Becoming A Software Developer - Part 2

A few months close to the months ahead (pun related to my last post), I was already contemplating leaving the company. I knew I wanted something more but had no idea what something more meant, all I knew was I couldn’t shake the feeling.

Then out of the blue, a junior from secondary school and university, whom I hardly ever spoke with, sent me a text message. The message read GTBank is hiring STEM graduates.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

First Comes Resistance

The first thing that came to mind was “I ain't working at no bank”. I mean, I was somewhat depressed at this point. Here was an Engineering Graduate, and not just any graduate; but an ex-president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), an ex-Course Representative for his faculty for 5 years, a First-Class graduate now turned management consultant who was at the time searching for more but couldn’t reconcile what he wanted seeing a post to work at a bank. Ahh, no way that was going to happen.

But, as the mama’s boy that I am, I told my mum about the message my friend (yep, someone that got me my job can be called a friend) sent. And like the mother she is, she said, "o je try e na" which translates to “why don’t you try it first" in English. Fikemi (that's me) was like try kinni – “try what?”. I was very negative about the idea of working at a Bank, and left alone wasn't going to welcome the idea at all. Nonetheless, she persisted. She demanded that I apply. And yes, that word is accurate, she demanded it.

So, I applied. My thinking was, "the Bank would take forever to respond, so I might as well appease my mum by applying and use the current time to plan my next steps".

Lo and behold, an invite was sent. I was called for an interview, which frankly is another story of its own because I was called Green at the interview. What that meant was I knew nothing lol, but they were kind in letting me know, and truth be told, that was my reality at the time.

Anyway, I was called for another interview and then told to resume the training the following week. Wait what? The following week? Why in the world was this moving so fast?

Now, for a bit more context, I had just been granted permission to go on leave and was hoping I'd use the time to figure stuff out. But here was an offer to attend a training surrounding tech, for a Bank. A Bank!. An Engineer, and a Bank!. Whyyy???

Well, after like 40 minutes of serious internal deliberation, I decided I was going to show up. I tended my resignation and resumed training with the other participants.

Hmmm...I Might Actually Like This Developer Thing

I went through the training and was accepted to work at the bank in the technology division. Bear in mind, I still had not decided to become a developer at this point.

I resumed at the bank and was posted to the digital support team, and this was where I began realizing that I wanted to build a career as a developer. Each day I came into the office, the things I had been taught at the training camp kept coming to mind. I couldn’t help but think that I wanted to experience more of it. To identify key issues and creatively use code to solve them.

It was like each day was tasked with reminding me that I was meant to become a developer. It might sound extreme, but that’s how I felt. I was excited just thinking about it, and in no time, I made my desire known to my bosses.

My Unit and Group Heads both supported my decision, and weeks later, I was reassigned to the Application Development team.

Now 8 months into my journey as a developer, I can’t think of a life outside it. I am happy and fulfilled with my career. I am challenged to think in new and exciting ways, and I have the freedom to think creatively every day. I am truly blessed.

This is not to say the life of a developer doesn't have its own share of challenges, I'm just more excited than burdened by them. The moment I open my code editor and get to typing, I am reminded how exciting my job truly is.

I love it, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. At least, that’s how I feel about it now lol.

But yeah, that’s been my journey so far. Not the smoothest ride ever, but a much-needed one and this is just the start of a brighter and fuller career.

Peace ✌.