Life?

Introduction

I’m not sure how to start. There’s one more year for me to complete my bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering (B.Tech. CSE). But all I’m concerned now is about getting a job at Automattic, WordPress.com’s parent company as soon as I complete my studies. To be honest, I’m really not into studies right now because of the current educational system. All theory and no practical classes make me a dull boy…duh!

WordPress and Myself

It’s been more than a year since I got fantasized with WordPress – the wonder software powering around twenty-seven percent of the web. Since then, I have tried building everything possible with WordPress. Literally, I’ve become crazy with WordPress – speaking about it whenever I get a chance. Two years back, I had no idea what it was.

Life – Powered by WordPress

But now, I have decided. WordPress is my future. Whatever I am going to do in the future for my bread and butter, it should be related to WordPress. So I started looking around for places where I can learn more about WordPress. Only then did I realize that no one can ‘teach’ WordPress but I ought to learn it by myself practically.

Right from learning what a domain name, web hosting, DNS blah blah blah is to creating an account on a free hosting site and using the one-click WordPress installer, I learned everything by myself. Yeah, I know it ain’t a big thing to brag about. But I didn’t stop there. WordPress left me wondering what and all I can achieve with it. I started creating few demo websites to learn it in-depth. Tried every framework that was available for WordPress, installed every damn plugin and theme I came across, learned affiliate marketing, became a blogger, designed a few official websites, etc.

Now I realized I was deeply in love with WordPress. But there’s one thing that stopped me from giving back to the WordPress community – I am not a coder. Well, what use am I of if I cannot code? That was when I was proved wrong when I realized many people out there needed help with WordPress. Using WordPress is easy but I must agree it did come with a steep learning curve.

Earning $3000+ from WordPress

So I decided to write posts which will help other WordPress users and in between, I started marketing themes, plugins and hosting services to make some money. It paid off. Really. I made nearly 3100 USD from my blog. That money helped me get myself a decent watch, a pair of good sneakers, some good clothes, a bag, my first two-wheeler, helped ease the monetary burden on my parents, helped me gain some self-confidence, etc.

People around me couldn’t believe that I was able to earn from the Internet. They thought it was magic. Only I knew how hard it was for me to literally master WordPress (just kidding) without learning how to code in PHP. Everything is practical knowledge. I started becoming a WordPress doctor – can understand easily if something’s wrong with WP, any plugins or themes, where the problem lies, troubleshooting, white screen of deaths, etc.

Never Give Up

Though those experiences sometimes were tiring and a nightmare at times, I didn’t feel like giving up. Now I’m pretty confident I can design any type of website using WordPress be it whatever the user’ requirements may be. Right from setting it up to installing various business plugins and configuring it for SEO and speed everything is a piece of cake for me.

Automattic?

Soon after that, I came across Automattic – the company behind WordPress.com and various other plugins and services for WordPress (such as Jetpack, VaultPress, PollDaddy, WooCommerce, etc). They are a fully distributed company, meaning its employees can literally work from anywhere. Wanna work from home? Hell yeah! It is very much possible. I have found the perfect company!

Having found my destination, I started working towards the goal – started following Automattic and its companies and employees on Twitter, read their blogs, followed their ‘a8cday‘ tag on WordPress.com (where other employees share their experience at Automattic), migrated my blog to WordPress.com, etc.

And the best thing about working at Automattic apart from their perks is that I can help people using WordPress! I can help people who are using WordPress and at the same time make myself a living out of it. Now, that is truly my heaven. To make thing smooth, I’ve already started volunteering at the WordPress.com support forums helping people out with anything they come across WordPress.

Now What?

All I now need to do is – keep up the decent streak of helping people getting started with WordPress and help people in the support forums. Also, I need to keep myself updated with WordPress and post regularly on my blog. I’m pretty sure I am a perfect fit for the role of a Happiness Engineer at Automattic. I’ve decided that Automattic is my future. I’ll be shooting off my resume once I’m near the end of my B.Tech. course. Until then, life will be pretty monotonous for me. But I sincerely hope it pays off and I get myself into Automattic and meet Matt Mullenweg, the founder, and CEO of Automattic!