We're pleased to announce one of the winners of SwitchUp's gift card giveaway, Susanna Jacob!
Susanna is a graduate of Le Wagon, with a background in education and technology. After completing her undergraduate and master's degree, Susanna wanted to build a more technical foundation - which led her to Le Wagon. In Le Wagon's Web Development course Susanna learned the foundations of coding, advanced problem solving skills, and more. With help from Le Wagon, she hopes to to continue providing strong leadership to her startup, and become a more technically proficient ally to her developers!
We sat down with Susanna to learn more about her experience at Le Wagon, and her advice for students considering enrolling in a bootcamp!
1. What is the name of the Bootcamp Course you submitted your review based on?
I attended the LeWagon Bootcamp in London.
2. Tell me about your background. What was your educational experience before joining Le Wagon?
Before joining the Bootcamp, I had completed my Masters in Education and Technology from UCL and I also hold an undergraduate degree in Psychology.
3. What made you decide to pursue a career in tech?
During my time at the Teach For India Fellowship, I had raised funds to incorporate technology in my classroom. This experience showed me the numerous possibilities that technology offers in the teaching and learning process. To be able to harness this, I co-founded a startup that aimed to help organisations digitalise their learning and development. To be able to effectively contribute to my startup I turned to my Master’s degree to equip me with the necessary theoretical foundations, and to LeWagon for a more technical foundation.
4. Why did you decide to attend Le Wagon? What were your goals for the program?
I attended one of LeWagon’s free workshops during the EdTech week in London and was amazed at the teaching quality and the vision the Bootcamp held for its students. It’s no easy feat to have previous graduates stand by LeWagon’s tagline of “Change your life, learn to code” and so I figured that they must be doing something right in order to have a consistently good standing with their graduates.
5. There are an increasing number of available bootcamps. Why did you decide to choose this program over others?
I was able to experience LeWagon’s teaching quality firsthand at one of their free workshops and a friend of mine had also attended this Bootcamp in China and she had a very positive experience there as well. These are the two factors that helped me make a decision to sign up for LeWagon.
6. For you, what were the pros and cons of attending a bootcamp?
The pros are simple - I was able to learn the basic fundamentals of coding that kickstarted my journey into the field of tech. The time commitment and the price of the Bootcamp could be seen as potential challenges but I would not qualify them as a con, because they are justifiable at the end of the Bootcamp.
7. Tell me a little bit about the course structure. What did you like best about the environment and teaching style?
The day begins with a lecture where a fundamental skill is taught and the rest of the day is spent on solving coding challenges with a buddy. We end the day with a live code where the class would tackle a tough problem or solve a challenge together. I really liked the learning atmosphere where everyone was encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. I also appreciated that the teachers acknowledged that they did not know everything and would also spend time learning with us. The buddy system and the encouraging teaching assistants were also important aspects that made the Bootcamp an awesome experience.
8. How did this program prepare you for a career in tech?
This program taught me the basic foundations of coding, upon which I am able to build specific skills in line with my industry.
9. What's the most important thing you learned?
For me, learning how to problem-solve when I’ve hit an error and to figure out where the problem lies, is one of the important skills that I have learnt at the Bootcamp. Because, during the Bootcamp, the TAs help you think things through and solve the problem, but after the Bootcamp, you are on your own and it’s not right to keep going back to them for help when you can solve things on your own.
10. What are you up to now? What challenges did you overcome to get here?
I’m currently helping my team build a product for the retail industry to help digitalise their learning and development. Since I was part of my start-up before the Bootcamp I did not face the challenge of having to find a job after the Bootcamp. But within my startup, I am still trying to balance my role as a co-founder and my desire to work with the development team.
11. Tell us about what’s next. How do you plan to use your newfound skills as you build your career?
Well, I hope to explore different opportunities in learning and development and help contribute to the growth of various organisations.
12. What is your new job title (if applicable)?
I am currently the Head of Learning Solutions in my organisation.
13. What advice do you have for people who are interested in attending a bootcamp?
I’ve written an article on Medium that can answer this question in-depth, but in short:If you’d like to exercise some amount of control over the rapidly evolving technology landscape, join the Bootcamp. The degree to which you’d like to exercise control decides your expectations of the Bootcamp.
Are you a bootcamp student or alum? You could be our next giveaway winner! Write a review of your program, and you'll be entered to win an Amazon gift card.
