From Working Jobs to Survive to Enjoying Life as a Developer

Kartika moved to Sweden in 2018, leaving Indonesia with barely anything; no bank account, one luggage of clothing, no job, no friends in Sweden, not knowing the Swedish language, no idea how it would be, and.. being pregnant. She started off by taking care of her baby, later on as a cleaner and working at the supermarket. Feeling the need for personal growth, and getting out from dull routines, made her look onto the tech industry, and become a frontend developer.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What makes you you?

It’s difficult to describe myself. I had this problem too during Career Coaching Program where students had to ‘pitch’ themselves. But every time I introduce myself, I always start with I’m an Indonesian living in Sweden because for me, thriving in this country as an expat makes me proud. And now, I can also say I’m a Frontend developer for a software company in Göteborg.

What did you do before you learned coding?

I had many different experiences before I became a developer. I have a bachelor's degree in English literature, I was a private tutor for children for a while, I was an au pair in Poland, I was a cleaner, and the latest one before I decided to join Technigo was a store employee.

What made you realise you want to become a developer?

When I was in junior high, I remembered I enjoyed customising my Friendster page, which was a social media page like MySpace. I had to copy-paste codes to achieve the look I wanted. I really enjoyed those times but then I grew up, no more Friendster, and so I forgot about what I did. Fast forward to 2020, I came across an advertisement for learning to code. If my memory is right, it was Code Institute. I tried it because it was free and it was only a 5 days coding challenge, so I thought “why not?” After I was done with it, I realised “oh… this is what I did when I was younger. I love this thing!” From there, I decided to learn more about coding and I found that I like Frontend Development the most.

Why have you chosen Technigo Boot Camp?

I looked at different Boot Camps in the whole of Europe and I found that Technigo has the most fun vibe and it gives this friendly feeling. I wanted my learning process to be fun and I think Technigo provided that atmosphere. And a plus, it’s based in Sweden.

How did you find motivation for intensive learning?

“My initial motivation was already strong. I wanted to find a new career that I liked and I wanted to be in a place where my skill is what matters, not how I look. I didn’t want to go back to the place I was before.”

It wasn’t that hard to be motivated or more like to be ambitious for me because this study was my ‘do or die’. I completely put my trust in my success in becoming a developer. During my study, I always thought this way; “I have to make it because I have nowhere to go”, and I guess that was what kept me on the surface, even on hard days. I also must mention this; my team (team HIPPO) is amazing. My teammates were my personal motivators. Neah, Linda, Joel, Viktor, Linnéa, Maria, Sofia, Nina, and Lisa. They are amazing. It’s important to have people who understand your journey and have them listen to your struggles. During this study, I was always anxious, stressed, and worried all the time (my fault because I was too ambitious), and the ones who cheered me up and supported me during that times were my teammates.

Has learning your new skills influenced any other part of your life?

Yes. I’ve become more confident in myself… I trust myself more in achieving something in life.

What is your current role? How do you feel about it?

I’m a Frontend Developer for a software company called Irisity. I mostly fix bugs and add or remove features depending on what clients want. So far, I really like being here because my co-workers are all very kind to me. They welcomed me with open arms. “Often I have imposter syndrome but the more I work, the more I feel confident with my skills.”

What would you advise someone considering changing career?

One of the things that helped me the most was my reason to change career. It was too strong for me to quit even on difficult days. If I didn’t have a strong reason to change career, I would probably quit in the middle of study because the Boot Camp was intense. “My advice would be to find your reason(s) why you want to change career and continue to remember that reason while studying. Remind yourself why this is important for you.”