Tomorrow, on 29th March 2021, I will be starting the pre-course for Makers’ software engineering bootcamp. Before I start, I decided to reflect on how I arrived here.

Before Makers

I studied Chemistry at university, but I never wanted to work in that area. In my final year, I read a short book about the Python programming language and tried out freeCodeCamp. I enjoyed learning to program, but I lost track of it while doing my final exams.

After graduation I studied for some IT certifications and ended up working in technical support at a local managed services provider, where I was encouraged to use PowerShell scripts to solve problems and automate processes. I think this reignited my interest in programming. I read several books on PowerShell scripting and spent time, whenever I could, practicing and learning.

I stayed in that job for about 18 months. I left partly for personal reasons, but I also wasn’t happy working in tech support, and I knew I needed to find a new occupation. Software development had always been at the back of my mind, so I made a rough plan: self-teach using free, online resources until I’m sure I want to work in development, then sign up for a bootcamp to give me a boost into employment.

In October last year I started studying CS50x, Harvard’s free, online version of their introductory computer science course. It’s a great course, starting with the C programming language to introduce basic computer science concepts, then moving to Python and JavaScript for web programming. I’d highly recommend it to anyone starting to learn how to code, because the computer science concepts it covers (like big O notation, algorithms and data structures) give you a solid base for later learning.

Just before Christmas last year I started freeCodeCamp. freeCodeCamp was a good introduction to web development. It covers: responsive web design with HTML and CSS; JavaScript (both front-end and back-end, using Node.js); and related topics like data visualisation and front-end frameworks/libraries. The modules are beginner-oriented and give you a good basis for further, independent learning from documentation or other sources.

I continued through freeCodeCamp until about two weeks ago, when I applied to Makers. There was no particular stimulus for this. I just felt ready to take the next step.

Choosing Makers

I researched a handful of coding bootcamps, but Makers made the best impression. All the big bootcamps have good reviews, good curricula, and similar prices. What tipped me in favour of Makers was the emphasis on wellbeing, i.e a good balance between work and physical/mental health. My time at university and my tech support job were both very stressful, so I appreciate the embracing of healthy work habits.

As I wrote above, two weeks ago I sent my application to Makers. I was immediately given some online Ruby materials to go through: the Learn Ruby course on Codecademy, a Ruby booklet from Makers and a couple of blog posts. There was also Codewars, on which I’d need to get 100 points before I could schedule my interview. The next day I was contacted by Jo, course manager at Makers. We chatted about why I was interested in coding and Makers, and he gave me some advice for preparing for the interview.

Over the next week I worked through Codecademy while at the same time completing Codewars challenges, spending about two hours each day, and by Monday I had completed all the assigned material. That Friday I had my interview, which was a pairing session with Cristina, admissions manager. She set me a series of programming problems to solve, so that she could see my skill level as well as my communication, problem-solving and thought-process while coding.

After the interview, Makers offered me a place on the course starting 29th March.