Student Stories: Nicole Zhang
Nicole is currently studying Full-stack Web Development Program
Q: What were you doing before studying at Altcademy?
I was a PhD student in Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Hong Kong.
Q: What were your reasons for learning at Altcademy?
I did a startup during my studies, and back then I used WordPress for prototype, and there are so many problems with that. So I get how important it is to have the ability to build a quality website, and I decide to learn Full-Stack Web Development.
Q: How was your learning experience at Altcademy? What did you like the most?
I like the experience that I can be very independent while learning: reading the materials, finishing the exercises, and doing the coding assignments, but when I have any problem, my teacher is online to help me instantly.
Q: What are you working on now?
I’m working in Deloitte Consulting now under this new initiative called Future of Work, and we have so many new projects all the time. On one hand, I help our clients build interactive digital playbooks and build platforms to educate our Deloitte practitioners about our products; on the other hand, I work as a data scientist and build models for actuaries, as well as some data mining projects. I wouldn’t have got this job if I hadn’t learnt Web development, as they really need a talent to fill in different roles.
Q: What aspect of the learning experience at Altcademy has helped you with what you are doing now?
The most important part is definitely the front-end. Altcademy taught me how to build fully responsive websites and follow good coding practice. If you are good at that, it’s not hard to get used to Cordova or even React Native to make beautiful apps. JavaScript specifically was very important, as it helps me with writing animations which can really impress clients.
By the way, check out my portfolio website.
Q: Any advice for other budding programmers?
I actually appreciate all the hardship while completing the assignments. I was always hoping to get as many exercises as possible. One slight let-down is that most corporates don’t use Ruby, but picking up PHP was quite quick and it’s sufficient. But I do think I can use Ruby in future for my own projects. If possible, including Angular or React would be very helpful too.
Altcademy is an online coding bootcamp with 8,000+ students from 90+ cities.
This story is from https://www.altcademy.com/stories/@nicolezhang
