A JOB IN

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
- WHERE TO START
Tech offers a fulfilling career with great earning prospects but the
industry is not good at explaining or presenting itself to the
people it desperately needs. In this guide, we give you the tools to
set yourself on a new path to success.
Introduction 3

Code Institute Manifesto 5

Where Do I Start? 7

Choosing A Learning Path 10

Your Career Path 17

The Future 20

Graduate Stories & Code Institute 23

 If you are reading these words, you are probably giving serious thought to
INTRODUCTION

changing direction in your life. Well done for taking that first step!

You like the idea of software development, and you certainly know that tech is the
future. But how can you be part of that? The prospect of change is both exciting
and scary, and you want to be as sure as you can be that you are doing the right
thing.

I am very lucky. Every day, I get to be part of the life-changing journeys on which
our students have embarked and if I can help them a little (or sometimes a lot) in
landing them that first job in tech, my day is made.

One thing I do know: tech companies are crying out for talented staff with life
experience and knowledge of coding.

Whether software development is right for you, only you can decide. Our 5-Day
Coding Challenge gives you a taste of it and of the way we teach - and don’t worry,
the challenge doesn’t take five days!

One of our graduates, Kira Estrada, a Montessori teacher, took a highly personal
approach. She went to the public library and got out a bunch of children’s books
on learning how to code. This way “in” came naturally to Kira because so much of
her job was about seeing the world from a child’s point of view.

Kira feared her experience was a million miles removed from the serious and
techie world of software development – but the opposite proved true. Her future
employer HubSpot immediately understood that Kira’s teaching and story-telling
abilities made her invaluable.

This is one of the main messages of our guide: that the experience you take into
tech is important to your future employer.

The other message is about the future direction of your career. The tech industry
is huge and all-encompassing, and it is crying out for people to sell, implement,
customise and manage software – as well as create it.

To make that point, we caught up with two other Code Institutes graduates
alongside Kira, who just a few years after graduating, are specialising in different
areas of the tech sector.

3
 This guide is broken up into four sections. We start by looking at the many
INTRODUCTION

reasons why people choose to change careers and why you shouldn’t let imposter
syndrome hold you back from going into tech.

How do you set about re-skilling yourself? How can you juggle family
commitments or a full-time job with committing to a course on software
development? We explore your options in Part Two.

The end goal is that job, that new career. There is a lot at stake here. What if after
all my hard work, I struggle to find employment? Code Institute puts this concern
at the heart of its course by making sure the syllabus is up-to-date and relevant to
what the industry is looking for. We also have an extensive careers infrastructure
where we introduce you to different tech employers and help you “position”
yourself in the jobs market. This is Part Three of our guide.

In Part Four, we look at that first job and beyond. What kind of starting salary can
you expect, and what are the career trajectories that lie ahead? There is no single
answer to these questions. We give you an overview of the range in starting
salaries in Europe and other popular job destinations, and we speak to Code
Institute graduates about the twists and turns of their careers in tech.

Kira, Adrian and Simen were in your shoes not so very long ago, with the same
questions and concerns that are preoccupying you. They are now pursuing
different careers in tech, but their message to you is the same: “It takes
commitment but it’s worth it.”

Code Institute is proud to have made a difference to the lives of these ambitious
individuals – and we hope we’ll get the chance to help you on your way to a career
in tech too.

Jane Gormley,
Director of Employer Engagement, Code Institute
[email protected]

4
 OUR CAREER CHANGE MANIFESTO:
WHY CODE INSTITUTE

We make sure that We make sure our course We help you specialize.
students accepted on the syllabus is relevant to One of the changes we
course have the aptitude to today’s job market. made to respond to the
complete it. Everyone has Technology changes fast – job market is to give
to do our 5-Day Coding too fast for three-year students a choice of three
Challenge, which is a college degrees to keep specializations: Predictive
“taster” of the diploma up. Code Institute has links Analytics, Advanced
course. It will tell us – and with the tech industry Front-End Development
you – if learning code is the which means the likes of with ReactJS, and
right step in your career PayPal, Microsoft, and e-Commerce - which could
path. Accenture advise us be a great fit for students
regularly on what skills are with a background in sales.
most in-demand.
We are flexible. Our course
is delivered online, which
We keep an eye on you. We are credit-rated. Our
means you can set your
Remote studying and the programme is the UK and
own pace & study when it
pressures of everyday life Europe’s only coding
suits you. Most of our
mean it can be easy to fall bootcamp course with a
undergraduates are in
behind. Our tutors and university credit rating.
employment as they work
mentors have a dashboard
towards their qualification.
for every student so they
can see at a glance where
you are in the course – and
We are a community. We help you find work.
offer support where it is
Remote studying can be Coding is a skill – but so is
needed.
lonely, but Code Institute putting yourself out there.
has a thriving community We give you one-to-one
of students – past and sessions to focus on your
We go beyond coding. A
present – as well as career options and will
career change is
teachers and mentors. help you draft that killer
transformative, and we
CV. It is not a coincidence
help you make that
that 98% of Career Service
change wherever we can.
users are employed within
From day one, we get you
one year of graduating,
familiarised with the ins
with 96% of Career Service
and outs of the tech
users employed within 9
industry. Your future
months of graduation: we
employer wants to meet
make sure you are 100%
you – and we host regular
prepared to make your
webinars where tech firms
career change a success.
introduce themselves to
students and give them an
idea of what life as a
software developer is like.
 What Worried Students Most
We asked our students what worried them most before starting their
career change journey. Below are some of their responses.

20.2% 17.5% 12.5% 9.6% 8.8%

Finances Time Self Confidence New Learning Too Difficult

7.9% 4.4% 3.5% 1.8% 1.8%

Jobs Trust Career Change Not enjoying Health

the course

1.8%

Right Course

6
 ‘I want to change careers. I have to change careers’
WHERE DO I START?

We all have our off-days. You’re stuck in traffic, there’s a thoughtless email from your boss,
Pret a Manger doesn’t have your favourite sandwich, and a customer is rude to your face.
The day seems to go on forever, and then you have to stay late because a colleague has
called in sick. Frustrating. And all part of the job, every job.

This is different though.

This is more than just one of those days. Every day seems to be a battle, perhaps a battle
with yourself as much as your job. You are good at what you do, yet the thought “Why am I
doing this?” never leaves you. You go through the motions, but your heart isn’t in it.

Your life isn’t in it.

There are many reasons why people decide to change careers. For many, their job has
become toxic: it is affecting their relationships and self-esteem. This is concerning because
if you are down on yourself, change can seem very difficult.

This guide is a moment of calm, where we talk through

your options to a better future – even if it turns out that
coding or software development is not the right
direction for you. To us, that’s still a result because we
will have helped you focus on your future career.

I think career changers are

ambitious and the biggest
risk-takers. We really like that
because when we founded,
Overcast we changed careers.
We took a risk.
Employer’s thoughts on career changers -
Philippe Brodeur, CEO, Overcast

7
WHERE DO I START?

The decision to change careers is always an emotional one, even if your main motivation
is financial. Many people who enjoy their jobs outgrow them, especially if that job has
limited prospects. You want to start a family or buy a house; such long-term plans require
a career with long-term possibilities for growth and advancement.

Tech is a vast sector with many different career paths and opportunities, as we shall see
later. But the best way in – perhaps the only way – is software development. Employers do
not expect to hire coding experts, but they don’t want complete beginners either; what
they need is people with a range of coding skills – the techie word for this is “full-stack” –
and a proven ability to learn and use these skills.

A career in tech will require you to re-skill because nobody is born to code, not even Bill
Gates or the wizzkids in Silicon Valley. They all learned how to write code – and they had to
start from the beginning. You can do this too.

This is where the tough questions start. Can I study part-time? Do I have to go to college?
What are the costs? Will it be worth it in the end? There are so many buzzwords out
there: Python, C++, DevOps, data science, development “scrums” – how do I know what I
need?

In the next section, we explore the learning options open to you. For now, let’s answer
what, for some people, is the toughest question of all: “Do I belong in this world? I don’t
have a university degree. I am a waiter, taxi driver, hairdresser, office clerk, busy housewife,
retail manager – those techies will see right through me!”

This is known as impostor syndrome – the curious and destructive feeling that even
though your employer thinks you are good enough for the job (you wouldn’t have been
hired otherwise), you don’t.

An expert in this area is Kara McGann, Head of Social Policy at Ibec, Ireland’s largest lobby
and business representative group. “Impostor syndrome is that horrible feeling of: ‘I'm
going to be found out; sooner or later, they're going to realise that I’m actually unsure
what I'm doing here’,” she says. “It can stir up a lot of emotions for people, and it becomes
a self-fulfilling prophecy, where they start to not deliver what they’re capable of doing.”

8
WHERE DO I START?

Impostor syndrome is often the reason why people do not make the career change they
crave, McGann believes, or hesitate for many years before they act.

Of course, it’s no good saying: “But they hired you! You deserve to be here!” because
impostor syndrome is an internal struggle. But it is a struggle you can overcome by
seeing the results of your hard work and your hard-won skills.

You can’t be an impostor in your own life, your own future. If you need to change careers,
the time to act is now.

13.2% of our students and

alumni described
self-confidence as their biggest
worry before doing our
programme

20.2% were worried

about finance

9
Valentina, Code Institute Student

Which way is best for me?

Choosing a learning path.
CHOOSING A LEARNING PATH

“I love to learn and

progress. Which
way is best for
me?”

The internet is an invaluable resource, but it can also be confusing. A Google search for
“coding for beginners” produces over 5 million results: blogs, videos, free courses (or
courses masquerading as free courses), “how-to” YouTube videos that claim to teach you
Python in four hours. Would that look good on your CV? Perhaps not!

Most online courses are poorly designed by techies who already know how to code and
haven’t really given any thought about what it feels like to be a beginner – still less about
the skills employers are looking for. Yes, tech-savvy and persistent people can collect
some coding know-how going down the self-taught route, but there will always be gaps.

What about learning how to write code in a “real” classroom? This appeals because we
are social animals, and the synergies between a great teacher and a class of motivated,
in-the-moment students can be life-changing.

But there are drawbacks. First of all, the “real-life” courses offered by local authorities and
Colleges of Further Education are often for people who lack basic digital skills, such as
word processing, emailing, Excel and so on. Secondly, classroom courses run on a
timetable that cannot be changed when you are working late or have to read your child
a bedtime story.

With an online course, you can fit the learning around the realities of your busy life. You
can read that story until your child is sound asleep and then pick up where you left off
with your coding course.

Common sense has to prevail. In the end, you need a course that has been validated and
recognised by official institutions. You need a relevant course that is scrutinized regularly
by the type of tech firms you hope will one day employ you. Technology changes so fast,
a course that doesn’t change its learning content will be out of date before you know it
(which is why the traditional three-year computer science degree has fallen out of
favour).

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 WHICH SUPPORTS DO YOU
FIND MOST USEFUL?

In November 2021, Code Institute surveyed its students and alumni on the
reasons why they changed career. As part of the survey, we asked them to
tell us which Code Institute supports they find most useful.

57% 26%
Community Mentoring

10.7% 5.8%
Tutoring Student Care

12
 You need a course that fits with your learning style. We mentioned earlier that free
CHOOSING A LEARNING PATH

online courses are often badly designed, with a UI or user interface that seems hostile to
the learning process rather than supportive of it.

Think about it: the way the learning platform interacts with you is in many ways what
makes the platform a great teacher or a frustrating one.

To sign up for a course if you are unfamiliar with its Learning Management System – its
teaching style if you will – is a serious mistake. You have tutors, but the platform itself is
one of them. This is why Code Institute has made its 5-Day Coding Challenge a condition
for entry; we want you to know how we do things, how we communicate with you. We
believe it works, but it has to work for you too.

We dislike the phrase “distance learning” because online can actually be very skilled in
bringing teacher, content, pastoral care and career planning much closer to the student
as part of a holistic learning journey. This is what students at brick and mortar colleges
often complain about: a lack of cohesiveness in the content and delivery of the learning.
We aren’t new to this. We have schooled ourselves over the years to understand that
journey, which we capture in a detailed dashboard for each student. This is one of our
safety nets and part of a support ecosystem that extends from student care to give
encouragement, tutors seven days a week for help with course work, and assigned
mentors to guide you through your coding projects.

Not only that, but our online community forum – we use Slack – is a great way for
students to ricochet ideas off each other and to offer help on how to deal with learning
problems.

Time management rears its head for most students at some point; any coding course
worth its salt will be demanding and make complex demands on your time. Make sure
you choose a course provider that doesn’t leave you in the lurch at moments when the
going gets tough, as it will from time to time.

The best way to keep on track and stay motivated is to keep your eye on the prize: your
career in tech. This is why in parallel to the learning and support, Code Institute engages
with your future from day one.

The tech industry is crying out for software developers, but it doesn’t always do the best
job reaching out to the very people it needs. Part of the careers support at Code Institute
is helping you find out about the ins and outs of the sector and introducing you to the
industry leaders we invite to speak at our web seminars.

These leaders have told us they now want to hire applicants who are more specialised in
what they do. We code in the real world, so we adapted our course to allow for that.

This is the subject of our next chapter: how we link our course content to your chosen
career path.

13
EMPLOYER’S THOUGHTS

Gary Ludgate is Talent Manager with Phorest.

When asked about his opinions on career
changers, here’s how he responded.

‘It's an intimidating thing to decide: ‘Right, I’m going to move

away from everything I’ve known and try to move into a new
space altogether’, and I think somebody who does that, who
achieves the qualification, and turns up into employment,
they’re like a sponge. They just want to learn more. And also
the company that hires them gets the benefit of
tremendous loyalty.’

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WHAT DID YOU LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING A COURSE?

What was important to you

when choosing a course?

In November 2021, Code Institute surveyed its students and alumni on the reasons why
they changed career. As part of the survey, we asked them to name the three most
important things they looked for when choosing a course.

The content of the course

was most important (28.8%)

Support was hugely

important (26.7%)

Getting a job is
essential (20%)

15
YOUR CAREER PATH

“I want to be ready to go
out there with confidence”

We want you to be ready to go out there with confidence because insofar as Code
Institute can be said to have a “brand”, it is narrated by your achievements.

We want you to succeed, and we have a proven and consistent track record of making
that happen: 98% of Career Service users are employed within a year of graduation. 96% of
and 83% of Career Service users are employed within 9 months and 6 months
respectively. In fact, 28% are employed before they even graduate.

Tech firms desperately need motivated software developers, and whether you want to
stay where you are or use your newly acquired coding skills as a passport to find work
abroad, there is a job and a career for you out there.

How do we get you to that job – the right job – as rapidly as possible?

We provide the right skills and are very agile in the way we adapt our course content to
what tech employers tell us they need most. Employers want to see proof of ability. Code
Institute has deep ties with the tech industry, and we are also a trusted supplier to
universities and Colleges of Further Education who are satisfied that our Diploma in
Full-Stack Development delivers that ability.

Employers like to see a body of work because each developer has his or her own style or
signature, and economy of writing code. It is a requirement of the Code Institute course
that you complete [three] portfolio projects. Not only does this boost our students’
confidence in their abilities, but it also gives them the authority to engage potential
employers on a subject of which they have built up detailed knowledge.

16
YOUR CAREER PATH

We can hire a graduate

fresh out of university, and
they'll have all these great
academic qualifications,
but they lack the life skills.
Gary Ludgate, Phorest.

Employers like this and asked us for more. This is why we introduced three specializations
that are most relevant to today’s marketplace. They are e-Commerce, Advanced
Front-End Development skills with React.js – a JavaScript library to create interactive user
interfaces – and Predictive Analytics where you immerse yourself in the technologies of
Big Data.

Don’t worry. You won’t be asked to choose one of these options immediately; there is
ample time to explore, engage with industry specialists or quiz Code Institute graduates
on Slack about their experiences.

The final piece of the employment puzzle is to fine-tune and professionalise how you
present yourself. You will have [at least two sessions] with a careers expert to help you
craft your CV, your LinkedIn profile and the motivational letter that many tech employers
are now asking for.

Job interviews can be a nerve-wracking experience, but we help you practise. We don’t
like to leave anything to chance because the skills we give you are just the first of many
lifelong changes.

The investment you are making is for the long term. You want that first job, that foot in
the door, but you also want to set intentions about the road ahead. Where could you be in
five or ten years’ time?

17
 ‘WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES
FOR FUTURE ADVANCEMENT?’

Software doesn’t just get written: it is also sold, implemented, integrated, customised,
updated, and managed as part of an overall IT architecture consisting of many systems and
software applications.

It is a complex and interconnected world.

Businesses need developers skilled in a particular coding language, such as Java or Python.
Other job opportunities will specify what aspect of an application you are expected to work
on; for instance, front-end or user interface (UI) developers are always in demand because
we require our applications to be even more responsive and intuitive. More senior roles
point to different methodologies of implementing software projects; the keywords here are
DevOps, Scrum and Agile. Customer support is crucial because the software you write is a
commercial product, competing in a cut-throat and highly dynamic marketplace.

Tech companies require a different mix of skills to create, launch and manage successful
software applications and systems – and they lack the right people in all these areas.

This is why with the right qualifications and attitude, you will succeed in landing a job – and
one that offers a competitive rate of pay.

A coder can't just be somebody

who codes, you know? We’ve got
sales engineers. We have product
owners, we have scrum masters,
we have lots of people who don't
actually spend all day coding.
Philippe Brodeur, Overcast.
 Average Starting Salaries
Based on Country

£29k+ €34k+ €41k+ €29k+ €47k+

United Ireland Netherlands Sweden Germany

Kingdom

19
 Our salary graphic is an overview of what you can expect to earn when starting out in
THE FUTURE

tech in different European markets as well as other “job destinations” such as the US,
Australia and South Africa. We have tried to be as level-headed and realistic as we could
and cite salary “minimum” and “maximum” estimates for jobs advertised recently. For
comparison, we include the average salary across all jobs. This gives some interesting
results. In the UK, for instance, you are almost at the average with your first job even if
the starting salary is at the lower end of our scale. In the Netherlands, you are earning
more than the average employee straight away.

Remember, this is a range of starting salaries for software development. Where your
career takes you from there depends on many things and can go in many directions.

Part of the Code Institute course is to introduce you to the possibilities. Tech employers
are keen to talk to our students because they want to hire people like you – people of
every age, background, ethnic origin, sex or sexuality.

Everyone has a story, and everyone can contribute.

We conclude by describing the experience and career trajectory of three Code Institute
graduates. They completed the same course but are now doing completely different
jobs.

Up next is their story – so far.

20
Adrian , Code Institute grad, now
Senior Systems Analyst with Mastercard

Graduate Stories
Where are they now?
WHERE IS HE NOW? ADRIAN RUS

“ I literally thought: ‘Yes,

this is it.’ And I took
that leap of faith.”

In 2015, Adrian was First Assistant Manager at Nando’s after six years at the company. “I
had stayed because they’d promoted me several times throughout those years, and I
worked with great people and teams, but I reached a point where I wanted to move into
something with a better career perspective. I also realised I wasn’t going to learn
anything new or interesting; it was just going to be the same routine.”

“I also wanted to end shift work.”

Tech had always been a bit of an obsession for Adrian, especially Microsoft. “I was the first
in my circle of friends to have a Windows phone and managed to convince 90% of them
to also get one.”

His search for a suitable coding course soon led him to Code Institute. “I couldn’t commit
to three or four years of college,” he says, “and they also didn’t have the flexibility I
needed because I was still working at Nando’s full-time.”

The Code Institute course was online, so it would allow Adrian to set his own pace. He
was intrigued enough to attend an open day in Dublin. “What clinched it for me was a
presentation by Brian [Brian O’Grady, Code Institute Program Director]. He spoke with
such passion. I literally thought: ‘Yes, this is it.’ And I took that leap of faith.”

The biggest challenges for Adrian were planning his time (he’d regularly put in two or
three hours of coding before the start of his shift) – and JavaScript. “That was the painful
one,” he admits.

Adrian Rus
Senior Systems Analyst with Mastercard

22
 Career Path
WHERE IS HE NOW? ADRIAN RUS

2015
Assistant Manager at Nando’s

2016
I found Code Institute -
completes the course and
graduates

2017
Lands first job - becomes a
software tester

Continues to learn and attains

a BCS Practitioner Certificate
for Business Analysis -
becomes a Senior Business
2018
Analyst at Avanade.
2021

Senior Systems Analyst with

Mastercard

“Perhaps the easiest way to describe my

job is that I act as a conduit between
developers and management. I have a lot of
responsibility. If a software release goes
wrong, it’s going to be my fault because it’s
my job to see to it that DevOps stick to
the release schedule, or at least tell me
about it if they can’t.”

Adrian Rus
Senior Systems Analyst with Mastercard

23
WHERE IS HE NOW? ADRIAN RUS

His Code Institute mentor got him through that by providing additional resources,
giving him more context, and simply by being at the other end of a Skype call.

In 2015 the Code Institute was a relative newcomer, and the small startup that
interviewed Adrian for his first post was not familiar with the course. “What really helped
me was having done the projects. That gave me a lot of confidence. They asked me
questions about a technical problem, and that didn’t faze me. I could lead a
conversation. I could answer their question.”

He landed the job.

“It wasn’t a lot of coding. The job was more about server configuration, setting up virtual
machines, deploying databases and testing the product.”

In 2017 Adrian was hired by Accenture for the role of Software Test Engineering Analyst.
“Accenture are consultants, so perhaps less focused on the nitty-gritty of code rather
than the systems aspect and the system infrastructure side of IT. But they want you to
understand how code works. Again, my Code Institute project portfolios helped me
understand the end-to-end development process, and Accenture tested me on that.”

At Accenture, Adrian used the Cucumber testing tool, a framework that was new to him.

“This is an important point to make,” says Adrian. “Code Institute can’t teach you
everything, and as you progress in your career, there is always more to learn.”

A BCS Practitioner Certificate for Business Analysis paved the way for the job of Senior
Business Analyst at Avanade, a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft, and then
the role of Senior Systems Analyst with Mastercard.

“Perhaps the easiest way to describe my job is that I act as a conduit between
developers and management. I have a lot of responsibility. If a software release goes
wrong, it’s going to be my fault because it’s my job to see to it that DevOps stick to the
release schedule, or at least tell me about it if they can’t.”

Adrian’s next goal is to achieve a managerial position at Mastercard.

“That’s what is so interesting,” he says, “with each new role, the goalposts move, and
there are new ambitions, new things to learn.”

That passion for learning that Brian O’Grady communicated so powerfully at the Code
Institute open day has propelled Adrian a long way in just a few years since he took “that
leap of faith”.

24
WHERE IS SHE NOW? KIRA ESTRADA

“ Don’t fear change.

That’s it. Above all, do
not have any fear of
change”

Kira had been a Montessori teacher for ten years when she changed direction. “It felt
that unless I opened my own crèche, I wouldn’t get any further in my career,” she says.

Kira knew tech offered great career prospects but felt unsure if software development
was something for her. To put this to the test, she went to the local library and got out
four children’s books on how to code. “I was used to seeing the world through children’s
eyes, so why not coding? I really liked it and decided to give it a go.”

Because she had to continue in her job looking after triplets, Kira needed an online
course. Code Institute offered her this flexibility. “But more than this, I liked the people,
their vibe, their helpfulness … it is very important for me to feel in sync with the people I
work with.”

Kira would start her day at the crack of dawn to do an hour or two of studying before
going to work from 8am to 5pm. “Then home and more study, usually from 9pm to
midnight. You have to put the work in.”

“I'm not going to say that it wasn't scary, because that would be totally a lie. There
weren’t many women in my class, just three. That’s scary when you’re coming from an
environment that was mostly women.”

“The second thing was finding different ways to explain the coding to me. I feel like my
way of learning is close to storytelling, again, purely from my background.”

Kira Estrada
Senior Customer Onboarding Specialist,
HubSpot
25
 Career Path
WHERE IS HE NOW? SIMEN DAEHLIN

2017
Montessori teacher

2018
Joined Code Institute

2019
Becomes an Associate
Customer Support Specialist
with HubSpot

Becomes Senior Customer 2020

Support Specialist
2021

Quickly climbed through the

ranks and becomes Senior
Customer Onboarding
Specialist

“ I applied the concepts and

knowledge I had learned at
Code Institute to help people
using HubSpot in real life.”

Kira Estrada
Senior Customer Onboarding Specialist,
HubSpot

26
WHERE IS SHE NOW? KIRA ESTRADA

Her Code Institute mentor was instrumental in helping Kira succeed on the course and
get her through the challenging times.

She joined Women in Tech, the not-for-profit group, on a mission to close the gender
gap in IT. At one of its events, Kira had a life-changing encounter with a powerful tech
executive. “I said to her: ‘Listen, I'm making this change, but I’m very scared. I don't know
how I’m going to get a job.’ And her advice was: ‘Nobody moving into coding probably
has the skills as a teacher that you have. My tip for you is just to reapply the skills that
you have, those specialist skills that you are bringing from your experience into coding’.”

Kira never forgot this advice.

Shortly after graduating, she landed an interview with HubSpot, who immediately
spotted her unique potential. “They said: ‘Coding and teaching could merge into our
support service.’ Because when someone calls for help, you can explain the solution to
them step by step, in a basic way, but also imaginatively. That’s something that really
caught their attention.”

In early 2019, Kira started as an Associate Customer Support Specialist.

“In technical support, you get simple and complicated questions from ‘How do I turn it
on?’ to ‘How do I fix my CSS?’ or ‘How do I integrate with Salesforce?’ And so I applied the
concepts and knowledge I had learned at Code Institute to help people using HubSpot
in real life.”

Kira climbed through the ranks and is currently a Senior Customer Onboarding
Specialist. “Onboarding” is one of those techie words that seem a little mysterious, but it
is a crucial part of any customer success story. “My job now is to implement systems with
people who maybe have never worked with a CRM [Customer Relationship
Management] solution before. So I go back to my storytelling skills to explain to them
how they can get data to flow from Salesforce to HubSpot – that combination of tech
and teaching that I love.”

The advice Kira gives to career changers going into tech is: “Reassign your skills”.

“That’s the advice that helped me and which I still apply to myself every day. When I get
very complex customers, I think: ‘Okay, what skills could I give them that nobody else
could give them related to this issue?’ And this helps me to help them!”

Kira is still passionate about getting more women into tech. “It’s important to put your
voice out there, and it’s good to see more women in our industry.”

Her final words?

“Don’t fear change. That’s it. Above all, do not have any fear of change.”

27
WHERE IS HE NOW? SIMEN DAEHLIN

“ It’s not about sitting

behind your PC writing
endless lines of code
all day.”

Simen is a born developer – so much so that soon after he came to the UK, a recruiter
put him up for a senior job in PHP development, although Simen had never written a
line of code in that language.

“But the experience made me determined to fill the gaps in my knowledge and become
a full-stack developer.”

Simen had sold mobile phones, started a company developing WordPress sites
(“nothing to do with coding!”) and worked in customer support for Google and HTC. “But
I don’t like sitting still. I need to be creative and really enjoy making things.”

His motive for enrolling with Code Institute was partly “to get that piece of paper”, but
also, he soon realised, to introduce him to aspects of end-to-end development that were
indispensable to a long-term career in tech.

“JavaScript was the biggest fear of my life. I saw the guys who write this stuff and
thought: ‘I can never do this.’ That was three years ago, and now I do everything in
JavaScript. As a programming language, JavaScript is the love of my life.”

With the support of his wife and family, Simen was able to do the course full-time and
land a position as a front-end developer before he had graduated. “For the first time in
my life, I didn't get one job offer, I got two. I got to choose! I could pick the one that was
closest to me.”

Simen Daehlin
Strapi Squad Lead Developer,
Virgin Media

28
 Career Path
WHERE IS HE NOW? SIMEN DAEHLIN

Pre Code Institute - Simen sold

mobile phones

2017
Joined Code Institute & tackled
JavaScript

worked in Customer Support

for Google and HTC

Became a Developer
2020

Became a Senior Developer

“I’m training and learning at the

same time. No matter where you
are in your career as a
developer you are constantly
learning new stuff, because what
was JavaScript yesterday might
not be JavaScript today.”

Simen Daehlin
Strapi Squad Lead Developer,
Virgin Media

29
 As he moved up the ranks as Full-Stack Developer, Senior JavaScript Developer, and
WHERE IS HE NOW? SIMEN DAEHLIN

Lead Full Stack Developer, Simen also became a Mentor on the Code Institute course,
where his infectious enthusiasm for coding and software development is inspiring new
cohorts of tech workers and innovators.

“What employers are looking for is someone that is willing to learn. It’s how quick you
are, not how good you are. Because if you think you’re the best person in the world to do
it, then you’re not right for the job. Because the best person for a team is not that lone
wolf who does everything on his own, but the person who reaches out to his team and
asks for help. How else do you learn and progress?”

This is why Simen stresses the importance of the Code Institute Slack community, “the
most hidden gem of a tool that Code Institute has over anything else”.

“Students who use Slack to interact with other students or network with the wider
community often get a job before anyone else.”

His other advice is about consistency. “Coding is like weight training,” says Simen, “if you
go once a week, you won’t build any muscle. But if you go regularly and put in the work,
you will see the difference in two or three months. You have to practice regularly. It’s not
difficult, but you have to stay committed.”

And the learning never stops.

“I’m training and learning at the same time. No matter where you are in your career as a
developer, you are constantly learning new stuff because what was JavaScript yesterday
might not be JavaScript today.”

Simen currently works for Virgin Media as Strapi (pronounced “strappy”) Squad Lead
Developer. Strapi is an Open Source tool for the so-called headless development of
Content Management Systems. “That basically means I work on the backend,” Simen
explains. “All the marketing people at Virgin, all the editors, everyone building or
adapting the website is at the front-end. But if my Strapi thing does not work, they can’t
build that front end. If my Strapi thing goes down, all the websites go down.”

Simen relishes the responsibility and the creativity of his job.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about coding,” he concludes. “It’s not about sitting
behind your PC writing endless lines of code all day. Software development is about
problem-solving and teamwork.

“That’s why I love my job as a Mentor at Code Institute. Coding is about community, and
that is what I teach and practice every day.”

30
Code institute grads

Jessica Chris Haley Zac

Code Institute
 We started this guide with the Code Institute manifesto. What all our pledges have in
CODE INSTITUTE

common is simple: Your success is our success. We can only be as successful as our
students.

This is why our 5-Day Coding Challenge is so important. The challenge is divided into five
modules that give you a taste of what writing code is like, and how we present the
learning to you.

The challenge is there for us as much as for you. You will experience what it is like to
code, and we get to assess if you would do well on the Full Stack Software Development
with Specializations course and progress to a career in software development.

Our success rate is high: 98% of Career Service users are employed within one year of
graduation. We have nothing to gain (and everything to lose) from accepting students
on a course that they will struggle to complete.

Our success is your success. Every six months, the tech industry scrutinizes our syllabus,
which we amend in the light of their comments so that everything we teach you is
relevant in today’s jobs market. This is why we offer a choice of specialist skills to our
students. You can choose your major as you progress through the course in one of three
hugely in-demand areas; e-Commerce, Advanced Front-End Development with React.js,
or Predictive Analytics.

What you will not experience in our Coding Challenge is what we offer in parallel to the
learning — elements that are just as crucial to a successful outcome: our community and
career support.

The careers element of the course connects students not only with the possibilities
within the tech industry but also with its culture. This is part of the transition from
learning to doing - from being a student to being an employee.

32
questionnaire

The main worry for people considering a career change is finances: can I support myself
CONCLUSION

and my family through this transition, should I invest the money I have put aside (perhaps
during Covid) in doing a course, and what will my life — and my financial situation — look
like at the other end of it?

It is important to plan and to weigh the risks, but it is also important that you give yourself
permission to take the first step, and accept the fact that in a complex life event such as a
career change, you can only really progress one step at a time. And planning for
everything is impossible, as Covid showed us.

We hope we have convinced you first of all that software development is a career with
massive potential, and that tech firms are looking for people from all walks of life, people
like you.

Our free 5-Day Coding Challenge is there as the next

step in your thinking: do I enjoy this? Do I ‘get’ this? Am
I excited about learning more?

Our success is your success. What gets us out of bed every morning is making a difference
to the lives of our students — and we believe we do a better job at this than anyone.

But you will make up your own mind about that.

One final remark. Our graduates never complain about the course content, the learning
support, the career guidance — or the cost. However, what they all agree on is that the
Code Institute Online Diploma is demanding. As demanding as it is life-changing.

We believe (and your future employer believes) that you can’t have one with the other. Our
graduates rose to the challenge and found that new future in tech.

And so can you.

33
 We’ve bombarded you with information, personal stories and statistics; if this resonated
STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE

with you then you are probably in the right frame of mind to consider a career change.

Time to take stock. Your answers to the high-level and practical questions below will help
you frame where you are at and what you need to do to change direction.

MY FEELINGS ABOUT MY
CURRENT SITUATION

Why do you want to change?

Do you want to do better for yourself and
your family? Perhaps you are tired of
being that person who comes back from
work tired, unhappy and complaining.
You want to be a positive role model.

Have you lost interest in

your job or career?
What words spring to mind? If these
include “frustration”, “stress levels
through the roof”, “it won’t get better”
or “I don’t know how I got here” then
you’re ready for the next question!

What is your current career

outlook?
If you stay in your current job, what will
you be doing in five years’ time? Do you
like what you see?

Are you experiencing burnout?

Is your job dissatisfaction affecting your
moods and your personal life? Burnout can
be a marker of depression. It is serious.

Do you want to increase your

income potential?
Who doesn’t? Even if it’s not what matters
most to you, the prospect of a higher salary
would take away a lot of worry.
 MY OPTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Time
Do you have the time to reskill? Can you re-jig
your family commitments to work towards a
different future? Can you fit preparing for a new
job around your current working hours? Can you
stay motivated?

Skills
If you re-train as a chef your new career will be
in cookery. An obvious point but one worth
making. You want to re-skill for a specific job or
sector and there is little wriggle room.

Opportunities and salary

Is there a job at the end of your reskilling
journey? A job near you or within commuting
distance? With the salary and career structure
to get you excited? Once you start looking for
jobs in tech you will see that there are
opportunities everywhere. Remember,
everything is about software today and in that
sense, every company is a software business.

Price
Is financing the course standing in your way, or
are you ready to invest in yourself?