So it seems that I am a Java Reactor developer now

Posted on May 28, 2023 • 4 minutes • 794 words • Other languages: Español

Just got a job in an Ecuatorian bank.

What was I doing during these last months…

So, about seven months ago I wrote this , an article where I expresed how despite not really liking Java that much, I got a position in Yacaré as a Java Spring Boot dev.

For me Java is like lemon ice cream, a flavor I would never order but it’s not bad either. At least it’s not mint slush.

All was nice-ish there. It was not the greatest job either, but my day to day responsabilities were almost null. That gave me plenty of time to spend most of my days doing a bunch of Udemy courses, check out the reviews of those here .

I even got the chance to meet some co-workers in Santa Fe and Misiones (cheers to Nico and Francisco , even though they were not Applica co-workers, we were part of the same project and worked together in our day to day. They hold a special place in my memories).

Here are some random photos of the trip.

↓ Iguazú falls iguazu

↓ Argentina - Brazil - Paraguay triple frontier tipleFrontier

↓ A Yacaré QR code used as an available pay method in a Misiones supermarket yacareqr

↓ Santa Fe port at night santaFePort

Mental health

One day I started therapy. I can’t recommend enough to anyone who has the chance, to give it a go and look after your mental health, is nice.

As an ex-musician, I think I can better put all my thoughts in song lyrics, so here are some that I related a lot during those dark February days.

I can’t really think right now in this place
There’s too many colors enough to drive all of us insane
Are you dead? Sometimes I think I’m dead
‘Cause I can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head
But I don’t wanna fall asleep just yet

See, I’m trying to find my place
But it might not be here where I feel safe
We all learn to make mistakes
And run from them, from them
With no direction

Don’t kill me just help me run away
From everyone I need a place to stay
Where I can cover up my face

Viste las palabras irse
Desde el frío despedirse
Viste mis palabras se volvieron
Cada vez más tristes

The two big things that I got out of therapy were:

Even though I was convinced that I had no more reason to keep living, the fact of dying was scary.
If I’m gonna die, might as well give a last big shot, and make a fresh restart of everything.

So, I made my mind and put myself a life objective:

If I’m dying, it won’t be in Argentina.

And I did what any young and naive developer do best, start applying to job offers in linkedin.

Devsu: an American IT Staff Augmentation company

My mail inbox was filled with rejected job applications answers, cause as a latin with no visa nor citizenship in any first world country, most HR were not really interested in giving me a chance. Fair enough.

But also got few positive answers, one of those was Devsu . They wanted me to go through an inverview process to maybe get the chance of a Java Spring Boot dev position in an Ecuatorian fintech project.

To be honest, I thought of ignoring this proposition. The interview process was loooooong and I wasn’t feeling like wasting my free time in it. It consisted in:

Abstract reasoning tests
LeetCode challenges (chat gpt’ed all the way)
A week to complete a user story (with tests and all)
One on one technical interview

But beggars can’t be choosers, so I did my best in every step and… got the job

So what are you doing in Devsu?

I’m part of the dev team in an Ecuatorian Bank. Precisely, I’m the replacement of David , a billiant developer (I knew him just for a week, but he seems billiant) who is leaving cause he’s gonna do his masters degree in Spain.

And here is the plot twist: I’ll be working with Java Spring Webflux microservices, built following Hexagonal Architecture philosophy, deployed in Azure cloud services … And I don’t have any idea nor experience in any of what I just said.

You know you’re not skilled enough, experienced enough, or qualified enough to justify being there, yet you are there"

But anyways, I feel very welcomed to the group, and even Devsu went through the logistic problem of getting me a notebook in London (oh yeah, about that, I’m in the UK now. It’s a long story totally unrelated to this new job position)

So that’s a nice catchup of what is my life now… Cheers mate!

meAtThames