Student Success: From Teaching Assistant to Developer

I started Treehouse to give people an opportunity to change their lives — whether that be securing their first job in technology, advancing to a new role in their current tech job or making a career switch entirely. One of the most gratifying experiences of my job is hearing about the unique ways Treehouse has impacted the lives of students who have enrolled in our courses.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Steve Brewer, a London-based student who signed up for Techdegree when he found himself at a crossroads in his career. Steve was working as a teaching assistant while finishing up his studies, but wasn’t sure he wanted to take on the additional debt that would come along with the post-grad degree he needed to become a teacher. Having always been intrigued by tech, he signed up for the Front End Web Development Techdegree on a whim and, two months into the program, secured a job that allows him to apply his experience in education to a career as a developer (and pays him 50% more than his former salary!).

As Steve puts it, “I took a chance, and it was the best decision I ever made”. I think his excitement speaks for itself in this video I snapped of our convo:

We encounter situations like Steve’s all the time: people who can see a future in technology, but the thought of changing careers after the time and money spent on their current education or job makes it seem impossible. It’s not. We realize most people have concurrent life responsibilities — like maintaining another job or perhaps raising a family. This is why we’ve designed the Techdegree programs to take people from zero to skill-ready at a pace that works for them. You can read more about Steve’s experience with the Techdegree learning process on Treehouse’s blog here.

We look forward to sharing many more success stories like this as our first cohort of Techdegree students work their way through the program. Congrats, Steve! :)