What were you doing before Le Wagon?
I was a corporate lawyer at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. I had to look at a lot of technologies and understand how they worked and through that process of discovering technology I became interested in coding.
What made you decide to change careers?
While I was a lawyer I was working with the regulation of financial technologies and as I was self studying to understand how these technologies worked I realised I became more interested in the technology part rather than the legal part and I wanted to take it further.
Why did you choose Le Wagon?
I chose Le Wagon over other coding bootcamp because I felt that the 2 months time frame was much better for me than anything longer than that. I could have enough steam to really push it till late at night and really dedicate myself and for 2 months that was all I was going to do. I had confidence that I could do that for 2 months as well as the fact that I had read incredible reviews that were really genuine and I felt connected to and from career changers.
Why did you choose to do a bootcamp over self study?
I chose to do a coding bootcamp because I had self studied for over a year while working full time so I dragged myself home after work and tried to study with free online courses. I found that I was doing these coding exercises, having no understanding of the foundations behind all the things that I was learning and I'd forget the thing I was learning the next day because I moved on to something else and had really nothing to ground it. I knew that if I did an intensive course surrounded by teachers who are supportive and could answer my billion questions about "what is this relate to" and "how am I going to use this" it was going to be really useful for me.
What was the most challenging part of the bootcamp and what did you enjoy the most?
The most challenging part of the bootcamp was the emotional aspect of doing something I've never done before and something that was really outside the type of thought processes and mentality that I'm used to. I come from quite an analytical background so to move into building things was really exciting but also really difficult mentally. It was just such wild ride to do something I've never done before but it was really worth it in the sense that I finished the bootcamp knowing that I've learnt something that I've never learnt in my life and that I've changed my brain to think in a completely different way.
What was your experience upon leaving Le Wagon?
My interview process after leaving Le Wagon has been incredible. The day after putting in my application to the biggest consultancy in Australia I got a call from recruitment. I have to say that definitely that wouldn't have happened in my previous roles and I think that's because when you career transition it's something so special that recruiters and companies look out for because you've challenged yourself to move completely outside of your comfort zone and do something that still not many people in Australia are doing and I think it gave me an incredible heads start in terms of other competition in the field.
What did you like about the space?
During my time at Le Wagon I really liked the fact that it was in a co-working space because I was surrounded by entrepreneurs and tech start ups. I could really see how what I was learning was going to be applied. I made great connections and also learn about the industry that I was soon going to be a part of.
