Non-CS Major → Backend Developer: 8-Month Prep Retrospective
I came from a humanities background and switched careers to become a developer at 30. It was 8 months—long if you call it long, short if you call it short—and I'm writing this down in case it helps anyone preparing now, even just a little.
First, I attended a government-funded bootcamp. Honestly, the bootcamp itself wasn't much help. The curriculum was too shallow. What actually built my real skills was studying on my own outside while attending.
Here's what I did:
1. Go deep on one language — for me, Java. I only skimmed the syntax and moved straight into Spring.
2. At least two projects — one by following along, one from scratch on my own.
3. CS — without this, you get filtered out at the resume stage. Operating systems, networking, and databases are the basics.
4. Coding test prep — one problem a day for 6+ months. Consistency over volume.
The hardest part was my mental game. After around 60 resume rejections, my self-esteem hit rock bottom. Still, I didn't give up and kept pushing through, and eventually one company gave me a chance.
What I want to say to those preparing now is: don't pay attention to other people's pace. Even if you start late like I did, it eventually works out.