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Nadya Primak
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Foot in the Door: My Self-Taught Journey Becoming a Software Engineer Paperback – November 6, 2019

by Nadya Primak (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 33 ratings
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There’s a lot of hype about being a programmer – but you want to know what it is actually like.

When Nadya graduated from a liberal arts college with an arts degree she was apprehensive about pursuing a programming career path. She didn’t know anyone in the field, and she didn’t know what skills she needed to succeed.

It wasn’t until she spent two years teaching herself web development online, participated in hackathons, and took on some short-term contracts before she got her first job at a startup and felt like her career actually started going somewhere.

Fast forward five years and Nadya has tripled her salary, shipped several games, moved to a metropolitan city, and had writing featured in numerous tech-themed publications.

"Nadya Primak has done a real service by writing this book, and I recommend it to every young person starting out with a dream of a career in the tech industry.

-Lynne M Spreen, Retired HR Executive

What You Will Learn in This Book

  • Why you should look for mentors in unexpected places and how to gain the maximum rewards from the relationship
  • How to overcome imposter syndrome and lack of confidence when you are just starting out and everyone seems to know more than you do
  • Warning signs to watch out for in interviews so you avoid getting stuck in a job you hate, and how not to fall for hype
  • How to avoid the endless grind of online courses and making the jump from learning to actually building something of your own
  • Why a computer science degree is optional and what employers actually care about when they interview you
  • Figuring out what kind of coding projects you can make and how you can use them to create a portfolio to get jobs
  • Why it’s not just technical skills that you need to succeed as a programmer, and how lacking soft skills can really hurt you
  • Different ways of gaining work experience such as helping out friends, hackathons, and remote contract work


Who Should Read This Book


High School Students

This book is packed with career advice that is applicable to students just beginning to think about their future. Even if you didn’t take a single programming class and don’t plan on going to college, you can follow Nadya’s path to get a job in the industry. You can also glean valuable and down to earth career advice that your career counselor is unlikely to offer you.


College Students

Maybe you are about to graduate or you are just figuring out your major. Wherever you are, this book will help you plan ahead so you know what to expect when you are job hunting and you can decide whether to keep taking programming courses or focus your efforts elsewhere.


Career Changers

Nadya was several years out of college and working for her alma mater as a workshop instructor before she decided that she wanted to be a programmer. You can teach yourself while keeping your day job by following the path outlined in the book.


Women in Tech

Maybe you need some inspiration, or you know another women who doesn’t believe she can make it in the tech industry. Nadya struggled intensely with self-doubt and imposter syndrome, feeling like she didn’t belong in the industry. The topic is one that is dear to her heart.





Previous page
  1. Print length
    82 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    November 6, 2019
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 0.21 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1706210574
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1706210573
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (November 6, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 82 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1706210574
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1706210573
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.58 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.21 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 33 ratings

About the author

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Nadya Primak

Nadya Primak

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Nadya Primak is a software engineer who may or may not have worked at more jobs than she has fingers (and yes, she still has all her fingers). She was born in Krasnoyarsk, a small icy town in Siberia, grew up in Rochester, a small icy town in Minnesota, and went to college in Oberlin, a small, icy town in Ohio before finally putting her frigid past behind her and moving to Washington, DC, where the dark forecasts tend to be more political and less weather-related.

After taking classes in art and creative writing and dreaming of an exciting life in game design, she settled down into a career filled riveting tasks like designing the look of a mass email (which was never actually sent), changing the display of an app to make it five pixels wider (because every pixel counts) and attending team meetings on whatever company synergy is. Big tech companies, small startups, and even a liberal arts college—she has worked at them all.

Along the way, Nadya learned a great deal about programming, which is complicated, and about corporate culture, which is even more complicated. After a few moments where she wanted to pull out her hair in frustration, she wrote her first book, Foot in the Door, so that other people would be able to jump-start their career with their scalps intact. She has also published blog posts on Hackernoon, Code Like a Girl, and Gamasutra, and, now that her career has finally settled down, is working on catching up on her game-making. Her first VR game, Nightcrawler Bowling, is available on Steam.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
33 global ratings
A Story Applicable to Students Looking to Learn a New Technology or Change
4 Stars
A Story Applicable to Students Looking to Learn a New Technology or Change
A real Story Applicable to Students Looking to Learn a New Technology or Change their current career. I enjoyed reading the author's steps in learning her trade. I am glad she chose not to take up a career in Art, since modern art is full of fake pictures.I enjoyed the following chapters-Learning How to Learn-The Ranks of the Employed-Early Mentors-Transition Anxiety-The Job OfferI would recommend this eBook to anyone who wants to learn the steps the author went through to become a software engineer. A good and interesting read.
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Top reviews from the United States

Bob Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars A motivating telling of a woman’s self taught journey to a fruitful software engineer career
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
Delightfully concise ebook about a woman’s self taught journey to becoming a successful software engineer. I’m considering pulling the trigger on a coding boot camp and keep coming across in student reviews how important resilience and determination are to get through the coursework and landing the first job. Although Nadya is self taught, she talks about how important those traits are to completing the goal of becoming a software engineer. Great, inspiring little book :)
One person found this helpful
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John Huntley
5.0 out of 5 stars Great experiences and advice from it!
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2020
Verified Purchase
A very detailed account of getting acknowledgement and the courage to make the jump into software development. Anyone considering entering the field could read this to learn from Nadya's experience. And experienced managers could use this information to help better understand new engineer experiences.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing and Full of Great Advice
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2019
Verified Purchase
I'd definitely recommend this for people who're interested in having a career in software engineering, especially for those who're just starting out and are overwhelmed by all of the different components of said career!
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Lynne M. Spreen
5.0 out of 5 stars Just Starting Out in Today's Tech Industry
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2019
I'm 65, a retired HR executive. This book blew me away. My first three impressions: how different is Nadja's experience from mine, given her facility with tech. Some of the things Nadja describes are to me a foreign language. But even though systems and technology change, humans don't change. And because of this, I found her experience riveting. She has structured her each chapter in two parts: Memories and Takeaways. This is a helpful construct.

Nadja is a smart, serious-minded, anxious young woman. Like so many women, young or old, she fails to fully appreciate her value. As she points out, men have much greater confidence, even if that's misplaced. So that is one hurdle she has to overcome.

Another is immaturity, in that she has no idea of what to expect from the corporate world. On page 17, she talks about her first real job after graduation, and the shocking fact that (a) it was so often boring, and (b) she had to motivate herself because there was no external motivation, nobody cheering her on. She perceived a huge gap between the rah-rah of graduation speakers and the reality of the daily work grind.

But Nadja is tenacious, always learning from her surroundings. For example, she acquires an informal mentor who teaches her how to value her free time on a lax job instead of resenting it. Jim teaches her to be flexible, to learn everything, even if you don’t see the point right at the moment. His can-do attitude and dauntless curiosity inspire her. “Mentors are not always the friends with connections. Sometimes they’re more like comrades in arms who teach you things.” (paraphrasing) What a great insight.

I am struck by how this book is like a young person reporting from the front, engaged in her own particular battle to find her place in the work world.

It's discouraging to read about the ongoing sexism women encounter. Nadja was repeatedly waved off from computer classes that would have helped her because that’s what we do to girls.

Although much of the tech descriptions flew past me, the human stuff captivated me. So many of Nadja's difficulties would have been helped if she had more confidence interacting with people. This is perhaps a natural problem for youth, but I wonder if technology is also a culprit. She encourages readers to try things, not to let a fear of Not Being Good Enough Yet be a barrier to experience. Great advice!

In the chapter entitled Transition Anxiety, I felt such compassion for her. I don’t know if she’s just geared to anxiety, if it’s a societal imposition, or what, but as an older person, I know that most humans are not as exceptional as she thinks, compared to herself. She is very smart and caring, but is so hard on herself. At chapter’s end she talks about self-care and not taking things so hard. I hope every young person pays attention to that guidance.

She has a better experience in St. Louis because the Midwest is where she’s comfortable. This is so important! We have to keep looking until we find our place. Also, what is success? We don’t all have to work in New York City!

Another of Nadja’s discoveries: big corporations are often clumsy and inept! She had the expectation that they would be super sophisticated, but corporations are simply big clumps of people, many of them stupid, lazy, and downright evil. The trick is to get in, make it work for you, or get out. What she says about evaluating employment possibilities using Glassdoor, and about developing your BS detector is golden. Confidence comes with maturity. All that BS she is going through will help her become confident and powerful.

Finally she lands a job as a software developer, and she stares at the offer in her hand, not believing it. I hope her book helps other young women see that we can be our own worst enemy, and to get in there and stop the negative self-talk, practice compassion, practice self-empowerment, and work to build your own confidence. Nadja Primak has done a real service by writing this book, and I recommend it to every young person starting out with a dream of a career in the tech industry.
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Alex
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to start your journey as a programmer!
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2020
To the author: Thank you Nadya so much for taking the time to finish the writing of the book. I feel like you telling the story of how it went for you during your first years of job hunting in an area you didn't have much experience but the determination of finding a job there has made me rethink my actual situation. At my 38 years old, it is somehow hard to imagine that a career change could happen, but the truth is that when the determination is there, it does not matter how old or inexperienced one could be. The most important thing is to keep pushing, learning new skills, and never give up on what one really wants in life. Perseverance is key. THANKS.

To the prospect readers: This is definitely a book worth reading if you would like to know if you are a good fit for the tech world. In my personal case, considering the fact that I don't have many friends in the tech field, this book made me feel like I sat down in a coffee shop with a friend, which happen to be a tech expert, and got all the ins and outs of the industry before beginning my incursion in the tech world. She really wrote the book in an easy to understand language and short enough for you to finish it in a day if you have the time.
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LinkedInSecrets - Author of 4 LinkedIn Books
4.0 out of 5 stars A Story Applicable to Students Looking to Learn a New Technology or Change
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2019
A real Story Applicable to Students Looking to Learn a New Technology or Change their current career. I enjoyed reading the author's steps in learning her trade. I am glad she chose not to take up a career in Art, since modern art is full of fake pictures.

I enjoyed the following chapters
-Learning How to Learn
-The Ranks of the Employed
-Early Mentors
-Transition Anxiety
-The Job Offer

I would recommend this eBook to anyone who wants to learn the steps the author went through to become a software engineer. A good and interesting read.
Customer image
LinkedInSecrets - Author of 4 LinkedIn Books
4.0 out of 5 stars A Story Applicable to Students Looking to Learn a New Technology or Change
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2019
A real Story Applicable to Students Looking to Learn a New Technology or Change their current career. I enjoyed reading the author's steps in learning her trade. I am glad she chose not to take up a career in Art, since modern art is full of fake pictures.

I enjoyed the following chapters
-Learning How to Learn
-The Ranks of the Employed
-Early Mentors
-Transition Anxiety
-The Job Offer

I would recommend this eBook to anyone who wants to learn the steps the author went through to become a software engineer. A good and interesting read.
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One person found this helpful
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B. Mizes
5.0 out of 5 stars Great advice for a wide audience
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2019
Just finished reading your book. Many, many good points, for sure. My only comment would be that most if not all of the takeaways that you present apply to a much larger audience than just women in tech. Certainly they apply to women in all industries that have had glass ceilings. More importantly, most of your points are really just good advice for anyone trying to be successful in today's employment environment. Learning how to overcome adversity and frustration by being your own advocate and constantly updating your skillset is an extremely important life lesson that applies to everyone.
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Top reviews from other countries

asim
5.0 out of 5 stars We can do it guys
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
Was a nice read and easy read without too in-depth stuff but its good to get you going.
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