How it started

Being laid off sucks. That's just a fact. Three months ago, I got laid off due to restructuring in my organization at Dow Jones along with some others and due to the fact that I was apart of the union and the most recent design hire, I was the fire to get chopped.

However, it's not all bad. During this time I've decided to dedicate large parts of my day to learning new skills that would help me in my career and find a new job. One of the skills I decided to prioritize just happened to be Software Engineering and low and behold I happen to love learning about it. This blog will be a record of my journey learning Software Engineering and becoming a full-time Product Design Engineer or Software Engineer. (we'll see!)

How it's going

So far this is what I've done in the past couple days:

• Start the freecodecamp.org web dev course (I've already completed before years go)

  • Status: Progressing in second project

• Start the Odin Project web dev course (also started it a while ago and never finished it)

  • Status: Progressing in Foundation Path

• Enrolled in Meta's Front-End Developer Professional Certificate

  • Status: 1/9 courses done

  • Intro to Front End Dev Course Certificate

• Created a GitHub account

• Downloaded and started using VSCode

My Goal

This whole project of learning web development and software engineering is a part of my goal to deepen my skills and knowledge in design. However, as I learn more about software engineering, I've started to realize that I really like coding and creating different projects. I've always been the curious builder and reverse engineering type, so having the type to learn this more in depth is something I'm becoming passionate about.

In the end, whether or not I become a product designer, product design engineer, or software engineer, I'll love the fact that I'll have this skill and knowledge regardless. If I were to name a fixed goal however, returning to working at a FAANG company would be it.