Everyone’s path to their careers is different. And you certainly don’t need to study computer science, or even mathematics, for that matter, to end up working in software engineering. – Meet Ahmed, 25yo, with a college degree in dentistry, has decided to change his path and found his calling in coding.

Tell us a little about your role.

I'm Ahmed, 25 years old, from Egypt. I was matched through Gemography to work remotely with Stocktwits as a full-time Backend Engineer — it was initially supposed to be a fullstack role but it leaned more towards backend engineering once I joined. Stocktwits is a startup based in NYC, they work mainly with stock market (as a social network for traders) with some features that involve Fintech such as portfolio management, equities, cryptocurrencies, etc. As a Backend Engineer, I tend to work with a lot of different programming languages. Although it might sound quite complicated for some people, but I actually find it fun and interesting, because it also helps improving my learning curve. I can now easily tell which language is most suitable for which feature, and that's kinda cool!

Speaking of tech stack, what's your favorite programming language to code in?

My most liked language is definitely C. I like the high level of control over details it provides. I’d also add Go and Rust to the list.

Tell us a little about your background

I'm pretty much a 100% homegrown self-taught programmer since the age of 13. Though I've been studying dentistry in college, coding has always been my passion. Yeah, I know, it’s a massive career transition! 🤷🏻‍♂️

How did you first hear of Gemography?

I was on LinkedIn searching for full-time remote work opportunities and I’ve stumbled upon a Job posting from Gemography among others. After weighing my options, Gemography was undoubtedly the best choice. I felt a great connection with the company and what they do.

What was your impression of Gemography?

Honestly, the first thing I’ve loved about Gemography was how easily it gets all the heavy load of paperwork out of the way for new hires when it comes to working with a company based in the US, specially for candidates living outside of Morocco, which in my case — based in Egypt. The hiring process was also very smooth. I’ve enjoyed a lot the technical and culture-fit interviews with both Adil and Sarah. You can tell that Gemography members are real passionate people, and the work environment is exceptional.

How's remote work going for you so far?

I’ve been working remotely on and off for almost 6 years now (since my first year in college), I’ve tried taking a couple of office-jobs here in Egypt for a few months, but it didn't last that long. I consider remote as a challenge I like to take, I know it's hard to discipline yourself and have the proper time management at work. It also grows you in terms of finding other means of communications other than face-to-face, when it comes to writing and expressing your ideas clearly.

How does a typical remote day look for you?

Actually, I like to set my day planned beforehand. At midnight, I always make sure to set the plan for the next day, it’s a habit I’ve developed a long time ago. Since I work mainly on US hours (2pm-10pm -Egypt time-), I have all the morning for myself to work on my own open projects or get some personal things done.

What do you like to do on your free time?

I like to run on a regular basis. And I spend quite a lot of free time reading, mostly non-fiction books. Shameless plug of my Goodreads profile. –– On the other hand, I also like to contribute to a couple of open source projects such as Firecracker and QEMU.