My 3-Year Journey from Data Miner to Engineer at Prayers Connect

My journey with Prayers Connect started in July 2021 as a Data Miner. I was a university student with no certain goal at that time. But I didn’t know I had joined an environment full of positive and blessed people who would reshape my entire career path.

The Spark of Ambition

From the very beginning, our bosses, Raju Bhai and Zahir Bhai, always encouraged us to learn skills beside our data mining work. Raju Bhai knew I was studying CSE, so he said it would be good for me to learn web development. He told me if I was interested, I could talk to him anytime. Then I found the confidence and asked him for guidelines.

He asked me to master the fundamentals: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript very well.

Overcoming the “Valley of Doubt”

I remember JavaScript felt like it was not for me. But still, somehow I managed to master some of the fundamentals of JavaScript and informed Raju Bhai. I thought I could do some work with what I had learned so far. But guess what happened next? Raju Bhai told me:

“This is not enough. You need to learn React and GitHub.“

To be honest, I was so disappointed. But still, I spent hours at night learning React with YouTube tutorial videos and Stack Overflow, all while doing my duty as a data miner. Sometimes it felt like I was developing, and sometimes it felt like I was standing still in one place.

A Culture of Support

Everything changed when I was invited to the web team’s daily standup meeting. Everyone welcomed and treated me like I was not just a learner. They gave me access to the codebase and guided me through every step.

They taught me that no task is small, even if it is just changing a color. Things like this help us to build confidence.

Faith Over Fear

During the journey, AI evolved dramatically fast. AI took 18% of junior web developer jobs at that time. I was so worried about diving deeper with that kind of news. So, I talked to the web team leader, Sajjat Bhai, and asked if it would be wise to continue learning web development. He reminded me that:

“Rizq (provision) is in the hands of Allah. Nobody knows how the Rizq will come to me.”

I stopped focusing on the fear of the future and started focusing on development again. I told Raju Bhai: “I will come back as a developer, Insha’Allah.”

The Milestone: Joining the Engineering Team

Today, after 3 years of persistence, learning, and growth, I am honored to officially join the Prayers Connect Engineering Team.

This milestone is a collective success:

All praise is to Allah, the Creator, for His guidance and for opening doors I never thought possible.
Thank you, Raju Bhai, for providing the roadmap, the opportunity, and for believing in me when I struggled to believe in myself.
Roquib Bhai and Sajjat Bhai have been guardians and mentors I could share any problem with.
Thanks to Miraz Bhai from Data Mining team leader who helped me to balance data mining work and learning web development.
Thanks to my family for your unwavering support and for standing by me throughout these three years.

Final Thoughts

To anyone currently in the “middle” of their own journey: Don’t lose hope. Consistency and a supportive community can change your life. I am excited to start this new chapter this month and to contribute to a platform that connects hearts through prayer.

The journey continues, Insha’Allah.