From Burnout to Breakthrough: How Community Saved My Tech Career

Source: Dev.to

My Journey

First attempt: cybersecurity

My first attempt at tech was cybersecurity. I spent eight months grinding through it, but eventually I gave up. It felt complicated, boring, and worst of all, lonely. I had no roadmap and no mentor; I spent most of my days scrolling through Stack Overflow threads, trying to make sense of things I didn’t yet understand.

Transition to web development

Determined to try again, I transitioned into web development. I learned HTML and CSS, but the moment I hit JavaScript, the familiar wall of frustration returned.

I was struggling with a sidebar script. It was a simple enough task, but I couldn’t get it right—the sidebar would open, but it refused to close. I posted my code in a WhatsApp group of high‑school classmates who had also become “techies,” then waited. Hours passed in silence. I felt that old urge to walk away, convinced I wasn’t cut out for this.

The WhatsApp breakthrough

Then, my phone buzzed. A friend replied with four words that changed my career forever:

“I’ve been there before.”

He didn’t just give me the answer; he validated my struggle. He pointed out that I was using the loose equality operator (==) when I needed the strict equality operator (===). It was a tiny syntax error, but it had been an insurmountable mountain when I was facing it alone.

That was my first taste of community‑driven mentorship, and it changed my entire career. When I gained admission into university, I sought out developer communities where I could network, learn, and contribute.

The Power of Being Part of a Community

Joining these groups didn’t just make me a better coder; it made me a professional. Here are the biggest benefits I’ve experienced:

• Accelerated Problem Solving – Access to experienced mentors turns a day‑long bug search into a five‑minute conversation.
• Staying Current – Frequent discussions about emerging technologies keep your skills from becoming stagnant.
• Real‑World Experience – I had the chance to collaborate on actual projects long before I landed my first official role.
• Early Career Opportunities – I secured my very first job through a community referral.
• Best Practices over Syntax – You don’t just learn how to make things work; you learn how to write clean, maintainable, industry‑standard code.
• A Sense of Belonging – Tech can be isolating, but in a community you are never left behind.
• Networking at Scale – Community events allowed me to connect with experts across several fields I never would have met otherwise.

Current Involvement

Today, I’m a member of several tech communities and a core team member of the Open Source Community Africa (OSCA) Ado‑Ekiti chapter, learning from industry experts and giving back in my own little ways.

You get more value from people than you do from your code.
Coding might be a solo activity, but building a career is a team sport.