I am Pierre Crochet. I studied Economics at the UCLouvain and then worked as a Consultant at MasterCard, where I was Implementation Engineer.
Why did you decide to join a coding bootcamp?
I am a Linux user for more than 10 years now. I used to do my own bash script to automate some processes on my machine and I also used to create some programs at my jobs to improve processes. Hence after a while, I noticed that developing programs was more than a hobby: It was a passion. Therefore, I decided to make my job my passion and to become a software developer.
When I realized I wanted to be a developer, I started to study on my own, but it was not fast enough.
I talked to a colleague of mine about my project and it turned out he was a teacher at Le Wagon, so he explained the concept to me! And a few months later, I contacted Lewagon to be part of that new adventure.
How was following the bootcamp?
It was great! I have learned so much from a technical point of view but not only. Indeed, I have also acquired the mindset to be a software developer which is for me an important part of the training.
What I liked was, of course coding, but also the general atmosphere and community feeling: everyone was helping each other and sharing his/her knowledge, skills, experience, etc.
What have you been doing since graduating from Le Wagon?
I kept on studying after finishing the bootcamp to sharpen my knowledge. I mainly focused on back-end development. I did as many APIs as I could to be ready for the interviews and be able to show what my skills were.
I then landed a job as a full-stack developer in Java/Angular at DXC. I learned these languages while working - Java was actually kind of a dream language to learn for me.
What advice could you give to anyone starting to learn to code?
First, if you are applying to Le Wagon, do not underestimate the prep-wor! It is are much more important than we could think so take the time to do go over it properly.
Secondly, focus on one or two programming languages at first and master them! Try to understand what is under the hood of every concept you learn. Object-oriented programming must be second nature for you. If you master at least one language, it will be easier to learn a new one.
Third, there is always someone better than you. Hence, try to get their advice and apply them. Read the code of other people to give you new ideas.
Four, practice, practice, and practice: coding is like a bicycle. You must go step by step. By doing so, you will gradually increase the challenge, the difficulties, your skills and of course the fun!!! Because coding is always fun!
