How Maura transitioned from a Sales Associate to a Software Developer thanks to SheCodes Pro
πββοΈ Before SheCodes
Maura is a SheCoder from Chicago, Illinois who began her coding journey as an absolute beginner and is now working as a Software Developer! She surprised herself by transitioning to a job in Front-End Development and says she couldnβt have done it without SheCodes! π€©
Maura went to the Savannah College of Art and Design where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metals and Jewelry. After her studies, she worked as a gallery assistant, designer, shop assistant, and e-commerce manager at a fine jewelry store. While she was working at the jewelry store, she started helping out more and more with the companyβs website. She wanted more control to update the website and hence - her interest in coding was born! πΒ
βI first became interested in coding as more of a necessity than an interest. I was working retail and started helping more and more with the company website. Overwhelmed by the few coding changes I had to make, I started trying to teach myself by googling html codes. I found it extremely frustrating, and can say honestly that I was not truly interested in coding until after SheCodes!β
π©βπ» Her SheCodes Experience
Maura discovered SheCodes on Instagram and thought that it sounded like the perfect program to kick off her coding journey! She says that one of the biggest draws of SheCodes was the female-only community and mission. π©βπ» Maura was motivated to join in order to step up her skill set and expand her career horizons. πͺ π»Β
βI really liked that the company goal was to help more women break into the tech industry and was just for women, as most online tutorials and courses I had found seemed completely male-dominated and fairly intimidating.β
βMy motivation for joining SheCodes was that I was feeling stuck. Stuck in my job and stuck in not understanding how I could adapt and grow with my job.β
Maura really enjoyed the creative final projects and the live tech support on Slack. She found that compared to other courses sheβd tried in the past, the format of SheCodes was much better. π She also liked learning with other women in the friendly SheCodes community! π
βMy favorite parts about the SheCodes workshops were the amount of creativity that you could put into every project and the constant support of the Slack channel. I never felt like I was on an island when I got stuck. This helped me immensely in not feeling alone and overwhelmed!β
βI had tried CareerFoundry and a few informal courses on YouTube before SheCodes - in those courses, I definitely didn't feel like I was as involved in the learning process as I did with SheCodes. In SheCodes, the combination of the bite-sized lessons with corresponding exercises keeps you completely engaged while also supporting you via Slack. The format of SheCodes made me feel like I was being taught and engaged with, not talked to.β
βLearning with other women was invaluable to me. The sense of community made it so much easier to push through any frustration I encountered.β
π How SheCodes has Helped to Change Her Life
SheCodes helped Maura discover that coding was actually fun, interesting, and something that she wanted to pursue as a career! π π» She decided to start applying for jobs in development and got an offer within just a few weeks!Β
βThe knowledge I gained in SheCodes was what gave me the confidence to start planning a career change. In SheCodes Responsive, I decided that I would make my final project a true portfolio/resume and use it to apply for jobs.β
βI got the job I currently have as a software developer thanks to SheCodes. I started sharing my portfolio project just to see what would happen, and I was offered a job within weeks.βΒ
Maura is now working as a Software Developer at a practice management company based out of Texas. She spends her days writing code to improve the company software, answering customer support queries, and designing future software additions and updates. π₯ She has countless benefits now that she didnβt have in her previous job. Maura says that SheCodes helped change much more than her career path - and we are so happy to hear this! πΒ
βMy job now allows me a lot more flexibility in my daily life than my old job. I no longer have to commute, I'm much more engaged in my work, and I have significantly higher pay.β
βI love SheCodes. My time learning with SheCodes changed not only my career path, but how I view myself and my own capabilities.β
In the future, Maura would like to evolve her coding creativity and collaboration. We canβt wait to see how her skills progress so she can reach her full coding potential! πΒ
βIn my coding future, I would like to see creativity and collaboration. One of the biggest surprises for me about the coding world was how creative you can truly be. Coming from an artistic background, this was a huge realization for me; I had always imagined tech to be nothing but data output, but the community of people sharing their work and creating new ways of solving problems is extremely inspiring to me, and I can't wait to learn more.β
π©βπΌ Advice to Future SheCodes Student
Mauraβs advice is to go for it because coding may just surprise you! π She thinks that it could be much more than just a useful skill to add to your resume.Β
βMy best advice to anyone considering signing up is to give yourself the chance to be surprised. I went into the course thinking that it would just be a useful skill set to be familiar with in the 21st century, nothing more than something to put on my resume. In my wildest dreams I would not have imagined that I would have enjoyed it as much as I do, but I learned that what I think of myself does not have a 1:1 relationship with who I am, and I can still surprise myself."
βThe price of the courses compared to the value acquired is excellent!β
Mauraβs SheCodes Basics testimonial:Β
βCoding seemed very daunting before I took this course, but the videos were so well explained and the challenges really helped to understand every step of the way. I'm so glad that I took this class, and I can't wait to continue my coding journey!β
Mauraβs SheCodes Plus testimonial:Β
βGreat workshop! The coursework was easy to follow even though the material was intense. I can't wait to learn more!β
Mauraβs SheCodes Responsive testimonial:Β
βI loved this class! Being able to build responsive websites has greatly improved my confidence in my development, and the coursework was so fun to follow. Thanks again, team SheCodes!β
