How I Went from Art Historian to Full-Stack Developer in 1.5 Years

Learning to code so that you can land a job in tech can feel daunting. That’s why we’re sharing inspiring stories from Codecademy’s community — to show how people like you (yes, you!) can embark on a learning journey and end up with a totally new career. We hope these stories serve as a reminder that there’s no single path to a more fulfilling work life. 

Today’s story is from Janka Antalova, a 29-year-old Full-Stack Developer living in Padua, Italy. Read more stories from Codecademy learners here — and be sure to share your story here. 

Why I chose to learn to code 

“I have a degree in art history, and that’s one of the reasons why I moved to Italy. Unfortunately, it was extremely hard to find any kind of jobs in that field. It was actually my partner who suggested that I look into coding. He said that since I was a creative person, maybe I could think of creative solutions to coding problems. At first, I was hesitant. I didn’t consider myself a technical person at all — I wasn’t good at math, and it didn’t seem like my thing. But he encouraged me to try it, so I played around with HTML for about a week. 

Then I found Codecademy and did the free course for HTML and CSS. I was really loving it because it gave me a creative outlet while also exciting me about learning something new. I felt useful for once. So, I decided to pursue the Front-End Engineer career path.” 

How I made time to learn 

“Since I was unemployed, I thought I might as well dedicate my whole day to learning coding and make it my full-time job. I was coding for eight to 10 hours every day without skipping a day because I wanted to get through this. I wanted to see the finish line, learn something new, and actually be able to do this. I think I got lucky because I had the opportunity to not be employed for such a long time. I also got help from my parents when I needed it, so it was a really good balance.” 

How I saved up money to switch careers 

“I had kind of given up on my last job in art history because I was just completely fed up with it. I was unemployed and basically living off the little money I had saved up.” 

How long it took me to land a job 

“I blazed through the courses because it was so much fun. I started at the beginning of February last year, and I was done by August. At that point, I didn’t feel like I was good enough to apply for any jobs, but I applied nonetheless. I felt like I had to start somewhere, at least find an internship or something, because I had put so much effort into it and didn’t want it to go to waste. 

I was kind of naive about how fast I would be able to land a job. Everybody was telling me, ‘Oh, you’re doing programming? You’re going to land a job easily. Everybody’s looking for a programmer all the time. You’re going to make all this crazy money.’ I was really hyped up, thinking, Okay, this is going to be great. Finally, some good work, and all this effort is really going to pay off. 

But it really didn’t look like it was going to pay off for the last eight months that I’ve been looking for a job. Around March or April, I had a whole crisis. I thought, I don’t know, I think I’m just going to give up on this because it’s crazy. But I didn’t give up, and it paid off.”  

How I got in the door 

“I started applying immediately in September and ramped up my applications in December. Not much was going my way; I was mostly receiving rejections or no responses at all. Then I decided to change my strategy. I thought, You know what, maybe I should also start speaking to people on Twitter — other coders and such — who have given me advice. 

I had been updating my LinkedIn profile constantly. It wasn’t anything special; I pretty much just listed all the programming languages I know, the tech I use, and the frameworks I work with. I also mentioned that I was looking for a job and that I’m a Web Developer. I tried to be very active on LinkedIn and Twitter, so maybe that helped me show up more in searches. 

I had been contacted by recruiters before, but it never really worked out — they would ghost me, or things would just be kind of weird. But this time, the recruiter found me on LinkedIn and told me to schedule a call. I wasn’t sure what to expect; I didn’t know if it was going to be a technical interview, a get-to-know-you interview, or how many rounds it would involve. I asked her if she could tell me what tech stack they use, because I needed to prepare for the test. She didn’t tell me much, only that they use PHP and Node.js. I figured I should focus on JavaScript.”

How I nailed the interview 

“When I went there for the test, I felt very underprepared because I had maybe five days from the email to the call and then to the interview. 

Thankfully, when I got there, the tech lead was super nice and very reassuring. He showed me the whole company, introduced me to everyone, and we had a good chat. Then he sat me down and gave me the test, which lasted about an hour and a half. It consisted of five questions, somewhat like LeetCode but not exactly. Each question tested a different skill: PHP, JavaScript, React, and so on.  

I was very surprised when he said I could use the internet. I even asked if he was sure, and he said, ‘Of course. That’s how we work. You do you.’ That made me feel much better. However, I still didn’t manage to finish all the questions. I thought, ‘They’re definitely not taking me; I failed completely.’ But to my huge surprise, they emailed me a week later and said I had passed the test, and they wanted to make me an offer. I was like, wow. The surprise on my face—you should have seen that!” 

How I evaluated the offer 

“They told me immediately at the interview that it’s a very chill work environment. They work hybrid — two days at home, three days at the office — but if I wanted to do fully remote, I could do that after my initial training. I do have to commute a half-hour drive, which isn’t anything serious, but it’s still something to consider.

I really liked how professional they were from the beginning. They presented me with an initial three-year plan, outlining their expectations and the growth I could expect career-wise. They told me that my wages would increase every year and that there were bonuses I could earn at the end of the year, which would also increase. It felt very holistic; they expected me to be part of the team and grow with them, which I really appreciated. 

Most Italian companies, if you’re a junior, offer internship situations to avoid paying a lot of taxes because the government subsidizes interns. Instead, these guys offered me a permanent contract, which I felt I had to take. I was also very interested in the job itself. The way they described what they do intrigued me, although I still feel a bit scared that I might not be able to do it. But at the same time, I am very eager to learn and happy for the opportunity. It was a no-brainer for me.”  

What I wish I knew before I started learning 

“Don’t believe everyone who says it’s going to be easy. Follow your own path, make your own decisions, and be extremely patient. If you just continue doing it, if you never stop, it will somehow pay off.  

I think it was the best decision of my adult life to make this career switch. It was hard to make the decision because my dream was always to be a Curator working in an art gallery. When I saw that the chances of it actually happening were almost zero — not because I wasn’t trying hard enough, but because of how the whole system is set up — I realized I had to make a change. 

It was a hard choice, but it was the best decision for me. I feel like the path to growth and continuously getting better is much clearer, more obvious, and tangible now. Before, it was a complete mess. I never knew what was going to happen or what I was going to become. Now, I feel like I have some security and a more secure future.”

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