✨ Hey you! Are you thinking of moving to technology but you don't know where to start? Or maybe you are already in tech but there are days that you just feel so tired and want to quit? Then this post is for you. And truth to be said, this post is also a reminder for myself✨

👩🏽‍💻 Who Am I, what do I do?

Hi, my name is Mónica Fidalgo. I work as a Frontend Developer since early 2019 and I'm currently also a teacher and a mentor for women in a tech community. I'm 33 years old now and my background is in marine biology. I am graduated in that field since I really love animals and the ocean. But life it's not always how we think it is and in between some challenges I found myself with the urge of wanting to really change my life. So I started to look for more creative courses and I manage to find a Web Design course. I was lucky since the course also had the programming part, which I truly loved the most. So since then, I never stopped coding. 1 year ago I joined As Raparigas do Código as a mentor because I really wanted to support other women, the kind of support that I wished I had when I joined tech. Now I'm also a teacher and I really feel super happy to in some way, help drive the difference in someone's life.

💖 My advice to you

Don't compare yourself with others

We all come from different backgrounds, have different ways of living, in base, we all are different. Don't stress out of someone that can be already ahead of you on a certain technology. Take your time, learning is a journey

Be humble

Even if you feel that you understand very well about something, don't show off or make others feel less intelligent because they don't know as much as you do

Join communities

A great way to not feel alone and lost is to join communities where people support each other and share ideas

Find a mentor

Don't be shy, if there is someone who inspires you, ask for advice or mentor you. Mentors help you set goals and make yourself accountable for them. They will also encourage you and raise your confidence

Have hobbies

This is very important, don't spend the entire day in front of the computer, give your brain something different to have fun

Do breaks

While you are working/studying, do breaks! Go for a walk outside, read a book, take care of your plants. Most bugs are solved when we are not on our computer, trust me

Become a mentor

One of the best ways to learn is to become a mentor/teacher yourself since you need to understand something in order to explain and that makes you want to learn more

Set goals

Set small goals that you can achieve, let's be honest, there are days in which we don't have the motivation and we feel lost. By having goals that we want to accomplish, its easier to do a little every day

🔎🤔 Not everything is going to be easy

When learning to code, it can be frustrating to not understand something, especially if you’ve been looking at it for hours. I felt this so many times in the beginning and I still feel every time I'm learning something new or doing something that I never did before. We often end up feeling sad. You are not alone. I usually speak with someone about that and by putting everything out, I feel so much relieved. Sometimes the friend/mentor ends up showing me how much I have been involved from a month ago and that I need to be easier on myself. Always remember of taking your time and being easier on yourself.

💻 The job-hunting process

When starting looking for a job, don't be afraid of applying to different companies, to go to interviews, you can learn a lot at an interview and it can help you improve, take notes, ask questions and most importantly, don't feel sad when an opportunity doesn't knock. Another opportunity will appear no soon.
But first things first, create a very easy to read cv and adjust to the company that you are applying to, improve your LinkedIn profile, create a GitHub account with some projects.
Be humble at interviews but at the same time, know your value, don't underestimate yourself with the first offer that appears, investigating about the company, the reviews, the opportunities to grow.

If you are a junior, it's very important to have seniors in the company and a good development plan. Sure you can grow while you work, but you also need support and opportunities to develop yourself.

🌈 If your goal is to become a Frontend Developer

When I first started, I was so afraid of JavaScript that I always tried to run away from it. Then, since the market was so eager for frameworks, I started to learn Vue.js before I have a solid foundation of JavaScript. This is a huge mistake. Don't be like me. Turn JavaScript into your best friend. Do a lot of coding exercises with js. Watch youtube videos. Learn how the browser console works. That will be so scary at first, but with time you will notice that this will be of so much help when working with frameworks.