I’m starting this site today, on the day I collected my German residence permit appointment letter, after almost three years of doing everything except what I trained to do.
I’m a software engineer. I built websites and e-commerce platforms in Bangladesh for six years before I moved to Poland in January 2023. I had a Computer Science degree, programming-contest finals on my CV, and a portfolio of WordPress and WooCommerce projects.
I spent ten months looking for an IT job in Poland. Nothing.
So I took a job at a kebab shop.
I started as a kitchen helper at Mast Kebab — a 32-branch chain in Poland — and within twelve months I’d been promoted twice: head chef, then branch manager with a team of four. I’m proud of that. It taught me operations, leadership, and how to function in a country where I didn’t speak the language. It also paid the bills while I figured out my next move.
But I’m a developer. And I’ve been quietly studying every day after my shifts. First Python, through Zero To Mastery. Then, recently, cybersecurity.
This week I’m in Germany. My wife lives and works here, and I just received the letter inviting me to collect my three-year residence permit. In June I move to Dresden permanently. And my plan is simple:
- Take a restaurant or hotel job to keep money flowing.
- Pass CompTIA Security+ in 12 weeks.
- Get hired as a SOC Analyst before the end of 2026.
I’m not writing this site because I have everything figured out. I’m writing it because I don’t.
Why public
I could study privately for six months and then start applying. That’s what most people do. But here’s what I’ve learned watching others make this transition:
The visible learners get hired faster. Recruiters in cybersecurity look for people who document, who write up labs, who can communicate what they learned. A blog with 80 small posts beats a blank LinkedIn with one big claim every time.
Public commitment forces private discipline. I’ve started and stopped study plans before. Telling people what I’m doing means I have to actually do it. The next time I’m tired at 9pm and want to skip a TryHackMe room, this site is going to be sitting there asking me where today’s update is.
Honesty about the gap is stronger than hiding it. I could leave the kebab job off my CV and pretend the last three years didn’t happen. A lot of career-switchers do. I’d rather be the person who tells the truth: I had to work outside my field for a while, and I used the time to build leadership skills and study toward what comes next. Anyone who can’t respect that wasn’t going to hire me anyway.
What you’ll find here
Most days, short posts: what I studied, what confused me, what clicked. Most weekends, longer ones: TryHackMe writeups, lab setups, book chapter summaries. On Sundays, a brief reflection on what worked that week and what didn’t.
The categories are roughly:
- Cybersecurity Notes — daily learning logs as I prep for Security+
- Lab Writeups — TryHackMe rooms, CTFs, home-lab experiments
- Book Notes — chapter summaries from Sybex, Mike Chapple, etc.
- Job Hunt Diaries — applications, interviews, lessons (when that phase begins)
- Life in Germany — moving stories, integration, language learning
- Web Development — the skills I’m not abandoning, just expanding from
- Reflections — Sunday posts, like this one
If you’re a recruiter reading this in late 2026 — welcome. The interview-ready version of me is being built in public. You can watch the construction.
If you’re a fellow career-changer — welcome too. I hope something I write here saves you a wrong turn.
— Shamsul