Luke Glendining was working as a Support Consultant, but had always wanted to develop future-proof, in-demand skills in order to secure his future in the tech industry. He decided to enrol in an online part-time Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp with HyperionDev, allowing him to make a massive move into a career as a Software Engineer. In our latest Student Success Story, Luke tells us about how he fell in love with coding, and where this journey has taken him so far.
Discovering a love for code
I have always been extremely passionate about technology and code. I love being able to have a creative idea that can be put into working systems and can change peoples lives for the better, purely by being able to write and understand code.
For me it was never about the money, it was about following my passion and desire to be a developer so that I can be happy and do exactly what I want to be doing in my life. Knowing this helps to make work feel less like work and more like a hobby that I get paid to do!
My decision to enrol in the Full Stack Web Development bootcamp with HyperionDev was based on the realisation that the career I was in, although it was in the IT industry, was not the career path I wanted to follow. I started coding in the evening after work almost a year prior to enrolling in the course with Hyperion Development. This aimed to fuel my desire for coding and would ensure that I enjoyed it as I wanted to pursue it as a full-time career. Near the end of last year (2020), I decided to enrol in the bootcamp and start out on the journey to changing careers.
My experience with HyperionDev
The HyperionDev coding bootcamp taught me how to take my basic coding skills to the next level. I was able to build challenging and amazing projects that can be used in the real world. This gave me the confidence to continue raising the bar when it came to improving the code I write, writing clean code, refactoring as well as taking on a new challenge to build things that were a few levels up from where I was at the time. This has yielded amazing results in terms of my understanding of how code works and has given me great confidence in my ability to write code and to build complex and useful systems that can have useful applications in real life.
Below is one of the first projects that I took on soon after learning how to code. It is built using HTML5 and CSS3 and is a front-end build only. This build really helped me gain a good grasp and understanding of how to structure HTML elements on a web page as well as how to position and style them using CSS.
Being exposed to code and websites that were people’s businesses and income, and having to manage those websites availed me to another avenue of IT: being able to write the code and develop the websites that were so useful and beneficial to society such as e-commerce and learning platforms. My passion for code grew the more I was exposed to the code running on the servers I used to work on. This sparked a true passion and desire and I knew that I needed to take the leap of faith, believe in myself, and start out on the journey to changing and bettering my life, which stemmed from self-belief and a strong desire to change careers and become a Software Engineer.
Entering the world of work
I currently work at Map2Tech as a Software Engineer where I write clean code that is scalable, easy to read and can be understood by other developers. We build complex systems that require a high level of coding knowledge and an in-depth understanding of how code works in order to be able to meet the project requirements. The skills that I learnt in the bootcamp helped me tremendously as the tasks were practical and gave me hands-on experience with building systems that allowed me to hit the ground running when entering the working world of Software Engineering.
The mock interview training I received in the HyperionDev Graduate Program was excellent and it really helped me gain experience with regards to what to expect in real interviews. The code reviewing process was very supportive, because I knew I was on the right (or wrong) track.
The most challenging part of the bootcamp is the learning curve and how quickly you need to learn and understand topics in order to be able to implement them when creating real-world applications. I overcame it by not giving up when I struggled with a topic and to tenaciously work through the problem systematically and with a high level of focus until I was able to move forward and solve the issue.
My advice for future coders
The advice I’d give to people thinking about learning to code is this: code every day and learn something new every day. Be curious about why things work the way they do and try to understand the system and what is working under the hood. Don’t just focus on the syntax or learning a new and popular framework, try to gain a deep understanding of how everything works together. Continue reading about best coding practices as well as how to write clean code and how to refactor your code. Another very important part of Software Engineering is version control, learn Git and understand how it works and become proficient with using it.
Good luck!
Start your tech journey with HyperionDev
Have you been thinking about learning to code, or following your passion for technology into a new career, just like Luke did? Industry-aligned coding bootcamps are the best way to become a job-ready developer in months rather than years – with an added layer of career development and job-search support.
Enrol now to join one of our online and on-site coding bootcamps, which will teach all the hands-on developer skills you need to do real developer work.
