Meet Jared, A Coder Camps Alumnus
When he came to understand that coding is intertwined in aspects of all business, Jared seized the opportunity to attend a tech bootcamp. His B.A. in Linguistics aided in his learning of new coding languages at Coder Camps. After camp, he quickly found a rewarding job that leaves him enough time to kayak down the Colorado River for fun. He shares his advice on getting an education in tech!
How did you get started with Coder Camps? What led you there?
I was working as a Desktop Support person for the Houston Astros and wanted a stronger career future. I had previously done light design programming so I was familiar with object oriented programming. I began looking at coding bootcamps and Coder Camps was located in Houston, was significantly cheaper than other camps, and taught .Net and Javascript which I was most familiar with due to my work at the Astros so I felt like that was the best opportunity for me.
What is your favorite thing about your school? What makes them different?
Coder Camps was great because it felt like the right amount of in-depth personal instruction and assistance blended with individual and group exercises to maximize my time at camp and maximize my learning from all sources. I feel like this approach helped target various types of learners and created a strong and enjoyable learning atmosphere.
What is your educational background?
I received a B.A. in Linguistics from Brigham Young University. My familiarity with learning spoken languages definitely contributed to my ability to be able to pick up new coding languages.
If you could do anything differently about your education, would you?
I would have done two things different if I could redo my coding experience. I would do three times the amount of prep work before arriving at camp, and I would have made better use of my time away from camp while enrolled. I didn’t put in as much effort as I should have even though I still learned a lot and got a great job coming out of camp.
What is the importance of learning code in today’s work force?
I believe that learning code is something all future students and employees will eventually learn. It has become so intertwined in every aspect of business that the majority of future employees should be able to at least comprehend basic code and that will make them more valuable as employees.
What specific coding languages did you learn? What are the advantages of that coding language?
I learned ASP.Net, C#, AngularJS, and Javascript during my time at camp. (Angular is a specific type of Javascript). The .Net stack is prevalent throughout the world for business operations and Javascript can interact with almost any language. These skills ensure I will always have a job because there will always be a demand for these languages and if I eventually specialize in one specific language, the earning potential skyrockets exponentially.
What have you been doing since you graduated?
Since I graduated, I went on a job hunting campaign and quickly found the job I currently hold. I moved to the Austin, TX which is where I wanted to live long term and was able to buy a house because I doubled my previous salary from when I was at the Astros.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
I like to go explore the areas around Lake Travis and kayak down the Colorado River.
Where are you from? What is your favorite thing to do in that area/city?
I grew up in various parts of Texas but primarily down in Corpus Christi. My favorite things to do there included going to the beach, surfing, and fishing.
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I didn’t honestly know what I wanted to be when I grew up, I switched majors in college 4 times and it wasn’t until I left graduate school that I really got serious about picking a career. My time with the Astros gave me a great vision into the IT world as a career and then I needed to choose what to specialize in and I selected programming because of the stable job environment and the great lifetime earning potential.
What is your favorite book, and when was the last time you actually picked up a hard copy of a book?
My favorite book is Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy. I have a good sized collection of hard cover books at my house and I enjoy reading novels extensively. I recently purchased 3 new adventure novels to enjoy.
You get to have afternoon tea with whoever you want! Who is it?
If I could have tea this afternoon, I would want to share it with George W. Bush.
If you could order any food and have it in front of you right now what would it be?
I would order Kimchi Fries from ChilantroBBQ right now and anytime because they are delicious!
Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Matthew Mcconaughey would represent me well because we have similar personalities and are both from Texas.
What is something you’re really excited about right now?
I am excited right now about my future car I want to buy thanks to getting a new job. I want to purchase the new 2015 Corvette Z06.
