Guillaume DucuingCareer transition is a pivotal moment for everyone. For me, it's one of the best moments of my professional life that I remember. Without a doubt, the best choice I've made, and I'll explain it all to you!
Since I got my first PC (around the age of 13), I wanted to become a developer, or at least work in the IT field. It was a Dell that I ordered online with my parents, and I chose the option with Linux installed on it (I don't think you can do that anymore today). I think that small detail made the difference because at that time Linux wasn't as accessible, and you had to research on forums to achieve your goals. If I had chosen Windows or Mac, I might have been less interested in the subject.
I started learning some programming on "Le Site du Zéro," a website that offered several free courses on various programming languages (I had started a bit with C++), but there were also Java, Python, JavaScript, etc. This site, created by Mathieu Nebra, later became a well-known training platform: OpenClassrooms!
I also remember using Kali Linux when I was a student, a Linux distribution that provides super interesting hacking tools!
Source : le site du zeroI'll skip the details between that moment and my entry into professional life, but I ended up working in a printing shop. It was during the lockdown and on the eve of my 30s that I realized that maybe I needed to wake up and get up in the morning for something that I was passionate about! And it was my wife who said one evening when she came home: "Why don't you work in IT?"
Facing my associate's refusal at the printing shop to provide me with a mutual termination agreement, I used all the means at my disposal by the government to facilitate this transition at minimal cost! And there are plenty of them! I resorted to Transition Pro, an organization that pays for your training (while also taking your entire CPF) but most importantly, pays you during the training! So, you stop working to dedicate yourself to the training (but you're still in a permanent contract). At the end of this training, you're still in a permanent contract with your employer and you can return to your position if you happen to change your mind. All this is obviously subject to conditions:
Being in a permanent contract for more than 5 years
Submitting a serious and motivated application
Not having too high qualifications/resources
If you meet these initial conditions, a jury will decide if you're eligible for the program. So, I put together an application by selecting a training that wasn't too expensive, long enough to be serious (no training less than 6 months), and I finally chose Cefii, a web school in Angers, fully remote for me who lived in Rouen, for a web developer training.
So, I started this 100% remote training and I was pleasantly surprised by the format. A tutor accompanies you throughout the process, answers your questions, and corrects your exercises while you progress through the courses provided on a platform. The journey was divided into 2 stages: Front-end & Back-end. Some courses were a bit outdated, especially the part on jQuery, a JavaScript library rarely used nowadays unlike React or Vue, or Bootstrap, a CSS library replaced today by Tailwind.
At the end of this training, I did an internship in a company to validate the diploma. I did my internship at Bruno, a branding, design & web development agency in Rouen. This internship only confirmed my appetite for web development, and it was the first time for me that I came to work running!
There it was, I had now completed my training and created my sole proprietorship "Meet Guillaume." This new stage of my life was accompanied by a fantastic event: the birth of my daughter! And it was at the maternity ward that I received a phone call from the Bruno agency where I had done my internship, they were precisely looking for a front-end web developer...
So, it's been several months now (as of June 10th at the writing of this article) that I've been working as a front-end developer, and I'm passionate about my job! I learn new things every day, and I progress very quickly! The developer profession is an infinity of things to learn, and that's what makes the job so captivating! If you're also at a somewhat shaky professional moment in your life, take the plunge! There's also the resignation program (also through Transition Pro) that I was able to benefit from to leave my position and get help starting my business. You have no more excuses not to enjoy your work!
Are you also in a professional transition and have questions? Feel free to add me on Linkedin to discuss!
I invite you to discover all the projects I've done so far: my projects.
Source : unsplash
