“I like a challenge and I’m learning everyday.”

Hi! I’m David. 7 years ago, I moved to the Netherlands to study. At the UVA in Amsterdam, I studied business economics where I specialized in Finance. During my masters I got in touch with IT.

For the course ‘Quantitative finance and algorithm trading’, we made an investment strategy using Python. Some of my fellow students already knew some Python, but for me those were my first line of code. At the same time one of my lecturers told us ‘Guys, you need to study Python, as this will be very favourable for your career in finance.’

I took his advice and kept developing my Python skills. I found out that I can work way more effectively and efficiently when combining Finance with programming. I tried to automate boring and repetitive tasks, which made work more fun and more efficient.

Then I read about the Young_Coders Challengership at PwC. For me this was the perfect combination to work with finance for a prestigious organization whilst developing my coding skills.

But then I started to doubt myself. Are my coding skills good enough? Do my interests suit this vacancy? Maybe I shouldn’t apply. Luckily my girlfriend convinced me to give it a try and now I’m here! Working at PwC for four months already.

Learning from every project I work on

I’m very happy here. The colleagues are very friendly and helpful. I have already worked on several projects. I started my first project as a consultant, talking a lot with clients and working mainly in SQL. I already had some knowledge of SQL when I started, but during this project I converted my theoretical knowledge to practical skills.

Then I worked on audit automation in a project based around Python. Right now I’m working on another project concerning front-end development. To be fair I’m struggling every day, as I didn’t have any JavaScript or HTML/CSS knowledge. Luckily, I like a challenge and I’m learning every day ☺. The learning curve is quite steep, as I learn a lot from each project.

Young_Coders bootcamp

Apart from learning at work, I also learned a lot during the Young_Coders bootcamp. I now have a clear understanding of how the back-end works. I learned a lot about databases and tools like FastAPI, Python and SQL.

The level of the bootcamp was very difficult, however. I had to take a few online courses to prepare for the boot camp, but as always online courses take longer than the given time. It was difficult to make time for these courses and there was a lot to learn. This made the Young_Coders education quite challenging, but highly instructive.

My advice: If you ever enroll in the Challengership, make sure to finish the preparational courses before starting the bootcamp! 😉

What I really appreciate about my current position in PwC, is that I learn a lot. I’ve gained a lot of new skills and I learn a lot from my colleagues. I’m growing as a professional in all spheres. Not just in coding, but also in personal relations, communication with clients and colleagues, and in confidence.

What I’d like to say to people hesitating to make the switch to IT: you don’t have to doubt!

If you like coding and you enjoy it: just go for it, you don’t have to be a professional. I still don’t consider myself a professional developer – I’m still a finance guy – but I enjoy coding every day and I’m extending my skills as a professional.