After the full-scale invasion, Dariya Kushnirenko left Kharkiv, moved to the UK and in two years went from warehouse packer to team leader. But the real changes began after her dismissal, when she decided to radically change her profession and move into IT, to finally gain the freedom she dreamed of back in Ukraine.
After the full-scale invasion, Dariya Kushnirenko left Kharkiv, moved to the UK and in two years went from warehouse packer to team leader. But the real changes began after her dismissal, when she decided to radically change her profession and move into IT, to finally gain the freedom she dreamed of back in Ukraine.
Daria Kushnirenko's life before IT was full of changes and challenges, although she formally received a tourism manager's education. She hardly worked by profession, instead, she began her career as a waiter in high-end restaurants, grew to manager, and later tried her hand at telephone sales.
However, the first thoughts about IT appeared in my hometown, before entering university, but then, due to lack of funds, I had to choose a specialty on the state budget with the possibility of further employment.
A full-scale war forced Daria to leave Kharkiv and start life abroad from scratch. Having moved to the UK, she achieved career growth in the logistics sector. In two years, she went from an ordinary warehouse packer to a team leader of 17 people. However, this chapter ended unexpectedly.
I was fired one day. I still don't know the exact reasons, but I think I was laid off, like several of my other colleagues.
After the downsizing, Daria found herself in a foreign country without a job and felt the desire to radically change her situation. Although the decision to move into IT came quickly, the most difficult thing, according to Daria, was overcoming internal doubt.
It was harder to believe in yourself when you were proven over the years that you were a typical humanitarian, and programming was for the chosen few.
The main motivation was not so much financial aspect or stability, but the desire for freedom. She notes that in all her previous jobs she was tied to a place, either due to the lack of light in the restaurant, the need to travel to the warehouse, or spending time on the way to the call center office.
Although Daria didn't have "rose-colored glasses" about IT, she imagined it as "a big community with its own jokes and atmosphere, an oversaturated job market and great competition," and her expectations were met.
Daria chose courses to start her journey. She took an 11-month course on Full Stack development, which gave her a lot of theory. It was during her studies that she realized that her direction was frontend.
Daria sees her “mission as improving user experience.” She is concerned about how many “crappy” applications or pages there are.
I always feel sorry for users who have no choice but to resort to inconvenient solutions.
The biggest obstacle during the study was combining it with her main job. Daria had to allocate at least three hours to study every day in the morning, combining this with a 7.5-hour workday, sleep and meals. She admits that it was difficult, but quite realistic. Even before the end of the course, she had the experience of passing a difficult test task.
My first test at the company, before finishing the course, was creating a 3D web page using animations and Java Script. 2 days, 0 experience and an example of sky-high complexity, but I liked it.
Daria has currently paused her active search for a long-term job, as she seeks to expand her knowledge base to be more in demand in the market. She is realistic about the situation and suggests that it will take six months or more to find her first job.
Aitivytsa actively uses all possible channels for searching: LinkedIn, acquaintances, and Telegram channels. Daria emphasizes that networking is especially important in the IT field.
Her previous experience in management positions has made her confident in dealing with recruiters, and she feels she has plenty of soft skills. Technical interviews, however, are a different matter.
"During technical interviews, my knees shake like for the first time. They are actually a small obstacle to my path, so I need to deepen my knowledge and try again."
When asked by a dev.ua journalist how rejections from recruiters affect her, Daria calmly treats them with understanding.
"Every recruiter is looking for "their" candidate, and it's normal that it's not me," the IT professional noted.
However, she is frustrated by the lack of feedback after interviews. She also doesn't understand the approach of the company disappearing without explanation when a candidate has gone through several stages before the final.
Silence after reviews or interviews, when it's not clear what happened, is a very painful feeling.
Despite all the challenges, the transition has already changed her life. Daria's circle of friends has become a "solid development center" where she can share experiences.
“My mother is still in pleasant shock, because the child has been dancing and taking pictures almost all her life, and now she is also drawing something in symbols on a black screen,” said Daria.
Sometimes it feels like I'm just wasting time on something I'll never succeed at. But when after hours of searching for a bug and a solution is found, you breathe a sigh of relief because you remember where it all started.
Daria warns those who are just thinking about making the switch that IT is not about “pink ponies,” but about knowledge and analytical thinking. She gives clear advice: “If you are not willing to pay attention to the little things and love code more than anything else, it will be difficult.”
"You won't get far without motivation, and without technical knowledge, a developer won't survive, and networking will help you "promote" yourself in the market as profitably as possible," Daria concluded.
