You put your career under the microscope and see something amiss... Now what?

From High School Biology Teacher to E-Learning and Development Specialist, Purdue Global University

"I have a new confidence to be able to move into this industry. I have a network, I have a foundation, and I have a new wealth of knowledge and I really love it. Having that confidence to move forward is a really peaceful thing."

This is Zach Ballard, a Nucamp Fundamentals and Full Stack Bootcamp graduate and now an E-learning and Development Specialist at Purdue Global University.

In Zach’s spare time he likes the outdoors, staying healthy, and reading science fiction.

Zach loves teaching, but COVID forced schools to become more reliant on online learning, and that changed everything.

Online classes meant using a Learning Management System (LMS) and it was through trying to customize the LMS, with some trial and error, that Zach was introduced to coding.

Coding was just as peaceful to him as reading his favorite book or kayaking on a calm day.

To test his theory he researched the expansive world of tech and found there were tons of opportunities for him.

Dissecting each bootcamp he came across—the affordability, hybrid learning and amazing reviews about Nucamp, made it the natural selection.

What it was like taking a Nucamp Bootcamp?

Zach described his Nucamp experience as absolutely amazing.

Having first class mentors with real world skills at his disposal lead him to where his is today.

He is still in contact with his mentors who gave him the inside view of the industry in order for him to get started.

"Working through the material with people who have experience in the industry and mentors that are watching trends change in the industry and are able to speak to them has been priceless."

Describe your job search process.

During his bootcamp, Zach was already on the hunt for a job and successfully landed one before graduating.

At the react portion of the course, a former graduate’s advice was to just go ahead and start applying.

It took about two months of hard work making every email personalized and examining every job.

He took on the job search as if it was the next section of the bootcamp and it paid off.

After applying to around 60 jobs, having 14 interviews and two months’ time... he eventually landed an offer!

What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

"First: you can now build and launch websites using bootstrap, so do that. I built my portfolio with this and my website was one of the reasons why I was hired. Second: Build your javascript base knowledge. It's a huge part of the MERN stack, it's embedded everywhere. The more foundation you can have, the more successful you can be."