From GrubHub Driver to QA Lead: A Career Change at 40

Aygun bought three monitors before she wrote a single line of code.

She did not know why she needed three monitors. She just knew she was done driving for GrubHub, done managing CBD stores, done running a cleaning company, done standing behind a Subway counter, and done translating at UPMC. She was 40 years old, she had two huskies, and she wanted to work from her own house. So she bought three monitors and sat down.

That was the beginning of everything.

The Exam She Slept Through

Aygun came to America in 2014 with a plan. She was going to take the IELTS exam at Point Park University in Pittsburgh and start her life as a student. She flew in the day before, exhausted, and set her alarm for 7:05 a.m.

She did not wake up.

"I came to Pittsburgh and I couldn't wake up. It was 7:05 a.m. something like that and I slept and I couldn't wake up because I arrived here the day before the exam and I couldn't go."

That missed alarm changed the direction of her entire life. No exam meant no university. No university meant she needed to find work fast. So she started doing what a lot of immigrants do -- she took whatever job she could find.

Seventeen Stores, Two Huskies, and Zero Days Off

The list of jobs Aygun held over the next several years reads like a novel. She started as a translator at UPMC, using the many languages she speaks. Then she moved to managing a Subway. Then she became a district manager for a chain of CBD stores -- seventeen locations, all under her watch. Then she opened her own cleaning company. Then she started driving GrubHub deliveries because, as she put it, "they were paying so well."

Each job had the same problem. She was always on the road. Always in someone else's building. Always away from the life she actually wanted to live.

"I want to work from home. I want to enjoy my home. I want to enjoy my huskies. I want to enjoy my life. Same time work, you know. I was thinking, what can I work? I had stores before in the mall. I have been going to work every single day. And then district manager, which has like 17 stores, I have to control them and be on the road all the time."

She wanted something different. She wanted to cook in her own kitchen. Decorate her own house. Take her huskies for a walk in the morning and sit down at a computer by ten.

The problem was she had no idea that kind of job existed.

Five Years of Nagging

Aygun has a friend who graduated from CYDEO. This friend did not suggest the program once. He suggested it for five years straight. Every holiday gathering, every birthday party, every time their community got together, he said the same thing: you need to go learn this.

She kept saying no. She was busy. She had the cleaning company. She had deliveries to run. She had bills.

Then came her birthday party. Her friend saw her, and the first thing out of his mouth was the same question he always asked.

"He saw me. He was like, 'Are you still working as a driver?' And I was like, yeah. He was like, 'No, you have to go and start. Just start. Believe me, you will be okay.'"

This time, something clicked. She went home, found the website, sent an email, and left her phone number. They called her back. She got a laptop. She bought the three monitors. And she told herself: I am changing my life.

Two Hours of Sleep, Every Night

Aygun did not ease into the program. She threw herself at it the way she threw herself at every job she had ever held -- completely.

She woke up at 6 a.m. She walked the huskies. She was online by 10 a.m. for class. She stayed until 5 p.m. She took one hour to cook, eat, and be with her family. Then she was back at the computer with her study group, her mentors, or extra classes. She did not stop until 2 or 3 in the morning.

Every single day.

"I have been sleeping two hours but I knew that I will learn. That's like the one time somebody gave you a gift and you have to store it and take care of that all the time."

She calls those months "scheduled life." Before, she woke up and went wherever. Now she knew exactly what she was doing at 1 p.m., at 5 p.m., at midnight. Her alarm was set. Her meals were planned. Her huskies got their morning walk, and the rest of the day belonged to learning.

And when the program ended, she missed it. That structured life had given her something she did not expect: purpose.

Apply to Everything. Fear Nothing.

When it came time to look for a job, Aygun had a strategy. It was not complicated.

She woke up at 6 a.m., opened job listings while still in bed, and applied to every single posting that said "engineer" or "tester" in the title. She did not read the descriptions. She did not check the salary. She did not worry about whether she was qualified.

"I will just search, let's say, quality engineer or software engineer. Anything says engineer and tester, I will apply. Even the interview will make you stronger. Each interview, you know."

Her logic was simple: even a failed interview teaches you something. If you do not know an answer, ask the interviewer to explain it. You will know it for the next one.

The first Friday she applied, she got a phone call that afternoon. They wanted to interview her at 5 p.m. -- that same day. She said yes. During the video call, one of her huskies climbed onto her lap and started biting her hands while she tried to answer questions. The interviewers loved the dog. They asked about her project framework, her tools, her personality. Two hours later, they called back with an offer.

She did not stop.

Three Offers in Two Weeks

Within two weeks of finishing the program, Aygun had three official job offers on the table. Not three interviews. Three offers.

One company wanted her as a QA Lead. Another offered a Senior position. She turned down the senior role -- she was nervous about jumping in that high. But a Lead position? She took it.

She accepted two offers initially, then chose one to continue with. The market, she said, was "exciting" because every conversation made her sharper.

The Mentors Who Stayed Up Late

Aygun does not talk about the technical skills first when she describes the program. She talks about the people.

The instructors taught the core material during the day. But in the evenings, alumni mentors came online to share something different: what the actual job looks like. What you really do at work. The practical things no textbook covers.

"We had alumni mentors which we were having the help evenings time, like 6 or 7 p.m. They are the best too because they are teaching you real job stuff. You know, what you're doing at work, any advices. We are taking the best from them."

She has already referred about fifteen people to the program. When asked why, her answer is that CYDEO does not disappear after graduation. Need help with a resume? Text a mentor. Stuck on a background check? Someone is there. Have a random question at 11 p.m.? They answer.

"They will never say no," she said. "They will answer."

More Money Than Her Husband

Aygun is now independent in a way she never was before. She works from home. She earns more than her husband. She buys what she wants. She is not comparing herself to anyone else, because she knows what she knows and she has the job to prove it.

"I'm getting more money than my husband. You know that you are knowledgeable. He changed my life for the best forever. I think I will never go back."

She says "he" meaning Kuzzat Altay, who founded CYDEO and teaches the program. It is a simple sentence, but she means it literally. She will never go back to driving. She will never go back to managing seventeen stores. She will never go back to the life where she could not sit in her own house.

She is home now. With her huskies. With her three monitors. Doing work she did not know existed two years ago.

What You Can Take From Aygun's Story

• You do not need to be ready to start. You just need to start. Aygun bought monitors before she understood what she was learning. She figured it out along the way. Waiting until you feel ready is another word for never.

• Apply to everything. Do not filter yourself out of jobs. Let the company decide if you are qualified. Every interview -- even a bad one -- teaches you something for the next one.

• Sleep less for a season, not forever. Aygun slept two to three hours a night during the program. That was temporary pain for a permanent change. She is not still doing that. She did it when it mattered.

• Listen to the friend who keeps repeating themselves. Someone in your life might be telling you something you need to hear. Aygun ignored her friend for five years. She wishes she had not waited so long.

• Build a schedule and protect it. Having a plan for every hour took away the chaos. She knew when to study, when to eat, when to walk the dogs. That structure carried her through the hardest months.