Patching his coding skills is exactly what Brent needed to land the next job

From Senior Subject Matter Expert to Software Engineer, T-Mobile.

"Still more than convinced investing in Nucamp was the way to go. Could not recommend it more."

This is Brent Bowen, a Nucamp Full Stack Bootcamp graduate and now a Software Engineer at T-Mobile.

Brent enjoys gaming, modding and going to the gym.

His hobbies led into his work as he was an application programer working on mainframe and UNIX machines using HP Unix, Cobol to work with large billing systems.

These large billing systems were related to insurance companies, credit card companies and utilities where he would print statements on large IBM printers.

After nearly 20 years, the company closed their business and he was laid off.

Knowing that nothing lasts forever, but being too young to act like he was retired, he did some soul searching to figure out his next move.

Brent realized programming was all he ever wanted to do so he decided to learn the newer web technologies.

First he spent a year earning a certificate at the University of Pheonix and learned some fundamentals on Java, Visual Studio, and Agile Development.

Sadly, he quickly found employers didn’t value this basic knowledge.

The new goal was to gain the required skills employers wanted and become a full stack developer.

Next he explored his local options at a university in Dallas, SMU and a lot of other top universities.

They all had full stack programs, but they demanded he be on campus, endure traffic on timely commutes and fight for parking—there was no way that was going to work for him.

Then he found Nucamp had a bootcamp locally available in Plano, TX that was a fraction of the cost and met in person once a week.

It was exactly what he needed.

For Brent, taking the Nucamp Full Stack Bootcamp felt like home; it wasn’t strange or foreign and just like many classroom experiences, getting feedback was important.

He would continually check in with his instructors to make sure he was on track and they were always there to help and provide the feedback he needed.

Brent appreciated being able to attend Saturday lectures so he could take notes during and then reference them while reviewing his code and the instructional videos during the week.

“I discovered a lot about myself through this journey. The game has definitely changed… You have to be resilient, open-minded, and you have to be prepared to change if needed. For example, my first contract was for Python and Django, so I had to learn those. All the technology is close and related. If you can just get yourself in the door, start learning something, you can start learning other things and remain relevant."

Describe your job search process or your thought process for going into freelance.

Utilizing LinkedIn, he subscribed to their premium service and followed their guidance to fill out his profile to put himself in the forefront of hiring.

Brent also recommends networking and helping your classmates since you never know what a good connection can lead to.

What advice do you have for people who are thinking about attending a bootcamp, but haven't yet registered?

"Make sure you have the time to give and be ready to work hard at it. A couple of hours a day is reasonable. Be patient with it, with yourself, don't expect it to come easy. If you stick with it, diligent, serious about it, you'll be successful. Having others with you and the help makes a difference.”

What advice do you have for people who have already started the bootcamp and they are just about to finish Bootstrap?

"That was the easy part. It's about to get real. Making pretty pictures is always fun, but getting it to work, getting it to run, getting it to do something is where the work is. Now it's time to give your work some teeth. Make your code function, be in the integrated part of a business process.”