Interview

A devCodeCamp student shares his thoughts on his experience in

the intense coding boot camp.

A View From the

INSIDE

2A View From the Inside

A View From the INSIDE

A devCodeCamp student shares his thoughts on his experience in the intense coding boot camp.

12 weeks might not sound like a very long time, but time can be very relative. Ten hours a day, five days a week of intensive training can sure make twelve weeks seem longer in a hurry.

Factor in countless hours of work done outside of class, research, commute times and a reshuffling of your personal and professional life for almost three months and it can become a daunting task.

BT: Tell me what you were doing before devCodeCamp?

BB: Prior to devCodeCamp I was working for a company called Badgerland

Supply, delivering drywall to both residential and commercial areas; so big

high-rise buildings in downtown Madison all the way to little ranches out in

the country right around Waukesha. Been all over Wisconsin already in the

eight months I’ve been here. I really liked the physical aspect of it (the job).

It was really nice for staying in shape and I got a lot stronger but the hours

and strenuous nature of the job; I couldn’t do it for very long.

BT: What did you know about code before you started the program?

BB: I knew very little about code before this program began. I've done

some tutorials on my own in CSS, HTML and I had been introduced to

Python by my dad so I’ve done a couple of tutorials with it. Because I didn't

have any outside structure, or any any reason or goal that I was going

towards, I never went very far with it when I was younger, so very little.

As daunting is it may be, this process is now being utilized throughout the United States as an avenue for people to make a major career change. Programs like this can be imposing. Is it something you could handle? Brensten Education’s Ben Tomes sat down with current devCodeCamp student Brandon Brown to discuss the Colorado native’s experience in the program. Here’s what he had to say about his intensive training:

INCOMING STUDENTSOur students come from a wide array of previous careers, ranging from high-level engineering and masters degrees to restaurants to drywall delivery drivers.

WISCONSINWe are currently the only program of its kind in the great state of Wisconsin. Our students come from a wide radius around our campus.


BT: What was it about code development that was interesting to you?

BB: The most interesting thing to me is the fact that they’re

the tools for building the future. It’s what the internet is built on,

it’s what all of the cool services and cool stuff we get to play with

is built on these core principles. I would like to be part of that. I

would like to have that knowledge instead of just being like when

something breaks I need to call my dad or call customer support.

Actually understanding what these things do, how to build them,

and then be part of building the next really cool thing.

BT: What parts of your background do you feel contributed to your ability to comprehend the content in the program?

BB: As far as the learning , I think being able to learn

quickly. I've been in the class, in the classroom one form or

another since I was five years old. My dad started teaching the

martial arts before I can walk. He’s had me learn from tons of

different people, tons of different skills; like with my background,

going to an EMT course, it was a semester long. It was pretty

intensive. And then with the body guarding stuff; it was a

month-long of just ten hours a day, just learning. I kind of

realized that was how I learned well. So finding a course that

was going to be intensive that way; get you in the mindset so you

don’t get out of it. I think I was prepared for that via some of the

previous learning experiences I've had.

CODE DEVELOPMENT AS A CAREER

The statistics behind the job market in coding are staggering; almost impossible for most to comprehend. From average pay to the need for jobs, this field is almost unrivaled in the modern job market as far as potential is concerned.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be over a million coding jobs available in the near future, and the field is growing at a rate of over 20% per year. The average base pay at the entry level is over $40,000 a year. The median salary for experienced people in this field surpasses over $90,000 a year.

Companies can’t hire people fast enough. In some cases, they hire people without experience and send them to coding boot camps to get trained. In others, they’re plucking talented graduates before they’re even half way through their short-term schooling. It is hard to beat the

.

BACKGROUNDSMany activities instill the potential to be great coders, including military service, gaming and the martial arts, just to name a few.

EXPERIENCESome of our incoming students have coding experience, but the majority do not. A lack of experience should not be a detriment towards your pursuit of joining the devCodeCamp.

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BT: How would you describe a typical day in the devCodeCamp program.

BB: It's pretty hard to describe a typical day, just

because most days are different here. I would say some of

the pieces and parts of the same. A typical day of

devCodeCamp you get here in the morning, get your

bearings and set up, and move right into what you were

working on yesterday. If they have something extra they

want to teach, they pull you out for a little lecture and then

it’s right back into the code. It’s all about learning by doing;

learning by code.

Usually lectures aren’t too long; like 15 minutes to

an hour, anywhere in there; just geared towards the basic

concepts, then it’s back to your computer and start hashing

them out. Search what you need to search and ask us

know if you have any questions. That’s usually the format.

If there’s kind of a new thing they want to introduce, they’ll

give a lecture on it and then whether or not we have a

personal project that’s implementing things that we’re

learning. You just kind of move at your own pace , but the

pace is insane.

PACEOur pace of play is fast; much faster than most. This program is not for everyone. It requires a great amount of discipline, dedication and commitment. To handle long hours and a fast pace requires someone highly motivated to get into this career quickly. Many students begin to interview within 6 weeks. It’s crucial to be able to keep up with the fast-moving curriculum.

A View From the Inside5

LECTURESWe have lectures, but they’re abbreviated in length and punctuated with hands on applications. Our transition from teaching to doing happens almost immediately following the completion of the lecture. There is no waiting to apply what you’ve just been taught how to do. You do it right away.

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BT: What’s been the hardest adjustment for you in tackling the devCodeCamp?

BB: The toughest

adjustment is something I'm still

adjusting to you now at coming

down to the end. is is just kind

of that ability to break out of

whatever mindset you're an

currently, just because of the

nature of the program. If you

get into something and you're

starting to learn, starting to

move, moving along and

understand; connect the dots so

to speak. At any point at a

teacher will walk in and say,

“Alright stop what you're doing,

we're doing something

different.”

FORMATWe believe that a program such as this one should help you adapt to the real-world expectations of a job. In this field, there are constant changes and adaptations that have to be made. We’ve designed the program to reflect that, with sudden pop-projects present at random times throughout the 12 weeks.

That’s hard to get used to just because it's really hard to get back into that that train of thought

again, depending on how long you been he walked away from it. So that definitely takes a while to get

yourself into the mode of being of being ready to transition at any point during the day. It’s all about

getting that muscle memory with it. The correlation is almost complete between coding and martial

arts. We've only got 12 weeks to learn 2 or 3 entirely different languages, it’s hard to commit anything

to muscle memory.

BT: What was your initial reaction to being in the program?

BB: My first reaction to the devCodecamp was just excitement. I found out about it about a

week before it started, you know that the first flight so speak. I called called Dave called, called a

bunch people here, really excited about it didn't get to make it to the meet up but I probably called

Dave for five times a day for that last week was trying to get through the admissions process. Just

really excited. I felt like this was a way to achieve the goals I had and had a little bit of of control in my

life it to move toward something without having to get a four year degree in computer science and then

start trying to build my career. This this seemed like a really good way for me to to me to move into

the into the realm.

A View From the Inside


LOCATIONAs the only licensed coding boot camp in Wisconsin, some of our students go through great literal lengths to get here. Located 15 minutes West of Milwaukee, and within a 90 minute drive or less from Sheboygan, Racine, Kenosha and Madison, our students are finding the commute doable over a 12 week program.

BT: Would you say the beginning of the program was overwhelming?

BB: It was incredibly overwhelming having to learn the

languages. I’m much less overwhelmed now. It’s a different kind

of overwhelming now. I understand there’s still a massive amount

of information out there and I will never stop learning. I will never

even get close to stop learning. But, I also feel much more secure

in the knowledge that I can learn those things. And the knowledge

that I don’t have to learn it all to be effective: and move forward.

BT: Your situation in devCodeCamp is a little unique in that you commute from a pretty good distance. What’s been the impact of the near-90 minute drive from Madison?

BB: (laughing) It sucks. Driving an hour in the morning and

hour night after pummeling your brain all day. There's there's no

good way to deal with it. It’s just mind over matter at that point. I

looked up a couple of different podcasts and audio books that

have to do with what we’re talking about. I found one that is

Python-specific podcast. It helps to fill that time, and also

decompress your brain but still be in the mindset as well. This has

become a passion for me. This is something that I see myself

doing for the rest of my life. There are so many facets to it. No

matter what I”m interested in, there’s somebody doing it. And if

there’s not somebody doing it, there’s avenues to start doing it on

my own.

BT: Was there a moment when you realized that you made the right decision when you took on the devCodeCamp?

BB: I knew that this program was a good decision at the moment would probably I would put that

when we were in the middle of the course. We did we did a section on JavaScript and a lot more like

the front end web development stuff, and we will get a presentation where they invited a couple of

other people from outside the camp to it and end and some of the staff came it was kind of little bit

bigger of a deal. Just showing off my code, seeing it work, and and realizing you know, “I built that; I

know what I would do with it in the future. I know what I'm going to go home right now and fix.” Those

feelings I had that day were, that was when I knew that was something I was going to do for the rest

of my life.


BT: What would you say is the single-most difficult aspect of the program?

BB: The most difficult part I think most of the part of the program for me is is there's a lot of underlying

principles and knowledge that I think a lot of people assume you have or are you assuming you should have.

Whether or not you looking at a basic tutorial or whether are you trying to go through building a web application

there's a lot of pieces and parts that are hidden from you. Where does the website come from? What is a server?

Those type of basic questions that help you build a complete picture to work inside of; that aren’t necessarily gone

over, you need to learn those things on your own. A lot of people coming into this course either had seen that

before, or they go down those avenues to learn those things. For me, that’s still the hardest thing; wrapping my

head around some of those core concepts to get a complete picture.

BT: Would you say that code development is somewhat addicting?

BB: Is it addicting?

Absolutely. My wife is already

annoyed with me like I come

home, I eat food, I sit at my

computer and I start looking at

stuff.

BT: How would you describe the culture of the devCodeCamp program and campus? What’s it like to be a student in such an intensive program?

BB: The culture here is absolutely what you make of it. It is completely dependent on what you are willing to put in. I really enjoy the teachers here, and I think they are really cool people. I try to make an effort to connect with them, see how they’re doing, create a rapport/friendship; and they have done the same with me It’s a fairly open concept. You can walk around, there’s coffee. It’s really nice outside, you can get up and go outside to get some fresh air. There’s always talk and communication between each other. Like I said, it’s about what you put into it. If you’re someone that really doesn’t want to get into the culture, you won’t be forced to. You’re not going to have to step outside. You can sit at your computer and just keep on working. Or you can go out to lunch sometimes with all of us, take a little bit longer and just enjoy getting out of the place. There’s the opportunity for it.

CAPTIVATINGSuccessful coders are passionate about the field. Most experienced cite the constant problem solving in the field as addicting, almost hypnotic.

CAMPUSWe’re proud of our devCodeCamp campus. It is a modern facility, and designed to make lives for our students comfortable. Modern and ample machines to work from, couches, soft-drinks and an open atmosphere and of course the coffee make us a great place to be.

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CAREER SERVICESStudents are exposed and introduced to prospective employers throughout the program. Because some of our students begin to interview and receive job offers around the half-way point of the program, we begin the career service experience almost immediately in the program. We need our students to be prepared quickly for the opportunties that come their way.

A View From the Inside

BT: How far along in the program were you when you began to experience job leads and interviews?

BB: I’ve just been trying

to stick to the program, so the

first thoughts I had about

interviewing were about not

quite two months in when I

really started to really put those

feelers out and think about my

resume and go through an

interview. Right now, it's still a

little up in the air for me, just

because still don't really know if

what I know is enough for what

a potential hire is going to need,

potential employer is going

want to see out of me.

There's no way to know that until I go through the interview process start to finish with a couple

of places.

BT: Where do you see yourself in 5 years; geographically, professionally?

BB: Geographically, I see myself in Colorado working as a developer. I would like to work on

using open source products, contributing to an open source project. I would like to be working for

myself, or for a small group of people like my friends that are already in the field, building on ideas we

have, innovate.

BT: What advice would you give someone considering such an intensive boot camp to learn to code?

BB: If you’re considering a program like this one, the best advice I would give is be honest with

yourself. Don’t get excited about it, don’t get over-excited about it, then come in here and be like, “It’s

going to be awesome,” but not be willing to give 100%. That’s not a bad thing if you don’t want to be a

developer, but understand that about yourself. Don’t go with the flow and the trend because this is not

something you should do if you really don’t want to do it.


devCodeCamp: Wisconsin’s only code development boot camp.

ABOUTThe devCodeCamp campus is located in Waukesha, WI, and offered by Brensten Education. It is currently the only one of its kind in the state of Wisconsin. Waukesha is located 15 minutes west of Downtown Milwaukee and conveniently located just seconds off of I-94.

We set out to disrupt traditional education by creating a model that is focused, fierce and fun. Students in the program are entered into a fully immersive 12 week program study. The program is fast paced, challenging and hands-on. Students are on campus for up to 10 hours a day, five days a week over that timeframe. The program is structured to teach software concepts that are transferable to any language.

From day one, students dive into languages and frameworks used by major corporations and tech companies. Among the languages learned are Python, .NET & ASP.NET, GIT, Visual Studio, JQuery, Javascript, HTML 5 and AngularJS. As new languages take hold in the industry, we include them in our curriculum.

devCodeCamp instills the skills for students to write their own software, and gain employment as a junior software engineer. We provide experienced job placement and career advising services to our students. In 2014, Brensten Education celebrated 20 years of teaching technology. We have graduated and placed over 5,000 students into tech jobs, and have taught over 80,000 classes to more than 1,000 organizations. As an accredited school since 2007, Brensten Education carefully crafted the devCodeCamp program to provide students with a thorough understanding of coding best practices, practical knowledge, and hireable skills. Our instructors have collectively written over 3,000,000 lines of code that are in production today.

If you are interested in learning more about the devCodeCamp, please visit www.devcodecamp.com today to learn more about this exciting new program.

http://www.devcodecamp.com

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