Mom who knows no coding joins Sabio and lands .NET Developer job
Being a full-time mom is a challenging job in itself, but after three years at home, Saemi knew she wanted to contribute more to her baby’s future financially, “I got a bachelor’s degree in Japanese. After college, I got married and had a baby, but when I went to start looking for jobs three years later, I couldn’t find anything full-time related to my degree. I had always wanted to study mathematics but didn’t have the time-span to go back to school for two or more years. Through discussions with my husbands and friends, I shifted gears to looking at coding bootcamps. That’s when an army vet friend of mine recommended Sabio.”
Saemi wanted to make sure she was getting the full picture and checked out a couple of other coding bootcamps as well, “I went so far as to go to another orientation for a bootcamp in San Diego. But it wasn’t even close to as legitimate as Sabio. They didn’t seem to have a clear set of programs. That’s what struck me about Sabio when I went to their InfoSession hosted by Liliana Monge (Sabio’s co-founder and CEO.) It was all very professional. I was especially struck by the PreWork course, where you got to prepare before actually getting into the cohort. I really liked that, it wasn’t like starting from scratch.”
Even with PreWork, however, like all of her other classmates, Saemi had a new challenge every day, “I liked mathematics, but the concept and thought process is different than coding. But once I decided to commit to Sabio, I rented a room near Irvine to reduce the commute time and give me an opportunity to really focus on studying. I would stay in the classroom for 12–14 hours a day because I knew I really needed to get a job after this. That’s what kept driving me and forced me to study harder.”
Another contribution to Saemi’s success she admitted, was being around her cohort-mates, “There were 8 of us including myself and it was incredibly diverse. Everyone had different strengths and weaknesses. We were all helping each other, not one person had a hint of a selfish attitude. It was like we all had such a strong desire to learn, no one was lazy. If one person was stuck, everyone would get together and help them out. It was just really good people.”
“The instructors were also incredibly knowledgeable,” Saemi continued, “They were so well versed in what they were teaching us, while also keeping all the curriculum updated to ensure that no one was left behind when moving to a real-world job. They sincerely wanted each student to get hired after graduation, helping with resumes and pushing students to apply for work.”
Now a .NET Developer at Booz Allen Hamilton, Saemi attributes her new position to her Sabio experience, “Sabio provides you with such a wealth of knowledge. The interviewers I met with gave me a lot of credit for learning all the different languages which was completely Sabio’s doing. My workplace is so similar to Sabio as well, we have daily stand-ups and the whole process of how we get things done is the same.”
As for the future, Saemi can’t wait to grow and change with the times, “I want some experience as a Junior Developer for now, but in 5–10 years I want to go into Cyber Security. I don’t want to just stay where I’m at, I want to keep developing my skills just like I did at Sabio. They didn’t just get me a job, but also a whole new attitude. I feel like I’m more activated and being more positive because I’m doing something. I’m responsible for this job, and I know I can handle it.”
“I never could have done it without my mom either,” says Saemi, “she was such a help with taking care of the baby. That’s why it was so important to me that this be a success because I didn’t want to be away from my baby for any longer then I had to be. And in terms of salary, I am making so much more now.”
For those interested in Sabio, Saemi has some advice, “It’s definitely a challenge and not easy. But you have to remember that you’re not the only one going through this. There are amazing instructors who are going to help you and also the cohort members will be there to support you. Never let yourself get discouraged. Going to Sabio is worth it, but you’ve got to really devote your time because otherwise, it’s a waste of money. If you decide to do it and really focus on it, it’s going to work out.”
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Written by Sassy Mohen
