Kristopher was looking for a way to get out of Kansas City when he joined the Air Force. He started his career as a Linguist but swichted over to be an Air Transportation Specialist. He worked in Germany at Rammstein. After the military he continued to work overseas and came back to the states so he could attend Sabio.

He found Sabio's program when he was doing research on the VA's website. He was looking for a new career opportunity and thought coding would be a good option. He read reviews and looked at different companies and decided to take a shot with Sabio. 

Starting the class was really challenging. Each week less people would continue in the program. But he started to connect with others in his cohort and build a support group. After the first phase he had to move to California so he could attend in person at least two days a week. He bought a bed and put it in his car and lived out of his car using the showers at the campus. He liked being on campus and was able to help others as he spent time learning and growing as a software engineer. 

Early on in his training to become a software engineer he was contacted by a handful of recruiters. Because he was still in the early stages and wasn't going to complete the program for a few more months he wrote back that he currently wasn't available. He was able to reconnect with the one of the recruiters near the end of his time at Sabio and that led to the position he is in today. 

He talked about the continual need to learn and innovate. He also mentioned the importance of leaning into technologies and use them as tools. AI programs have actually helped him as a software engineer and have helped him improve. He is thankful that he took the leap and dove into Sabio's boot camp program. 

Want to learn about how you can become a Software Engineer head over to www.sabio.la/info to sign up to attend a free info session today!

Her sister's career both flexibility and paycheck were what led her to look at a career in software engineering. She didn’t do a lot of research and instead just took a leap of faith and signed up to attend Sabio’s Bootcamp program. She was able to pay for Sabio by being a surrogate. She mentioned there are a number of different financial aid options that can support you financially both with tuition and with living expenses because you can’t work and be a student with Sabio but fortunately being a surrogate made it possible for her to have enough money to not have to go into debt. There are also special programs for veterans such as VET TEC and using your GI Bill benefits. 

Besides learning to code, Linda talked about how Sabio prepares you to be a developer. With your cohort you get to work with a company building a program that they need in their business. This not only gives you skills you can put on your resume, but you can also share about that experience when it comes time to prepare for an interview. You also learn how to code and you learn how to prepare for tech interviews. And the benefits and programs that support you have only increased since when Linda was a student. As Sabio continues to grow and expand, more ways to support students continue to expand. 

Linda was able to find a job pretty quickly after graduation and she enjoyed her career but was looking for something new and today is working remotely in Hawaii for a company in Illinois. She has to get up really early to be able to work on the timezone in Illinois but she finishes her day early and loves having the flexibility of working remote. She doesn’t know what is next in the future. She is proud of accomplishing her goal not only of becoming a software engineer but also being able to move to Hawaii. She is soaking up those accomplishments but who knows what the future will hold.

Want to learn about how you can become a Software Engineer head over to www.sabio.la/info to sign up to attend a free info session today!

Additional Resources:

Want to learn more about how to use your VET TEC benefits check out Episode 9 with Alley Johnson 

Free training with Sabio:

https://sabio.la/free-coding-courses

Live training in May 2023: 

https://lu.ma/sabio

Summary:

He was able to use the VET TEC benefits to go through the Sabio Program. He was also able to save his Post 9/11 GI Bill for future opportunities. He started Sabio with no coding experience, but was quickly immersed into the world of coding. He learned so much and he got to work with the City of Los Angeles for his cohort project. It is still listed on his LinkedIn profile and was able to take his resume that was filled with his Army experience and now had experience working as a software engineer. 

He graduated in December of 2019. And as the world closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic he was worried he wouldn’t be able to find a job. While looking for a job and sending out resumes he started working small jobs for small business owners to help create websites and resources. There is such a demand for Software Engineers that he was able to find a job over the next few months in the midst of a pandemic working OSI Express, Inc. working on building a CRM platform. 

He eventually left OSI to work as an instructor with Sabio. He helps new students go from people who don’t know anything about coding to finding their footing. He loves getting to watch them learn and loves supporting students through the program. 

He encourages people to get started with coding. There are free programs offered by Sabio that can help you learn a little about coding and see if it is something you are interested in. He loves supporting students who are following this self paced route.

He also encourages graduates to remember how much they have learned and to go in with confidence. Be confident with what you learned and if you don’t know the answer come back after the interview and share what you have learned. He felt unsure of himself before he went to his first interview. But he realized he was prepared and ready.

Learning more about Sabio while driving from house to house to deliver food is how Trey and Martisha tuned into Sabio’s info session. What they were most impressed by was the numbers of people who had found employment after going through the boot camp program with Sabio. Other boot camp companies had talked about what you would learn through their program, but Sabio provided numbers and shared how they would help you find a career. They were also able to take advantage of a program Sabio was offering where they could start paying back their loan after getting a job. So, they decided to take the leap and join Sabio. 

When asked about what they learned. They didn’t talk about coding. Of course, learning to code is a big part of a coding bootcamp. But what they took away was all the things they learned that may not seem obvious. They talked about the support in finding a job, not only through resume writing, job applying, mock interviews, but also the support of past graduates who are continually helping graduates find their next career. It isn’t just a boot camp. It is a family and community that continues after graduating. 

It took a lot of hard work to find a job once they were given the go ahead they started applying to jobs with a goal of at least 50 application a day. They also received valuable feedback from Sabio team members and their cohort. They also did a mock interview with a past graduate that recommended for the apprenticeship they are currently in today. The program was geared toward past military members but Martisha read the fine print and found that even though they did not have a military background they could still apply. 

Once they were accepted to the Amazon apprenticeship. They spent another 17 weeks going through a bootcamp to learn about the code and programs Amazon uses. Upon completion of that program they transitioned into their current roles. And at the end of they year they have the opportunity to transition into a full time role. They said their current salary is around 110,000 a year with a $10,000 signing bonus. They also said when hired in a full time position at Amazon they will get a pay raise. 

Martisha also mentioned she is pregnant. Amazon is providing her paid maternity leave while she is going through the apprenticeship program. Amazon also offers paternity leave for patterns but you have to be at the company for more than a year before being able to take part in that. 

Their advice for anyone considering attending Sabio’s boot camp is to do it. Don’t give up. There were members in their cohort who quit. And sometimes life happens and you have to change course. But they were desperate for a new life and were not willing to quit. I loved the quote Trey said “Don’t quit on your hardest day, quit when it is a great day.” Sabio’s program is tough, but that is why it is a bootcamp. And at the end of the day it can change your life.

Want to learn more about how to become a software engineer? Head over to www.sabio.la to learn more about their coding bootcamp and how you can begin your career as a software engineer.

Related episode:

The STAR method for interviews

Her love for coding began in childhood. She got started with coding when she got hooked on Neopets. There she learned and taught herself to write html and css. She then went on to create fan pages for Harry Potter, Marvel and more. Then she joined the Navy and never really thought that she could work in a career building websites. But she knew she wanted to do something technical and started looking at a career in hardware before realizing it was software she wanted to do.

She thought she was going to have to use the last of her GI Bill and get a bunch of loans and spend four years in school. But then she learned about coding bootcamps on a military reddit site. She learned about Sabio from the VET TEC site as it was one of the recommended schools. They also said if students didn't find manful employment within six months of graduation they would not get paid. Not a guarantee for a job, but a strong motivator to show that Sabio believed in their program and that they would help you find a job. 

It took a few months to get a job and after receiving an offer and it being rescinded she had started to give up. But a recruiter reached out and shared with her a job opportunity working on a program that helps with mental health. It was something she was passionate and couldn't believe the opportunity was opening up for her. But she did not want to get excited, worried it might all fall through. She spent the next week preparing for the interview. She knew she needed to be strong with C-sharp so she spent the week building a program (a tic tac toe game) that helped her know how to answer the questions for the technical interview. 

She realized she sent out too many resumes and attended too many interviews when she first started looking for a job. She once had 12 interviews in a week and felt she did mediocre on all of them because she didn't have the time needed to prepare. Looking back she would be more selective of where to apply. 

She recommends people looking into a career in coding. There are a lot of problems that need to be solved and if you want to learn about how to solve problems it could be a great career path for you. 

Want to learn more about how to become a software engineer? Head over to www.sabio.la to learn more about their coding bootcamp and how you can begin your career as a software engineer. 

Interviews with people who work at Sabio:

Co-owner Gregorio Rojas: https://breaking-into-tech.simplecast.com/episodes/helping-other-learn-to-be-software-engineers

Alley Johnson: https://breaking-into-tech.simplecast.com/episodes/how-you-can-use-your-vet-tec-benefits-to-become-a-software-engineer

Nancy Her: https://breaking-into-tech.simplecast.com/episodes/advantages-of-sabio-coding-bootcamp

Megan Black: https://breaking-into-tech.simplecast.com/episodes/helping-your-start-your-career-in-software-engineering

Janessa Harris: https://breaking-into-tech.simplecast.com/episodes/breaking-into-tech-with-janessa-harris

He had originally planned to use VET TEC but the program ran out of money before he could use the benefits and he was left with the choice of having to decide if he wanted to pay out of pocket to participate. It felt like a big risk to invest in Sabio but they gave him the opportunity to defer payment until not only after he graduated, but after he gained a job. This showed him how confident Sabio was in their program and led him to take the leap and sign up. 

He talked about all he learned from Sabio. It was more than how to code, but it was all aspects of being a Software Engineer. They held weekly stand ups. And instead of giving you the answer or showing you how to solve the problem by trying different solutions and working though it on your own. He said that in the work he is doing today he is the expert in his area, his manager is not deep in the code so he has to be able to find solutions and learn how to move forward. 

It took him a few months to get a job and his first job was with a small company called. Orthofix. He enjoyed working with them and learning the day in and day out of being a Software Engineer. He was then able to get an internship with Microsoft through their LEAP program. This then led to a full time career with Microsoft and the work he is doing today on Windows Services.

Want to learn more about how you can become a Software Engineer? Head over to https://www.sabio.la to learn more and set up to attend an info session today. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Course Report

He shared how Sabio changed his life. And because they were forced to go remote due to the Pandemic in 2020. This gave him the opportunity to join in since he did not have to be physically in LA. It also helped prepare him for work after graduating since he is currently working remote in both his roles. 

We also discussed the community of people that you meet through Sabio. Not only does the team at Sabio provide resources to help you with your resume, interviews, finding a job and more. You also get connected to a community of alumni who have gone through the program. It was through the alumni network he met his co-founder for Wealth Build. 

One of the hardest challenges he had through the bootcamp was wanting to apply to jobs before Sabio and the team said he was ready. He is a planner and likes to have everything locked in. So having the fear of not having a job was stressful. But he trusted the team and in hindsight is grateful their advice and feedback. And he was able to get a job and start within two weeks of graduating from Sabio’s program. In the end, he realized he needed to wait until he was prepared and ready for interviews instead of jumping the gun and possibly burning bridges by showing how much he still had to learn. 

He shared about his career with Vizient. They have a team structure that everyone gets an equal voice. He really enjoys being part of the team and being able to freely share his ideas and even the opportunity to follow a hunch to see if an idea will work. He also is excited to be working to build a fintech start up (Wealth Build). Software Engineering gets him excited and he loves being able to find a new way to solve problems. 

Want to learn more about VET TEC? Check out episode episode 9 and you can learn all about VET TEC resources and learn how you can use these resources to learn to code with Sabio School of Software and Engineering. You can also work directly with Meg Black a Navy veteran who works at Sabio by attending an one on one session. Sign up here today!

Are you interested in learning more about starting your career in Software Engineering? Head over to Sabio School of Software and Engineering website at https://www.sabio.la today!

Josh grew up in the LA area and originally went to school to work in the medical field. He realized it wasn’t the right path for him and became a math teacher. While teaching he learned about a career in software engineering. He was intrigued and wanted to learn more so he bought a few books and began learning about Software Engineering.

In his research he saw that completing a bootcamp program was recommended to help build a strong foundation for a career in Software Engineering. This led him to start looking into various boot camp programs in the LA area. He talked to Sabio and a few other programs before finally deciding to invest in Sabio’s boot camp. 

He talked about how not only did he learn about coding in Sabio’s boot camp but he also learned about how a team should operate when he started his job. He learned what it was like to be part of a team and how to be a full stack developer. He continually mentioned how valuable the training from Sabio was because it was the full package. Not just coding, but so many other skills that he still uses in his job today. 

He was able to find a job quickly after graduating. He put his resume out in as many places as he could and did interviews with different companies and was able to land a job within a few weeks of graduating. About six months after graduating, a recruiter at Kaiser reached out to him. He had done an interview when he had been looking for a job but it did not move forward. Now, six months later they wanted to offer him a job. He decided to make the switch into a new job. 

Today he is working as a Software Engineer at Kaiser fully remote. He gives advice to those starting their journey in Software Engineering to not be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes even watching senior developers code or work on challenging projects is a great way to learn new coding skills. Always first do your research before asking for help. But don’t spend so much time trying to find the answer and not using the coworkers you have around you. 

For those considering a career in software engineering. He says you must have a desire to continue learning. He is still learning today. Technology is continuing to change and shows no signs of slowing. And if you want to be successful in software engineering you will need to continue to work and learn.