Started off as a Java developer during my finals in collage, but from the moment I got my first job as a PHP Developer I realized the potential which web development offers over desktop application development. Yes, Java is also used to make websites but that's not what we learnt in collage
Anywho, once I got the hang of PHP MySQL and various frameworks such as Yii, Joomla, Wordpress and Prestashop, I also started freelancing on article writing projects. It was here that my anticipation to learn SEO (which I referred to as "Google ranking") began. Although I was clueless, I started reading several blogs and finally Google probably landed me on Moz guide to newbie SEOs. Ironically, I also got my first client at this time and even agreed to get his website to the first page of Google!
Long story short, I also basically offered him my services for half a peanut because I was desperate to complete my first SEO project with flashing colours and didn't care about money. So I started off with UX because it was an utterly crappy site and thereafter started my keyword research.