How Vanda transitioned to a much more enjoyable career thanks to knowledge gained in SheCodes
Vanda graduated from a SheCodes Workshop in June 2020 and SheCodes Plus in July 2020.
🙍♀️ Before SheCodes
Vanda is a Lisbon-based SheCodes grad who comes from a background of Biochemistry. After university, she worked in project development, project management, and hospitality. Before SheCodes, she had been working as an assistant manager at a hostel chain for about two and a half years.
Her interests span far and wide - she likes to do things like paint and work on DIY projects in her free time. She’s also had an interest in coding for quite a while since it’s both logical and creative, but never had the time to devote to learning.
“I was curious about coding for a long time as it combines both logical challenges and a creative side of things. With the lockdown, I had the time to finally get into it and I absolutely loved it.”
👩💻 Her SheCodes Experience
After gaining some more free time, Vanda started conducting research online to find a coding course so she could develop personally and professionally. She tried one online coding course before SheCodes, but found that it didn’t really fit her needs. The mission and course format of SheCodes spoke to her and she decided to join.
“I tried just a small Udemy course that really doesn't compare to SheCodes. Then, I did a small research online trying to decide which course would be the best option for me and I came across SheCodes. I found the concept and the mission of the program just great! Improving my CV and changing the course of my career were my main goals of joining but I also joined just for personal fulfillment.”
When asked what her favorite parts of SheCodes were, Vanda said that she enjoyed the workshop environment, Slack support, and set-up of SheCodes. Also, since Vanda is so creative, she said that she really liked the design aspects of the SheCodes workshops.
“The mutual support on Slack was great and it absolutely felt like a safe space where everyone had the same opportunity to thrive. The method of having a small challenge after every lesson was great and it really pushed me to learn more. After those, I felt more confident to really tackle the main project.”
“Learning how to design and style the page was one of my favorite tasks but the satisfaction of making JS work was also amazing!”
🙋 How SheCodes has Helped to Change Her Life
As aforementioned, Vanda finally had some time to dedicate to learning how to code and wanted to maximize her investment. SheCodes helped her learn a lot in a short amount of time, which was just what she was looking for. She’s done a career 180 and is now working for a startup and doing work that she finds much more interesting and enjoyable than her previous work in hospitality. She got this job thanks to coding knowledge gained in SheCodes, along with her hard work, dedication, and passion for technology.
“SheCodes was kind enough to grant me a discount during the pandemic, considering I was unemployed, and this allowed me to complete the courses in an intensive mode and this way really turn my career around in a matter of a couple of months.”
“My career has changed completely and SheCodes helped me get this job. I was in the hospitality field before and now I work for a startup. I can finally say I really enjoy what I do and it's by far a more interesting field for me.”
Vanda is now working as an Analyst for Shift Management Consulting in Portugal. The majority of her time is filled with working with Microsoft Power Platform, mainly developing applications with Power Apps. She’s putting her SheCodes knowledge to good use in her daily work tasks 😉
In her coding future, she’d like to keep learning and to develop her own personal projects.
👩💼 Advice to Future SheCodes Participants
Vanda thinks that even if people don’t want to work in tech, they should learn how to code to gain some insight on how technology works, especially those platforms with which we come into contact with daily.
“Even if your goal isn't to become a developer or work in the IT industry, SheCodes will make you more tech-savvy, it will develop your logical thinking skills and expand your knowledge on how all the platforms we use daily - Instagram, Facebook, Uber and online applications in general - work.”
Check out Vanda’s SheCodes testimonials below 👇
SheCodes Workshop testimonial:
“I have been in a life long search for a practical activity in which I get to build and create things but at the same time, I am intellectually challenged. I have finally found coding! And SheCodes is the best way I could have taken. I did the Beginners course in about 5 days (quarantine 🤷♀️) and I cannot wait to enroll in the Plus React course.”
SheCodes Plus testimonial:
“Couldn't be more happy of having invested in the next step in SheCodes! Plus course was tough work but an amazing project. Can't wait to start React”
