How did you find your time on the bootcamp?

Northcoders was a great experience. The course is fast paced and quite intense but it's the immersive nature of it that makes you learn so much in such a short amount of time. It's not all hard work though, the NC team put a lot of effort in to creating a supportive and fun environment to learn in as well as organising social events to help the cohort bond over more than just Javascript.

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

Before Northcoders I was teaching english as a foreign language and had been living abroad for a while. I was looking for a change as despite having various jobs I hadn't found anything that really fulfilled me. I got into coding by attending meet ups, doing online courses, then completing the Northcoders Ignite course. Each step made me want to progress further. Each step also made me realise the variety of opportunities that are available to you once you learn to code.

What was the support like on the course?

The tutors are awesome with a capital A. Really supportive and approachable and will keep you motivated even when you feel like smashing your head against the keyboard.

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

While on the course we were already getting into the mindset of applying for jobs as Beckie and James from CLOS Consultancy gave invaluable advice on the tech industry, CV's, preparing for interviews and helping decide what kind of job was right for us. Once I graduated I was in regular contact with the NC team whether it be discussing available roles, getting feedback on work to show potential employers and also feedback on tech tests, some of which had pretty tight deadlines but the tutors always managed to help me out.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking about applying?

In the immortal words of Nike, Just Do It! (unless you try it and find that it's not really for you, in which case try something else until you find what you're passionate about). There are lots of online courses and meet ups that you can attend to test the water before you fully commit to anything. It can be a bit nerve-wracking to turn up somewhere on your own and feel like you're out of your depth but every coder starts somewhere. Making a career change is really exciting but you might get a side order of self-doubt and imposter syndrome with it. It's totally normal to doubt yourself when you are learning something new but don't let that get to you, don't compare yourself with other people, get out of your own way and embrace it. You can do it!