Meet James Bedford. James had worked at a ventilation company for several years before making the change into software development. Read about how James made the change and why and how he now genuinely looks forward to going to work in the morning now.
“At 16 years of age, I quit college with no A-Levels having originally wanted to go on to University to study Computer Science. I struggled with typical classroom learning, I later came to learn that I am a much more visual learner and a classroom environment is not an effective style of learning for me.
Deflated, I worked part-time jobs for short while before being offered a full-time role on an assembly line for a ventilation company with around 40 employees.
I stayed at the company for eight years because I was comfortable, yet I had a lack of ambition. I was earning decent money, could afford to pay the bills and have a nice car, but was unhappy going to work.
I had always done a small amount of web design on the side, usually for family and friends. I had a love for it and enjoyed the creativity and interaction with computers in general. It wasn't until 2016/2017 however that I decided to take the plunge and pursue web development as a career.
I was immediately drawn to web development as it was a well-paying career, it involved web design which was always a hobby and the programming felt like something that would be intellectually challenging, as well as re-chasing the dream I had when I was younger.
It wasn't without its challenges. I dedicated 6 hours, pretty much without fail, every day for almost a year learning web development. Financially we were pulled fairly tight, and it was a big gamble, but one that I knew I would have to pull off as there wasn't another option.
I started to grow a personal brand through social media, particularly Instagram, documenting my story of a career change. This lead to interaction with people who helped me and guided me on the right path. It also enabled me to get some freelance work for agencies which financially kept me afloat, at least until I landed a full-time job.
I started applying for jobs, had a couple of failed interviews a few interviews for companies I didn't see myself working for before I landed my perfect role as a Javascript developer.
All of my initial worries were put to rest as the quality of life I have now actually looking forward to turning up at work in the morning is invaluable."
I have started my own mentoring website, dedicated to helping people in the same position as I was. Read about that here: www.dopest.tech
Sign up to hear more stories like this and other doses of inspiration in my weekly newsletter: