Unlock Diverse Tech Career Options with Codeworks

Getting postsecondary education has come a long way from taking the traditional routes. Now, alternative learning options have grown astronomically, giving people a chance to catch up and get the training they need to break into any industry. Coding bootcamps, for example, have flooded the market as a response to filling the tech skills gaps that many companies struggle with. 

Whether you’re a career shifter or someone seeking to advance their education, entering a bootcamp is a big first step. While your primary concerns may be the cost and the duration of the program, another crucial question is the effectiveness of the program. Will the bootcamp help you get closer to your career goals? 

Fortunately, Codeworks ticks all the boxes. A coding bootcamp that was first established in Barcelona, Codeworks has expanded to Berlin and London. The bootcamp also offers remote lessons delivered within Europe and the US timezones. Aside from having a global presence, Codeworks is distinguished for its rigorous yet value-for-money programs that have jumpstarted hundreds of careers in the tech industry. 

Get to know more about Codeworks and the career paths you can take upon graduation. 

A Day in the Life of a Codeworks Student

If a word can sum up the experience of many Codeworks students, it’s this: intense. 

The bootcamp welcomes students from diverse backgrounds, but they go through the wringer from the get-go. Before entering the bootcamp, the selection process is rigorous and demanding, with applicants going through a technical interview and a coding assignment. This process results in cohorts composed of people with the right mindset and strong determination to handle the pressures of the bootcamp. 

Codeworks offers immersive programs in web development and software engineering.

As the program starts, students can expect to spend 11 hours daily, learning concepts and polishing their tech skills through projects and exercises. This routine of rigorous coursework goes on for eight to 12 weeks, depending on your chosen program, stretching the limits of the students to prepare them for the demands of the real world.   

The Web Development Immersive program offers lessons that last for eight weeks in advanced JavaScript, databases, backend, and front end frameworks, to name a few. 

Meanwhile, the Software Engineering Immersive program takes 12 weeks to complete, covering a similar curriculum but with an addition of two major projects that allow students to demonstrate their acquired skills and further hone their knowledge in software engineering. 

Codeworks finishes its programs with a career orientation and preparation, where they teach students how to craft their resumes, LinkedIn and other relevant profiles, and polish their interview skills. The Codeworks careers team helps them map out their career plan according to their goals and guides them along the way. 

Among the jobs you can get after the bootcamp include software engineer, full-stack engineer, web developer, applications developer, and information systems manager. 

Alumni Reviews: Is Codeworks Bootcamp Worth It?

With five years in the technical education space, Codeworks has achieved several milestones. It boasts a 100 percent hiring rate, with more than half of Codeworks students finding jobs within a month after graduation. On top of this, they are reportedly earning 14 percent more than the average industry salary. 

Read along as we discover how Codeworks helped Ian Michaels, Jon Portella, and Mandy Nijssen forge their careers in tech. 

Ian Michaels: Codeworks Path to Becoming a Software Engineer

Ian Michaels was a podiatrist-turned-entrepreneur who started a business delivering real-time insolvency financial leads to IVA practitioners in call centers. But as the economy worsened due to COVID-19, he was forced to close his business.

Wanting to take another shot at his career, his interest in coding came to mind. Ian shares, “I always thought about doing a coding bootcamp in the previous years, but I never really got around to it. But I was in a transition period in my life, and so I decided to take the plunge and started looking at different coding bootcamps.”

He came across two bootcamps, but he eventually decided to choose Codeworks. It was Codeworks’ JavaScript-based curriculum and affordability that sealed the deal.

Coming from a career in the medical field, he knew he had the cognitive capability to go through the coding bootcamp. Ian explains, “The first thing that really stood out to me—even before I got into Codeworks— was the number of hoops I had to jump through to even get in.”

He also shares that Codeworks’ curriculum focuses on the breadth of knowledge and skills it provides to its students rather than solely focusing on one aspect of software engineering. This is reflective of Codeworks’ aim to teach its students how to learn. With only 12 weeks to tackle the program, this learning approach makes sense.

Ian says, “The idea is that you practice picking up things before you move on to something else…which is really useful in the real-life job situation where things are fast-paced and you just need to get something done. It keeps you in a place of discomfort, but you’ve got to trust the process.”  

True enough, the process paid off. 

Turning up at different job interviews, Ian was always commended on how much he knows about a wide range of concepts in software engineering. Ian furthers, “The amount of knowledge you need for one interview compared to another could change…And if you at least have some overall knowledge of what they’re asking you, even if it’s just a broad overview, you’d be able to answer the questions a lot better.”

The job search was challenging, with Ian juggling three to four technical interviews at a time while keeping his knowledge updated and skills sharp. He even described it to be similar to a full-time job. But with the help provided by Codeworks’ careers team, Ian was able to pull through.

Ian shares, “I think…you expect that level of grind and hustle to get that first job. But the level of support and information available from Codeworks was exceptional. Pretty much everyone I know got employed.”

In less than two months, Ian landed a job as a software engineer for a fintech company where he is now working on a new mobile app. 

If you are a person inclined towards a more analytic role, then software engineering may be right for you. Among their responsibilities are debugging, designing, and creating software. They are also involved in the testing and maintenance of every component of an application. Ian’s training at Codeworks enabled him to adapt to new tools, like React Native, which he heavily uses in his job.

“I guess when you first get into tech, you think you’re just going to be building new stuff all the time,” he says, “And you think that when you leave, you know and can do everything. But I think that’s an unrealistic view for anyone. I think you just got to have a breadth of knowledge and find your interest that you can go deep into.”

With expansive knowledge and a set of skills, Ian was able to explore different facets of software engineering. Looking to the future, Ian envisions building an agency that bridges developers with creatives.  

Speaking of creatives delving into the tech space, we introduce Jon.

Jon Portella: Codeworks Path to Becoming a Full-Stack Web Developer

With a degree in visual communications, Jon Portella worked in multimedia production and gained some experience as a freelancer for audio-visual companies. But the long hours and the heavy job demand were not something he wished to commit to in the long run.

Despite being good at his job, he put his creative career on pause and decided to consider the tech industry. Like Ian, Jon was also not sure which coding bootcamp to attend. But after talking with a friend who attended Codeworks, he was drawn to the bootcamp. 

He explains, “A friend of mine told me that there’s this course that I can take at Codeworks. It takes three months to complete and it’s very practical…because you can get hired right away if you are good. So, I said, ‘Well, why not?’”

Upon entering Codeworks in 2018, Jon found the experience new and challenging. But with the pre-course, daily lessons, and consistent guidance provided by Codeworks instructors, he completed his training. “…[Y]ou’re getting thrown new concepts all the time, and you can never get comfortable because you have to go immediately to the next thing. So you’re always in that hyper state of mind. I never experienced that, not even in the university.”

With Jon’s background in visual communications and training in full-stack web development combined, he got a job as a web developer for a start-up company that creates digital platforms for the medical industry. 

Fast forward to three years later, Jon Portello now works with Pinterest as a software engineer. He still credits his training at Codeworks for helping him move up the ladder. Jon shares, “I’m working in full-stack with a focus on frontend. It’s basically what I learned in the course…And because I came from a multimedia background, I was keen on doing something with visual interfaces. That’s my main field of expertise right now.”

As he reflects on his life before the bootcamp, Jon shares that he is happy that his expectations from having a tech career aligned with his goals. With tech jobs getting so much demand in the market, his work-life balance has never been better.

“I worked in a startup for the last three years. It was great in terms of flexibility [because] I could work from anywhere. I was traveling a lot,” he says, “And now I’ve joined a bigger company where, apart from the high salary, the perks are great.” 

Mandy Nijssen: Codeworks Path to Becoming an Associate Full-Stack Engineer

Finally, we meet Mandy, a former audiologist and consultant working with hearing-impaired patients. After a few years on the job, she hit a roadblock that prompted her to go on a self-exploration journey. During her travels, she came across digital nomads who work as marketers and programmers.

She found inspiration from how they balanced their work and life, which motivated her to pursue a career in tech. But to do so, she was advised to continue her education in tech. Mandy says, “[They told me:] ‘It may seem difficult, but if you want to, you can study and [lead a similar life].’ But after doing five years of university, I didn’t want to go back the traditional route.”

At first, she tried hacking her way into tech by relying on online resources and learning on her own. Mandy shares, “I realized that I was not going to make it all by myself. I just don’t have the discipline to fully commit to [self-learning].” 

In her search for a more effective alternative learning method, she found Codeworks. The bootcamp’s curriculum and teaching method appealed to her, despite it being—in her own words—“brutal”. 

“Your mind is so occupied with coding and learning new skills that there’s no time for anything else,” she explains. But it is this rigorous method that helped ingrain the necessary skills for her to land a role as an associate full stack engineer at GetYourGuide, an online travel and tour agency in Germany.

Working in a large company provided her the room to grow and a network of senior experts that she can consult. “I started with really simple tasks that just organically grew bigger and bigger. I would say that the job is still hard and it can be stressful, but it’s a lot easier than I anticipated it to be.” 

Mandy likens her job to constantly having to solve puzzles. “Some days, it’s a puzzle with 10 pieces. And sometimes, the puzzle has 3,000 pieces. [But] there’s always an answer,” she says. 

After transitioning into her new career through Codeworks, Mandy cannot imagine going back to a nine-to-five routine. She says that working in tech brought a promising career path that afforded her a more comfortable life. Mandy furthers, “I love the work-life balance so much more…We were in Italy for a month and I just worked from there.” 

An Intensive Tech Skills Training that Works

The rise in tech opportunities is a huge indication that the industry is on its way to greater heights. Add to that the lucrative salaries that tech professionals are gaining. 

According to Glassdoor, the average pay for entry-level software engineers is $76,882 per annum. With relevant years of experience, you can expect it to go as high as $156,483 per annum. While entry-level web developers and senior web developers earn $51,661 and $103,069 per year, respectively. 

But such an increase in job demand also means tighter competition in the job market. Companies are expanding their talent pool by tapping into global tech talents to find their next employee with the right skills. That said, with Codeworks alums breaking into tech successfully, one thing is clear: Codeworks training can bring positive results. In fact, Codeworks graduates earn an average starting salary of $102,000—a competitive figure compared to the national salary average for entry-level software engineers and web developers.

Whether you choose to work in a start-up or a big company, Codeworks ensures that you have a strong foundation to build on as you advance in your career. Join the many aspiring tech experts and forge a fulfilling career path when you enroll with Codeworks.