How Juan Boosted His Tech Career in AI with Codesmith

Juan Hart graduated from Codesmith in 2020 equipped with the education and hands-on experience to elevate his tech career. Thanks to their invaluable career services, Juan landed his second role as an AI/ML Global Black Belt in Application Development at Microsoft! Juan shares how Codesmith helped him form the correct mindset to deal with a quickly evolving tech landscape, his tips for being irreplaceable in today’s tech job market, and what it’s like to work as an AI/ML Global Black Belt in Application Development.

Juan, you were working as a Systems Engineer before you enrolled at Codesmith in late 2019. What inspired you to enroll at a coding bootcamp at that point in your career?

As a systems engineer, I became a jack-of-all-trades, master of none; my understanding was wide but not deep. I knew enough about a lot, including hardware, software, networking, and integrating systems into operations, but not enough to get a software job. In a series of transitions I chose to attend a bootcamp and  landed on Codesmith!

When you were researching bootcamps, what stood out to you about Codesmith?

Codesmith has always been a dream for me. From the first time I saw their YouTube content, workshops, and CSX, I was blown away by the fact that it was all free content. I thought, if the free content is this valuable, I can only imagine what I’d get out of the paid program! 

I also used platforms, like Course Report, to see what people were saying about the bootcamp. Money is one factor, but the reviews mainly stated that the best thing about Codesmith was Codesmith. I thought that was profound! After I attended workshops, I knew that if I ever got into Codesmith, I would go!

What were some of the main programming languages and skills you learned at Codesmith?

We learned a wide array of skill sets in the bootcamp, all within the JavaScript ecosystem: JavaScript, React, Node (which we used to build servers and back-end magic), as well as ancillary things like YAML for the continuous integration, continuous development, and CI/CD magic, plus full stack development! We built front ends, back ends, CI/CD pipelines, and implemented testing frameworks. 

Since you had a systems engineering background, did you find it challenging once you were in the bootcamp?

Absolutely! There were days that I wanted to cry, and felt  overwhelmed with the bootcamp on top of life outside of it. Even though I came in fairly tech-savvy, it challenged me and pushed me in a way that I'm still grateful for.

How did Codesmith prepare you for the tech job hunt? 

Codesmith’s hiring framework and the tools they gave us have been invaluable! I've done two job hunts since I left Codesmith in 2020 and some of the most meaningful insight they gave us was around mindset. Even though the bootcamp was challenging, they helped us be honest with ourselves that we’re just getting started on this journey. The job hunt will be challenging in ways that bootcamp was not. Some bootcamps send you out into the world as if it's this rosy picture and you'll get a job immediately, and that's not the case.

The first thing about Codesmith career services is mindset. They help you understand where you are in the journey and that if you allow it to make you better, it will. If you allow it to make you bitter, it will. What will you allow it to do? 

Then, they gave us a framework for finding and applying to jobs. Now, when I find a job on LinkedIn, instead of simply applying, I’m going to:

1. Find a technical recruiter connected to the job.
2. Read an engineering blog.
3. Reach out to the recruiter directly via email, which will strategically communicate my experience and how I am relevant to the job. I’ll offer my availability with an earnest desire to hear from them. 

Codesmith prepared me with the right mindset and how to line up every shot so that I know where my shot will land instead of shooting everywhere and hoping for the best. 

Did you feel like Codesmith prepared you for senior software engineering roles?

I felt able to apply for mid-to-senior roles. 

Have you felt supported in your career by Codesmith since you graduated?

Our alumni network is strong and very engaging, and there are lots of opportunities there. Thanks to what they gave me in the program, I never needed to go back to them other than to mentor new students and help support them however I could. 

What was the first tech role you landed after graduating from the bootcamp?

My first tech job out of Codesmith was for a consultancy formerly known as Formidable, now known as NearForm. I got a mid-level role as a front end software engineer. Codesmith is an evangelist for open source software. At Codesmith, you learn to build a developer tool that helps developers build things, which requires a different frame of thinking. Formidable also had a very expansive open source software repository (half a billion downloads last time I was there!) so Codesmith was the catalyst that attracted that opportunity via the open source software contribution that we made. 

When did you know it was time to move into your next software engineering role?

I knew it was time to move on when I got laid off! Some of us experience it and it's totally normal and valid. When it happened, I leaned on what Codesmith gave me. I went back into the job hunt, applying for jobs the way I did before. This time, instead of the initial job hunt which took me 100 applications, it took me 50 using the same framework and approach!

Overall in your interviews, have employers been interested in your Codesmith bootcamp experience?

They'll ask about my time there and what cool things I did. I got to be a part of a significant dev tool at Codesmith called ReactTide, the first IDE dedicated to React. There was a lot of publicity about it. They would talk more about that than my time in Codesmith which is yet again another nod to Codesmith for having us produce projects that employers would rather talk about. 

What was it like being a Fellow at Codesmith?

I went through the program and then worked as a Fellow at Codesmith, so I was able to speak in a more empowered way. As a Fellow I assumed the role of someone who went through the program but would also teach lectures, lead project groups, review resumes, and commiserate with students, knowing how frustrating and overwhelming it can be. The most meaningful moments I had as a Fellow were being there for another human and encouraging them through the process. 

How did you go from software engineering to an AI/machine learning role at Microsoft? 

I have been working with AI since 2012. I used to work in the Middle East on an MIT prototype that did some really interesting things. As a systems engineer for that platform, I was next to it, operating it, and updating it. When the machinery went down, I helped keep it online. I've had the opportunity to be in AI for a long time.

My time at Codesmith was complimentary to my systems engineering background and it gave me something that a lot of people don't always have this early in the AI game. It wasn't Codesmith that gave me the AI opportunity -- it was being involved with AI, then going deep in software. I ended up at Microsoft because they need people who are not just AI savvy, but software savvy. The stars aligned and I'm very fortunate!

Did you need any certifications to get this new AI/ML role?

I hit my one-year mark with Microsoft a month ago. In my first year with Microsoft, I've gotten four certifications, which include three fundamental certifications (Azure Fundamentals, Azure AI Fundamentals, and Azure Data Fundamentals) and an intermediary certification for building Azure AI solutions. I didn't need to come into Microsoft with certifications, but I needed certifications to stay in this role.

How hard are the Microsoft Azure certification exams to pass? 

The fundamental certs are not that bad. They lay a great foundation for the fundamentals of Azure: What is this cloud ecosystem? What are some data fundamentals? What are some AI fundamentals? 

The intermediary certification was more challenging, asking conceptual questions, like: If you were to build this solution, how would you build it? What are the implications? What are the pros? What are the cons? How do these things work? 

I spent eight months on the job before I looked at the intermediary cert because it was over my head when I first started studying for it. I spent some time on the job and then revisited the certification, which helped me understand things in a way that I wouldn't have without the context of the job. 

In general, what does an AI/ML Global Black Belt (GBB) in Application Development do? What are you working on?

As a Global Black Belt at Microsoft, I help customers do one of two things. I either help them ideate on an AI solution and then move from ideating to POC MVP, or if they already have a POC MVP and want to scale, I help them scale. I'm either helping them go from idea-to-thing or thing-to-bigger-thing. 

For example: Let’s say a customer has a call center. A normal call center interaction goes: someone calls, someone answers, there's a conversation, and the call ends. At the end of that call, the agent has to manually write a summary of the conversation before moving on to the next call, taking around five minutes. We can build a solution that listens to the phone call, transcribes the conversation and sends that transcription to an LLM. The LLM summarizes it and stores it in a place accessible to the agent. If we can save a thousand agents five minutes and lighten their workload so that they can be more focused on solving problems as opposed to writing summaries, that’s an operational enhancement! It may not drive more revenue, but it will reduce operational expenses.

How quickly is your job changing? 

I am so amazed at how fast it's moving! I've been in tech since 2008, working on generators and moving into software. AI is Usain Bolt sprinting. What was true yesterday is not true today, and what's true today will not be true tomorrow. It's moving faster than anything I've seen in my lifetime and it is by far one of the most exciting times in tech I've had the opportunity to experience. 

What makes a software engineer irreplaceable in today’s job market?

We are living in interesting times where areas of expertise are being commoditized by AI — doctors, lawyers, accountants — are almost being eaten! There is an old saying that software is eating the world. If software is eating the world, AI is gobbling it up, and the bites are as big as continents! 

To be irreplaceable in this phase, learn to use the tool. It's very analogous to when the tractor came around. People used to till the field manually. The tractor comes and you no longer need to till the field. So, do you learn how to work on the tractor? Do you change the tires? Do you change the oil? Do you learn how to operate it? AI is going to push us to that next level. If you don't learn to work with the tractor, you will be replaced by the tractor. One day the tractor may drive itself, but we're not there yet!

There's a misconception that a career changer should "become an AI Engineer" but  your career trajectory proves that you don't just become an AI Engineer overnight or in 12 weeks. How important have the foundational engineering skills been in your career?

It's been instrumental! Even though I'm not necessarily writing software all day, every day, I'm working with services and concepts that are software-oriented. Today, we're moving towards knowing enough to be dangerous and then working with AI to go deeper. The foundational knowledge and understanding that I got during my time at Codesmith has been pivotal because everything is built on top of that. If I didn't know anything about software and how it works, I would be someone who's working with a magic box that I didn’t understand. My foundational understanding of software has been pivotal in my role at Microsoft. 

Looking back, was enrolling at Codesmith worth it for you? Has it helped your career in the ways that you expected it to?

It was worth everything. I had just gotten back from overseas at the end of 2018 and I was still figuring out where I was going to go next. I started a bootcamp in New Orleans but I said if I ever got into Codesmith I would go, so I moved from New Orleans to New York City within a few months. I was that serious about it. Where I am now was beyond my wildest imagination. Codesmith was a huge catalyst in getting me where I am today. It was worth every bit of the inconvenience, toil, and uncertainty. 

Is there anything you would have changed about your Codesmith experience? 

To be honest, I wouldn't change a thing. When I was in New Orleans, people discouraged me from moving to New York, but I chased the dream! It’s amazing to see what happened when I chased a dream and where I landed five years later, by betting on myself, taking that chance, and listening to myself — not what people were telling me but what I was telling myself. It came full circle and Codesmith is a huge part of where I am today, I wouldn't change a thing. 

What is your advice to incoming Codesmith students on how to set themselves up for success in their new tech career? Anything you wish you knew before day one of the bootcamp?

1. Give it your all. The fundamental concept of input and output transcends computer science. Life is input and output. You're only going to get out what you put in. If you give it your all and trust that it will come together, it will come together. It may not be tomorrow, next week, next month, but it will. 

2. Be aware of what’s happening around you. One thing that's different is that during my time we didn't have the threat of AI replacing something that I'm spending my time cultivating and crafting. So I would also recommend keeping your head up, because there are things on the horizon that will affect us in our jobs. It doesn't necessarily mean you need to stop and pivot, but be aware and know that AI is something that you can leverage, not be replaced by. 

Find out more and read Codesmith reviews on Course Report. This article was produced by the Course Report team in partnership with Codesmith.