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Luis wanted to do something fulfilling with his life. Here’s how his interest in coding started his journey in becoming a software developer.
“I quickly realized that I had a lot of gaps. I didn't know what I was doing especially since I didn't have any experience. I decided that I needed to join a school and what made me come to Microverse was the fact that I didn't have to pay anything until I got a job.” - Luis Maldonado
Microverse students work incredibly hard to become professional software developers and we’re so proud of all our students and the work they put in. Our students have landed new jobs around the world, earning more than what they made before — without paying Microverse anything until they’re employed.
We are delighted to highlight another alum, Luis Maldonado, who currently works at Housecall Pro as a remote software developer. We asked Luis how he began his coding journey and his path to career success.
Luis was born in Mexico City but lived in Queretaro for the last few years. In college he studied mechatronics engineering but never worked as one. Instead, he worked as a risk manager for a bank for a while.
Then he started a business but sold it when it wasn’t working out. After that, Luis started looking for what he wanted to do next. Coding piqued his interest and curiosity and decided to look into it.
Before Microverse, Luis had never worked as a developer. He tried to learn by himself, then decided that he needed to join a school where he could learn more intensively.
Luis was first interested in mobile development and had ideas for creating apps. When he discovered Microverse, he decided to branch out to try other coding languages.
Luis look the leap to join Microverse and supported himself throughout with the money he got from selling his business. His wife was very supportive as well and was working to help support them both.
The most difficult part in Microverse for Luis was learning to work with other people since he was used to working by himself. It was challenging for him to get used to working with and depending on others but it helped him grow.
“I spent the last two years before doing Microverse pretty much working by myself.”
Those who come from different backgrounds and are used to different customs was also a challenge but it was also rewarding to work with them. Luis learned how to interact and get along with others who were from a different culture.
Luis started his career path as a software developer through freelancing. His first job was working with a project manager (PM) on a freelancing platform which was successful. Afterward, the PM he worked with offered him a full-time position at her partner company where he stayed for seven months. He then moved on to another company through the same project manager’s recommendation.
Luis is currently working for Housecall Pro, based in Canada, as a software developer. He was hired in May 2021 when he was still in Mexico and moved to Canada in August of the same year.
Working as a remote software developer allowed Luis to accomplish one of his lifelong dreams to live in Canada. He’s now doing what he loves in a place he wanted to be.
Migrating to Canada was not easy though. The cost of living is expensive and his wife began to study in Canada which doubled their expenses. But even though the cost of living is higher, the salaries are also higher. As a remote software developer, Luis’ salary is `15 times more than what he was making in his previous job.
At Microverse, Luis learned how to learn on his own. Through the learning materials and support from his partners and team, he was able to thrive. Luis shared how important this style of learning was to him because technology is changing quickly and you need to adapt to those changes.
“That's what you face every day. Code is changing fast and there are new technologies going out all the time.”
During his time at Microverse, Luis also improved his English communication skills while working with his stand-up team. He had a team from diverse backgrounds which helped him connect with people from different cultures.
He also emphasized that when working with people of different backgrounds, you have to learn how to approach them. This aspect of Microverse greatly impacted Luis and he is able to apply it in his current role.
“If you want to work with a company where they don't speak your language and they have a distributed team, you need to learn how to work in English.”
Luis advised to read more and not to take anything for granted. He shared that initially he didn’t have enough experience and knowledge and ended up having frequent problems with his code. To resolve this, he studied the problem more closely to see what was wrong.
He also advised against watching too many video tutorials on coding because it can teach you bad habits. Reading books is a much better way to learn. It’s overwhelming at times but it will save you a lot of time, Luis assured.
Luis focused on doing his best when he started out in his new career path. It doesn’t matter if you start with something small, Luis assured. As long as you make it good, it can make anyone recommend you to others.
“One of the best things that you can do is make the work the best you can.”
What companies are looking for when they hire a person is their willingness to take criticism. They should also be able to explain code in simple terms since they’ll be working with people who are not software developers. “You need to be able to describe what you do in a way that everybody can understand,” he explained.
But ultimately, Luis reminds you to know your worth when looking for work. “It is much harder to get your first job,” Luis shared, “than your next jobs”. He understood how difficult it is and that some developers might lowball themselves just to get new jobs. “You need to be competitive when looking for jobs,” Luis said, but not to the point of underselling yourself.
Through a lot of hard work, focus and dedication, Luis was able to start a new career path in software development and find fulfillment. To date, Microverse has enrolled full-time students from 100+ countries in its full-time online program, and helped students from around the world land life-changing jobs and change their career paths. If you’re ready to change your life by becoming a remote software developer, get started below!
Ariel is the founder & CEO of Microverse, an online school for software engineers. Read more about Microverse and how it can help you.
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