Code to Connection: Why Empathy is Your Secret Weapon in Coding?

When I was younger, I thought engineers were simply people who solved problems by fixing things—like gears in a machine. They were always behind the scenes, focused on numbers, data, and blueprints. But as I embarked on my own engineering journey, I realized something far more profound: engineering is not just about the things we build; it’s about the people we impact. This is the story of how my path as an engineer transformed from a purely technical one to a deeply personal journey. I hope it will resonate with every engineer who’s ever questioned their place in this field. Chapter 1: From Support to Dev – My First Steps My career began in a startup where I was part of a small but mighty team handling an incredible 3,000 customers. Yes, three of us managing thousands of customers! The challenge was overwhelming, yet thrilling. From troubleshooting their issues to debugging code, my days were packed with constant problem-solving. But something was always brewing in the back of my mind: a desire to transition from reactive support to proactive development. Working in support taught me empathy—the ability to listen to the customer's real pain points. I didn’t just see clients as tickets in a system; they were individuals relying on our product to solve their problems. Those lessons stayed with me as I moved into development, where I could finally start building solutions rather than fixing them. Chapter 2: The "Code-Only" Mindset Fresh out of the support role, I was fired up. I dove headfirst into software development, excited to create features and deliver flawless code. My mission was clear: write efficient code, push out new features, and make things run faster. I finally had the chance to build from scratch instead of reacting to issues. But here’s the thing no one tells you: technical mastery alone can’t fulfill you.

Mar 2, 2025 - 13:40

Code to Connection: Why Empathy is Your Secret Weapon in Coding?

When I was younger, I thought engineers were simply people who solved problems by fixing things—like gears in a machine. They were always behind the scenes, focused on numbers, data, and blueprints. But as I embarked on my own engineering journey, I realized something far more profound: engineering is not just about the things we build; it’s about the people we impact.

This is the story of how my path as an engineer transformed from a purely technical one to a deeply personal journey. I hope it will resonate with every engineer who’s ever questioned their place in this field.

Chapter 1: From Support to Dev – My First Steps

My career began in a startup where I was part of a small but mighty team handling an incredible 3,000 customers. Yes, three of us managing thousands of customers! The challenge was overwhelming, yet thrilling. From troubleshooting their issues to debugging code, my days were packed with constant problem-solving. But something was always brewing in the back of my mind: a desire to transition from reactive support to proactive development.

Working in support taught me empathy—the ability to listen to the customer's real pain points. I didn’t just see clients as tickets in a system; they were individuals relying on our product to solve their problems. Those lessons stayed with me as I moved into development, where I could finally start building solutions rather than fixing them.

Chapter 2: The "Code-Only" Mindset

Fresh out of the support role, I was fired up. I dove headfirst into software development, excited to create features and deliver flawless code. My mission was clear: write efficient code, push out new features, and make things run faster. I finally had the chance to build from scratch instead of reacting to issues.

But here’s the thing no one tells you: technical mastery alone can’t fulfill you.