Still my most favorite GIF...

... because it reminds me, the bigger the product the bigger the possible back(sp)lash

(no I can't remember where I saw it first)

(context: I'm from Germany)

The interview was going well, their developer and I had good talks about their stack and projects, I thought I was making a good impression.

Then the HR guy had some Qs. He went through my CV, wanted to know why I left company X and what I did at company Y. He seemed quite impressed with the work experience I already had (the job I was applying for was an entry level position).

For education I had an entry at a university. "courses in computer science". He asked:

"And you finished the Bachelor's degree, right?"

Me, "well, no. I stopped after about 2 semesters. I'm a self-taught developer, all my skills..."

HR guy interrupts

"So, no bachelor's degree?"

"No, but I figured out that I am a much better learner outside of university and that I don't want to go into research."

"Thank you for coming in, we'll get back to you soon."

...

As a conclusion: I learned that german companies are still very traditional and search for employees with degrees. They don't understand how you'd know stuff if you don't have a degree.

Good thing: we also have international companies, which are happy to welcome enthusiastic and self-taught developers.

I've learned webpack over the past years. It was a tough road.

Then I tried parcel....

.... I hope I'll work on a big project someday, to actually use my hard earned webpack skills again.

"experience that made you doubt your skill"

Debugging

The beginning of my freelancing time. I was so naive. Didn't even used contracts...

This one client wanted a website with 2 specific features until a certain time. It should look nice, but only the features functionality was defined. All seemed reasonable at first.

I delivered 2 weeks before the deadline. The client was furious, as it didn't look like they imagined. They wrote me 8 lengthy emails with very fractioned feedback. It was becoming unreasonable.

But hey, I'm a newbie in this business. I have to make myself a name, I thought.
Oh was I naive....

This whole project went on for 2 more months. The client was unhappy with every change and 2-5 emails a day with new demands were coming in. I was changing things they wanted done 2 days ago, because they changed their mind.

Then they started to get personal. They were insulting me and even my family. My self-confidence dropped to an all-time low.

In the end I just sent them all the code for free and went to therapy.

BTW: this was also my most important experience, as things went up hill from then on. As Yoda once said: The greatest teacher, failure is.

Sports made me a better dev. It helps me think straight.

"Ok, let's see what ffplay offers us ... "

* enters 'ffplay -h' into console *

holy...
freaking....
cow.......

(it's still running while writing this "rant")

They apparently think that I should answer every telegram/email/WhatsApp message immediately.
"You're looking at the screen the whole time anyways!"
.
.
.
(╯°□°） ╯︵ ┻━┻) 

That's when I sold my bitcoins for wedding gift shopping.

Atom FTW