One could say that I was thrust into the role of web development. Coming from a background of carpentry and wood-working, I had no prior experience in the IT field, and no notion of what to expect. My exposure to web-development came as an intern at Mobile Composer through the software development program at MCTC (Minneapolis Community & Technical College). Through my experiences with Mobile Composer, working on new code every day, watching tutorials on Pluralsight, and sifting through the forums on stackoverflow I quickly discovered that the field of web-development is constantly evolving. Because technology is ever-changing and improving, web-development requires a continual learning process.

At first, I found the demands of the work overwhelming. I worried that I didn’t have enough of a foundation, or a strong enough knowledge base to be able to get the job done. Now that I’ve had some experience in the field, enough to be considered a junior developer, my focus is on creating a training and certification plan that will help me better respond to the needs of my company, and find the right path of professional development.

I’ve already made some plans to obtain some form of .NET certification, and was recently approached by my employer to see if I was interested in getting Azure certified. Since I already find myself using Azure with several existing projects, I welcome the opportunity to become better acquainted with this development tool, and gain a more detailed understanding of how some of our test projects work.

At Mobile Composer I’ve had to hit the ground running, and it seems like every day brings something new. With some help from Microsoft Virtual Academy, I’m working on getting .NET certified, Azure certified, and familiarizing myself with Angular 2, and other new technologies as our projects begin to transition and expand. I’ve come a long way, and I have a long way to go.

So, my advice to recent grads and aspiring developers is this: Find a path that interests you, and stick with it. Develop a plan. Think about how proficient you expect to be within a year. Ask yourself, “Where do I see myself as a programmer 2 years from now?” Set yourself some goals and take concrete steps to put your plan into motion. Track your progress (maybe even start a blog), and share your stories—you never know how some tidbit of information may help contribute to others in the developer community.