I graduated in 2015, and this year is 2025—exactly 10 years. How did I manage to have zero savings? I'm not exaggerating at all!
Looking Back
Let me analyze this by major time periods.
2015-2017
The first 2 years after graduation. I worked as a technical support specialist at a research institute in Xi'an, similar to after-sales service. Due to the nature of the work, I traveled a lot, and more travel meant higher pay. When not traveling, the base salary in Xi'an was only about $400-600 per month. The constant travel was exhausting—hotels, trains, client companies—I felt rootless. Plus, the entire internet environment was booming beyond belief at the time, with one wealth creation myth after another, and unicorn startups emerging everywhere: ofo, Mobike, various group-buying platforms, Xiaomi phones, WeChat, etc. Considering my engineering background from college, I decided to switch careers and learn programming. Despite family opposition, I quit my state-owned enterprise job and started self-studying programming.
Years 1-2: Saved about $3,000-4,000.
2017-2018
I researched popular programming languages and their use cases at the time, choosing web frontend development for its beginner-friendliness. Considering the many pitfalls with various training programs, I chose online courses where price and quality were easier to control.
I rented a place in Xi'an for half a year to self-study programming. I didn't live with my parents to save on rent and food costs because I come from a rural family—first, the home environment wasn't suitable (no internet), and second, not working for an extended period led to a lot of gossip in the village.
After six months, I completed the online course certification. Xi'an was still a relatively small city with limited job opportunities, and as a career changer without actual frontend development experience, finding work was difficult. Since I'd always loved Shanghai and big cities offered more opportunities, I bought a train ticket and headed to Shanghai alone.
<ImageGallery columns={2} images={[ { src: "/posts/10-years-after-graduation/learn-web.jpeg", alt: "Learning coding period" }, { src: "/posts/10-years-after-graduation/leave-xian.jpeg", alt: "Leaving Xi'an" } ]} />
Shanghai's rent was truly expensive! I remember living in a shared apartment in Pudong Beicai, where the room was so small it could only fit a bed and a desk—$170 per month. After finding housing, I started sending out resumes. After a month of applications, I got very few interviews, and of course, I didn't pass the few I had. The silver lining was that these interview experiences made me realize the real requirements for frontend developers in actual corporate environments—there was indeed a gap. I paused job hunting and continued studying in my rental room, eating plain noodles to save money. I lost a lot of weight then, and during the hot summer, I didn't dare turn on the air conditioning. Looking back, I was pretty amazing! 👍
<ImageGallery columns={2} images={[ { src: "/posts/10-years-after-graduation/hello-shanghai.jpeg", alt: "Arriving in Shanghai" }, { src: "/posts/10-years-after-graduation/hot-summer.jpeg", alt: "Hot summer" } ]} />
The hardest part was the mental state. When you have no savings, haven't worked for almost a year, spend every day alone in a small room, and face rejection after rejection with job applications—it's truly crushing. I remember I couldn't bear staying in the room alone anymore, so I'd get up early and go to Pudong Library to study, even if I couldn't absorb anything. Immersing myself in crowds helped ease my anxiety and depression.
Year 3: Spent all my savings, and my parents supported me with about $1,400.
2018-2021
When there's a will, there's a way. In early 2018, I finally received my first frontend development offer—as an intern,