How to go from Matric to Full Stack Developer in 9 months
How long does it take after passing matric to get a job as a junior full stack developer? In the case of one Code College graduate, just nine months.
This is hugely impressive when you consider that most people who study coding at a traditional university take several years to finish their degree – let alone secure a great job.
Code College recently sat down with this graduate, whose name is Brent, to hear about their journey.
Why study at Code College?
Brent did not have coding as an option at high school and became interested in the field through family members who are developers.
However, Brent opted against studying Computer Science at a university because it would take several years to enter the job market.
Instead, they chose to study through Code College. Code College has deep roots in the local IT consulting and recruitment industry.
Code College Java Bootcamp
Brent was impressed that when joining Code College, they were put through a bootcamp which catered to those with no coding experience.
This Java bootcamp consisted of seven modules – each of which covered an important development topic and consisted of an intensive curriculum to cover the fundamentals of the subject.
“The teaching style is collaborative, learning by practising, peer collaboration, and researching online,” said Brent.
This curriculum was available in-person and via live-stream to remote students. As a remote learner, Brent always felt thoroughly engaged.
Following the initial bootcamp was three weeks of practical assignments, including daily online meetings.
“On our projects, we were encouraged to work in pairs and groups when doing code reviews,” said Brent.
“The instructors oversaw these meetings and advised on any issues we ran into.”
Brent spent five or six hours per day on his studies, and developed the following projects:
- Weather App (React)
- Soccer League App (Java)
- Shopping Cart App (React)
- Spotify-like App (React)
- E-commerce App (MERN Stack)
- Real Estate App (React)
- Accommodation Booking App (React)
- Fast-food App (Spring Boot)
- Test Driven Development (Spring Boot and React)
Finding a job
Once they had completed all their modules, Brent benefited from Code College’s in-house recruitment partner, Compuways, which has deep relationships with top South African companies.
This helped Brent get a job as a Junior Full Stack Developer soon after graduating.
During his interview with his employer, his Code College Bootcamp experience was discussed in length.
“Java was a plus point for them because they used me in a Full-Stack position right away,” said Brent.
“They saw my Java skills as appropriate to be used in a .NET environment – and I might be utilised later on a Java Project.”
Brent is now working on a C# backend application with an MVC front-end which helps users in the construction industry.
“The Code College Java bootcamp gave me a thorough understanding of full-stack applications and although I am currently not using Java, I was able to convert to C# very quickly,” he said.
If you want to enter the software development field – whether you are a fresh matriculant, or an experienced professional looking for a career change – contact Code College today to learn more about its coding bootcamps.
For more detail about the interview, please visit our blog.
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