My name is Brian. I'm a front-end web developer at one of the agencies based in Sydney. My tech stacks that my company use will be Next.js and PHP. Yes, I don't have any educational background related to computer sciences or IT. I teach myself how to code and landed my job. If you want to know more about how I got my first job, you can find it in one of my blog posts.
I got various backgrounds but my first degree in my life is linguistic(surprise!). To be honest, at the time I choose this faculty I have no clue what I was doing and what I want to do in my life. I just follow along with my friends. The only thing I care about at that time is playing soccer and games with my friends. But I ended up finished my degree earlier than scheduled(How's that possible?). After I graduated, I also have no clue again what I want to do. This is not a good example and I know that this is a chain reaction from what you choose to study. But I decided to give it a go and try to work in the same field that I graduated. Which is, to be honest, its way to board. There's no specific skill set that I have. Or simply say I don't even need any degree to work in this kind of area. My major is English, so there is a million job that I can work but all of them are not dedicated to any specific skills. So I end up working in the airline industry as a customer service because I was fluent. That's the only reason.
After I work in that position for half a year I asked myself every day "what am I doing?". I just feel "not like myself" every day. So I spend most of my day figuring out what I wanted to do. From the clue that I have in my pocket. I know what I want to work with something related to an aircraft. As I love aeroplanes since I was young. I consult with many seniors in the company, some are very keen to give me advice. I ended up decided to choose an aircraft maintenance engineer as my next goal. The problem is I don't have any background, then how? I need to acquire one. I spend months doing research where I want to get these skills? It turns out that this is a special course with a specific asset system offer by only a few institutions around the world. This is the direct entry which means if you can get this professional certificate you guarantee to get the job. There is also another way to get into this field as well if you have a related field(like a mechanical engineer) but an extra year of training will be mandatory.
I decided to go to China to get this certificate. The main reason is that it's the cheapest among other places around the world. You will get an almost identical certificate. Fast forward two years I finished my certificate, I came back to my home. I planned to take a short break before I start the new chapter of my life. But I was lucky what my application catches the recruiter's eyes, so I have been invited for an interview. And guess what, I got the job!
I work as an aircraft mechanic for 2 solid years before I make another big decision in my life. I feel like I was still very young at that time and I don't want to settle down yet. I want to explore the world and find what I want in my life. Yes, being an aircraft mechanic is a very fun job but the nature of the work itself is not my thing at all. First, you have to work a night shift. That drains your energy and long term health issue. Second, it will take me a minimum of 5 years to get the chance to apply for a licensed engineer. I have to put my future with the company(particularly engineering manager). And to be honest, I don't trust him.
So I start to travel, my destination is Australia. I came here wondering around, working in so many places. It's one of the best experiences of my life. It is just very fulfilling. During the time that I lived here in Australia, I have a chance to try to learn how to code in my free time. Funny enough, I enjoy it so much. The nature of the job is just what I want to do for the rest of my life. It just clicked. So I give it a go. And here I am today.
The are three main reasons I started this blog.
I want to share what I learn on my journey as a developer. It is hard to become a developer and it's much harder to be a successful one. So I want to journey what I experience and share with everyone so whoever came across my path don't have to waste their time with what I did before.
I want to practice my writing skill I always am a fluent speaker but I'm really bad at writing. So I took this opportunity to practice my writing skill because I have a dream to become a writer one day. I want to publish my books, so this is a good chance for me.
I want this blog to be my playground. I want to apply new technology or frameworks that interested me to this blog. The Tech industry grows fast. So it's good to have a place where you can try to implement something that you want to play with.
That's all about me. Always welcome if you can want to slide through my DM, asking me anything!!