Makers is over!

I can only say, this has been one of the most fascinating, enjoyable and utterly exhausting experiences of my life. I remember when we had our first day and we were setting some goals together about what we wanted to get out of the course. “I want to come out being more resilient and having learnt how to learn”, those were my main goals, and I can say I have reached them by far.

Anyone going into a tech bootcamp would expect to come out the other side having acquired a lot of technical knowledge, but we also have developed a variety of skills that would have otherwise taken a long time and effort to cultivate.

I feel more resilient, I feel more capable of managing my wellbeing and my time, improved my emotional intelligence and communication a lot (even though I was already pretty happy about them). I have discovered new ways of learning more efficiently and effectively while also enjoying the process. I have been shown how even the biggest and most scary of problems can be divided in smaller problems that we can tackle.

I have seen how stressful situations can affect people’s behaviour and successfully managed it as a team. I have learnt how important it is to ask for help, neither too soon or too late. I have realised we are not “good” or “bad” at things, we are just different people with different needs and boundaries, and we can do anything if we are willing to put the time and effort. Yes, it will be easier for some than others, but we can all get there if we work hard.

I am better than I was when I went into this course and I am very proud of what I have achieved. I am proud because it can be terrifying to jump careers, especially from something you have always been passionate about and loved, but that was not giving me the work-life balance I needed, and I can see now I made the right decision.

So what now? It is time to find a job, and it is scary as hell, because no matter how much software development you know, no matter how much you have learnt during your bootcamp or how well you’ve done, you always feel incredibly unprepared for what’s coming.

But luckily, Makers’ support didn’t end with the bootcamp. They have an amazing careers team that helps you land your first position in the industry. I will soon write a post about what that involves!