Den's Story: Leave to come back

Denis's IT career almost ended here
Denis became an IT specialist in a non-standard way. It all started right, as people should have got into IT by design, that is, through mathematics at school and computer science at university.

Vector set a math class — "oh, I guess I understand that, since we had advanced mathematics" — and our hero enrolled in computer science. Suddenly, like many other students, he found out that, it turns out, he had to study at the university. The first session was a shock, and he closed it, barely breaking away from WoW raids. It was hard to work, school achievements meant almost nothing, and by the second session Denis came unprepared.

Realizing that it smells fried, he did not lose his head and quickly transferred to a sports institute. Fortunately, athletic achievements allowed. So he actually left IT at the start, not assuming how life would turn out next. And he did not return to the topic until he inherited the plumbing business.

If you think that now there will be a story "and then I realized that I needed a normal IT core, a website, an ecom, we started developing a business and sold the system to the federal network," then no. He also quickly leaked the plumbing store.

The key to our IT history was that the plumbing business made it possible to properly understand 3D Max. Instead of selling shut-off valves, he turned models in this software. At the same time, his friend was engaged in comics, even opened his own small studio. He says: "Come to us, see how and what is being done, we will find something for you to do." Denis came, hung out with real artists, studied software. At the same time, he merged the plumbing business, or rather, transferred it to his aunt in a slightly more unprofitable state than he inherited. He said something like: "I'm tired, I'm a fly-tipper" and signed a donation agreement.

Generally speaking, 3D is a rather atypical entry point into IT. The skills that you can get at Max on your own are usually not very in demand in practice. Denis made money with the text for comics, which were drawn by artists, script proofreading, collages for storyboards. But then there was a big order for London, they built a kind of production line. Plus, there was a side job: logos, posters for 500 rubles.

At one point, a front-end developer came to visit, said: "There is an order for the site, let's do it together." It was necessary to draw the UI part from Denis. I drew it. It was an online store selling driving services in online games. 2016, when WoW was raided for money. And WoW, as you remember, is a discipline for which Denis was more prepared than for a university session and site building. The site turned out to be so-so, as much as two not only junas, but even interns could do. The customer had to draw product cards in Photoshop himself and upload them to FTP. In the end, it became clear that it was better to return the money and quit this project. So they did, the customer was sympathetic.

But the experience was gained and made sense — they took a friend of Beck as the third in the team. They started making websites in the city. Landing pages, cafe sites, delivery services and everything else were much easier to develop. Denis was engaged in design and negotiations — it was not enough to do, someone had to go to protect the customer's work, knock out money.

So they existed for two years. And then there was a design conference in Smolensk. My friends and colleagues decided to go. Three days out of town: hang out, they'll tell you about the design, about the development. During these three days, Denis received the revelation that he had been doing some kind of bullshit for these two years. And there he met his future boss and mentor, who showed him what a designer can and should actually do. And then I wrote a few months later and said that there were a couple of orders. We collaborated remotely for several months.

Soon Denis moved into his studio in Moscow. We found ecom projects, online stores for auto parts. In fact, they began to engage in turnkey agency web development. But the dot-com bubble ended in Russia, there was less and less work, and the rent of an apartment had to be paid.

In order not to get swollen from hunger at all, our hero left the studio and got a job at the enterprise as a jun for about 40 thousand rubles — to design industrial interfaces. Why so little — because it was then, at the age of 25, at the enterprise that he first learned that there was such a thing as a work record. And they brought it to him there.

There he was engaged in designing for access control terminals: when you go to the facility, you need to attach a passport, then enter data, then use a key card and so on. That is, these are terminals that give a pass, they look like vending machines for cell phones, and there is also a whole zoo of devices and software. Each has its own screen and its own specifics.

They managed to gain experience in research there. "Go to this enterprise, sit down with a hard worker, take pictures of what he does at the checkpoint, analyze, accept reports" — the interfaces gradually became better, and Denis became more and more bored. It was enough for two months. But then the studio called and said that there was a large customer. I came to the boss at the factory, he says: "That's the way it is, they made me an offer that is difficult to refuse." The boss scratched his head and said: "I wouldn't mind either. Go ahead." And Denis went.

So he returned to web development. We worked for another six months with the casino, then with the second casino. As a result, I had enough experience to go on to an international company. To make an exchange for trading currency pairs (the principle is the same). Everything was going great, it was interesting, but then what happened happened, and in March the London firm said goodbye. That's how Denis came to us in T1, doing the design at the control points. He's doing well, and the case is moot.

In general, if IT is yours, then you will come there anyway. Even if not in a straight line, through search, the thorns of freelancing and other areas. So our hero returned to the bloody world of the enterprise. With experience and knowledge. Well, we are not exactly a bloody world, we are quite such a light enterprise.

Author: Dina Almukhamedova