Laura Baumgartner was the first student officially enrolled at CodeCraft, the first to find a web development job after graduation and the first to sit down with us for a student spotlight and video testimonial.
With a background in digital marketing, design and Nebraskan state politics, we knew her unique skill set would result in a unicorn job candidate capable of handling many roles, she just wasn’t quite sure what direction to choose. However, nearing the end of our cohort Laura decided she wanted to focus on front-end development as a career because she enjoys the design element and possesses a knack for understanding and optimizing user experience. What she didn’t know was it would be the back end knowledge and familiarity that would land her the job.
Now working as a UX/UI developer at Delivery Biz Pro, she overshadowed other applicants and landed the position explicitly because her competition knew little to nothing about back-end software. Her employer explained that by understanding what’s under the hood she will be able to better work with those teams and help streamline processes, resulting in a better final product.
Learn more about Laura, her time at CodeCraft and the lightbulb moment that changed her life and lead her to CodeCraft in our first student video spotlight.
Interview Transcription
What made you decide to pursue coding?
Last year I ran for the Nebraska State Senate, I was one of the youngest to ever do so in the state’s history. After that campaign was over I had a little bit of a chance to reflect and I thought, “what’s the one thing that stood out to me, the one thing that really excited me the most about that whole experience?”
I kinda had this lightbulb moment and I thought, “oh my gosh, it was the setting up of the website, and the coding and thinking about what would be most beneficial from a UI/UX standpoint.”
I thought this is something I have to explore. I have to put my money where my mouth is and enroll in a coding bootcamp.
What are some differences between self-teaching and CodeCraft?
One of the biggest differences between being self taught and having a classroom environment for me is expediency. I mean, do I have the background and skill set to teach myself and learn it on my own? Yeah, of course I do, but is it going to take me three times as long? Of course it is.
For me one of the best things about being in this environment and being at CodeCraft is just having my professors within arms’ reach. So, if I have any odd question, I can just throw up my hand and say, “hey, I have a question about this script tag or hey I have a question about this file structure - whatever. They are always there to help me out, so that has been a huge plus for me.
What has been your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
We are currently focused on building a social network, which I am really excited about. I think that is going to be one of our coolest, most dynamic projects that I think will really help us stand out when applying for junior developer jobs or whatever is our next step in life.
Have you learned any other applicable skills besides coding at CodeCraft?
Coming into this you don’t really know what to expect, but towards the end you know, ‘ok I am now a problem solver. I know how to look at a problem and know how to attack it, how to have the right attitude to attack it,’ and that’s something that’s going to carry me through for a long time.
It is like drinking from a firehose. You are going to learn a lot of stuff, but in the end, if you have that right attitude and you can identify the right types of resources that are going to help you learn those things, then you’ll be fine.
What has been your best CodeCraft experience?
My best experience about being at CodeCraft has just been the ability to take something that you have in your head and to be able to have the skills, the foundation and the knowledge to put it into practice. So, if I have an idea over here I can say, ‘oh I can apply these different skills that I have learned with syntax and the way a project or app would be built and I am able to take that from conceptual to prototype and I am able to have a finished project within a reasonable amount of time because I do have those skills that I didn’t have before.
Any advice for someone who is considering CodeCraft?
There are so many job opportunities out there for people who have a different set of job skills and can bring different things to the table and then they have this added bonus of being able to code and build great apps and great websites - that’s only a positive in today’s job market.
If you’re really looking for an opportunity to go from “Zero to Hero” in a short amount of time, this is definitely for you. If you’re wanting to just really dive into something that will just change your life forever, this is definitely the place for you.
For more information on our school or program, contact us and stay tuned to our blog for more awesome stories about our students and graduates!