Meet our students: combining full-time startup jobs with a part-time coding bootcamp

All of our part-time students are working professionals who decided to take some time off their busy schedule and embark on a 24-weeks learning journey. No matter the reason that brought them together, they are all willing to upgrade their skills and gain a deep understanding of how programming works.

The best part? There is no need to sacrifice family and work commitments or say farewell to monthly paychecks.   

These days, non-tech employees at startups are not expected to write code or set up servers. Yet coding abilities can shorten the distance with the developers team, and help translate the tech conversation into the human language. 

Previously working as a business analyst and project manager, Davide was not involved in product development and didn’t feel an urge to get tech-educated. His current Project Manager role at Cogent Labs (an AI startup) made him realize that technical knowledge is crucial for successful collaboration with the R&D team. 

Le Wagon part-time coding bootcamp’s curriculum fitted his busy schedule. A flexible working time at his startup plus a supportive partner who keeps Davide well-fed allow him to make the best use of the evening sessions and the network of 7000+ alumni.  

‘If I decide to stay in programming for the long haul, I can always reach out to other alumni or search for a coding-related job’, says Davide. His idea for the next career step is to take on a technical project management role, mixing his business acumen and coding skills. 

Classic startup story: co-founders Shinya and Aki met while studying at the same school in NY. After working for the same startup, they teamed up and launched their own business of converting newly built residential buildings to the hotels. However, an idea of developing a tech product as non-technical founders seemed like an uphill battle.

‘Our primary goal is to get a good understanding of how much work goes into building a web app and backend system’, says Aki. ‘If we need to hire a CTO or outsource our development process to the third parties, we should know what to look for’, adds Shinya. 

As their startup grows, Shinya and Aki are more likely to focus on managing the whole process, but their current objective is to build their web application prototype during the part-time bootcamp. With video lectures and flashcards chasing them every week, they are getting closer to understanding the technology and developing a better idea of their future product. 

After years in one job or career, it can be difficult to make a move. By learning to code, Farrah is yearning for a more advanced position within the same field. She is in charge of supporting the AI chatbot for travel products and anticipates a soaring demand for tech-related jobs in her startup.

'Operating a SQL software for chatbot and negotiating with engineers is not enough for me anymore’, says Farrah. ‘I’m interested in improving my position and skills for future opportunities’.

Farrah’s company cares about the personal development of its employees: she was granted flexible working hours to make it on time for the evening bootcamp lectures. As an habitual goal-setter, Farrah is focused on task accomplishment and already reaps the benefits of tech education.

‘My communication with engineers became more profound as I can understand their mindset’, says Farrah. In the future, she is hoping to switch to the project manager role. 

Our part-time students enroll in a coding bootcamp for their own reasons, and everyone benefits in different ways. By working hard throughout the course, they prove that not being a CS graduate should never stop from pursuing a tech career in the startup world.

During 24 weeks with our part-time bootcamp (9 weeks for full-time course) we give our students all necessary skills to build a portfolio and get their foot in the door of the programming world. And we are very proud of what we’ve seen so far!