Job-finding is not a linear process; what works for one person might not work for another. This is especially true when you’re looking to break into the tech industry—a career path with multiple entryways beyond traditional avenues like colleges and universities.
However, with the right skills and the right guidance, nothing is impossible. Take Wanda Victores, for example. Wanda was an event engineer seeking to venture into tech. With such a career leap, naturally, the first step she took was to acquire the right skills so, in 2017, she signed up for Coding Temple’s Full Stack Development program.
“Programming was hard because I’ve never done it before and I wasn’t sure I was able to do something like this,” she said. “But the support was good. I was able to message them [Coding Temple instructors and mentors] off-hours, on weekends, whenever I was stuck, or going through the questions. I was able to talk one-on-one with them and that made all the difference.”
Now a senior data engineering consultant, Wanda said she relied heavily on the support staff at Coding Temple, particularly the career services division. “They helped set up different interviews for me, I was able to go to several of them, and I landed a great job at a global software consulting company.”
Coding Temple’s Approach to Learning
This is a testament to Coding Temple’s job-focused approach: a winning formula that combines a top-tier curriculum with well-rounded support.
Just how effective is this approach? We’d say pretty effective. The school boasts an outstanding completion rate of 85.82 percent. In addition to that, 96.09 percent of its students succeeded in landing a job within six months of graduating, while 98.23 percent of them recorded similar results within nine months.
“We care about every individual that comes into the program—regardless of who you are. If you are struggling, we will work together to overcome it. Your success is really our success,” Marlene Tang, Head of Career Services at Coding Temple, said.
Industry-Level Bootcamp Curriculum
The first layer to this formula is a top-tier curriculum that leans heavily on hands-on exercises. This stems from direct observation of how the industry works. Students have the option to take the full-time Full Stack Web Development / Python + Data Science or the part-time Full Stack Web Development program.
It is understandable why Coding Temple chooses to train more full stack developers. It is one of the most in-demand roles today with a projected eight percent growth by 2029. The same report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics also hinted at how lucrative this career track may be, citing a median pay of $77,200 per year in 2020.
Full stack developers also made it into LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise in 2021 list: “Most business and casual interactions moved online during the height of the pandemic. The technology that enables these conversations requires highly specialized people to create it and keep it running. Hiring for these engineering roles grew nearly 25 percent between 2019 and 2020.”
To ensure an optimal outcome, Coding Temple strives to cultivate an active learning environment where students are constantly engaging with technical concepts in the classroom. Students get to tinker and work with code about 90 percent of the time as they build 15 fully functioning projects.
All programs culminate in a Capstone Project, a more in-depth and complex project where students develop real working applications that can be used in the real world. The end goal is simple: at the end of your time at Coding Temple, you’d walk away ready to impress potential employers with a huge professional portfolio.
Well-Rounded Career Support
The second layer is ensuring that students are supported as they navigate a career change. This is where Marlene and her team shine. With a you-can-do-it approach and a positive attitude, she leads the team of career coaches to aspire students to make the most out of their time at Coding Temple. Let’s look at the core elements of the school’s support system below.
Working With A Career Coach
“Our goal is to make sure everybody remembers that they’re joining a bootcamp for a reason. The idea of getting a job at the end of the day should be ingrained in your mind from the very beginning of the program,” Marlene, who is also the Alumni Director, said.
At Coding Temple, students will be introduced to the career services team from day one. During the orientation period, Marlene hosts a 15-minute meet-and-greet session where her team can get to know the new additions to the Coding Temple family. Later on, each student will get assigned a personal career coach.
“The key to identifying someone’s strength is to get to know them. I personally know my students inside and out. That means knowing their personal goals and things they enjoy outside of work. It’s all about learning what motivates them and from then on, I know how to support and advise them to the best options there are,” Marlene said.
As students move through the course, Marlene’s team will enter the picture starting from Week 5 to Week 6. “We will go over all of the content for a job search: portfolio, resume, and other relevant areas. In Week 7 and Week 8, we will cover online branding. In Week 9 and Week 10, we will show you how to initiate conversations, how to stand out from the crowd, how to be assertive in your job search, and how to utilize the platforms you already have.”
According to Marlene, the ‘real’ career services begin after graduation. It covers the know-how to landing a job—from practicing behavioral questions to conducting mock interviews, perfecting ninety-second pitches, and building self-confidence.
It should also be noted that Coding Temple alumni have lifetime access to career services. That means graduates who are already employed can always come back and ask for additional support when they’re ready to explore more senior roles.
“Once you’re a Coding Temple alumnus, you will always be part of Coding Temple. We will help alumni in fixing their resumes for future roles, employer connections, and additional educational classes for no cost.”
Technical Assessment Practice
Another instrumental part toward successfully landing a job is the technical assessment. To help students tackle interviews with ease, Coding Temple offers a one-on-one mock session right after students completed their course.
The school also does it a little differently—it outsources the mock interviews to industry professionals so students can have a taste of what they will go through during their own job interview down the road.
“Some schools deploy internal staff or alumni to deliver this part of the program. We outsource industry people with industry knowledge who have actually done interviews before. They will then give you feedback on your strengths and other areas that you might need extra support with,” Marlene explains.
Full-Circle Mentoring
To ensure that students are actively progressing toward success, Coding Temple ensures that all hands are on deck. Instructors, TAs, student relations managers, career coaches, and even alumni will be there to provide one-on-one guidance.
“We’ve had alumni who absolutely love the space and appreciate everything that we have done and they asked if they could come back and do talks and support other students who are struggling,” Marlene said.
For this exercise, the Career Services team links up with the Student Relations team to find a good pairing based on mutual grounds like personality traits, characteristics, backgrounds, career aspirations, and more.
“Our goal is to match the returning alumni, who are excited to support others who are in the positions they were in, with those who are like them. It allows our alumni to give support directly in the same exact moment of problems they had to go through.”
Connect With Alumni and the Larger Coding Temple Community
“The alumni network is what you should utilize at all times for your career growth,” Marlene said.
The alumni network is a community of Coding Temple graduates who enjoy giving each other a boost in terms of career development. In other words, they build each other up and motivate one another to reach greater heights. Aside from participating in the Alumni Mentorship program, Coding Temple alumni also act as referrals for open positions at their companies.
“Our alumni network is wonderful. We have brilliant minds from all walks of life who are good at what they do and also very welcoming to their peers. What I love the most is that we focus our energy and time on our students and it truly pays forward.”
Coding Temple also works directly with hundreds of companies; from large corporations to small-and-medium-sized enterprises. This means its students and graduates have access to this huge professional network, giving them one leg up over other applicants.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
At Coding Temple, learning doesn’t always happen in a classroom setting. In the 11th week of the program, the school will invite companies and recruiters to attend a Student Showcase event. As the name suggests, this serves as an opportunity for students to present their final projects and network with prospective employers. After the presentations, recruiters may decide to pursue candidates for vacant roles in their organizations.
Get Job-Ready in 3 Months or Less with Coding Temple
“We want to empower everyone to create their own narrative. Through my years of career coaching, I find that people have their own unique niches so we are trying to learn that about our students and help them find the best ways to maneuver a career change,” Marlene said.
Coding Temple is a bootcamp that strives to transform tech newcomers into full stack developers with a curriculum that is both beginner-friendly and comprehensive. Its programs are complemented with 360° support that comes from enthusiastic career coaches, TAs, instructors, and alumni members who enjoy seeing each other grow.
If this sounds like a community that you’d like to be a part of, start your application process today.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
