Tech Talent & Strategy

I came to coding by a long and winding road. My wife and I were living in Columbia, Missouri, where I was a doctoral philosophy student at Mizzou. For a host of complicated reasons, we decided to step away from higher education and the tenure track pursuit. It was the right decision at the time, but it wasn’t easy to make. Leaving school meant abandoning, for the foreseeable future, the only career path I had known. I love teaching and reading, writing and problem solving, and I had spent the better part of the last ten years in education. I now enjoyed the less than glamorous title of PhD dropout. What was I to do next?

We knew that we needed some time to decide what the new phase would be, and we wanted to work with kids, so we moved to Washington, DC, in July 2016 to work as houseparents for at-risk youth. It seemed like a wonderful fit, but it went south fast. Though we enjoyed living in DC and some aspects of the job, dysfunction in the company and an overall lack of safety—not to mention the organization’s unwillingness to make necessary changes—compelled us to make plans to leave. Since we lived in a group home of sorts, leaving the job meant leaving our residence and the kids we’d worked so hard to serve.

With heavy hearts we decided to apply for jobs in various cities we liked—mostly in Tennessee, one of our favorite states. The deal was this: whoever got a job first, we’d move for that job and the other of us would make it work. But Tennessee was apparently not in the cards. My wife unexpectedly secured a job in Charlotte, NC, and that’s where we went.

It was a trying time. We felt that we needed to leave Mizzou, so we did. But we managed only seven months in DC before being faced with yet another move. We felt weary, disoriented, and discouraged—me especially. Here we were in a new place, with one car. What on earth was my plan? Doubts crept in. Did we really know what we were doing? I strung together some part time jobs and tried to figure my life out.

I had a few ideas for what to do, and coding wasn’t the top choice. One idea was to pass the state Praxis certification and teach secondary math, since I like math, teaching jobs seem always in demand, and I could pursue my writing projects on the side. I also like the model of classical education, so I thought about becoming proficient in Latin and teaching in a classical school, since I could also teach logic or rhetoric or something else of interest. Then there was coding and web development. I had some philosophy friends who left higher ed and were from all appearances leading successful careers in programming. The problem was finding a way to break into the field. I had no knowledge of coding; I didn’t even know what a platform was.

But the first and most attractive idea was to take the LSAT and go to a good law school. You might think I’m crazy (and you’re probably right, though for other reasons), but law school sounded fun and interesting; it still does. And the LSAT is a philosopher’s dream: just logic games, verbal reasoning, reading comprehension, and argumentative essay writing. At the very least, even if I didn’t go to law school, I could still do LSAT tutoring for side income. I liked all of these options, but it seemed clear to me that I could only pursue one at the expense of the rest. Which should I choose?

It turned out that the decision was all but made for me. I was about to register for the September LSAT when a chance arose to enroll in Tech Talent South‘s full-time code immersion course. I put the LSAT to the side and took this opportunity head on. And I came to know firsthand what afriend had told me: coding was a lot like doing logic and philosophy! In the class we were creating functions, working with sets, defining terms and variables, using conditional statements and embedded clauses, writing programs as clearly and simply as possible. There was elegance to it and it involved creativity.

A few weeks into the course I was preparing to go on the job market. I hadn’t thought to look outside of Charlotte, but a close friend told me that his company in Saint Louis was looking to hire a junior-mid .NET developer. Our course was working with Ruby on Rails, not .NET, and I had no formal experience. But he’s a senior developer with a fantastic reputation—and rightly so. He recommended me and made a true philosopher’s case for why his boss should give me a call. His boss did, and a few interviews later I had an offer, which I gladly accepted. I've been at the company for more than one year, and the esperience, though challenging, has been great. I get to build software for a good company, while working alongside one of my best friends.

It’s funny how life, more often than not, does not behave according to plans. The TTS course literally came out of nowhere, and it played an essential role in getting me a job. It quickly gave me the necessary exposure, background knowledge, and confidence to make the next step in setting out on a new career. More than all of that, it gave me a sense of hope and a new vision for the future.

TTS staff and alumni were like family. The classmates were supportive, the teacher was competent and enthusiastic, and when I reached out for advice on the job market from former students who had made their way into coding, they answered. I had phone chats and coffee conversations and meetings. The TTS network is big and its members are skilled at their work but also kind. All you have to do is make an effort to pursue the opportunities that TTS offers. You won't be disappointed. I wasn't.

I joined TTS in March 2018 in the Fulltime Code Immersion course as well as the Machine Learning course. 
My instructor was exceedingly patient with students when needed.
He was also quick to point out more detailed aspects to students who wanted an in-depth look. 
The course-work is a great overview of what to expect when learning Ruby on Rails and a very complete introduction to programming in general. 

I did the precourse work and had familiarized myself with Ruby, RoR, git, and bash. 
If you come to this class with those skills built, you will have a great time and lots of job prospects. 
If you come with an eagerness to learn, but not much work done already you will learn a great deal, but it won't be very fun. 
Either way, it is worth every penny. 

The one liner on Tech Talent South Code_Immersion is ; Do it!

Here is the rest of it

1) Kevin the instructor is awesome

2) Cassandra, the administrator, is awesome

3) Believe it or not the students that were in class with me were awesome

Very important info here - Kevin the instructor has the patience of a Zen__Master_For _Real. Coding can jump

from "Ok I get that" to "WTF?!?!!? how did he get that" in a flash. Kevin was never phased by #crazyQuestions

#slowLearners (like me), he knows what is wrong because clearly he has been coding for 20 years and he is in his

20's!!! I honestly feel I can learn any language because Kevin taught us how to approach/learn code, that was the

BEST takeAway.

Cassandra was able to put guest speakers in front of us who were completely awesome! EVERY SINGLE speaker

gave way more than expected and basically assured us that a career in code will be waiting for you and some were

hiring(now). The field trips were CRAZY! I had no idea that some of these places were here and the work_spaces

were inspiring. SiliconeBayou is the future and Cassandra is 'linkedin' for_real!! Teaching the kids camp was the

coolest ever.

I really enjoyed the experience, learned HTML, CSS, SQL, ACTIVE RECORD, JAVASCRIPT, RUBY, RUBY ON

RAILS(AWESOME) and so much more. Remember this, we learned how to learn. You will need that skill more

than anything else. Tech Talent South has a great culture and the tech community obviously welcomes them and

their students in with open arms. Time/effort/money well spent. My future learning will be with Tech Talent South

Tech Talent South has been everything I wanted from a bootcamp and more.  The material provided in class is concise and well-written, but the best part of my experience has been my interactions with my course instructor, community organizer, and fellow students.  

My instructor has been a senior rails developer for years, and he is one of the few instructors I've had throughout any educational institution who has exhibited expertise in the subject matter, effective teaching ability, and legitimate care for how well his students go on to use their newfound knowledge to better their lives once the course has ended.  In addition, my community organizer has been an invaluable source of pertinent job assistance and knowledge in what tech meetups are happening in my area.  She also took initiative in arranging several meetups and guest speakers for our class specifically as well as finding job opportunities she thought were good fits for us as individuals.

After an initial extra-curricular meetup encouraged by our instructer, my fellow students and I have continued to meet together once a week to code together and share knowledge.  This sense of community has helped drive my learning experience forward after the class has ended.

Before I took this course I was intimidated by even trying to search for jobs in the tech industry, but the people involved in this bootcamp have helped me both find where to begin and how to continue growing from that point onwards.

I have no regrets about taking this course, and I recommend it to anyone looking to start coding.

Tech Talent South(TTS) has been a game changing experience for me, I came to the program after leaving behind a career in management. I learn best by immersion and decided to go with TTS after their chief of student success and diversity personally called me to recruit me to the program.

This personal touch, and willingness to build a deep connection is one of the core aspects of the TTS program. Most bootcamps are just that--bootcamps. Tech Talent South is a village.

My instructor is a senior Rails developer at a large corporation here in Dallas, and he became personally invested in my cohorts training. Our community organizer is amazing and will hand pick and send us jobs she thinks we'd be perfect for. Our class has already graduated but we still meet up every week to code together, support one another, and look for work together.

What I learned from TTS moreso than coding(its tough to do this thing Part Time) was the culture and mindset of a professional developer. The knowledge my instructor passed on to me about the Tech Industry and software engineering has been invaluable. We didn't just learn HOW to do things, he taught us WHY and he also taught us WHAT the industry standard is at major corporoations.

I'm confident that with TTS and just one app project I'll be able to get a solid job and that I'll have a community of dedicated, gifted programmers around me for life.
 

Coming from the medical field and being frustrated with the development cycle as well as the very frustrating technological hurdles concerning the usability, accessability, and research design of the work I was involved in. I decided that a career change was in order to help change spur technological changes in the industry.

With very little experience in coding I decided on TTS as my coding bootcamp of choice due to a recommendation from my friend who had a very positive experience there. The curriculum is fast paced and challenging with extra office hours available to those who need extra help. Along the way I have discovered that I really enjoy the problem solving involved in programming and believe that technology can affect great change in the community.

I enjoy the understanding and journey to self actualization that they have provided for me and am looking forward to a more productive path of work. Everything at TTS has been an enjoyable experience throughout!

The course set up was very nice and the curriculum was well thought out for the amount of time that you have. The class location was very functionable, a little cramped when we have a full class but not overly cramped. ( I am a big fella so that might have contributed to my idea of cramped) The commuity organizer, Taylor Weese, did an excellent job accomadating for everyone and went out of his way to help people with all the things that come up during a boot camp! Jill is a real asset to helping during and after with your resume with timely advice and recommendations. The instructor was very knowledgable on the subject matter and provided excellent documentation of the course lectures and activities. I had three instructors during my boot camp, Clarise and Leslie were awesome and really took time to listen to people and find new ways to help them understand with patience and respect. I would highly suggest this bootcamp to anyone considering learning coding!

I recently completed the Full Time Code Immersion course and am glad that I enrolled.  I was a little skeptical about how much you would actually learn in a short amount of time but was pleasantly surprised by just how much knowledge I gained.  With that being said, it really is up to you to put in the hours after class everyday to make sense of what you are actually doing.  It's easy to follow along with instructions but it won't always stick if you're not taking the time to practice what you are being taught.  I enjoyed spending time in the classroom and getting to know the other students.  Everyone comes from such different backgrounds so it's nice to have this common ground with everyone.  The Community Organizer (Taylor) did a great job with making sense of it all when a few people felt lost.  He has taken the class before so he was able to explain how he made sense of it all when he was sitting exactly where we were sitting.  You come out of the class with real world projects to add to your portfolio to help show future employers.  I would highly reccomend this class to anyone looking to make a transition into the tech world and has an interest in learning to program. 

Pros:

- tremendous support from the teacher and community organizer both in and out of class (office hours, tours, meetups)

- flow of curriculum was well-paced, rigorous, and relevant

- well-rounded exposure to both front-end and back-end languages

- online access to lessons/slides was very helpful for studying

- wonderful alumni communication and support

Cons:

- homework gets a little long/repetitive at times

- students might benefit from a more discovery-based approach to creating an app where they brainstorm what needs to put in place instead of being told

About me and my experience:

I had been a high school teacher for five years when I decided that I wanted to pursue a new career path.  I knew I wanted to go into web development, but I wasn't sure how to go about it.  I had basically no knowledge or experience.  Should I enroll in a university?  Should I take classes online?  I wasn't sure.  Then a friend of mine suggested the Tech Talent South Code Immersion class.  It was simply the perfect fit.  From being welcomed via email after I enrolled to meeting my instructor on the first day of class, everyone made me feel comfortable and important right away.  It was clear that there was a structure of support already in place.  I learned tremendously from my teacher and felt like I was really sinking my teeth into relevant information and skills.  The community organizer was very enthusiastic and helpful in immersing the students into the code community and helping us make connections that could lead to jobs.  I have only been out of my teaching job for six months and I'm already prepared to apply for a job as a developer.  I can't thank Tech Talent South enough for making this all possible for me!

I enrolled in the part-time coding immersion program with no prior experience in coding. I thought this class was a very good introduction to many coding concepts, and upon finishing the class I felt that I had a great set of tools to continue learning and practicing on my own. The instructor was knowledgeable, experienced, and patient, and the community organizer was very eager to help introduce us to the tech community in our city. I also liked that this organization helps give back to the community through offering free kids coding classes. Perhaps the most valuable part will be the continued connection to the organization, as they are very good at keeping in touch with and engaging alumni.