From Marketing to Web Development

Freja worked with digital marketing and built webpages in a CMS, that made her realize she wanted to build her own stuff and to code more.

Hi, Freja! Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a really stubborn and strong minded individual. I’m really curious and I like to learn new things and to immerse myself in a problem. I’ve experienced that this is a good personality mix for developers. I also truly embrace change which helps me solve issues quicker.

What did you do before Technigo?

I studied media technology for three years at Södertörns Högskola. I knew I wanted to work with something creative and technical which was why I chose that program in the first place. But after, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to work with programming, design or marketing, so I started a job with focus on marketing and design at first.

After a few years working with digital marketing and building homepages in a CMS, I wanted to build my own stuff and to code more, full time on a daily basis! I already had a good knowledge in HTML and CSS and is (kind of) self-learned so I thought that learning Javascript would be quite easy… But after some months struggling, I felt that I needed some kind of teaching to become really good in Javascript – so I could start working as a Frontend Developer. So I joined a Technigo bootcamp.

When did it first occur to you that you’d like to educate yourself in frontend?

Actually, when I was studying PHP during my original study program I enjoyed it. But it didn’t feel completely right. It felt difficult compared to everything else in the program and I wasn’t sure enough if I really wanted to work with something like that and, hence, if it would be worth the effort.

But after a while of working with marketing and design I started to miss programming. I began to learn Javascript and frontend basics by myself. It felt easier in context and really caught my interest.

Why did you finally choose Technigo?

I had gone to a few Tjejer Kodar courses and was convinced by the high quality of their courses. Learning Javascript on my own felt too slow, and at the same time I didn’t want to go back to school for 3 years. Technigo’s three months bootcamp was the best of both worlds.

When I decided to go for the bootcamp, I was already sure  that I wanted to venture further intro frontend development.

What was your greatest struggle during the course?

I’m not sure. It was very intense because you learned a lot in a short time. But because I knew for sure that I wanted to do it, it was easy for me to stay motivated. I knew I’d have to work really hard for three months and then it would pay off.

What was the best thing about learning your new skills?

It was so fun! It felt like it was what I wanted to do from day one. Plus, I really enjoyed learning this alongside so many other women.

Frontend development is interesting to me on a whole new level -- like I can actually see myself working with this my whole life.

I like that programming is so focused on creating solutions. It’s not as subjective as design. There’s an actual goal.

“Frontend development is interesting to me on a whole new level – like I can actually see myself working with this my whole life.”

Are you working with frontend development now?

Yes, I’m a junior frontend developer at Dagens Nyheter. I quit my previous job after Technigo and got this job right away. I’ve been there for 8 months now.

What do you do in your job?

Every day is unique. Sometimes I work on really big projects, sometimes smaller ones. The last 10 weeks or so I worked on a major project with another junior web developer.. That was so scary! To make the first big release of something that you have full responsibility for. But I’ve also done some bug fixing and smaller projects for the site too. And of course, I read a lot of news!

Do you still use any of your ‘old’ skills?

Yes. They’re not a part of my responsibility but my experience helps me every day when I collaborate with designers or when we take decisions on the user perspective. I maintain that designer mindset throughout everything I do.

Any advice for someone considering to add programming skills to what they’re doing?

Just do it. Start by doing a course online and if you think it’s fun, go for it. Be prepared that it may be hard but if you enjoy it, it will pay off quickly.

I think all developers get to a point where they feel stuck but if you push past that point, things really start to sink in and make sense. That’s a great feeling!