Become a full-stack developer in under a year with Code College
Riaan – a South African Bachelor of Commerce student – enrolled with Code College, completed his course as a full-stack developer in just over 10 months and found the job he really wanted.
This is an impressive accomplishment, as conventional university degrees which focus on software development usually take at least three years to complete.
Thanks to Code College delivering its bootcamp courses in short blocks of time – as they focus on the important soft and hard skills necessary to build a career in the software development industry – South Africans can make a quick career change to software development.
This approach is why Riaan was able to pivot so quickly into his new career as a full-stack developer.
Interest in coding
Riaan’s coding career began in grade 10 when he chose to take Information Technology (IT) at school.
He quickly found he was passionate about coding. However, his grade 11 math marks weren’t high enough to qualify for a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science at his university of choice.
Instead, he enrolled for a Bachelor of Commerce degree – intending to retake his matric maths exam and reapply for Computer Science the following year.
While he succeeded in doing this, he quickly found the university’s modules too theoretical. He therefore looked for alternatives that would give him the practical skills to begin his coding career.
Studying at Code College
Code College grabbed Riaan’s attention thanks to its practical approach and focus on teaching the skills necessary to get employed as a developer.
He was also excited about Code College’s smaller classes, which allow teachers to give each student more attention.
As a result, Riaan signed up for the Java bootcamp offered by Code College.
He attended the bootcamp entirely online and worked through 10 modules in 10 months.
Each module began with full-day meetings during the first week of the month, before shifting to daily meetings where he would report on task progress, discuss work plans, and present any issues or questions with the module.
As Riaan was a full-time online student, he could devote all his attention to the bootcamp.
He regularly connected with his peers and instructors via chat groups and an online portal with virtual classrooms – and this helped him throughout the course.
Riaan was also exposed to the entire spectrum of skills necessary to become a full-stack developer and completed tasks such as:
- Creating a self-hosted CV portfolio website.
- Completing various JavaScript, React and MERN stack projects.
- Building several apps, including a movie review app, a bookstore app, and a blog app.
- Implementing key deployment processes.
Applying for a job
Thanks to the skills he learned in his Java bootcamp, Riaan impressed a prospective employer when they asked him to complete a C# project at home.
Based on Riaan’s excellent project and the skills he was taught by Code College, the employer immediately hired him as a full-stack developer.
Riaan’s story is just one of many – and you can also pivot to a career in coding through Code College.
Click here to join a Code College bootcamp.
For more testimonials please see the Code College Blog.