"I'm just not passionate about the career I'm in" is a sentiment we often hear from students who enroll in our web development program. Some have previously worked as chefs, business owners, graphic designers, or stay at home parents. Each student comes from varied experiences and possesses a different story about what led them to coding school.
Our full-time immersive coding academy attracts a wide variety of people and results in extremely diverse cohorts of students. Meet a few of our career shifter alumni: Christa Hegedus (Cohort VI), Dino Ribeiro (Cohort X), Gus Kemenyfy (Cohort X), and Allan Seitz (Cohort XI).
Christa was working in retail management when she came to a realization on her 24th birthday that she wanted more for her life. Dino always had a passion for computers but dealt with hearing loss which hindered him from finishing college. Gus was an entrepreneur running his own daycare center and craved a career that was more challenging. Allan went from some college to the Air Force, followed by construction before discovering SDG.
Despite their contrast in backgrounds, there are huge similarities when it comes to their success in web development careers. So what do they all have in common?
1. Networking and Connections
From reading their full success stories, you'll notice that each of them utilized their new and past connections to get closer to their current career goals. Most were referred to Suncoast Developers Guild by friends, family, or others within their network. After getting enrolled in a cohort, they were surrounded by like-minded peers, with whom many even developed lifelong friendships. It's also not uncommon for Alumni to leverage their SDG relationships into their new lives as web developers. Many lean on their network for advice on coding assignments, an interview, or their own software projects.
2. Responsibility for Career Growth and Success
Before entering web development, this group of career shifters felt unfulfilled or unhappy with their currect careers. Some lacked challenges or interest in their jobs, others simply needed a change or a role that aligned with their personality. Whatever the reason, something just wasn't right and they took responsibility for the way they were feeling and were proactive in forging a professional path that they loved. Their success as graduates is marked by their determination to apply their learning to new careers. They also utlized our Career Services resources to help them thrive in new roles.
3. Working at Jobs They Love
Changing careers may seem daunting especially when you enter into the tech industry with little-to-no previous knowledge. The Suncoast Developers Guild empowers students with skills and tools to be successful. Now these alumni walk into work (or even log-in remotely) to take on projects that they are passionate about and genuinely enjoy. This is the big payoff that these graduates are experiencing every single day.
Christa now works as a Full-Stack Developer at Cigna and her favorite thing is "having the ability to create beauty from the keyboard." Dino was able to transform his previous position at Investcloud. He states that SDG was the most difficult thing he had to go through, but is glad he did so because it allowed him to build his dream career. Gus now works as a Software Developer at Insurity and is so passionate about web development that he now volunteers at Code America and runs the Code Katas Meetup every month. Then, there's Allan. He's now working as a Project Manager – a position he's extremely passionate about – at 64Labs.
