Not sure what to learn next? Get inspired by other Codecademy learners who’ve been in your shoes. We’re sharing stories from the Codecademy community to show how people figured out which skills mattered for their role and goals — and started using them in meaningful ways. We hope these stories serve as a reminder that there’s no single path to a more fulfilling work life.
Today’s learner story is from Elizabeth Adejumo, a 31-year-old Software Engineer at a global travel-tech company, living in London. Read more stories from Codecademy learners here — and be sure to share your story here.
What I do for work
“I am a software engineer at a global travel-tech company and I have been in the company for about three and a half years now. This was my first company that I’ve worked in — as someone who transitioned into tech from a different career.”
Where I was when I started
“I had a completely different career before; I was a mechanical engineer and also did a bit of project management as well, prior to me transitioning to tech.”
“I saw a few people who were trying to learn how to code — one person who was learning Java. I was a bit intrigued so I asked them what they were doing. He was actually using Codecademy at the time, so I asked him about the platform and thought, I’m going to try it too. This was just before the pandemic, and during the pandemic was when I really got into learning how to code. On my weekends, during the day, after work — that’s all I did. I didn’t have a life, basically. So that’s how I got into coding. I learned Python and Java through Codecademy.”
What made me want to go deeper
“I was working in this new world of coding, and I saw opportunities where we can automate a lot of these manual tasks. I was creating scripts to automate everything, and when I felt confident with it, I told my manager, ‘This is all being automated.’ She was literally shocked. Definitely happy, but she didn’t really understand what it was about. Her response was ‘I don’t really know what coding is about, but this is amazing that we’re able to automate all of this.’ From that confidence boost, I just started automating more things. I would still do the work that was required, but automate things that could be quicker, more efficient. So people started seeing me in the office with code on my screen and they would ask, ‘What are you doing? Why can’t you just go straight into tech?’”
“It took me longer to decide to switch careers. I think it’s a general female thing where we tend to overcompensate — even though I knew Python and I’d created apps and websites with front end, I still felt like I hadn’t done enough. I went and did AWS training as well. The fact that I was able to look back and see what I’d built, and that I was able to implement it in my role at the time, was proof that I actually knew what I was doing.”
“In terms of what I did to eventually take the leap, besides consuming a lot of content on people that are in tech, I started attending tech events. The one I specifically attended was Black Tech Fest, which happens every October. I said I was an ‘Aspiring Software Engineer.’ I went there looking for Junior Engineer roles, and through that event, that’s how I actually got my role currently. I met two of the recruiters from my company there and connected with them on LinkedIn. I applied what I learned to connect with them, and then I applied for a specific role. Through those recruiters, they were the ones that helped me navigate the whole process of getting into tech.”
How I use coding and AI at work now
“AI has really changed everything. I’m so happy that I got in [to tech] before AI became a thing. I still attend networking events, and I hear the sentiment from other software engineers — everyone’s in the same mindset, that we don’t think our role is going to exist in the next three to five years, or even less. The reason I’m happy I joined prior to AI is because you had to learn the foundation of software engineering. Whereas now, there are gaps in people’s knowledge because they’re dependent on AI to do the work.”
“You can see the difference in [job] candidates now, how you become more reliant on AI. Little things that you would normally have in the back of your mind — like, okay, this is how to do this in this language — you don’t remember, because you’re relying on AI to do it.”
“Even though I use AI to do parts of my work, I still make sure to take on some of it myself, because I feel like the enjoyment of being an engineer is problem solving. But after looking into AI and Claude and everything, I realized my mindset changed. The way I see it is that I’m a manager managing agents. I think maybe because I’m coming from a Project Manager background, where you’re assigning work to people and overseeing what’s going on — I have a team of five people, you do that, you do this. When I saw it in that mindset, it definitely changed for me. I was even more excited. My thoughts were, This is amazing, I can literally have a team of people and get work done. It’s definitely a mindset shift. But I still think one needs to not be too reliant, which is hard to do.”
What it takes to succeed in tech today
“I still have people coming up to me telling me they want to switch into tech. The advice I would give is that tech is still promising, however, you need to future-proof yourself. When I started, the demand was so high — right now, the demand is quite low, especially for junior engineers. There are not many junior-level entry jobs compared to before.
“Coming from a career switcher background, I’d say leverage the interpersonal skills you had from your previous career. Yes, you know how to code, but are you a good communicator? Are you someone who’s good at managing projects, at bringing teams together to work on a project, making sure things are aligned? I believe those skill sets are becoming more important, as opposed to just saying, ‘I know how to code.’ I still want people to get into tech, but you need to learn AI too — whether it’s building AI skills or AI agents. I’ve literally been taking courses on building AI agents now, because things are always changing. And if the person isn’t happy with constantly learning, then it’s not for them.”
My advice: Just do it
“For those who are still thinking about doing it or changing — just do it. Coming from a career switcher background, if it doesn’t work out, you have a career to fall back on. But at the same time, you don’t want to keep thinking about plan B. I’ve made the leap, and I’m going to stick to it.”
“A message I’d like to include for other career switchers is that there’s a period of learning, and a period of earning. Knowing which stage you’re in (especially when transitioning into a new field like tech) makes a huge difference in how you set expectations for yourself.”
“Try and find ways to utilize the new skill sets you’ve learned — whether it’s technical or non-technical — and apply it to your current role. It also helps your CV. When I initially had my CV to switch into tech, it wasn’t solid because the experience wasn’t there. But once I started using what I’d learned in what I was doing then, it actually made my CV stronger, and I noticed an increase in companies that were interested because of that. That would be a major tip — try and bring it into what you’re doing right now.”
