How I Completely Changed My Career With A Code Academy
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but I want to be honest about something.
Changing careers is totally acceptable.
It explains why I started my career with Teach for America but ended up at code school as a front-end engineering student.
Basically, I spent the last 8 years in education.
My mom was a teacher, so I always told myself I would never be one. Then one day I heard about Teach for America (TFA). At the time I was finishing up a degree in environmental studies and public communication at Vermont.
I really love positive community building and TFA’s mission embodies that. I decided to apply, mostly out of curiosity.
My initial curiosity snowballed into excitement. When TFA accepted me into the program, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. I wanted to be part of a great community.
I did TFA for 2 years and then continued teaching at my placement school for an additional 2 years. I spent the 4 years that followed working as a coordinator for a program that focused on math intervention for underperforming students.
From Education To Software Design: “I wanted something new”
After 8 years in education, I decided I wanted a different way to expand my impact.
That’s when I talked to my friend Lani (my de facto professional life coach) to brainstorm possibilities. At one point Lani asked me what I really liked about working in education.
I loved problem-solving and collaborating with people.
That’s when she suggested coding…
Lani: “What about software development? You could go to Turing.”
I thought maybe Lani had gone insane. I wasn’t even shopping for software design schools.
(But now I see how she made the connection. I’ll talk about that later).
Evaluating Turing
I listened to Lani’s advice and started researching programs at Turing. I talked to Lani’s fiance, Travis — a Turing alum and now my mentor. I talked to my family. I talked to anyone I could about the software program.
I evaluated the school against 3 factors. Here’s how they stacked up:
FACTOR #1: Community
I said this before but I’ll say it again because it’s REALLY important: I like being part of positive communities. I love communities that focus on inclusion and social justice.
I kept reading about the community at Turing. The more I learned about it, the more I wanted to be part of the community…
…so much so that the software design factor came secondary.
FACTOR #2: Coding Classes
I needed to make sure I actually liked software design, so I took Turing’s second shift classes just to see if it was a good fit.
I liked code classes enough, but again — I really liked the idea of being a student at Turing.
FACTOR #3: Cost-Benefit Analysis
I had no training in software development, plus I was putting myself out of a job for 7 months to go back to school. I needed to focus on the outcome.
What opportunities would come from this?
- I researched what front end and back end programmers were making post-graduation.
- I determined how long it would take to get hired after completing the program.
- I calculated how long it would take to pay off tuition.
My Final Decision: I Was Going To Code School
But I had so many self-doubts to overcome!
As a teacher, I taught growth mindsets to my students, right? I tell my students that they are capable of learning whatever they want to learn, they just have to be willing to work hard.
It was scary to jump into the complete unknown, but this was a chance for me to push my own growth mindset. I’ve been preaching this for 8 years to kids, and now all of a sudden I had to put it into practice.
So I forced myself to be uncomfortable.
I can learn to do anything. I learned to be a teacher. I can learn to be a software developer.
My Advice To CAREER SWITCHERS Interested In Code School
- You have to be willing to work hard.
Turing isn’t like college where you show up and get a degree. You need to know how to code inside and out, otherwise you’re out of work. “C’s get degrees” isn’t good enough at code school.
2. You can’t hold back. You have to ask questions.
Having been a teacher, I know what kind of students I really appreciate. Even if you feel like it’s the dumbest thing on the planet, still ask that question. At the end of that day, it’s your money, it’s your time, and it’s your investment.
If I have a dumb question, I’m going to ask it.
3. You have to have faith in yourself and work hard.
I’m willing to work my butt off to be here because it’s an investment. It’s a risk you take when you leave a paycheck.
4. You need support from family and friends.
You’re about to put in 80 hour weeks. You need everyone to be on board.
Having the support of Lani’s fiance, Travis, has been a huge factor in my success.
Even though no one in my family went into the STEM field, they also helped me push myself and my mindset.
Coding school opens A LOT of doors, but if you’re really iffy about it I’d urge you to think twice before taking the leap.
Regrets I Have About Switching Careers
None. I have none.
I love what I do and am happy I switched careers. I learned that software development is super fun, and it’s one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever done in my life.
Ultimately, I can use coding to expand my impact in education, or really into any industry. I can work for whoever I want because everyone needs a programmer.
And Lani was right: coding requires so much problem-solving and collaboration. It’s what I loved about teaching and it’s what I love about coding.
Everyone thinks coders work in basements by themselves. Really, coding requires a lot of interaction.
The community at Turing always inspires me. We’re all in this together. I’m learning with a bunch of other people that are there to work just as hard as me. We rely on each other to figure stuff out, find solutions, and do our job.
I chose software design because I wanted to go to Turing. Not the other way around. I wanted to belong to a positive community.
-Francy Lang
P.S. Even though I had ZERO experience in computer science prior to Turing, I still think teaching is harder.
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