A New Beginning

Monday, March 31st 2025 marks my final day working for Sunderland Software City. After 8 short months, I have finally landed a permanent job as a Junior Software Engineer in Salesfire! The Tech Talent Pro programme is invaluable to me. I realise I sound like a parrot when I say this, but I truly did learnt a whole lot during my time in SSC. I will forever be indebted to this programme, the people who have been running it, and especially my mentor and my colleagues.

Upon entering the TTP programme, I was quite arrogant. I thought I was a pretty good developer - and yes, I am aware of the Dunning Kruger effect. I think it’s understandable, though. I managed to get in the assessment day through sheer wit and charisma (I was referred by an employee that I met twice in different networking events, shout out Kai you changed my life dude), had less than 24 hours to prepare, and was selected to be part of the programme. I was quickly humbled and put to my place after just a few weeks.

Slowly, slowly, as time passes working in SSC, I got my hands wet with a couple of projects. I have gotten more proficient with TypeScript, used a new framework SvelteKit, ditched TailwindCSS, picked up and hated Laravel, rolled out our own authentication system, talked to clients, loved Laravel, made my own VSCode snippets, learned VimMotions (highly recommend), picked up NeoVim (I use Lazyvim), and battered my tastebuds by forcing myself to get used to instant coffee. Fresh coffee is too damn expensive!

I’d like to think that I have also matured during this time. I have learned to set appropriate goals and expectations for myself, being aware of burn out, and getting used to the “9-5” routine (this was my first office job!). Taking notes is one of the greatest things you can do for your learning! I have also realised that I am fortunate enough to be in the position where I can confidently state that taking holidays does not mean you are lazy. I am very lucky to be able to understand, at least in my current lifestyle, what work-life balance looks like.

Leaving SSC was not without a heavy heart. I have enjoyed the presence of everyone in the company. The fact that I live practically beside the office! I have always felt welcome, and I love stealing the snacks. Like one’s first love, It is (allegedly) difficult to not be attached to your first job. However, the situation has called for us to part. I yearn for more space to grow. A permanent position where I don’t have to look for other opportunities; a place where I can fully invest in myself. I seek for bigger challenges. Challenges that presents itself in a larger organisation filled with people that are more hardworking, more talented, and more experienced than me.

One chapter closes, another one opens

I currently just had passed the one week mark of being in Salesfire. In just 5 business days, I have already faced numerous new challenges. Setting up a local instance of the largest project I’ve ever been in was not as straightforward as I would have hoped. Navigating around the code base with zero knowledge was, and still is, a pain! I’m getting better though. Meandering around the code base was just like going to Newcastle for the first time after only being in Sunderland for 3 months after I first arrived in the UK - everything feels gigantic, I got lost multiple times. Some parts of the code base were ancient, a relic! Still beautiful though, and it works! I think? I can’t tell; it’s too big. I’m hoping I’ll be able to swim in this ocean soon.

One thing I hate is my NeoVim setup doesn’t work properly with the codebases, neither does my VSCode one!! Need to see how to properly setup my editors. In the mean time, I’ll just manually indent or run Pint manually before a commit 😭