My Way Into Engineering - Part 1
Published: 2019-03-02 12:17:03

---
title: My Way Into Engineering - Part 1
date: '2019-03-02T12:17:03.284Z'
description: How I went from 0 to my first position as a developer
published: true
---

## What I did before becoming a Software Engineer

Before I decided a career change was in order, I dabbled in a lot of things.
After school I joined a PR agency in Berlin, raising funds for non-profit organizations like Amnesty International, the WWF and the SOS Kinderdörfer. After a few successful years, I turned into a professional online poker player and even owned my own small startup for over a year before closing shop.
I did not have any experience when it comes to engineering, although I'm pretty good with computers in general.

Since being a poker professional really can't be associated with stable income and the startup - while being a great learning experience - ultimately failed and we were planning to start a family, I needed to look for something more permanent and stable.

## My Next Steps

During this time, I discovered that there were quite a few coding bootcamps that had started growing here in Germany.
Some of them taught web development, some taught Java, all of them cost quite a bit of money and were 9 weeks long.
On first glance this looked like a very good fit for me, it would give me a shortcut into a new industry, allow me to work with a computer and probably get me the job I was looking for.
They all worked with technology that I didn't quite like (funny how that works, I had no idea about things back then but  already had an opinion 🤷🏼‍)

## The School I Ended Up With

Still, I registered with one of the bootcamps here in Berlin and was about to start when I learned about [Lambda School](https://bit.ly/2C0iMRI). <br>Their program came with a lot of promises that I found interesting.
It focused a lot more on computer science, taught JavaScript, Python **and** C and best of all there were **no** upfront costs.<br> It sounded a bit too good to be true to me to be honest.
As it turned out they weren't even taking international students, so I prepared for the start of my bootcamp in Berlin.<br>
However, all of that changed quickly when Karen Zachary (who is fantastic and in charge of admissions over @LambdaSchool) reached out to me and told me that I was one out of 5 international students selected to join as part of a pilot project.

## How School Was Like

During the following 7 months I learned *a lot*<br>
We started with simple HTTP & CSS projects to get to know web development, but quickly entered the world of JavaScript, then React and then Express to become Full Stack Developers.
A day consists of two hours of instructor Q&A, a project to build, stand ups, pair programming with a sprint challenge every Friday to prove you understand and are able to use what you've learned.<br>

Now, as you may have guessed this wasn't easy.
Sitting down every night from 5pm - 2am (the downside to join a school that is not yet in Europe) and learning foreign concepts, working with them and maintaining sanity at the same time was one of the toughest challenges I faced in my life. <br>
*But* it was also one of the best. Not only did I learn a whole lot and am a Software Engineer now, but I also made a bunch of friends whom I share this amazing experience with.


## How About You?

If you are looking for a way in and are living in the EU or the US I can wholeheartedly  recommend [Lambda School](https://bit.ly/2C0iMRI). There is no upfront cost - they get paid once you've landed your first job and exceed the salary cap - and they have an amazing team of instructors and project managers that help every student become the best engineer they can be.