2024 Retrospective ( Finishing Woosteco )

Writing this as a 2024 retrospective, it’s also about finishing Woosteco.

Since it started in February and lasted until mid-November, it consumed almost my entire year. Along with that, I think this year’s keyword for me is Demian's bird.

In the book Demian, there is this passage:

The bird struggles to break free from the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born must first destroy a world.

I feel like I’ve lived a similar life this year, so I’m writing this retrospective with these keywords.

The Struggle

A simple thought of not wanting a long-distance relationship and a friend telling me, I heard there's a bootcamp run by Baemin? led me to Woosteco, and I was suddenly accepted. It heralded many changes.

• Moving from a provincial area to Seoul
• Switching from my existing study languages (TypeScript + Nest.JS) to new ones (Java + Spring)
• Leaving university for new people

Of course, I was planning to go, but I was quite scared. Is it because humans are animals of adaptation? Despite it being a great opportunity, I lacked confidence. What if there are too many talented people?, What if I can't get along with people?

Contrary to those worries, I had a great time. Networking with new people, learning for clean code, deep learning by tracing code directly. (Details about this are in various places like the Level 2 Retrospective, so I’ll skip them.)

(Always good people, Lisajo)

Whatever it is, you have to try. Only by trying do you get an Output. How can there be an Output without an Input?

(()->"Give me an OUTPUT");

I didn’t know it, but I realized it again while reflecting on the past year. You shouldn’t be afraid of challenges. Challenges will come back to me in some way.

Actually, as I’ll write below, I wasn’t fearless in all challenges. 🥲 That’s why I’m writing this to remind myself once more.

And the struggle to break the egg also reminds me of the proverb breaking a rock with an egg (in my own way). Will the state of the rock change just by throwing an egg at it 1000 times? Of course, it might change a little.

The point I want to make is that the result from the n-1th thrown egg and the nth thrown egg must be different. For challenges and struggles to be meaningful and recognized by others, you must make a conscious effort. But you have to be careful not to fall into a planless state like Should I add flour to the egg?, Should I add salt?, Did I try adding flour? or meaninglessness like I'll just close my eyes and throw it.

In 2025, even if it takes time, I must strive to become someone who moves forward meaningfully.

The New Egg

Through Woosteco, I broke the eggs of a new language, a new world, and new people, but the eggs are endless. (Isn’t it like the Russian doll Matryoshka?)

The egg of getting a job remains.

This is an extension of what I mentioned above. This time at Woosteco, special recruitment tracks were opened for Woowa Brothers and Delivery Hero. However, I had to apply for both within about a week to 10 days after the recruitment announcement. (Additionally, besides the resume, there were cover letters and peer recommendations.)

With a very tight schedule, I gave up on applying to Delivery Hero, thinking I should focus on Woowa Brothers. And I realized how arrogant that thought was. A foreign company, diverse experiences, and a hiring pool… The time was tight, and I decided to fold, judging I should focus on Woowa Brothers, but I wonder if I was actually afraid of going abroad.

Apart from the fact that Delivery Hero hired a lot, as they say, fortune favors the brave. Whether you get accepted or not, it’s up to the individual to seize the given opportunity.

I interviewed at three of the companies that opened special recruitment for Woosteco, but the results were not good. For a while, I was very depressed, thinking It would have been better if I had been rejected at the document screening stage... (Actually, I’m still not feeling great.)

But, even after getting a job, won’t these kinds of trials continue to exist? I will continue to do my best within what I can control.

In particular, through the interviews, I realized what I was lacking, so I felt it was a very grateful experience. Like, Oh, I need to use a hammer to break the egg?

A new egg cannot be broken without trial and error. In Squid Game 1, there is a math teacher in the stepping stone game.

The probability that I will make it to the end is… 2 to the power of 15… 1 in 32,768!

He accepts his fate with such a line.

A new egg cannot be broken by luck alone. Even if you get lucky once, you will face the next egg.

The Inner Self

The quote from Demian is interpreted in various ways by different readers. It can be interpreted not just in its superficial meaning but also in its inner meaning.

It can be interpreted similarly to To move from a narrow world to a broader one, I must let go of my prejudices and fixed ideas.

To be honest, my thought for this year was I can and will go to a good company. I had a passion for development, affection for it, and confidence.

However, I felt that it was very difficult to appeal, saying I am a good developer!! Please hire me. While reviewing, thoughts like I'm so bad at talking., Why couldn't I speak better?; Did it go wrong from here.. came to mind endlessly, and I regretted it endlessly.

Of course, the advice from the coaches and reviewers was 70% luck, 30% skill.

Interviews are just 70% luck and 30% skill. No matter how you prepare, you can fail for all sorts of reasons.
Maybe you got a bad interviewer who was daydreaming during your interview and didn't write anything down.
Maybe you got the final offer, but the company's financial situation worsened, and they canceled the recruitment.
If you fail, just think you were unlucky and move on quickly.
There's no reason why I failed and that person passed.
Focus on adding evidence that you can believe in yourself.

Is it because I know that the recruitment won’t open again that I’m so frustrated and regretful? The conclusion seems to be Who do you think you are?. Getting into Woosteco was also 70% luck, 30% skill, wasn’t it? I shouldn’t dwell on the unlucky failure of getting a job while not thinking much about the lucky acceptance into Woosteco.

It’s my prejudice, my fixed idea. There are countless aspiring developers and junior developers, and I’m just one of them. Let’s be humble.

Focus on adding evidence that you can believe in yourself. I heard this advice while seeking interview tips, and ironically, it hit me harder after I failed. I can’t answer whether I can confidently present evidence in an interview that I don’t even have myself.

I guess it’s inevitable to feel anxious and stressed about not getting a job. A year has passed since graduation, and I have to jump back into the job market.

Nevertheless, I must live on and move forward. Isn’t that what makes life interesting?

Let’s strive to become a cooler and more well-founded person, both as a developer and as a human being.

Nevertheless - Aleph, Mingginyu

Even if I go round and round and end up in the same place
There's something I want to say
To everyone who knows me

My dear, don't stop loving
Even if it's hard on a bush of thorns
Even if the love you've received so far seems small
You will become hmm

Nevertheless
There is a road you must go
In the process of clearing away
The fear of 'what if'