Learning to code so that you can land a job in tech can feel daunting. That’s why we’re sharing inspiring stories from Codecademy’s community — to show how people like you (yes, you!) can embark on a learning journey and end up with a totally new career. We hope these stories serve as a reminder that there’s no single path to a more fulfilling work life.
Today’s story is from Tatiana Kurbanova, a 26-year-old HR Business Partner at a construction company, living in the UK. Read more stories from Codecademy learners here — and be sure to share your story here.
Why I chose to learn to code
“My first experience with coding wasn’t great. During my master’s program, we had business math courses that required using tools like Stata or R to analyze data. It was honestly terrifying, and I didn’t think I’d ever code again.
But in my second year working in HR, I realized how many manual processes we had — Excel spreadsheets, data handling — it was overwhelming, time-consuming, and inefficient. About 4 years ago, I expressed interest in process automation. I worked in different companies within the construction industry, but none of them prioritized automation. So, while I was interested, the business wasn’t.
That was the first realization: there’s a problem — too much manual data management. The second came when I asked myself: I know I can teach languages, I’m good at HR, but what unique skill could make me more competitive?”
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How I decided what to learn
“My husband, a software developer, has always been a strong advocate for programming as an essential modern skill. I thought, maybe coding could be that unique skill. It could be a good match — knowing HR systems, Excel, having soft skills, and being able to code. That could lead to roles in data transformation or analytics.
At my previous job, I worked a lot with data — manually calculating KPI dashboards, for example. I thought coding might be a good option. Python seemed like a good starting point for automation. But because of my negative [coding] experience in university, I was hesitant.
I love languages; I speak Russian, English, Chinese, and German. Coding is still a language. I’ve heard from a lot of people who studied linguistics that coding is just another language.”
How I made time to learn
“I could sometimes find half an hour or an hour during my workdays, but mostly I studied on weekends. I took it bit by bit. I knew that if I told myself to commit to two hours every day, it would be overwhelming.
I went step by step, lesson by lesson, without overloading myself. At the end of the day, I reminded myself that this was my choice — it wasn’t imposed by anyone — so I was committed to completing it.”
How I saved up money to pay for Codecademy Pro
“My husband was like, ‘Okay, I really want to support you… Let me just pay for the first month of Codecademy.’ He was the one who offered Codecademy.”
What I want to build and learn next
“It’s probably not back-end development! What I would love to try and do is create a chatbot for business needs. I just need more advanced Python skills for that. My husband got me a book called Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, and I skipped through the basic chapters to get to how Python can be used to send emails or extract information from a file or website. I’m learning that now and am going to try to automate one of my processes.”
What I wish I knew before I started
“I would’ve definitely benefitted from learning the nuts and bolts of programming — like working with the terminal and knowing basic built-in commands — before embarking on learning Python. Without the help of my husband [who is a programmer], I would’ve struggled a lot.
I wish that in the beginning of my course, I just took it slightly easier and was less harsh on myself. Everybody who starts learning coding will struggle. You expect to learn all those functions and modules by heart, but that’s not the case. People who program always refer back to websites, dictionaries, Reddit. You’re not capable of holding everything in your head.”
Not sure where to start? Check out our personality quiz! We’ll help you find the best programming language to learn based on your strengths and interests.
Want to share your Codecademy learner story? Drop us a line here. And don’t forget to join the discussions in our community.
