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 Ben Cunningham, a 24-year-old Software Engineer at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, living in West Perth, Australia. Read more stories from Codecademy learners here — and be sure to share your story here.
Why I chose to learn to code
“After graduating from university, I didn’t enjoy the mechanical engineering side of things very much. I always enjoyed math but didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t want to become a teacher or go down the finance or actuarial paths. So, I tried a few different things, worked as a recruiter for a little bit, and then eventually had this epiphany that I needed to get into something math related. I started thinking about data science and data analytics, not realizing it would turn into a coding role.
Learn something new for free
I did a lot of research on the best areas to get into, and data science came up a lot. Then I looked into the best programming languages to learn, and Python came up, of course. The last step was figuring out the best ways to learn that. I saw a YouTube video with the typical title, ‘How I Would Learn to Start Coding if I Started Again,’ or something like that. [The YouTuber] recommended Codecademy and emphasized that learning to code requires actually doing it, not just watching videos. He mentioned that on Codecademy, you do just that. So, I got my subscription to Codecademy and never looked back.”
How I made time to learn
“I had recently read the book Atomic Habits, which helped me build a routine. For six months, I fully dived into learning to code and treated it like a full-time job. It was probably the most committed I had ever been to something academically, more so than anything at school or university. This caught me by surprise, but I fully dove into it like it was a nine-to-five job from home.”
How I saved up money to switch careers
“I was pretty lucky because I had a six-month window after returning from the UK where I was living at home before moving out again, with most of my expenses covered. I worked the bare minimum to keep myself financially afloat, which ended up being one laboring shift a week for quite some time. At the moment, I’m just changing between casual jobs. I’ve done a bit of hospitality work and my most recent endeavor is removalist [mover] work.
I had it a bit easier in my opinion, but I think the timing worked out very well for me. Grad openings came up just as I felt ready to start applying. I was paying for my subscriptions monthly at the time, which was all I could afford from my one laboring shift a week. I was struggling to keep extending it, and then my girlfriend gave me a loan to pay for a one-year subscription, which was cheaper. I’ve since paid her back, but that took the stress off the monthly expenses.”
Pursuing a self-taught pathway with your own flexibility showed me how much potential I had.
Ben Cunningham, Software Engineer
How long it took me to land a job
“I tried the bulk approach when applying to places. There are a lot of jobs requiring five to ten years of experience, or even two to five years, which makes it hard to get your foot in the door when you’re coming into a different area. A better approach was to time my applications with the grad programs, which typically open up around January and February [in Australia].
I applied to about 20 places and kept an Excel spreadsheet to track all the places I applied to, the last follow-up date, and what stage I was at with each application. I applied to other places as well, but I had the most success with the grad programs.”
How I got in the door
“I didn’t have any connections at the bank, I just saw it on LinkedIn.”
How I nailed the interview
“It was a really slow process most of the applications. You have your online interview, which is usually just a recording, gamified assessments, and things like that. Some of them have assessment centers. Luckily, one of the places that was quite forward in the process was Commonwealth Bank of Australia. I still haven’t heard back from some of the other places, and it’s been three or four, even five months ago.”
What I actually do all day
“Next year, I’m starting at Commonwealth Bank of Australia as a Software Engineer in the grad program. It’s essentially the Technology Engineering stream. There are three or four different six-month rotations in various areas, like security engineering, software engineering, systems, and testing. The way it works is that for the first six months, you put in your preferences for where you want to be, and then you interview to be in the other teams for the subsequent rotations. After that, you get picked up for the other two six-month rotations.
One other thing is I got a data science internship with a company in the city. This was the first response I got from someone who said they saw one of my projects on GitHub after I sent them the link to my account. Most of my projects are heavily inspired by Codecademy.”
What I wish I knew before I started learning
“Pursuing a self-taught pathway with your own flexibility showed me how much potential I had. If I were doing something equivalent at university, there would be a set pace for everything. But learning on my own time allowed me to control the pace — some topics might take one or two weeks to learn, while others might take just two or three days. I didn’t have to rush or spend too long on something unnecessary. I got so much more out of the self-taught method.
The tech industry recognizes self-taught programmers. If you know how to make websites, it doesn’t matter where you learned it — the proof is in the pudding. Unlike becoming a lawyer, where you can’t just say you’ve read all the slides online, the tech industry values practical skills and results.
Regarding coding specifically, it’s very demoralizing when you’re learning and constantly getting errors or syntax issues that you don’t quite understand. You might think these will eventually go away once you master the language, but even the most experienced developers encounter errors or bugs. They just get better at dealing with and fixing them quickly.”