Student Diaries: Mihkel Gering

Hello, my name is Mihkel, a 25-year old from Narva, Ida-Virumaa, Estonia. Currently, I am studying software development at kood/Jõhvi while also working as a QA Engineer.

In my free time, I enjoy playing and watching football. I approach life with a problem-solving mindset and strive to find solutions rather than dwelling on issues.

My background and decision to join kood/Jõhvi

After studying informatics at University for two years, I realised that while theoretical materials were interesting, they weren’t enough to sustain my interest in the field. I even began to question whether programming was the right career path for me, and ultimately made the difficult decision to drop out of the program.

“Not only will you learn programming here, but you’ll also get an opportunity to create real life projects”

However, the whole picture changed when I discovered kood/Jõhvi and was very intrigued by the whole idea of new educational methodology that was suggested. I participated in the Selection Sprint, which made me confident that it is worth it to try and be a part of kood/Jõhvi’s journey. 

Life and studies in kood/Jõhvi

In 2021, I started my studies on-site at the Sillamäe campus. However, I quickly connected with a group of remote students who became my go-to team for all future group projects. This made it possible for me to transition to off-site learning as well, and I have been studying remotely ever since. (Learn about life while studying remotely.)

In my perspective, selecting a suitable team to work with is highly influential. I prefer not to be part of a team with overly skilled professionals or complete beginners in programming, as it may either limit my learning opportunities or hinder the team’s overall progress due to my inability to keep up with their pace. Therefore, in my experience, it is important to collaborate with individuals who share similar levels of expertise and, surprisingly, similar sleeping patterns and daily routines played a vital role for me as well. 

Initiatives, opportunities and life apart from studies

One thing that always stood out to me about the kood/Jõhvi team was their openness to different ideas and requests. As a student, I felt encouraged to share my own ideas for activities and projects outside of the classroom. The first idea I proposed early on was for sport events. A small group of us would gather every week to play football, volleyball, basketball and field hockey. It was a great way to stay active and connect with my fellow students. Switching to studying remotely, which I mentioned above, makes me miss these gatherings.

Another initiative that I took with a friend was to create a podcast called kood/Cast. It started as a joke, but we decided to give it a shot and pitched the idea to the kood/Jõhvi team. It was amazing to see our idea become a reality, and we enjoyed creating content that was relevant to our fellow students.

During my second year, I was given an incredible opportunity to write a room booking system for the school. It was a challenging but rewarding experience, as I was able to apply my programming skills to a real-life project. The kood/Jõhvi team was always supportive, providing guidance and feedback along the way.

In search of employment

After completing 2 modules, which were Go and JavaScript, I wanted to step into the job market and see how it works out for me. 

Even though I acquired necessary skills for a Junior Developer position, I noticed that most of the companies were hiring either Senior or Mid-level developers. I didn’t succeed in searching for the desired position, but still found an opportunity to test my skills as a QA engineer in Evolution Gaming Group, where I now work full-time alongside the studies. I am extremely happy about this opportunity and it added up to my confidence in the IT field.

I am grateful to kood/Jõhvi for equipping me with the necessary skills to pursue a career in the IT field, which ultimately led me to my current role. My goal for the near future is to complete a specialisation in Artificial Intelligence, finish the school program and then apply my newly acquired skills in the field of AI to test my abilities.

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If you want to take on your coding journey at kood/Jõhvi then head over to our “How to apply” page. See you at kood/Jõhvi!