How Natalia went from a Store Manager to a Junior Web Developer
Natalia graduated from a SheCodes Workshop in December 2020 and SheCodes Plus in February 2021. She will graduate from SheCodes React in March 2021 and SheCodes Responsive in May 2021
🙍♀️ Before SheCodes
Natalia is a SheCodes student who has been yearning to break into front end development for quite some time. She’s originally from Warsaw, Poland and is now living in Oslo, Norway. In Poland, she received a Master’s in English Philology with a major in Linguistics from the University of Warsaw. She then went on to work in various hospitality and accounting positions. In February 2020, she left her job as an assistant store manager to find new challenges and work towards her goal of becoming a developer. 💪 💻
Along with spending time cooking and baking, doing kettlebell training, drawing, and rollerblading, Natalia also has a knack for learning new things. Natalia is fluent in English, Norwegian, and Polish and has put these language skills to good use by getting a traineeship in translation and proofreading in the past. Since she’s so good with languages, it was only natural that she would wish to break into the coding world, as well.
Along with spending time cooking and baking, doing kettlebell training, drawing, and rollerblading, Natalia also has a knack for learning new things. Natalia is fluent in English, Norwegian, and Polish and has put these language skills to good use by getting a traineeship in translation and proofreading in the past. Since she’s so good with languages, it was only natural that she would wish to break into the coding world, as well.
Coding has always fascinated Natalia, but she never knew where to begin. When she got some extra time on her hands, that’s when she decided to take the plunge into the coding world and begin her journey to working in IT.
“Coding has always been fascinating for me as I knew some programmers but I never thought I could do it. Then during the pandemic I had some extra time on my hands and wanted to learn different things. This way first I refreshed my WordPress knowledge, and then it naturally led me to programming webinars. I did some tasks and saw it was possible and also super fun for me to code! Couple of months later I decided I would like to start a coding course and change my career to IT. A friend recommended me SheCodes and I signed up for all the courses almost right away. Now I know it was the right path for me!”
👩💻 Her SheCodes Experience
After receiving a recommendation of SheCodes from a friend, Natalia dove straight into the coding world with SheCodes workshops. Her main motivation to learn how to code was to change her career and start working in a career that she enjoys more.
She attended some other webinars online before trying SheCodes, but found that some were a bit too fast-paced for her. Compared to these other webinars, she found SheCodes to be less overwhelming and easier to follow. Her favorite parts of the workshop were the structure, motivation, and technical support.
“SheCodes is structured in a way that is easy to follow and not overwhelming. I have time to complete my tasks without pressure, in my own time. I like that there are small challenges after every lesson, and homework after every week - it keeps the students on track and is motivating. And last but not least, the supportive community and help we get from the team if we are stuck or have questions - this is very important to me, because I really like to fully understand what I am doing and being able to ask questions and get answers is very valuable when taking a course, especially an online one.“
Besides the structure and format of the workshop, Natalia also enjoyed the feeling of solving her coding issues, creating the final projects, the intuitive learning method, and learning with a community of women.
“All these times when I was stuck and then I found the solution so that everything worked, the moments when I truly understood my code and of course when I completed my final projects, especially the weather app in SheCodes Plus which required a lot of work and understanding. I also loved the fact that whenever I had a question after watching a video, in the next video (or sometimes even in the same one) Matt replied to my question! It is as if he read our minds!”
“It was very empowering! I think our community is great! It is supportive and positive, it is a place for motivation and helping others.”
Overall, she loved the platform and set-up. And we’ve loved having her as a student just as much 😍
“I love it! The platform is very nice and well organized, very easy to browse through my workshops and lessons. The courses are designed in an approachable way, the team is very helpful and keeps us on track. The course is definitely affordable, that was also one of the reasons I could start learning so fast and not wait until I can afford another programming course. The thing I like most when it comes to the format of the course is its structure and that it is divided into small approachable bits. This is a bit like "baby steps" method but in my opinion very successful and for me the best way to learn.”
Check out her projects here:
🙋 How SheCodes has Helped to Change Her Life
Thanks to all of her hard work and knowledge gained in SheCodes, Natalia was able to secure a job as a developer 🤩She is now working as a Junior Web Developer at Tanken Bak and is really enjoying her new work so far.
“My tasks include support for the clients if they have problems with their website or would like some changes on it, and eventually when I am ready I will be able to have some projects on my own from the very beginning, which will include designing and building websites for clients and further supporting the developers' team using front end development knowledge.”
SheCodes helped her delve in to the world of development and start working in a job that she’s passionate about. We’re so happy that she’s loving her new career 😍
“SheCodes was my first coding course, so it started my development journey and thanks to this course and the knowledge I gained, I realized that coding and web development is the right path for me and that it gives me a lot of joy. It pushed me in the right direction, gave me the courage to apply for a job in Web Development and change my career.”
“I started SheCodes because I wanted to enter the tech field and change my career. Then when I was in the middle of SheCodes Plus I knew that this is something I love and something I want to keep doing. I decided that I shouldn't wait to find a job in this field but just apply, and this is what I did. I found a position as a Junior Web Developer in a company that specializes in marketing, communication and creating websites and I thought that would be the perfect place for me. I got the job!”
Natalia’s job is different from her previous job in that she enjoys her work much more, has better working hours and pay, and feels like she is working exactly where she’s supposed to be. Can’t get much better than that 😄
“I was working as an Assistant Store Manager in a bakery. Even though I learnt a lot there, this wasn't a job for me. The job I have now gives me joy and this is actually the most important thing to me, even though both working hours and pay I have now are much better. In my previous job I was working different hours, weekends, holidays, sometimes quite late or very early and it was pretty demanding physically. I enjoy working in front of a computer, fixing and creating things. This is where I belong and where I want to develop my skills.”
We have no doubt that Natalia will continue to improve her coding skills and sharpen her existing knowledge. She aims to become an independent web developer in her coding future.
“I hope I will one day be able to be an independent web developer who can create great and user-friendly websites and apps from scratch!”
👩💼 Advice to Future SheCodes Participants
Natalia’s advice is to embrace the learning experience, ask questions along the way, and don’t give up. 🙌
“Do it! It is worth it! It will be challenging at times, but this is where all the fun begins! Don't give up when you're stuck, ask questions and help others on Slack. For me being able to help other coders was a wonderful experience not only because I like sharing knowledge but also it was a great way to learn and organize my own knowledge! Try to watch at least one video lesson a day - this way you are up to date with what you learned. But it is possible to squeeze a couple of videos in one day if you need to! The course is structured in a friendly way so don't be afraid, you will keep up :)”
Natalia’s SheCodes Workshop Testimonial
“Before SheCodes workshop I had some basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and JS but I was lacking structure and understanding of particular steps or actions in coding. Only after 3 weeks I gained new skills, organized my knowledge and now I can use it with confidence. Matt is a great teacher! He explains every aspect very clearly and in an interesting and fun way. I got completely addicted to coding 👩💻and I cannot wait for my next workshop!”
Natalia’s SheCodes Plus Testimonial
“SheCodes Plus were challenging workshops that demanded a lot of logical thinking and a lot of work but it was worth it! I managed to build a functional weather app from scratch and had a lot of fun in the process! It was a great experience trying to make it as functional and user-friendly as possible. I had some moments when I was stuck but as always I could count on the amazing SheCodes team to help me with every problem or doubt. SheCodes workshops gave me the motivation and courage to change my career and now I am starting my journey as a Junior Web Developer! I am so grateful to Matt, a truly amazing teacher who designed the lessons that are very well structured, straightforward and student-friendly. I can't think of a better way to explain coding. Now I can't wait to learn more with SheCodes React workshops!”
