Chris had been a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling her children in their small, rural hometown. She was looking for an effective way to break into the technical world of software development, but living far from the tech centers of San Francisco, New York, and Boston, Chris knew it would be difficult to find a career with both challenging and rewarding work.
The Solution
After reading up on all things development and researching coding programs in depth, Chris realized that the majority of these programs were hyperfocused on hot buzzwords instead of the fundamental technical skills that would be key to breaking into the industry. Knowing algorithms and data structures, and being able to code on an agile team stuck out as essentials to landing a career as a developer.
Having recognized what matters most, signing up for Firehose was a quick decision.
In addition, Chris challenged her comfort zone by giving several technical talks on debugging tools and techniques in front of a big audience during monthly Firehose Lightning Talks.
The Results
Focusing on what actually matters paid off. Chris was able to apply all the technical skills that she learned to building a fully-functional iOS app within a single week as part of a take-home job interview challenge. A few, short days later, she received a job offer and now works as a full-time iOS developer at an exciting tech company with over 100 employees.
Today, Chris is raising her children and can balance her family life with her work as a developer.
See Chris’s full review of the program on Quora:
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