Getting hired for the first time after a career switch
As a Cuban, living abroad, every day is an adventure. I have finished my front-end course at Winc Academy and when I thought I could apply for a Job right away. There was still another module that I have to finish in order to be ready... man... The amount of energy and time that a person has to put into create a crafty portfolio, is just incredible. Where I come, the form is not so important as the content. You don't need to overtake yourself... but here it is a different story... you have just an instant to show all your qualities and you have to make the best use of it.
So I have been very busy organizing my portafolio and that includes LinkedIn profile. Many friends has reached me to congratulare me and also give me some tips. Obviously I wasn't awared of all the requirements. At this Point I am waiting for the feedback from Winc Academy. I am sure they will have a few remarks about my portfolio
In the meantime I would like to share what I was hooping it would be my about in Linkedin but it can't be due the extensión of text. So I will share like a article post instead.
Thanks to all friend and colleagues who kindly have take a look at my profile and provide me with useful advices
SUPPOSED ABOUT:
Challenging, push boundaries, team working, solidarity, sharing, are characteristics natural to Cubans so I would like to join a crew which such qualities. I enjoy a lot to develop website apps. It allows me to combine my tech skills and my previous academic background (visual art & Anthropology).
I am born and raised in Cuba🇨🇺. I moved to the Netherlands 🇳🇱 in February 2019 (I was 39 years old) and my daughter was born next month. Living in the Netherlands has been one of my greatest challenges. Learning Dutch is quite a journey to Spanish native speaking people. Also, cultural differences and the technology gap is huge! On top of that, Cuban diplomas have very little value, even totally worthless, in the Netherlands. That’s why, for me, and many other people I have met, it was literally like starting from scratch.
After several unsuccessful tryouts to find a job in my academic field (social science), I decided to do any job. Every single one that I have done so far, has for description: “no education level required and physical fit (willing to roll your leaves)”.
As a Cuban, I must state that I am very fortunately to live in the Netherlands and not in my home country. In Cuba, there has been a totalitarian regime for more than six decades and Cuban people have endured hardship and scarcity for many years. I have a beautiful family so that should be more than enough to praise the Lord for my fortune.
Nevertheless, to be honest, it didn’t feel like it. These jobs were killing my intelligence (also breaking my body). I could literally feel my cell brains splashing on the floor. My professional future perspective seemed quite grim.
Some people advised me to improve my Dutch as the only way to find a nice job in my expertise area. Getting such a high crafted Dutch would take me three years, at least. Besides, there was no warranty that I could get a job as anthropologist even if my Dutch would become flawless. According to a friend who teaches Anthropology at Amsterdam university, most of the people don’t really know what anthropologists do so getting a position is quite a difficult.
Other people advised me to do some course and get a Dutch diploma. That was my decision but I needed to figure out what and how. Find out which direction will be my career-switch, took me some time, especially because I had to find it out by myself in an alien language(Dutch).
Since Cuba I was keen to web designing so I did some research about. There are a lot of options and many don’t appear to be legit. Luckily, I bumped into Winc Academy. This was a very nice surprise. I was mentally prepared to follow the course in Dutch, nevertheless I was so released when I was told that English was also an option. For first time, since I moved to the Netherlands, I didn’t feel so hopelessly about jobs. At last, I could spot a dim light at the end of the tunnel!
Long story short, I started ten months ago (Jan 2022) but it seems like years have passed. I remember I had no clue about coding. I just heard about HTML but stuff like CSS, JavaScript, Nodejs, Reactjs, Reduxjs or Bootstrap, sounded like gibberish to me. I remember how difficult was first Javascript assignment (movie filter) and when I had to make my first shopping cart, I told myself: “how the hell am I going to do that?”. Nowadays it doesn’t seem so complicated at all.
After all this time of relentless studying, using my sleeping time for this purpose (sleeping 4 or 5 hours daily), I am very satisfied with the chose I made. So much that I have spread the good-word about Winc Academy to other non-Dutch people who were (are) in a situation similar to mine and I have already found three new students for this institute.
Despite of all the great education system of Winc Academy. I would have not got this far, just with their bibliography. I did a lot of study on my own. At this point, I feel quite confident of my coding skills. If I would look 3 months ago and check out the stuff I can develop today, I would not believe it. React-Redux is becoming something simpler and natural.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Soon I'm going to begin the back-end course.
I will not try to over-sale myself, if you as a recruiter have read till this point, I believe you are a person willing to give me an opportunity to prove my coding skills. This is probably a very unorthodox About (biography in Linkedin) but it is what it is. This is my avatar.
You are welcome to check out at my last assignment:
or the new project I am working right now:
I won’t write much about my work in Cuba but at will leave some links that are self-explanatory. Just state that my experiences there, crafted my “soft skills”. These “soft skills” are my true strength. This is the “extra flavor” that I can bring to the “main dish” (coding skills).
Working achievements in Cuba:
* Coordinator of hiphop venues and graffiti
* Coordinator of Kbola project (2012l2018). Hip hop & Reggae concerts and action painting:
* Coordinator of Poco Bonito gallery (PB project). Art workshop and gallery (2014-2018):
You are welcome to contact me by phone or email, preferably whatsapp (+31626117235)
Amazing story Carlos, and thank you so much for your kind words 🙏 There's no doubt that with your grit and dedication, you'll find the perfect match where you can put your skills into practice! In the meantime, we're cheering you on every step of the way 🚀
COO at Winc Academy | Launch your Tech Career with Education | For Everyone, Everywhere 🚀
2yAll the best, Carlos 🙌
Carlos Y Infante Vera Awesome! Thanks for Sharing! ⚡