Learning Through the Professional Environment
The importance given to qualifications in our society is often disproportionate. Personally, a classroom has never inspired me to excel. However, achieving tangible results, waking up early and going to bed late for work that I'm passionate about has never been an issue.
Nevertheless, I played the academic game: I obtained my CESS and even made a detour through higher education. The experience quickly confirmed my doubts – listening for hours to a lecturer reading their course whilst waiting for us to complete gap-filling exercises on their slides, all while monitoring our attendance. No thank you, I need autonomy.
I therefore made a decision: to leave this system during COVID to take a managerial position at Pizza Hut. It may not have been glamorous, but it was a genuine laboratory of skills. I learnt how to manage a team with varied objectives, train staff and accept the uncomfortable position between employees and management – embodied by the franchise manager who explained to me without irony that "when you buy yourself a BMW, it's the first step to success" and who had a lovely profile picture of himself shirtless in his newly built swimming pool: so inspiring!
Career Change to IT
In all the companies where I've worked, I've always been struck by the lack of integration of IT solutions. Many tasks could have been automated or at least shared more efficiently. Some managers were afraid to trust colleagues who were more competent than them in technology, others were simply too proud to admit their shortcomings.
For me, computing has always represented a means to improve communication and sharing. That's what initially attracted me to e-business: I found a balance between understanding personalities, the social environment, and implementing processes to increase productivity. It was like rediscovering social sciences, but with a practical application.
Ultimately, it was the computing courses that truly captured my interest. No longer able to commit to lengthy traditional studies, I continued my learning alongside my job: JavaScript and its ecosystem, then Vue 3. I then complemented this self-taught training with a bootcamp meant to professionalise me – although in all honesty, these trainings often lack the necessary perspective to be truly competitive in the job market.
Autonomy and Non-linear Learning as Keys to Success
My journey has taught me an essential lesson: autonomy and adaptability are the true drivers of professional evolution. This philosophy guides my approach today:
- Taking charge of my professional development and identifying lessons in every situation, even the most unexpected ones
- Favouring concrete learning whilst remaining flexible in my knowledge acquisition methodology
- Accepting that detours are often necessary and enriching – my time at Pizza Hut taught me as much about team management as a theoretical course
- Cultivating my curiosity and remaining open to opportunities whilst keeping my long-term goals in sight
This unconventional path has allowed me to develop a unique vision and varied skills that I now put to use in IT projects where the human aspect remains central.
