After getting a BA in English Lit, Jeff supplemented his writing career with various middle-man business jobs, but he grew tired of a job in which he wasn’t a creator. The draw of a career in which he was able to build and create brought Jeff to LaunchCode. Now, Jeff is a writer again, but this time he writes code.
Forget What You Heard About Tech Career Paths
The effect on workers of the transition from a manufacturing economy to an information and service economy are well explored. This discussion has become so common, in fact, that a handful of notions about modern avenues into tech careers have become widely held despite being half-true at best, spurious at worst.
Crafting the Perfect IT Resume
There’s a ton to keep in mind when you’re making the perfect IT resume. We narrowed it down to 5 key tips to help you on the road to resume perfection!
How to Crush Your Live Coding Interview
Does the idea of coding on a whiteboard, away from your IDE, in front of a seasoned programmer leave you shaking in your boots? We’ve got you covered with these tips and tricks on getting through the coding section of a technical interview.
Placement Profile: Hakim in Kansas City
After moving from Ethiopia, Hakim held several positions that didn’t accurately reflect his experience of credentials. Approaching LaunchCode with a sense of purpose – and realizing that coding is a genuinely good time – helped Hakim land a tech job at VML.
Top 5 Tips for Hosting an Apprentice
Whether you’re just starting to consider bringing an apprentice onto your team, or you’re a couple months into having an apprentice, we’ll walk you through some best practices to make sure the program is a great experience for both your organization and your apprentice.
Finding the Ability to Transform: Shawn from St. Louis
After having several different careers, ranging from serving in the United States Army to working in the film industry, Shawn was looking for a chance to reinvent his career.
Following a Passion: Jiho in Kansas City
How did you hear about LaunchCode? A year before hearing about LaunchCode, I took some online courses on data science. I managed to get through some of it, but I was struggling to keep up with the programming portion. I never really had a solid grasp of Python or JavaScript, so when I found out…
Decoding Tech: A Jargon Cheat Sheet
Breaking into the tech industry is no small task. Even the language that everyone throws around to describe their positions can seem completely foreign to a newbie, and that’s ok! We’ve helped you out with this little tech cheat sheet: a helpful list of definitions about our position categories and competencies.
Mentorship Always Mattered
Mentorship has always been a cornerstone of technical teams. LaunchCode’s apprenticeships are one way to create those opportunities. Let these five experienced engineers tell you about how mentorship played out in their early careers and how they seek to foster it on their teams today.
Cashier to Coder: Gail in St. Louis
Moving Out of a Job and Into a Career A year ago, I was a supermarket cashier with a bachelor’s degree in English. Today I’m a programmer for Express Scripts — a Fortune 22 company. An educational nonprofit called LaunchCode changed my life. LaunchCode provides learning resources and job opportunities in technology, all at…
Learning Something New: Carly in St. Louis
A Simple Challenge Turned into a Career You often hear that programmers are drawn to coding because it comes naturally to them. LaunchCoder Carly smashes that mold: she began coding to push herself intellectually because the logic didn’t come naturally to her. Now, Carly’s a software developer at Boundless. How did you first hear about…
An Affordable Answer to the Tech Talent Gap
Most options we rely on to train tomorrow’s tech workers have a crucial flaw. They cost money. Today’s workforce has a massive tech talent deficit that impedes growth and leaves regional economies unprepared to compete. Near-term solutions have focused on higher education strategies and new training models like for-profit coding bootcamps. Those are important components…
Sunmi Finds Programming
This course teaches necessary logic technique and patterns, also opening doors for students to find opportunities for a better tomorrow.
Candidate Profile: Learn About Bill
LC101 exceeded my expectations…being able to take an in-person course was tremendously beneficial for me.
Express Scripts & LaunchCode Tech Talent Partnership
Express Scripts needed to hire about two dozen Pega developers in St. Louis, but programmers who are proficient in that platform are in short supply. Fortunately, St. Louis is also the headquarters of LaunchCode.
7 Reasons Why You Need a Junior Talent Pipeline
7 Reasons Why You Need a Junior Talent Pipeline In the last year, I have spoken with over 100 companies about their experiences working with new-to-tech talent. I’ve heard the best success stories and some of the worst. Through it all, there’s a solid agreement that keeping a junior talent pipeline is critical, and here’s…
Rethinking Problem Solving: Katy in St. Louis
Finding the Right Time for Takeoff Katy first heard about LaunchCode from an announcement for the first CS50x course at the Central Library in St. Louis. The timing wasn’t right for her to become a LaunchCoder then, but she signed up to stay updated about future classes. When she received an email about the Winter…
The Melody of Code
The Sound of Code is Music to Their Ears At first glance, it may be hard to find the relationship between coding and art — but the connections are certainly there! We talked about the relationship between art and code with three musicians from LaunchCode – Kansas City, here is what they had to say:…
Launched & Landed: Shaun in Miami
From Vet & Journalist to Student to Apprentice to HIRED! Tell us a little bit about your background. I’m an Air Force veteran with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and prior to finding LaunchCode, I was working as a business journalist for a local newspaper. I heard about LaunchCode while reading and writing for the…
Coding As … Art?
Make All. The. Things. At first glance, it may be hard to find the relationship between coding and art — the dominant tech culture and perceived mathiness don’t necessarily scream “creatives apply here”. But talking with LaunchCoders who are also artists in Kansas City, known for its booming arts community, we found the connections are…
Apprentice to Developer: Mamata in KC
Making It In America Mamata, LaunchCoder & Software Developer Tell us a little bit about how you got here. I love to play with code. I do Java, Groovy, Android coding and also love different mathematical algorithm implementation. I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from India. I worked as a…
Apprentice Interview: Chris in Miami
Always Working Towards A Career in Tech Tell us a little bit about your background. I worked in retail beginning in 2012 when I was 17 (very happy to be out of the retail industry now!). I heard of LaunchCode while in Wyncode in 2016. I also go to Broward College part-time working on my associates…
Top 6 Networking Tips
Knock Their Socks Off For some, networking can feel like walking a tightrope, with frayed nerves and awkward moments. Finding a balance between being outgoing enough to be memorable, but also putting others at ease, all while communicating how wonderful you are can feel a bit overwhelming. While networking maybe a painful experience for some,…
Your Guide to a Stand-Out Resume
Great Resumes Lead To Great Interviews Part 1: Resumes & Rhetoric Part 2: Showing Off Your Skills & Project Experience Part 3: Sharing your Accomplishments and Education! Part 4: Getting to Work and Building that Resume! Part 1: Resumes and Rhetoric Resumes are key to landing the perfect job, but it’s no…
Employer Partner: Sherpa
There’s A Dollop Of LaunchCode In Sherpa’s Secret Sauce David Smith and Alexandra Fisher, co-founders of Sherpa, a senior living CRM platform that helps providers follow an empathetic process, tell us about their company and how LaunchCode has become an integral partner in making their company and mission successful. LaunchCode: Tell us…
Student-Teacher-Apprentice, Ryan
All-Around Perspective Ryan began his journey with LaunchCode in early 2016 as a student. After graduation he joined our team of Teaching Fellows for the next cohort of students in LC101 St. Louis, and has since begun an apprenticeship placement. Having spent time in all the main facets of LaunchCode, Ryan gives us his perspective on how everything went. Tell…
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