Hesitating? Or waiting for the right moment?

After finishing the General Assembly Software Engineering Intensive in 2022, I didn't jump into a dev job straight away. I felt a lot of pressure to — but honestly looking back now, I'm glad I didn't.

Like a lot of people who move into tech from a different career, my journey has been more of a slow build than a sudden switch. While I was always drawn to problem-solving and always interested in systems, it wasn't until a few years ago that I started seriously thinking about coding as a career.

Necessity: the mother of invention
The first time I did any form of 'programming' to solve a problem, I was working in a school office at UNSW around 10 years ago. We had an increasing amount of internship applications to process but no official system to manage them. We needed something that could bulk manage applications, something customisable, but the team who would usually work with us to build a solution were already overworked and unable to help. Our office had a licence for FileMaker Pro, so I decided I'd try my hand at using FileMaker to build a database to collect & process applications, and confirm outcomes for our students' internships.

I spent weeks learning how to use the system in my spare time, trying to figure out the best way to structure the database, to build record management processes and to set up automated email templates in an effort to make it quick, easy to use and standardised. I eventually put together something that, looking back, was admittedly a bit janky on the inside, but was still useful & solved our problem at the time. At this point though, it was still not something I thought I could make a career out of - I was just trying to make things easier for my workmates.

The spark
Fast forward to my time at City, University of London where I was a course administator & looking for a role change. A role in the student systems team came up and my manager recommended that I go for it. Despite not having a background in systems at the time, by some miracle my application was successful.

I started slow, picking up small bits of development — tweaking code, writing SQL, improving how we presented data to end users. The student information system we used (SITS:Vision, by Tribal) had a purpose-built programming language for custom-building front-end pages/applications to help manage the backend records. While it wasn't always directly using HTML/CSS/JavaScript, I remember getting hooked on that feeling of making something work better through code. And to my surprise, I picked it up fast. For the first time in my working life I felt like I'd found something I loved to do, that I could actually do well.

Diving deeper
When we moved back to Sydney in 2021, I knew I wanted to keep exploring that interest. I found the General Assembly Software Engineering Intensive and dove in headfirst. 20 hours of study per week (more during project weeks) on top of full time work was definitely a struggle but my heart sang during every moment of it! It confirmed for me that this wasn't just a curiosity — it was something I genuinely wanted to do long-term.

At the end of the six months, I finished the course but I didn't leave my UNSW job straight away. I could give many reasons which, despite being legitimate sometimes feel like excuses, but ultimately I think it just came down to timing.

We were mid-way through a major student-facing system rollout, and I'd been part of that project since the business case phase. I wanted to see it through. I was also stepping into a new role leading a team for the first time. It gave me a chance to build skills in people management, mentoring, and project delivery — things I knew would be valuable no matter where I ended up. The project also gave me an opportunity to be a major part of rolling out a SaaS product from start to finish, from the client's perspective - an opportunity I knew I wouldn't necessarily get once I switched to being a dev, and is something I think gives me unique insights.

Why now
With the rollout nearly complete and my team shifting into BAU, it finally feels like the right time to make the leap. I've built up my front-end skills, I'm continually working on my portfolio of projects, and I'm ready to bring both my coding abilities and my years of system and stakeholder experience to a full-time developer role.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that not every career shift needs to happen in a rush. Sometimes playing the long game lets you bring more to the table.