Why do I study code instead of pursuing a career in finance?

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This is a shared article by Amir Ghafouri , explaining to people why he learned code instead of pursuing his career in finance. Is passion the biggest motivator for Amir Ghafouri to become a programmer? Let's find out with us!

Last year, I - the author of the article - faced a most important decision in life as a future career choice . Or commit to obtaining Chartered Financial Analyst certification ( a certificate exclusively for professional financial analysts in the areas of securities, investment, risk management, banking and finance ); or spend time learning online code at the freeCodeCamp website .

CFA Institute ( CFA Institute ), founded in 1962, currently has more than 140,000 charter in 158 countries worldwide. CFA is a professional qualification that is considered a gold standard to assess the capabilities, professionalism and professional ethics of investors. Moreover, the CFA program is widely recognized around the world for its high practicality, providing the knowledge base and operating principles of the global investment market; help promote and develop careers in investment. The freeCodeCamp page has only been established for the past two years with some members being informed that they have the same job as Junior Developers.

I spent four years studying economics at Western University, graduated with honors and amassed student loans for the duration of my studies. My GMAT score is the 95th percentile - if I want to pursue the MBA program.But why did I give up the field where I attended college before starting my career?

After talking to my friends, family and experts, I received very helpful advice. Learning Code online and becoming a software developer without a computer science certificate or any technical background is " crazy ". However, I quickly decided and registered to take the Level I CFA exam.

Software is becoming important for creating value

I have read the famous essay by Marc Andreessen: ' Why Software Is Eating The World' ( roughly translated: Software is "eating meat" in the world ) and only 5 years later, his message seems more correct.

America's largest industrial company, General Electric , has just announced it will move its established headquarters at Boston's technology center in an effort to turn itself into a software company in the top 10 technology companies. 2020.

CEO Jeff Immelt has a groundbreaking belief. He argued that the data they captured when using machines could become more valuable than the machines themselves. GE needs to think about competitors like Amazon and IBM. At the end of the year, Jeff Immelt announced that all new employees would learn the code.

According to the New York Times, " The whole company staff went to San Ramon to attend technology meetings and take a dip in the technology culture. Their 'marching order' was to try to adapt to the routine. Silicon Valley's digital familiarity and rushing habits into the industrial world of GE '.

Deloitte has launched a blockchain laboratory ( a technology that enables secure data transmission based on extremely complex coding systems ) and JP Morgan is building its own blockchain platform.

At Goldman Sachs , the percentage of employees with technological background has increased from 5% to 25% in recent years. Even, it does not count software developers who have worked for startups that it is investing at a fast pace.

The Economist said, ' Not everything from before, 600 people worked on a huge stock exchange . Now, Goldman has 2 traders and 200 other software engineers working on effective systems and work done by themselves. This traditional investment bank is 'mature' enough to change . Steps to cut back on standby costs are being cut or, again, automated ".

Bloomberg has his own thoughts on this issue: " Why does Goldman let the non-professionals go in? Because Goldman needs them. Great innovations in our time do not appear in a Henry Cobb glass tower looking. going to the Hudson River They come from companies like Kensho, Goldman needs to learn from them - to understand how they work, their thoughts and how they intend to disassemble all industries Goldman earns, including their own ".

Software companies such as Facebook and Google have jumped to the top of the stock market in a very short time, without having to deal with incumbent companies decades ago.

Chart from Bloomberg

And it's hard to argue that these valuations are unfounded. The software these companies build allows each of their employees to create more value.

This chart was tweeted by CB Insights with the caption: " Is this why every company from industry is trying to reinvent as a technology company? "

Software makes life better

Every day, I rely on software to visit, explore, arrange to do, communicate with friends, keep in touch with relatives and free from repetitive and cumbersome tasks. The Internet has democratized access to information and knowledge. I used it to read and learn about anything I wanted.

But I know that these benefits are nothing compared to what it has done for others and it can do in the future.Chris Dixon wrote an article called " Eleven Reasons to Excited About the Future of Technology" , ( roughly translated: 11 interesting reasons for future technology ), which summarizes some potential breakthroughs. power.

Chris Dixon discussed how self-driving cars can reduce traffic accidents to 80% ( 1.25 million people die each year from car-related accidents ). Chris Dixon describes cancer detection algorithms that may outperform human pathologists. He told us that unmanned aircraft can provide medical resources for remote and remote villages.

Our lives on data

" Right now, a mobile Masai warrior in Kenya has a better mobile information system than the president did 25 years ago. If he is using a used smartphone Google, he has access to more information than the US president did 15 years ago. "- Peter Diamandis

Many software developers do not learn code at university

I have learned a lot about these people. Former investment bank investor Goldman Sachs, Preethi Kasireddy wrote about leaving the venture capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz to participate in the code training program. Later, Preethi Kasireddy became a software developer at Coinbase.

Or, Haseeb Qureshi professional poker describes how he attended bootcamp - a short course ( 12 weeks ) to review his knowledge at the App Academy to become a software developer at Airbnb. From a professional poker player to an excellent programmer, get 8 offers from big companies including Google, Uber, Airbnb .

Then there's a story about a guy named Andrew Charlebois . He used freeCodeCamp to go from a carpenter who had no technical knowledge to a software developer at a global advertising agency in less than 5 months.

I became interested in job postings about software developers and found that many people recognized this value as equal to any bachelor's degree. Some companies will obviously ignore mentioning the qualification requirements and instead, give priority to the open source portfolio.

I also started participating in technology events, had the opportunity to meet software developers and CTO ( Chief technology officer - technology director, senior management position in a company or organization with merit). The administration focuses on issues related to science and technology ).Many people - if not most - tell me that they have never studied computer science or technology at any university.

All this was confirmed when I found Stack Overflow's 2016 survey results with more than 50,000 software developers.More than half of the respondents did not have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related subject and 13% said they were completely self-taught.

My decision

I continue to apply for the financial jobs I study. I don't want my dad to worry and moreover, I can spend my savings before working as a software developer.

Even so, the path is clear: " I believe software is the future and want to learn how to be able to do it. Even if I can't become an expert at least I I might know a little bit about how this "spooky magic" code is made, I don't want to depend on someone without trying to figure it out. like that ".

Learning process Code

I spent 8 months, 24/7 to study the code. I attended the freeCodeCamp training program and read books like Eloquent Javascript . In addition, I watched Udemy and Udacity videos, Googled StackOverflow's answer and asked questions on the freeCodeCamp chat room. I also attended many Node School and Coffee'n'Code conferences when possible.

After 8 months, I gathered a simple web application catalog, started learning about web application services and data persistence ( the term for the information of frequently accessed data and almost no future changes ).

I started applying for the position of basic software development. Surprisingly, I received the attention of the employers even though I made myself clear about my lack of professional skills and work experience.

Finally, a startup called Shoelace called me for an interview. They asked if I was willing to try a paid job within 2 weeks. At the end of the second trial week, CTO told me that they wanted to hire me. Although my knowledge is limited, they see that I have the potential, learn quickly and develop my role.

The current

Now, I have worked full-time at Shoelace as a software developer for over a year. I quickly learned everything when working with experienced developers and asking for help from them. They introduced me to tools and models that I might take a long time to find out for myself.

The most important thing when working on application is the fact that I noticed some complex aspects of software development. I learned about sprint planning ( sprint planning ), working with product managers, version control ( version control ), testing, code review ( review and code review), deployment, follow error monitoring and application monitoring. These are all things that I have never thought about when learning the code myself.

Earlier this year, I built a web application called Spotifest that helped my friends and I created Spotify playlists based on available songs. There is nothing better than doing something yourself and seeing people use it faster or better than when doing it manually.

Development company

When I started working at Shoelace , I was the third full-time employee. We are currently hiring and will soon have 18 people. I can witness a small group offering new ideas daily, then quickly developing products to attract new users and increase venture capital.

This year, we are accepted to participate in the program 500 Startups seed program ( roughly translated: Program 500 seed startups ). The founders of Shoelace gave us the opportunity to experience a month of living and working in San Francisco. The first experience of Silicon Valley's energy source and the Bay Area is amazing!

Companies in Canada on product launch dates in San Francisco ( I wear red and clap ).

The rest of the team watched the livestream demo in Toronto at our office at the Ryerson DMZ digital technology incubator.

Meet colleagues after a day of work at Shopify's Unite conference in San Francisco.

I am not sure that I will choose to be the software developer forever, but I know my code will always be a valuable asset. I think every company in the world is gradually becoming a high-tech company. The number is increasing, every role will require a basic understanding of software development to make strategic decisions and manage the team effectively.

Life is wonderful, and I am happy that I have tried my best to do this.Fixing bugs can be stressful and writing unit tests ( an important technique that contributes to software quality ) can be tedious. But overall, I really enjoy the possibility of new ideas to put into my life with code.

As Paul Graham said: " In 1970, the president of a company meant someone who was about fifty years old. If a technician works for them, they are like a stable racing car: valuable, But when technology is becoming increasingly important, the power of technology enthusiasts increases, but now does not meet every CEO who has an intelligent person to be able to ask questions. By technique, more and more and they must be those people. "

If you like this article, share it with people who have the same passion for known code. Thank you for taking the time to read my article!

Author: Amir Ghafouri

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