How did you find your time on the bootcamp?

I had a great time at Northcoders. The quality of the teaching was always high. The tutors struck a good balance between encouraging self-driven learning, and providing support where its needed. The material on the course was always made interesting and digestible, and the way in which we worked in pairs and groups, as well as alone, provided valuable lessons in teamwork and communication as a coder.

What were you doing before the bootcamp and what made you apply?

I worked in restaurants and bakeries. I wanted to switch to a career with more sociable hours, and found that the more I learnt about software development, the more interesting and satisfying it became.

What was the support like on the course?

I found everyone on the mentor team was very approachable, patient, and encouraging. It was great to talk to people with different kinds of experience and backgrounds. When you approach a tutor with a problem, they can usually point you in the right direction, but they also help you realise you are capable of solving a lot of things for yourself too.

How much support did you receive from Northcoders with your job search after the course?

As you go through the course, you gradually learn more about the software industry, so by the time you have graduated, you are able to understand the different types of jobs on offer, and able to talk to interviewers with a good understanding of industry practices.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking about applying?

Really just get stuck in. Do a freecodecamp or udemy course and just learn what you can. If you get the bug then definitely look into applying to the course. The leap from youtube tutorials and interactive websites to the course at Northcoders really was exhilarating and you don't realise how solid a foundation (and above) it gives you in software development until it's several months later and you struggle to imagine a life without it.