Meet the _nologists

Andy Cameron

Junior Developer at Landmark Information

Which _nology intake were you on?
London, January – April 2020

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
I spent the previous four years working as a Land and Utility Surveyor. I liked technology and fancied a change of pace.

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
I’d had exposure to coding at University and spent a couple of days a year playing with variables using Youtube.

What job are you doing now? 
I’m currently working as a Junior Full Stack Developer in Exeter, programming in C#, SQL, JavaScript and Swift (iOS). I love to code, I’m incredibly well supported and I’m able to contribute to live projects after two weeks of employment.

How was your experience on the _nology course?
To anyone wishing to start a career in tech, I wholly recommend it. The people are awesome. The camaraderie, and the energy and enthusiasm from our tutors and each other was inspiring. The syllabus is designed such that after several weeks post-course, I’m able to write code for production in languages we hadn’t even covered. And, despite a global pandemic, _nology adapted to remote working and secured me a job where I love coding and there’s endless opportunity to learn and make cool things. I have no regrets.

James Nowecki

Software Developer at Cambio Healthcare Systems

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, January – April 2020

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
I had completed a geochemistry PhD, followed by charity work as a front line support worker working to reduce homelessness.

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
Low level R, CSS, HTML

What job are you doing now? 
Post course, I obtained 2 weeks of freelance work with the start-up the _nology group worked with on a client project, constructing a vegan health app tailored for people’s genetic information. I was fortunate in the lockdown climate of mid-2020 to obtain a full time position with a healthcare tech company just before the end of the course, which I start next week!

How was your experience on the _nology course?
Consistently excellent. All the way from the first taster day, through the application process the organisation were extremely professional. This continued with the trainers Shea and Matt on the bootcamp. The quality of the teaching and feedback was impeccable, even in difficult circumstances with part of the course being run remotely. My rate of learning was much, much faster than the self-teaching I had undertaken before the course, and completely vindicated my decision to attend the bootcamp. The support I received from Opus recruitment after the course to obtain my first position in the tech industry was also good, despite the economic climate. I couldn’t really have asked for more from the course, and I am extremely optimistic about starting my new career!

James Panter

Junior Developer at Landmark Information

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, January – April 2020

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
Finance – Accounts Payable

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
No

What job are you doing now? 
Junior Developer – I have really enjoyed my first few weeks, I have joined a project working on an iPhone app which I find very interesting and was something I knew I would like to explore throughout my career. The role keeps me challenged and there’s lots of problem solving/troubleshooting to be done. I’m learning heaps about a very different tech stack and enjoying it all

How was your experience on the _nology course?
The Nology course was the best 3 months I’ve had in years. Part of this was because I had found the career I wanted to pursue, but also because of the people I met on the course and the trainers. Sad for it to end but it’s exciting to be starting my career!

Any other comments/feedback?
Shea is an incredible trainer, he is a huge reason the course was so enjoyable for me.

Maya Keeley

Junior Web Developer at Bot-Hive

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, September – December 2019

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
Liberal Arts & Sciences degree followed by a year in the film industry.

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
A tiny bit of Matlab but otherwise, none.

What job are you doing now? 
Junior Web Developer for Bot-Hive. Bot-Hive is a start up so with only 6 people, there’s a lot of responsibility and variety in the role. One of the things I love about it is getting to make decisions on the product as a whole and to see the wider picture and how my role fits into that. In terms of web development, I’ve been able to learn both Angular and Node which are completely new to me. It’s been challenging but _nology taught me well for learning to adapt and pick up new concepts quickly.

How was your experience on the _nology course?
I had a great time learning what was essentially a completely new skill. The course was fast paced for sure, but you were able to consolidate the knowledge as you went along and built on previous knowledge. I was surprised to find that the days were pretty varied, between learning in a classroom setting, to solo coding, to working in pairs or groups, you were kept pretty busy! I loved how the course had a client project, as this really allowed you to see how you would work on a project in a job later on. Getting to run project meetings and work with a client on their vision was a hugely valuable aspect of the course.

Any other comments/feedback?
The more I learn in my current role, the more thankful I am that I did _nology. Not only am I really enjoying my job, but the way _nology taught us to problem solve helps me on a daily basis. _nology gives you a great foundation to be able to walk into any junior developer role and quickly adapt to whatever your role might throw at you!

Clara Fitzgerald

Junior Software Developer at Creditsafe

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, September – December 2019

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
Just finished a BSc in Financial Mathematics.

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
Yes, but only a little.

What job are you doing now? 
Junior Software Developer at Creditsafe. I’m enjoying it a lot, great tech stack and I’m still learning every day. I feel as though I have a lot of room to grow in this career, and I’m excited to see where it leads. Overall, I’m just buzzing to be able to get paid to develop software, something I enjoy doing and would like to do anyway.

How was your experience on the _nology course?
It was great. I learned a lot, was challenged heavily and came out with a new skill. Beyond the code, I learned how to optimise learning – I think this will help me a lot throughout my career as I pick up other skills. The course dynamic is brilliant, the teaching style is excellent, encouraging students to learn from each other and find answers by themselves rather than getting answers served on a plate – another asset for learning how to learn. It was an intense learning experience, spending 12 weeks outside of your comfort zone and teetering on the edge of your panic zone is exhausting, but also perhaps the most efficient way to learn.

Aleo Yakas

Junior Software Developer at Creditsafe

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, September – December 2019

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
Working as a software automation consultant.

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
Very little from my previous job and minimal from university.

What job are you doing now? 
Junior Software Developer at Creditsafe – it’s great, the people are super helpful and are constantly helping me develop my technical skills.

How was your experience on the _nology course?
I feel the nology course was great, I did struggle with moving to Bristol as everyone else seemed to be a Bristol local, but I feel the training and the aftercare was amazing. I would happily recommend nology to prospecting students.

Any other comments/feedback?
Nology structure their learning in a fun, yet professional manner. It isn’t just about learning to code (although that is a big part of it), it’s about learning how to work in a technical job. The project work allows you to experience how a job would operate, while the topics taught are practical skills which you will find invaluable in when you start your first tech job.

Dan Forder

Software Developer at QES

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, June – September 2019

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
Just finished BSc Music Composition & Technology and a working holiday in New Zealand

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
Yes, some freeCodeCamp tutorials

What job are you doing now? 
Full Stack Software Developer, I’m enjoying taking a lead on a big application with thousands of users!

How was your experie.nce on the _nology course?
Really great experience, it set me up to ‘learn how to learn’ the most important skill as a developer.

Benjamin Busch

Software Engineer at Candide Gardening

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, June – September 2019

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
Studying Philosophy & German Language and Literature at university.

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
Barely any.

What job are you doing now? 
I am a software engineer. I love it. Cannot imagine a better job.

How was your experience on the _nology course?
Fun, fun, fun! I would do it again!

Myles Carey

UX Developer at Optimum Credit

Which _nology intake were you on?
Bristol, February – May 2019

What were you doing in your career/education before you joined the _nology course?
Digital Marketing.

Did you have any coding experience before you started the course?
Very little.

What job are you doing now? 
UX Developer and Freelance UX UI Designer.

How was your experience on the _nology course?
Very good. The Coaches’ knowledge was unrivalled and they taught real life examples. Since I’ve been in work, I’ve used the techniques, methodologies and coding they taught nearly every day. It’s also enabled me to move more into UX and UI which was my passion.

Any other comments/feedback?
For a long time, I dreamt of being able to code and do the stuff I’m passionate about and nology helped me to realise the dream. Without it, I’d probably be stuck in a job I don’t enjoy.