Part of the series: Career Journey
Hello! First of all, thank you for your time and curiosity. This post marks the restart of a blog I began a few years ago, and my goal is to share the journey, the mistakes, and the lessons that brought me here.
From the beginning, I’ve identified as a generalist programmer. My focus has always been on computational thinking rather than a specific language, which allowed me to learn new technologies quickly. I was driven by curiosity, how do computers really work? Who gives the orders? How does a machine know what to do when you press a button? These questions pushed me to truly understand.
I started my journey by learning C and naturally moved on to C++, which gave me a solid foundation to understand pointers, garbage collection, and how high-level languages work “under the hood.” Later, learning Java or Python became much easier. However, at some point, I got lost in the avalanche of technologies and frameworks. In the rush to deliver quick solutions and attract recruiters, I skipped fundamental steps, building monolithic CRUD applications using MVC architecture. It was fun, but it left significant gaps in my knowledge.
Without professional experience, entering the job market was tough. So I decided to pursue a three-year Information Technology degree, highly rated by the Brazilian Ministry of Education, with 90% employability and conveniently located near my home. The course felt like it was made for me and it was truly transformative. Subjects like calculus, algorithms, computer architecture, and networks gave me the depth I was missing. I built a home lab with an Ubuntu server to test and apply everything I learned in practice. From databases to Python applications, everything ran on my mini cloud.
It was in this academic environment that a fundamental lesson shaped my path. I had an extraordinary and visionary professor who taught me more than just code or math, he taught me to question concepts, to seek the “whys” behind things, and to challenge what I thought I knew. That mindset changed the way I study, code, and face challenges. Digging into the fundamentals became my main tool.
When I started applying for internships, this foundation proved essential. The market demanded technologies I didn’t yet master, like .NET, Spring Boot, and Node.js. I dove into studying, built projects to demonstrate my potential, and eventually landed a position as a C# developer. My solid foundation allowed me to learn quickly, deliver results, and earn my team’s trust. It was proof that understanding the core concepts makes any technology accessible.
Despite the progress, I acknowledge that for a long time I spread myself too thin trying to learn a bit of everything without enough depth. That cost me some great opportunities during college, where I went through more than 20 technical interviews that could have changed my life. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at the level they required. Today, this restart is a commitment: to study in depth, to understand trade-offs, and to stop skipping steps. Decisions like whether to use a relational database or not, or whether to choose an event-driven architecture, are what shape a software engineer’s career.
If you’re just starting out, here are some pieces of advice I consider valuable:
- Learn C and C++: The foundation these languages provide is unmatched.
- Master Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA): Use Python to speed up the implementation of your solutions.
- Invest in formal education: If possible, a degree in Computer Science or a related field makes a huge difference.
- Pursue internships early: Apply to companies you admire. Send lots of applications and take advantage of opportunities as soon as you can.
- Don’t give up: The journey is tough, but the rewards are immense.
Remember: your career is a marathon, not a 100 meter sprint. There will be moments of doubt and frustration, and the temptation to take shortcuts will be constant. In those moments, return to the fundamentals and reconnect with the curiosity that made you start. Every challenge you overcome not only adds a line to your résumé, but also strengthens the engineer you are becoming.
This is my restart, and I hope that by sharing my journey, we can learn and grow together. Let’s move forward.