I’ve studied computer science, BSc and MSc, and I’ve always wanted to become a software developer, since I can remember (maybe 12-13 yrs old). I started my career as an entry level developer back in 2008-2009 when the crisis hit, and worked my way up to a mid-weight full stack .NET developer in around 2011.
Then I decided to make a career change and go into Scrum Master with an aim to help my fellow developers and ease their lives. I believed that I could empathize much more with them, than the average project manager could. This has worked alright. Ever since, I’ve done an MBA, and I’ve worked with big banks in agile transformation projects earning good money as a contractor for many years.
However, the urge and love for software development never left me, as I’ve always thought of it as a very creative profession, one that I could gladly sit for hours and do, trying to find a solution to a problem and happily read about and watch videos for hours. Not just software development, but also DevOps, Security, hacking, anything really. I always felt that I could understand code naturally, without much effort. I know that not everyone is cut to be a developer, it’s just how the way that certain people’s brain works. At home, I’m quite the techie, having more than the average Joe would have (pi-holes, networks, NAS drives with Docker etc I won’t bore you with the tech details). I still code here and there in Python for fun, whenever I want to automate something e.g. downloading videos from Youtube, creating basic Android apps etc.
Lately, I find the whole transformation and agility business / change business quite futile. I’ve seen so much that it doesn’t impress me anymore. Granted, it’s got good money, but it’s not creative and not that interesting to be honest. This whole decade feels like I was struggling to reach a place where when I did, there was nothing there.
I’m in my early 40s with a fam and quite a lot of bills to pay. Sometimes I contemplate going back to software development or DevOps or DevSecOps. On the other hand, I know that, typically, if you follow that career, you’d be sat in a position somewhere in a large organization correcting someone else’s code, things won’t work and would get you frustrated, and in the end, you’d want to kill yourself and want to change careers (maybe go to management and agile coaching!)