It’s Monday two weeks after my graduation from Tech Elevator’s 14-week coding bootcamp.
What can I say? The past four months have been life changing. I’ve abandoned a sales career to pursue my passion, learned new skills, met a ton of people, started a blog, launched a website, and learned a ton of lessons along the way. I’ll look back on this as one of the most formative times in my career, and I can’t wait for what comes next.
After my last update from the coding bootcamp, students were working on final capstone projects in groups of four using Agile Development methodology. I was happy with our progress in the final week; my group created a website which can schedule tours around the city of Columbus and provide the most efficient travel route. Check it out at TourColumbus.AppHB.com! We wrapped up the final week with a Graduation ceremony on Friday evening. At graduation, students displayed their Capstone projects to friends and family and were presented with certificates in Software Development. The ceremony was filled with fanfare, which really isn’t my style, but it made me reflect on how many awesome people I’ve met through Tech Elevator.
I especially want to recognize my instructor, John Fulton, for his tireless work ethic throughout the cohort. Tech Elevator’s .NET curriculum is expansive, and you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody who could teach all of it. Since this was his first cohort, John had some serious learning to do. All of my doubts were eliminated after receiving John’s messages on nights and weekends. His innate curiosity drove him to follow up with answers to the smallest and most insignificant questions no matter how full his plate was. After teaching this cohort, I have no doubt that John will lead many more students to successful development careers.
I also want to acknowledge Tech Elevator’s Columbus career mentor, Katie Detore. Katie ended the bootcamp by giving all 28 students her personal cell phone number to ensure they stay in touch throughout the job search. The 98% job placement rate is no surprise after seeing how invested she is in each student’s career. Weeks after the bootcamp, I remain in touch with Katie, and she’s still invested in finding me my dream job.
As I write this blog post, I can’t help but question how unabashedly positive I am about Tech Elevator. Maybe I’m overly optimistic, but I couldn’t be happier with my experience. When considering other bootcamps, you might find framework-specific models that seem more advanced; learning Android development, for example. Tech Elevator’s focus on foundational concepts is what sets them apart. This way, students have an understanding of what the new technology is, but they also know how to work in the older technologies that businesses still rely on. I was pragmatic when deciding on Tech Elevator; some online-only bootcamps offer more advanced technology stacks, but I considered it more realistic to complete an in-person bootcamp. I still don’t have a job, so maybe my opinion will change as I go through more interview processes. However at this point, I’m incredibly happy.
After graduating from Tech Elevator, I decided to do some traveling. First I went to the Dominican Republic with a close friend who won a trip for two as a top performer for the company I left in January; Henry Schein Dental. It was a great time filled with fun, sun, and adult beverages. The trip made me realize how many great people I worked with at Henry Schein, and how many lessons I’ll take with me. I have no regrets about quitting, but maintain great respect for everybody I worked with, most notably the Columbus branch. Immediately after my trip to the Dominican Republic, my girlfriend and I traveled to a town called Banff in Alberta, Canada. This was a long-awaited trip after she shared an Instagram photo of a nearby lake with me last year. Banff was the most naturally beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and I got to share it with my favorite person. We spent our days hiking up a mountain and seeing the sights; hot springs, waterfalls and more.
I’m extremely fortunate to travel after the bootcamp, but it’s left me ready to start earning a paycheck again. I’m currently in the interview process with multiple companies and will hopefully have a job in the next few weeks. I received my first offer last week, but ultimately decided it wasn’t a good fit. I’m eager to find my place in the tech community, but this is an important decision, so I’m being selective.
In the meantime, I’ll practice my development skills and try to learn some new technologies. I’ll also continue work on my passion project, WriteMyRepresentative.com. If you know anybody who’s hiring a .NET developer, please let me know!
Thanks for reading! As always, if you have any questions for me, please reach out to joeosterfeld@gmail.com. I may add some posts to this blog, but the weekly ones are over :(. It’s been amazing, and I hope the coding bootcamp blog lives on to help some people who are in my situation.
With appreciation,
-Joe O