Cohort 11 Graduate Update: Lauren and Daniel join Enok as Apprentices
Students enroll in the 12-week immersive Web Development course as one of many pathways to starting a career in the tech industry. Our students have various backgrounds and stories that have led them to making the decision to take this full-time course. Sometimes they are already working in the tech industry, but in a different role, and sometimes they are breaking into tech from another industry altogether. Two of our recent graduates, Daniel and Lauren, represent those experiences and share their experiences below.
Before you read Lauren and Daniel’s stories of life after code school, it is important to note that enrolling in our course, and any bootcamp-style program for that matter, is only the beginning of the learning journey as a software developer.
After graduating from our program, Lauren and Daniel pursued an opportunity to be hired on at Enok Collective as software developers in their “apprentice-to-hire” program. They offer their reflections on their first few months in this program with Enok to help showcase the power and importance of partnerships with companies who hire Carolina Code School graduates and the direct impact these companies have on their lives and their careers.
“It’s still very early days in my apprenticeship at Enok, but I’ve already learned a ton about working on a software development team and transitioning from coding in a classroom to developing professionally. Carolina Code School is a fast-paced whirlwind where I primarily learned through doing, whereas with the apprenticeship, I’m able to go deeper into a lot of the topics we touched on at CCS. I’m finding out more about the why behind the code I’m writing. The other major point of growth so far in the apprenticeship is learning how to work with a team to write code. It’s been great to sit in on sprint planning meetings and learn about how an agile development team works together towards a common goal. I was also happy to find that the foundational knowledge Carolina Code School laid down has already come in handy as I have started to contribute to projects at Enok! It’s reinforced that I’m capable of pursuing this career path and that I have knowledge to contribute thanks to CCS.”
- Lauren Koch, Cohort 11
“I had an amazing experience during my time at CCS. As I have transitioned into my new role as an apprentice at Enok Collective, it has been extremely rewarding. Currently I am [building on the skills I learned at CCS] to truly add the top of my “T” shape of learning as a software craftsman. I’m learning to elevate my skills and [to help elevate] the skills of those around me. [In my day-to-day], I’m increasing Product Team productivity, learning hard skills including Infrastructure, Data Manipulation, Architecture, and of course expanding my knowledge of programming languages. The experience after graduating affirms my decision to [take the Web Development Course at CCS] as being the right decision for me to become a software craftsman.”
- Daniel Juarez, Cohort 11
No matter what a person’s background, there must be a bridge for our students to start contributing to the tech industry as junior developers while being supported to continue to learn as they go. This is a unique professional experience. There is still so much to learn, no matter where someone is in their career path.
Companies like Enok are invested in early talent development of software engineers. They demonstrate this by being a comprehensive supporter and partner of Carolina Code School, as well as Build Carolina as a whole.
Chandler Roth, Director of Engineering at Enok Collective, said it best.
“Hiring from Carolina Code School has been an incredible experience. Lauren and Daniel were both well equipped to jump into our apprenticeship program, and have done a fantastic job keeping up with the pace of becoming a full-stack software engineer on our team in 6 months. We’re looking forward to hiring from CCS again!”