Maritza went from Unemployed to Software Engineer with Sabio
Not all detours in life are bad, some in fact are fantastic, which is how Maritza from West Hollywood described her plunge into Sabio Coding Bootcamp. Originally a student of theater and film, Maritza studied at UC Riverside, but something never felt quite right, “It was so tough, I enjoyed my education but afterward I couldn’t find any jobs that weren’t “free work,” for “experience” or minimum wage. So there I was stuck with all these student loans, no way to pay them and no income to be had.”
It was from there that Maritza went to a worksource center in the valley, “They essentially told me that I had to pick up some other type of skill set because they couldn’t help me with the industry that I wanted to go into. I knew they had an IT training program which I was actually interested in because I like computers and technology, so they gave me a flyer for Sabio Coding Bootcamp. It was like this intriguing lightbulb went off in my head. I can learn to code in such a short amount of time AND get a job? Tell me more.”
Being a newbie to coding and the tech work, Maritza enrolled in PreWork and loved it, “Everything just seemed to make sense. That’s not to say it wasn’t a challenge, it was extremely hard. I was really intimidated at first to be honest, I walked in with a completely blank slate. But it was like every new corner, the gears started turning and clicking, and biggest shocker, I was enjoying it.”
Maritza’s knew she made the right decision as she entered into the full coding bootcamp, “It wasn’t like you were going to class, it was way more like you were going to work. That’s when I started to realize that this was going to get me a job. We were working on real-life projects with real-life companies, from what I saw in other bootcamps, you really can’t get that anywhere else. And, because of that, you got to put the experience on your resume. This is a huge leg up on getting a job afterward.”
And get a job she did, as a software engineer for Age of Learning Inc., “Sabio was really supportive through the whole interview process. To start, they really prepare you well with mock interviews and white-boarding. Most of the questions I got in my real interviews, we covered in my mock interviews. Putting it frankly, Sabio does everything they can to get you a job. My instructor was great, my cohort members were super supportive, we would check in with each other and share our experiences. It’s an extremely supportive community.”
Maritza also thanks Sabio’s, “loving sink or swim mentality,” to her success at her current position, “Sabio really throw’s you into it. You are given tasks and expected to complete them. The instructors are super helpful and give you all the tools you need, but it’s up to you to solve the puzzle so to speak. And that’s how it is in the real world. I work only with senior developers and continue to feel completely prepared for my job, no matter what they throw at me.”
If you’ve got the hidden spark for coding like Maritza, or already interested in the coding bootcamp experience, Maritza has three words for you, “Just do it. It’s going to be extremely difficult and challenging, but it’s so worth it. Sabio changed my life, I went from unemployed with no prospects to a lucrative and rewarding career in front of me. If you want a great job in tech, Sabio is the way to do it.”
Join Sabio, attend one of our info sessions and become a professional software engineer today.
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Written by Sassy Mohen