Dip Rawal, a Johannesburg based sales professional, looking for a drastic career change decided to sign up for a Mobile Development Bootcamp with HyperionDev. After years of experience, he saw little long-term growth in the retail industry; however, the demand for mobile developers, particularly Android with Java skills, was clearly climbing. It was the ideal time to deep dive into the lucrative and fulfilling world of programming. It wasn’t the first time that Dip had decided to enrol on a course. How did his HyperionDev course compare with previous courses he’d taken? He says:
Other courses have frequently included too much theory. I’d be asking, “Why am I learning this?”, but my experience with a HyperionDev course was totally different. They get you building projects from the start – you’re learning by solving problems. I’d say it’s 95% practical work. Basically, I chose HyperionDev, because it was code focused. I wanted hands-on actual coding stuff and that’s precisely what was delivered.
Now, Dip is working as a mentor in HyperionDev’s Johannesburg campus teaching the full-time and part-time Software Engineering and Web Development on-site courses. Here’s why he chose to work at his alma mater.
Their vision is to skill-up individuals to get them working in the economy. I was very keen to be part of that vision. I also think their content is great and I wanted to play my part in delivering their awesome content to students.
Each student is assigned a mentor when he or she enrols on a HyperionDev course. When it comes to learning coding, mentorship is particularly useful for learning best practice coding. This means you’re likely to avoid common stumbling blocks.
Dip’s own mentoring experience on his bootcamp was a very positive one. He says:
I could solve about 50% of the stuff myself, but when it came to the trickier parts, my mentor nudged me in the right direction. Also, I could ask my mentor something at any hour, and I’d be sure to receive a quick reply. Mentors are expected to respond within 48 hours for part-time students and 36 hours for full-time students.
In fact, his mentoring experience proved vital in shaping how he approached the mentoring of his own students who are learning coding. His philosophy is to guide rather than merely to instruct students.
I try to let them find the answers rather than just telling them what to do. Solving tasks should aim to be open-ended.
Dip loves it when his students “finally crack the code”. He says that one student even referred to it as “the proudest moment of his life” when he got the hang of some coding. So what’s his advice for newbie programmers?
My advice to students is just to persist. Everyone gets stuck at times, even in the real world. Just because you can’t solve a task immediately doesn’t mean you’re not a software developer – keep persisting. And don’t be afraid when you see code. It’s all about using your toolbelt (or programming fundamentals) to solve something.
If you’re keen to upskill or you just want to enter the in-demand field of tech (no previous experience necessary), HyperionDev offers online bootcamps in Full Stack Web Development, Data Science or Software Engineering. You can also trial one of these courses for free. If online learning is not your thing, you could join a face-to-face Web Developer or Software Engineering course in Cape Town or Johannesburg. Start your career change today.
