Nicolas L Alumni Spotlight

NICOLAS:

I'm married. I have a wife. I've got kids. She was pregnant. Going to the hospital, my wife giving birth, being there for days, trying to catch up on work. If you guys want to talk about the struggle, I think I probably top most everybody here. 

I’m a Navy veteran, served for eight years, and as the eight years came up, I had a decision to make, which was an IT bootcamp for Microsoft or join Sabio. So I looked into Sabio. They had a VET TEC program. Since I was still serving, I was able to do SkillBridge while still in the Navy towards the end of my service. I just had a great experience doing Sabio. Once I found out, I chose that over Microsoft.

Q: What was your experience like at Sabio?

NICOLAS:

The first four weeks – Crazy. Didn't know anything, trying to learn HTML JavaScript, pulling my hair out. Pretty sure I still got alopecia right here. It's really hard to kind of structure yourself because you know they're telling you to be in front of the computer for quite some time and you're like, I barely even know how to write this one line and you're asking me to sit here for 10 hours? It's crazy. But over time you start to learn more and you're able to make more progress throughout the day. Trust the process. They got the system down pat. Just keep pushing. That's all you need to do.

Q: What strategies helped you grasp the material?

NICOLAS:

I feel like there's just a relatable thing when you're talking to someone that's learning the same thing you are. Sometimes it may click for them and not the other, and they can give you that caveman version of kind of what you're looking for. You're like, Dis does dis. Not function, method, you know, algorithm how. I mean, even now at my job, I just want sometimes someone to be on the call with me and watch me do my work just so we can talk it through. It'll help. It really does.

Q: What was the job search process like?

NICOLAS:

I got a lot of rejections. I mean, I couldn't even tell you how many I sent out, but I knew there was going to be that one company that does see it or whatnot. I didn't just do Quick Applies. I did go to direct websites. I was trying to talk to recruiters, just build my confidence about talking about myself and what I can do. That was my major thing that I wanted to do was make sure I talk to a person. Not a computer, or take a written test, or download a repo and do their work for them. Like I wasn’t doing that. I was worth more than that. I knew what my self worth was and that when someone does hire me, that I knew that they would be getting quality work or a great person to work with them on their team or whatever it may be. So I just kept that drive in my mind and I knew that I was worth it.

Q: How did you deal with the experience question?

NICOLAS:

I would always tailor it to having 1 to 2 years experience equivalent. I haven't done that amount of time, but the amount I've learned in the short period of time would be more equivalent and more relevant to today's society than what you would learn in college. A lot of the things that you learn in college are obsolete. They're not even being used. They're not up-to-date. Some places are, some places they're not. But the curriculum is usually pretty old. And I tailored that to me being available, willing to learn, learning new things. I'm ready to learn more things like I'm not stopping at React, C# and SQL. 

Q: What’s the day-to-day like at your current job?

NICOLAS:

My structure for work is a little bit different than how I learned at Sabio, but I always ask for help. I do. I asked for help yesterday. It shouldn't be a problem. You're entry level if that's what you're getting hired for. They know that if you're not reaching out, you're probably not doing something right and you're probably going to end up breaking the code.