Joburg-based Mandlenkosi is one of HyperionDev’s youngest graduates. When Covid struck while he was in high school, Mandlenkosi found himself having lots of time for self-reflection. A designer and creator by nature, he initially wanted to be an architect, but after doing some research, he decided that a career in tech was best for him.
Today he works full-time at LiveMetrics, a leading custom software solutions provider in South Africa. Read on for his inspiring success story.
Getting to grips with his bootcamp
In his matric year, Mandlenkosi started ‘messing around with code’, teaching himself programming concepts and technologies. An avid soccer fan, he realised learning to code would allow him to realise his dream of combining his two passions to create an app that millions could use.
After some research, he discovered that there were alternative options to a university degree and found the HyperionDev bootcamps were perfect for giving him a solid footing from where he could launch his coding career.
Without further ado, he signed up for the online, part-time Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp. As far as the course’s length and structure go, Mandlenkosi says doing it over six months allowed him time to adjust to the difficulties he experienced with some of the more tricky tasks. He explains:
“Having to design my first full-stack web app was a challenging task. I had the skills to build the web app, but as a developer, you keep running into new challenges. But I ultimately completed the task.”
Mandlenkosi loved doing the bootcamp coding exercises and found our internationally-recognised human code reviewing process highly supportive, showing him whether he was on the right (or wrong) track all the way.
In case you didn’t know, HyperionDev’s coding bootcamp participants get access to senior developers who assess all work through code review. We’re the only coding education programme in the world to integrate human code review into each step of our bootcamps, giving our graduates an added advantage in the job market.
Before graduating from bootcamp, HyperionDev’s team helped Mandlenkosi create a Github portfolio and polish his CV. He landed his current job when HyperionDev recommended him to employers looking for strong new tech talent.
Putting his skills to the test
Finally able to combine his love for sport with his new-found tech skills, Mandlenkosi was able to create a foundational football data analytics web app. The app provides data metrics related to football in South Africa, allowing the public and professional football teams to better analyse their team’s performance while gaining knowledge of where they can improve their overall performance.
He’s also built a school food-ordering app that will allow parents to order food online for their children if they don’t have time to pack a lunchbox. Students can also use the app to order food off their school’s website.
Onwards and upwards
Currently working at LiveMetrics, Mandlenkosi is involved in building enterprise websites and web apps that streamline business processes. He works mostly with JavaScript but is learning C# and its related framework, Blazor – a feature of ASP.NET for building interactive web UIs using C# instead of JavaScript.
Mandlenkosi still has his sights on doing something that will be useful to South Africa’s millions of soccer fans. He says:
“I want to grow and improve my tech skills to one day build a solid digital platform that will grow the soccer community here in South Africa.”
We love the idea and wish him code speed!
Follow HyperionDev graduate Mandlenkosi’s exciting career in tech on his Github portfolio. And if you’re inspired by his story and feel ready to embark on your own journey toward a fulfilling career in the tech industry, consider registering with HyperionDev here.
