We must only walk part of the way to our goal and then leap in darkness to our success. -Henry David Thoreau
Even for those who are already professionals, the job market can be daunting. It can be even more daunting for those who are changing careers, or who don’t know what their options are. It can be difficult to decide where and when you should take the plunge due to anxiety and fear.
Before joining Coding Dojo, Austin Parham had these concerns. Austin was a college graduate who found himself moving from one job to the next, which is a common experience for someone with no clear vision of their future.
I have always felt a strong desire to return to school to learn more. I knew college was not the end of my education. I believed that the only way to get my grad (degree), was to go back and complete the pre-reqs, then take the two years of grad. Research revealed that it really boils down to the experience people want, and not the education.
Austin considers himself to be creative, which led him to pursue engineering and web development. He attended an open house at CodingDojo Dallas, where he was impressed with the class structure, intensive schedule, and clear camaraderie among students.
Austin, who claims he didn’t have any experience with computers before enrolling in the Coding Dojo bootcamp, was motivated by the promise of rigorous classwork and a positive learning environment.
It’s intimate and your instructors will be right there with you. This was not going to be a sales pitch. They’ll just try to sell me something and then walk out of the room.
In his first few weeks at Coding Dojo, Austin experienced some unanticipated anxiety. While he was able to pass his first exam in Week 1, part of that nervousness was relived when he began working through the three-stack curriculum. His inexperience with code and algorithms brought back his doubts. He began to explore the syntax of HTML Ruby, Python, MEAN, and Python.
He discovered the secret to learning code: patience, curiosity.
The first stack was a way to show you how to learn. At first, I thought I had to understand 100% of what they were saying. Before I could move on to the next page, I had to understand exactly what each item is doing. Coding Dojo, however, was more about repeating and applying what you have learned over and over to get that repetition. It’s a gradual process of osmosis. It will eventually click more if you keep playing with it.
Austin found the program appealing because of its spirit of collaboration among students. Despite the fact that it was difficult to land a job in the tech industry, Austin found a community at Coding Dojo. They were eager to share as much as they had learned.
Open-source is the hallmark of the tech world. This is because everyone understands that you won’t know everything. It’s okay to ask for assistance, to understand where you should go and to seek help. Your coworkers are going through the same thing as you. It’s all about the teamwork atmosphere. This is something companies are looking for. Ask those questions, learn how to approach others with those questions, and work together.
Austin, along with a few of his fellow students, started a job-hunting support team to reduce the time between graduation and finding employment. They helped each other prepare for 21st-century job-seeking, including online portfolios, resumes, and social media presence.
Austin’s hard work paid off when he was hired by Amazon to work as quality assurance in March. The marketplace giant paid for Austin’s move from Texas to Southern California. Austin is passionate about his work and knows it’s his first step to his dream occupation.
I want to absorb as much information as possible. I want to be able code what I want, whenever I want. While you might already know what you want, it is important to expand your horizons as you apply time. This is not the end of your education. There are many ways to achieve the same result. It is important to get inside the company to learn about the industry. So, accept every interview.
Austin offers a simple piece advice to new Coding Dojo students: Keep asking.
Always ask questions and trust the system. Never be afraid to ask questions. The more questions you ask, the better.
