Think of learning to code as learning a foreign language: to get good you have to keep practising and immersing yourself in it.
Can you introduce yourself to our community?
Hi everyone! I'm Eu-Loong Lim, I'm originally from London and now live in Melbourne, Australia. I finished my bootcamp in Melbourne in June 2019, with batch #258.
What made you decide to learn to code?
I used to work in Investment Banking in London for over a decade. I wanted to future proof myself with some digital skills and wanted to pivot into a career that would allow me to build and fix things. I attended a few workshops and talks with various bootcamp providers to see if I would like coding. I found Le Wagon through online reviews and I spoke to Paal, the driver. I really liked the entrepreneur spirit of Le Wagon and the fact that it was based in a co-working space. I wanted to avoid a traditional classroom based approach and thought it would be a good way to network in the tech space in Melbourne.
How would you describe your experience at Le Wagon?
At first I found it really hard and it took me a while to get going. I actually felt like quitting in the first week. I spoke to my teachers and Paal and they reassured me and encouraged me to keep going. It's an intense environment but the content is well structured to help you to learn. The demographics of our class were really varied in terms of age, gender and geographical split but we all got on well and were able to work together. The nature of the course teaches you the research skills you need to help you formulate a solution, you don't get spoon-fed the solutions but there are friendly teaching assistants to help you if you get really stuck or frustrated. Le Wagon really encourages teamwork through pair programming to the final 3 weeks working as small agile teams. I wasn't the only career-changer and the teachers are able to adapt to different learning styles!
So, what's up since you graduated?
I actually came back as a Teaching Assistant (TA) to assist on the following two classes whilst applying for jobs as a junior developer. Working as a TA helped me to cement my understanding of the material as explaining content is a really good way of learning as well. It also helped me to develop my coaching and communication skills. I've recently started work as a Graduate Developer Consultant at ThoughtWorks which is a global software consultancy and I'm on their 5-week graduate training programme with counterparts across Australia, Singapore and China. We are also doing our training remotely similarly to the Le Wagon full time and part time courses.
What would you say to someone thinking about joining the course?
The culture and vibe at Le Wagon is fantastic and gives you access to a great global network.
Do your research and talk to people who have graduated from Le Wagon so you will know what to expect. The course is intensive and you need to be motivated to learn and participate to get the maximum value. Post-bootcamp, I recommend continuing with your coding. 9 weeks gives you a taster of what is out there but helps you to focus your self-learning. Think of it as learning a foreign language: to get good you have to keep practising and immersing yourself in it. The culture and vibe at Le Wagon is fantastic and gives you access to a great global network. When applying to ThoughtWorks I got in touch with Le Wagon alumni who were already working there and they gave me helpful support during the application process. I also got a warm welcome from them when I started last week!