From a Dead-End Job, to Software Engineer at Amazon Web Services

Fabian:

I more than quadrupled my hourly wage through Sabio. In less than a year, my life has definitely changed in a big, impactful way. My name is Fabian Tovar, and I'm from Southern Orange County, California. I actually come from a non traditional background right out of high school. I enlisted in the military, specifically in the Marine Corps after the military, I actually did a few jobs as a tower technician or like in a security guard as well. It was around the pandemic, when I realized that I needed to build a skill because most of my military skills weren't as transferable as I thought, for a long time, I've always been interested in websites, I've always been fascinated by the design of how code actually looks to create just simple things. And I just decided I wanted to be behind the wheel on that and actually create something on my own one day or create something to improve people's lives and experiences. So I saw that there was an opportunity there. While looking at my resources and my options, I saw that in the Veteran Affairs website, Sabio was listed as one of the schools that accepted veteran benefits, so I decided to go with him from there.

Q: What was it like going to Sabio remotely?

Fabian:

It's a community and a family. From day one, we're actually immersed in an actual developer workspace. we're talking with our teammates and just learning all inclusively, we're developing those habits that development teams actually do on a daily basis wanting standards to code reviews, gear reviews, and just kind of talking about code and teaching each other things that we learned and helping to better understand it. Leaving the military, I hadn't been in school for a handful of years, actually, since high school. And it was actually my first time being in a remote classroom environment. So it was definitely new to me. But Sabio has a way where they make it all so inclusive, we use various platforms where we can always communicate with each other and the instructors I was actually one of the first to break the ice in the beginning because obviously coming from a non technical background, all of this was been pretty new to me. So I was one of the first to kind of break the ice and say like, I don't understand a lot of this but I know that we can help each other out. To my surprise over half the class was in the same boat as I am.

Q: What were the instructors like?

Fabian:

So, the Sabio instructors are very knowledgeable. They have over 30 years combined, if not more of just diverse experience in the technical field and about coding in general. They are there to help us they are they want to ensure that we are successful once we graduate Sabio and they do their very best to ensure that we come out as intermediate developers as opposed to just beginner developers. It was actually very easy to communicate with them. They were very friendly and very knowledgeable on helping us succeed.

Q: How does Sabio help you get a job?

Fabian:

Through the connections that actually I made in Sabio, I managed to get a great opportunity to become a software development engineer apprentice at Amazon. Through Sabio, aside from just learning how to code the way there's a belief that anyone can learn how to code they also teach people skills, how to actually communicate effectively, how to talk like a developer, how to actually communicate an issue or a problem that you're having and also just how to ask the right questions for the answers that you need to be solved. Sabio is a huge community so a lot of the actual alumni keep in contact with people that are going through Serbia and always are giving referrals to jobs that they're leaving or the or other teams that were they're hiring. And through someone else alumni that had graduated Sabio, I pick their brains and ask them how they went about it. They helped me create a LinkedIn and actually make it look good and attractive to recruiters. I use my resources and Sabio support network to actually get an opportunity with a recruiter to get the current position that I'm in.

Q: How did going to Sabio change your life?

Fabian:

Because of Sabio, my life has definitely taken a huge stride forward. Finances have definitely increased by more than quadrupled my hourly wage through Sabio in less than a year. So my life has definitely changed in a big impactful way. Working from home as well and having more control of my time and finances. I definitely see myself purchasing a home now pretty soon and actually having the means to do it. Especially in this economy. I don't have to worry about filling up a car halfway or full anymore. Aside from that, like have made a lot of new friends through Sabio. And because of the remote opportunity. These friends are basically all around the US and even some outside of the country.

Q: What advice do you have for prospective Sabio students?

Fabian:

The best advice I could give someone that is looking to get into code, I say have an all in mentality like I did. Fully immerse yourself because this is a skill is definitely just moving forward. There's so much opportunity and growth in it. And Sabio is definitely the place to go to not just because they have the skills to teach you but because of the community. The community overall has probably made the biggest impact on me. Regardless of your background. You come from a technical or non traditional background or if you're scared of starting something new just go for it. You can never be told to learn something new. We have people of all ages and all backgrounds in our cohort. There's nothing stopping you except yourself.