We recently caught up with Romy who graduated Northcoders back in 2018, you can find out more about her experience here.

What year did you graduate Northcoders?

2018

What job role are you in?

Senior Software Engineer and Tech Lead

How have you found your experience progressing in the industry?

Experience progressing has been good overall but I have found if you stay at the same company you stagnate - much easier to progress by hopping from company to company if you're happy to do that (higher risk of job security though). I think being an underrepresented group has actually helped me get roles and I also put a lot of effort into volunteering and networking in my personal time in my first 2 years of industry which paid off.

How did you find your time on the bootcamp?

I loved my time on the bootcamp - I was fully in person!

What were you doing before the Bootcamp?

I worked for the PHSO investigating formal complaints about NHS and Parliamentary bodies.

What made you interested in moving into tech?

I moved into tech because I wanted flexibility, good pay, job security and to be able to work in many different industries.

What made you choose Northcoders?

I chose Northcoders based off previous student testimonials and comparing it to the other courses available at the time, it seemed to be the most detailed and practised.

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

I received a lot of support, we had in person presentations from companies and also recruiters showed up to our final project presentations. We had our CVs reviewed and I was offered a job very quickly.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking about applying?

My advice about applying is the course definitely prepares you to walk into your first role and be useful straight away(often more useful than graduates with compute science degrees as you have the hands on knowledge they lack). You have to ask questions when you don't understand. I cleared my diary and did extra work in my own time to make sure I was on track and understood everything during the course. Try and get a funded place and then you don't really have anything to lose. The job market is far more saturated these days and at the moment I am seeing more senior engineers struggling to get work and some redundancies, so think about saving up money before applying if you are worried you won't get a job straight away.