Isaac Does Sabio Remotely and Scores Fantastic Work-From-Home Tech Job
A Northern California native, Isaac started his working life in the army, “I loved being part of the army intelligence, it was kind of tech for a purpose. When I got out I changed course completely and went for a degree in culinary arts. I loved it, but it didn’t fulfill me the way that tech did. I went back to look at what my options were with the GI Bill and found out about the VA’s tech program.I had already done a year-long internship at a software company, so I knew that software development was the career I wanted to go into. One of the big things that led me to Sabio was their confidence in their ability to help me get a job at the end of the program. Sabio was very clearly going to make me a better developer, I really liked their placement numbers and their general transparency about their graduates. My interactions with Liliana Monge (Sabio’s Co-Founder and CEO) and Gregorio Rojas (Sabio’s Co-Founder & CTO) were exceptional. They bent over backwards to give me any information I needed to make my decision.”
Before Isaac jumped in, he made sure to still do outside research, “One of the challenges was my wife was attending classes here in Phoenix, so we couldn’t relocate for the duration of the bootcamp. Needing to find an online class drastically narrowed the field for programs that would give me a competitive edge while still being 100% remote. It was a tough decision, but I felt like the other programs I spoke with kind of gave me the runaround in the way that I had to work to get clarity on some issues. Sabio was really just, ‘here’s everything you need to know. This is who we are, where we’re at and what we’re doing.’ That sealed the deal.”
Once he signed up, Isaac was ready to learn, “From day one the expectation of the instructors was that you don’t get to half-ass the code or the program. It was really refreshing. I know that there’s a tendency to take the lazy way out, and I’ve seen it in a lot of students in many different areas, but Sabio just didn’t put up with it. It’s pretty brutal in the beginning, but by the end they provide standards that become habits. I came into Sabio with my own habits and the way I do things, and shifted my coding habits over to the Sabio best practices, which are basically just the best industry practices, that was huge for me.”
Learning to code remotely was a whole new experience for Isaac, “I had no problems working 100% remote. The only downside is that it’s harder to build camaraderie with the team when you’re isolated, but Sabio did a good job of having the instructors communicate regularly. Classmates were willing to jump on calls with Zoom, Microsoft team and all the other technologies out there that allows face-to-face interactions. My instructor was always super willing to listen and always available to help me ask questions and become a better developer. All the instructors including Gregorio were all super personable which I liked a lot.”
Now a full stack engineer at Equiant Financial Services, Isaac credits a lot of his initial success to Sabio, “They started having us practice interviewing very early. From the beginning they were asking me questions that I didn’t know the answer to, and I have the personality where if I don’t know the answer I’m going to find out. So kind of priming that pump, ‘What are you doing here?’ or “How long can you talk about this concept in detail,’ was great. They also provided a lot of resources for how to find those answers in a way that coincided with the best practices. In the industry it’s a bit challenging when one of the developers says, ‘Hey, we’re going to use this pattern on our project.’ And I say, ‘Is this the best practice?’ I have no idea and we have to spend two days googling to find out. Sabio made it really easy to say, ‘Hey go to this resource and lead through this and we’ll explain our argument to why we believe this is the best practice.’ So in an interview if they say, ‘Why did you use this pattern on your whiteboarding?’ You know how to answer the question. At Sabio you’re just going to learn how to figure it out which is going to get you a job.”
Isaac also sees Sabio’s influence in his work, “Prior to Sabio I was always a little hesitant to ask questions. I didn’t want to be the guy that ‘didn’t really know what I’m doing.’ But in my current position, I mean multiple times a day, I’m at the developers desk asking questions. Sabio created this culture of, “Just ask.” Just go find out, get the information. This speeds up development, which creates a positive relationship with my coworkers. I think developers that are hungry to learn are always asking, ‘How am I not the best? How can I be better?’ Sabio infuses that mindset into their students. It’s okay to not know everything at Sabio and if you carry that culture into your job, you will be better for it.”
Now that he’s getting started, Isaac is excited for his career’s future, “Right now I make about 2 ½ more than what I made prior to Sabio. The big dream is being able to live on the land in an open space. The beauty of this industry is that there’s jobs all the time that are 100% remote and will let you travel. I would also love to work on tech projects that make the world a better place and aren’t just to make money for a few people.”
If you’re interested in learning to code, Isaac advises, “Spend nights and weekends doing code challenges. Get used to the way coders and developers talk about the code. If you’re interested in Sabio, I would tell you that you’re going to get out of it what you put in. You can’t go through Sabio and not gain anything. But, if you’re going to come out the other side of Sabio getting everything you possibly could from it, you have to put everything you can into it. What separates Sabio from other bootcamps and learning environments is their executive team. They all have a sincere desire to have you succeed in a way that I have never encountered in any other program. Even now, when I had Liliana message me on instagram saying, “Hey, how’s the job going?” That’s practically unheard of in an educational industry. Gregorio loves to help people succeed and will always give you advice on job interviews and offers. That’s an unbelievable resource. I would not be as successful as I am, except for the fact that the executive team at Sabio wants that kind of relationship with their fellows.”
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Written by Sassy Mohen
