Journeyman Journeys

Finally, I have graduated from my Microsoft Junior Full-Stack Developer Course.

On 10 December 2020, Microsoft and Generation partnered with Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), InfoComm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Skills Future Singapore (SSG) to upskill, place, and fill demand for tech-enabled jobs for up to 1,000 Singaporeans as part of the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.

It was a long journey in the making for me. Only recently, I managed to make it a reality. The pieces just fell into place.

I’ve always had an interest in technology. This domain name was started ten years ago. It started as a tech blog. I lost the domain name three years after its inception. At that point in time, I was going through a personal crisis. I didn’t back up anything and all the content was lost.

Only last year I managed to get back the domain name.

I wasn’t trained formerly. Everything I learnt was community-taught. What do I mean by that? It’s about reading the internet forums, codes from other developers/enthusiasts and late night pouring over technical books or journals.

Yes, I have created web pages before. I’ve used content management systems (CMS) like Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress. I settled on WordPress because of its massive support base of themes and plugins. Those were the days. I had to troubleshoot incompatible plugins and themes. On top of that I have to worry about site security and DDOS attacks.

As you can see, it wasn’t an overnight decision, it was all the small steps that leads me to where I am now.

Initially I had misgivings about the course. To me, building a website is easy. Get a domain name, a hosting provider, install WordPress, configure it by themes and plugins and voila, you have a website. It’s not really a big deal. Or as simple as making a GatsbyJS website. It’s a React-based, GraphQL powered, static site generator.

That is provided your requirements aren’t complex and you are just running your personal blog or a small business.

It’s different for big companies. Their websites are highly customized. They serve millions of users or customers. You can’t just use an off-the-shelf programs. Even for WordPress, you need a developer to fully customize it.

These are the critical tech stack that I learnt: JavaScript, React, Java, MySQL, and Spring Boot. There are a lot of companies that require people with that skill set.

Yes, I’ve graduated. It is simply the beginning. Technology is constantly evolving. If you don’t like changes, don’t go into this industry.

For me, I still have a long way to learn. For the next six months, I’ll be doing an apprenticeship with a company. More of that soon.

My Certifications