Becoming a developer and why I decided to help people learn how to code
Published: 2020-10-04 19:15:11

Hi guys, my name is Marko and this is my first post on Dev 😊 I hope you are having a good day. 🌈

Just wanted to share a story about me, how learning to code changed my life and why I would like to give back and help others.

# How I Started

I was always interested in coding, but I began working professionally around my sophomore year in high school, frankly because my family was in financial hardship, and I needed to make money. This was around 2009 - 2010, right after the world economy collapsed.

It was dire times, I didn't have any experience at the time, and the only thing I could put in my bio was:

> I'm great at math and I love programming. I know Java and I can help you build a website.

Luckily, I was persistent on applying to jobs on a website called oDesk (today Upwork) and after some time I figured out how to write a good application, which got me my first paid gig. 

In the following months, I began working like crazy. I hardly ever went out partying, like the other kids, and I spent most of my days coding and working.

# Today

Fast forward to last year, the startup called NextChapter, where I worked as a tech lead for 4 years was acquired.

And today I work as a senior engineer at a company called Kahoot, which servers hundreds of millions of users, and billions of sessions every year.

In these 10 years of work, I had come to appreciate all the great people who helped me get where I am today, and I am starting to realize the importance of giving back.

# The Opportunity

As a senior engineer, part of my job is interviewing candidates for developer roles. And I find that there are always more open positions than there are great developers who are available.

I notice a massive opportunity for people who are willing to learn, and dive deep. And I feel like we are only scratching the surface in making learning more accessible.

Back when I was getting started, the barrier to entry was higher. I had to get my master's degree in computer science, to get a good education on the topic. Nowadays, I feel like there is a positive change, and a lot more people have access to great material and are able to learn fast. This is very exciting!

Thanks to learning how to code, I travelled around the world, met amazing people, made excellent money and took care of my family financially.

Previously, I made efforts towards helping other people, but I was always consumed with work, and I only seldom held workshops and things like that for my community. Growing a startup from 0 to acquisition in 4 years is a ton of hard work.

Now I feel I need to switch gears, take a step back, get more involved with my fellow devs, and really try to give back. 

This is why my account is called **Dev Guide Daily**:

- *Dev* because I love devs
- *Guide* because I want to be useful
- *Daily* to remind myself to put in the effort every day

There are things outside of just coding that I picked up along the way, that I wish I knew when I was starting out. My goal is to share those too, nothing held back. 😊

Some of those things, especially related to growing your career, I am very excited to talk about, because I learned those lessons the hard way, and I wish I had a mentor to guide me.

I am very excited about this, and will be working on some great content to share.

You can find on twitter [@DevGuideDaily](https://twitter.com/DevGuideDaily)