WHAT WAS YOUR BACKGROUND BEFORE ATTENDING TRADE SCHOOL?
Prior to coding, I was a business student. I had just graduated and was doing some minor business consulting for a small catering company. It was mostly for free to gain experience and build a resume. They were building an e-commerce store, and I quickly realized most of the work I was doing for this client was technical in nature. That was how I segued into the coding and development side of the business. That was when my brother-in-law introduced me to BocaCode. I looked into it and decided to do it because I figured that would be a way to really help clients.
HOW HAS BOCACODE AFFECTED YOUR CAREER PATH?
To be blunt, before BocaCode, I was a business graduate working basically for free. I went from earning around 10K a year, to around 35K. So yeah, getting my certification caused a big increase in salary. I’m currently working at a cruise software company, working on travel software as part of their IT department for now. It is an entry-level position right now, but it's gotten more and more technical the longer I’ve been with the company. The idea is to slowly rank up into a more developer role, which I’m currently taking tests to gain my first promotion.
HOW DID MIA SHARE HELP YOU ON YOUR EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY?
Mia Share made this practical for me. Otherwise, I probably would not have joined the boot camp at the time I did. I would have had to wait another year or so before applying. So big thanks to you guys for that, honestly. There really was no alternative for me because I had my college loans. I had not anticipated attending school again. If you’re considering Mia Share do the math and be financially prepared. The company is great and will do anything in its power to assist you, but you should always have realistic expectations.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS?
I love creating and the ability to actually solve problems that matter to a company. You can do what you really need to not just simply analyze and diagnose, but also resolve. In five years, I should be somewhere between a mid to senior developer. Probably in full-stack, bleeding into the field of AI. I also studied some VR/AR at BocaCode, so I’m hoping to implement some of that as well. I like helping smaller companies, and more startup-stage businesses, so I’m working on building a more holistic skillset.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR THOSE PURSUING A TRADE SCHOOL EDUCATION?
My advice would be to create a plan and have realistic expectations. You need to be disciplined and improve your skills on your own time. You need to go to school with basic knowledge to take full advantage of your resources and continue your education even after your graduate because a lot of trade and technical work is self-study. I would not recommend trade school if you do not have that disciple. Also, anticipate that you may not get a job right after you graduate, so you need to be financially prepared. Mia Share helps reduce that risk, but you need to be aware of it to be able to manage it.