prepared

Wobbly

There were a lot of possibilities, and I chose Unity game development. It’s kind of a “take it in, take it out” option.

Unity is a 3D game engine that can be used not only for game development, but also for all kinds of 3D interactive scenarios. Unity was also used as a development engine in my previous new media art industry. Learn Unity and you can either jump ship in your industry or jump into the game industry — an industry that makes money with its life but a lot of money.

I like playing computer games. But I like PC games, not online games. Console games focus on immersion and experience. Online games pay attention to krypton gold PK, players fight each other. The games that make money these days are all online games. I’m afraid I’ll starve to death if I switch to PC game development, so there’s no need to switch. Turn line development net swims, the heart is not quite willing again how much.

At this time, I looked for a classmate working in netease games to consult. My classmates advised me not to go into the pit. The game development industry, it’s exhausting. The people who can stick with it are the people who love the game. To thrive in this industry, you need to spend a lot of time playing games. If you spend all your spare time playing games, isn’t it a waste of time?

The world really needs games as a form of entertainment, and China uses games to export its culture to the world. If I switch to making games full time, it’s money for money. Nothing bad. It’s just, you know, not really willing.

In my graduation design, I once said to myself, “Your smile is the inexhaustible motive force for my creation.” It’s such a wonderful feeling to make something that makes people smile. But making games, I don’t get that kind of fun. Willy-nilly, there really isn’t much choice. Then choose Unity game development

The story would have ended there, but I gave up being a game developer during Spring Festival.

03″

Decided to be a front-end programmer

Engage in games to engage in, in an instant to the Spring Festival. I was able to visit programmers who were usually difficult to visit when all the students returned home from big cities. They gave me a lot of information and help. The breadth and quality of the information is different, making different decisions.

We don’t consider sunk costs before we make a decision, and we don’t consider opportunity costs after we make a decision. This is an important criterion for my judgment.

Blockchain and artificial intelligence, which were hot at the time, required too much math to do. Internet programmer is a good fit for me. Internet programmers, generally divided into front-end and back-end. Although this classification is not rigorous, but non-Internet industry readers can first understand so. The front end is close to the user, and the upstream is generally connected with the product manager and designer. Back-end close to the machine, docking database engineer and algorithm engineer and other users do not feel directly. I come from a design background, so being a front-end programmer should have an advantage.

I didn’t know what to do after I quit my job, I worked on a game I didn’t like, and I had a lot of other things to do. But fortunately, once you decided to be the front end, the direction of change stabilized.

If the road is right, it is not afraid of far.

04 pure

Back to school, back to students, back to purity

Standing in front of the gate of the library of my Alma mater, I took out the familiar campus card and felt a little nervous. Have graduated for half a year, is not a student, my campus card can go into the library?

“Drip ~”, the buzzer of the brake sends out a clear sound, incredibly passed. Happy with a trace of touched. Even though we graduated, it is really warm that our Alma mater has not forgotten us and can let us come back to its arms. You might even be able to borrow a book. Go to the front desk and ask the graduates what their privileges are.

(Library Front desk)

— Hello, I am a recent alumnus. Now I can access the library with my campus card. Can I access the library all the time? There are still some limitations.

– what? ! Theoretically, it can’t be entered. It should be that the system is busy, and there is no time to clear the data of your graduates

– Σ (even though it’s “a

After going to card service center to do formalities, campus card can continue to use legally for ten years. Enter the library, brush the canteen is OK.

At this time, the learning environment was quite pure. I mostly stray in the libraries of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, South China University of Technology and Guangzhou Library. The university City branch of Guangzhou Foreign Library is the most visited, because it has the best self-study rooms in the whole university city (guangzhou is not an overstatement).

In my mind, I am a day student in Guangwai. So I always have a special feeling of gratitude for GWAI.

Not only is the environment pure, but so is the work at hand. When I switched to making games, I had to spend a lot of time playing games in addition to learning programming to learn more about the industry. Do front-end, of course, need to see some beautiful design and smooth interaction of the website, but it will not affect programming learning like playing games.

Pure environment and work, then pure state of mind. Are you worried that the level of programming is not keeping up with the level of employment? Worry about it. Does it help to worry? It doesn’t. Well, don’t worry about it.

It was like chasing a car that was moving forward. As long as I’m faster than the car, I’ll catch up. You may run out of energy, you may run out of time, you may run out of much, much more.

You don’t need to worry because you can’t change. You can only change how fast you run. 80 percent of what you worry about will never happen. (80% of what happens is unexpected, haha). Don’t think too much, just do the best you can to move forward.

And this time is the most pure and stable. Neither like the beginning of the lost direction, nor like the late run out of ammunition and food and life is difficult.

05 slag

Strength is too slag, push inside dare not pick up

I’m a late starter. Most of my former classmates have worked in big companies for several years and have made small achievements. Although I did not announce my resignation in my moments, some of my classmates and friends also knew that I had resigned and recommended jobs to me. There was no shortage of extrapolation opportunities then. Tencent, Baidu, netease and other first-line companies can find internal promotion opportunities.

Just their level at that time is too slag, and normal requirements too far. Push inside words are impossible to enter, are embarrassed to lose the face of classmates. At that time his level of dregs, can be described as “god can not save, internal push is useless”. Extract a classmate to me, my reply (XX is my classmate’s name) :

Plan to submit your resume in April. After all, internal promotion to a certain extent will represent the face of the candidate, I think the current technical level is not a good representative of “XX internal promotion job seekers”. At present, I am staying in the university town as crazy as taking the postgraduate entrance exam. The plan and progress are more suitable for applying for a job in April.

This kind of position is really suitable. Thanks again for the news ^_^ _

We’re actually behind schedule and behind schedule. At the time, the standards were too low (and too optimistic about how hard it would be to change careers as a programmer). Although I did not dare to accept my classmates’ internal push, they were willing to give me internal push, which brought me a lot of confidence. Thank you very much.

06 trapped

A bad start, a flood besieged the city, there is no way

It’s been a few months and it’s time to give the interview a try. After sending out my resume, I got two interviews. I’m glad to have the chance to interview, but the worst thing about changing careers is that I don’t even have the chance to interview.

The first company got 30 points out of 100 on the written test. After the first interview in the morning, a headhunter found me on the way to the second one.

I was on the subway, my laptop hooked up to my phone’s hot spot, struggling to send my resume to a headhunter with an intermittent 4G signal. After asking a bunch of questions that were clearly on my resume, the recruiter realized THAT I was not a computer science major and had no relevant work experience, so she said sorry to interrupt. I was left in the crowded Guangzhou subway, with my mobile phone in my left hand and my computer in my right hand, and a backpack that couldn’t be zipped up on my shoulder.

Lunch did not eat well, finally came to the second company, did not expect that this is actually not even a recruitment company. The “interview” was given a difficult question and had to be completed in a limited time on their clunky computer, which had no Internet connection. There is also a finger on the wall pointing at you to create an atmosphere of stress. I have to say I felt a lot of pressure for it to be successful. At the end of the time, the “interviewer” comes over, implicitly and tactfully criticize your level is very low, the topic is very bad, nothing.

Suddenly the “interviewer” changes his mind and suggests you attend their training class. Although I calmed down after learning that this was a training class, the pressure I felt during the whole interview process could not be dissipated and could not be forgotten for a long time. It’s awful to think that you’re going to have to work for months to pass this test, to take a pay cut, to change careers, to make these ugly websites.

More dramatically, when I came back, I encountered a heavy rainstorm in Guangzhou, which caused floods near my home (rented house). Subway exit, was surrounded by an island. You can’t just wade through knee-high water. I walked half the way around my house and couldn’t find my way home. The rain is crashing underground, hungry tired, can not go home.

I found a shared bike and rode it home like a boat. This scene and this day really match! Riding a rental bike, walking in deep water, you never know what ghosts are underwater, what rocks you might hit. The only thing you know is you can’t stop. Stop and you’re done. All you can do is push on.

07 start

Don’t be dazzled by the dawn

Gradually, I got an offer from my first company. The chief examiner said, “You’ve only been studying for a few months and your skills are not good enough, but if you can do design as well as design, we’ll hire you right away.” And he said the salary I asked for was too low, so he gave me $2,500 on the spot. I suppressed the excitement of the heart, or according to their established plan, said to consider 24 hours later to decide.

Leaving the company building, I thought: what to consider, tomorrow directly say OK. I had been walking in the rain for half a year when a glimmer of dawn came in. But this glimmer of light was dazzling enough for me. Cannot understand this kind of feeling, can break income half a year to try, can understand deeply certainly.

Although I am not looking for a job in Shenzhen after I get the first offer in Guangzhou as planned, I still need to do some design in the early stage, although I am not an Internet company. But this half year is really too difficult, how good it is to get rid of it immediately! I called my parents and practically announced that I was hired. Parents say the most important thing now is to fit their own career development, rather than rushing to feed the family. Although I was very moved by what I heard, I still prepared to work after several entanglements.

The story would have ended there, but I still had an Internet programmer roommate.

Back at the rental, I talked to the “career mentor” about the offer. He advised me very specifically not to go. Just “juggling” the design, though, is bad for a programmer’s career. In the end, from the perspective of long-term development, I resisted the impulse to be relieved and did not accept the offer.

Have to admit, sometimes the level of people, and his friends around. Live with a good roommate, whether you like it or not, your requirements will become excellent.

It’s the dawn, but not the sun. (wechat official account: Ye Maoteng xiao Baa)

08 brittle

The surface is strong, the heart is bottomless

After giving up the first formal offer, I came to Shenzhen according to the original plan. That’s when you hit a technical bottleneck (learning the front-end framework). Whether can break through this bottleneck, to looking for a job is quite big difference. During the bottleneck period, I became aware of my inner “brittle” weakness.

Throughout the whole year, my overall mood is quite stable, fighting spirit or medium. After all, in the past twenty years of my life, this is not the most difficult time, not the most sad time, not the most dangerous time, not the most needy time. However, this self-emotional “surface”, is my lack of confidence. It can be said that although he is very strong on the surface, but the heart has no bottom. It can also be said that although the heart has no bottom, but the surface is very strong.

This “surface” does not mean the surface of others, but the surface of oneself – self perception. I haven’t seen a lot of people in that time, so I don’t know how to behave. TED has a saying: Fake it till you make it. Pretend to believe it until you do. Whether you’re real or just faking it, this is when confidence really counts. Believe in yourself even when the rest of the world doesn’t. For a long time, I can’t tell whether I was pretending to be confident or really confident.

But there is one thing I did. Whether full of confidence, or depressed, can continue to ensure a stable learning time and a certain efficiency. In a sense, it’s not your mood or mood that determines whether you pass the technical interview, but your programming ability. Learning can improve your level. Keep learning and one day you will be able to reach the level of employment. The question is whether your money is gone, your patience is gone, or the gap is gone, haha

The happiest thing during this period of time is that every night when I go home, shenzhen metro will remind me: the next stop — turn over!

(Note: I live near Fen Fen MTR Station)

09 broken

A bold and risky leap

Fragile or strong, it took a month to pass the “front-end framework” technical bottleneck. Made a tattered small work, began to look for a job in Shenzhen journey. Shenzhen is really a good place for programmers to work. There are many more job opportunities than Guangzhou. Plus their level slag is not so severe, Shenzhen to find a job is relatively easy.

Let’s focus on big company A and startup COMPANY B. Both companies contacted me after grabbing my resume.

A is A big company, which belongs to the kind of big company that is not dare to be mentioned in the above paragraph. HR called me for some basic information and told me to “go home and wait for notice.”

B is a start-up company invested by Tencent with good conditions in all aspects. As a result of his previous part-time job and the company’s business is strongly related, extra points many, had an interview. On the day of the interview, I walked around the neighborhood, looked at several places to rent, and was ready to settle down. Soon after, the offer from B company also came down.

The story should have ended there, but then Company A called and asked for the next interview.

I was shocked: there really could have been a “home wait notice”! Calm down and think: Only 30% of company A, company B has already offered and will soon join. But I really want to go to a big company. Therefore, I rejected the offer of COMPANY B without any other offer and company A had no clue.

This is probably the riskiest decision I’ve made all year. In retrospect, I was really decisive.

10 just

A tough interview

“Big companies look at people, small companies look at work,” but big companies have a more hardcore feel to recruiting. Resume screening, telephone technical interview, personality test, computer interview, HR interview, supervisor interview. There is really a feeling of “killing six generals through five passes” (including two fantasy blessing). It seems that the school recruitment process is longer, but I have not participated in any school recruitment, this social recruitment process I feel very long.

In the whole process, the most difficult for me is the computer test. There is only one algorithm problem for the machine test. HR will send you a link. When the link is clicked, the timer starts and you have to finish the problem within the allotted time. You’ll know the result as soon as you hand in your papers.

After I got the title link, I did not dare to open it easily and asked HR for a few days to slow down. Ten hours a day of intense algorithm practice for a few days. Finally, it took too long and HR called me to ask if I had taken the exam. I said: test immediately. Before the exam, I went downstairs to buy a big bread and ate half of it. Then came the intense concentration of the examination time, also happened to be confronted with a difficult topic. My nerves were on high, my adrenaline pumping.

Verify… Lead!

At that moment, it was the happiest moment of the whole year, the long hard work finally paid off. I could feel the steam above my head. I picked up the bread near the table and began to eat it carelessly. Suddenly, a cockroach crawled out of my bread. In this state of extreme excitement, I did not panic, but silently threw away the bread, thinking: this kind of life, has passed a big half year.

11 manic

The long wait was impatient

The story should have ended there, but I didn’t get an offer right away.

Although company A has sent the oral offer, the formal email offer has not been sent immediately. After the front of the five passes, is the company’s internal layers of approval to report the beginning. The longer you wait, the more variable it becomes.

Must admit, change career period always calm I, at this stage or heart uneasy. After quitting for half a year, I dug out the coins in the drawer. If you don’t send a formal offer after such a long delay, you’re really throwing good money after bad.

At this time, the general recommended practice is to continue to send resume, brush offer, do not wait passively. Instead, I switched to “normal”. In this way, when company A contact me, I can immediately reply. Avoid in other company interview, A company calls the embarrassment. Another reason, of course, is that there are few jobs with the same qualifications as company A, so there is no need to shoot from the blind.

While waiting for the offer, I was making up some basic knowledge of computer and writing articles instead of what was needed for the application. It’s a little risky.

It was A full 40 days before I received the formal email offer from Company A. Then came the tragic wave of Internet layoffs at the end of 2018. I was lucky to catch the last bus.

12 rev.

A new start

The story should have ended here, but after all, it was several months late, so let me give you some updates.

Half a year later today, has become a regular. Although I still often feel like I’m lousy, I can still get the job done. Lack of foundation, steadfast and slow chase is.

Now next to a subway station in Shenzhen, a person rented more than 60 square meters of high-rise single-room, the view of the scenery is very good. No mice, no cockroaches. With direct drinking water and central air conditioning, the quality of life and happiness have soared to a new level. It’s also important to reward yourself.

If you can’t find a comfortable place to rest, how can you have the energy to work overtime?


It took me 11 months to make my career change