When we asked Anuar to describe his experience at Le Wagon Istanbul in one sentence, after a few minutes of thought, he responded:
“A really empowering community of tech driven enthusiasts and fun people”
We could not have said it better ourselves, and this offers a flavor of Anuar’s personality. He is an enthusiastic Kazakh and like many Le Wagon alumni, he’s keen on self-development and further education.
He grew up in Kazakhstan before continuing his higher education in Canada and beginning a career in Finance. At the bootcamp he joked that it was his fear of robots taking over his job that motivated him to future-proof his career by joining the tech industry.
Having returned to Kazakhstan he completed a Master’s degree and was skeptical about committing to another degree like Computer Science:
“the good thing is I found you guys because I realized if I go the conventional way it would take me 2-3 years in a post-bachelor program…. but I wanted to do it now and get a job or start something myself as soon as possible…9-weeks is what I was looking for”.
Impressed by the curriculum, Anuar decided to sign-up after discovering on LinkedIn that many alumni had developed successful careers or launched their own high-performing startups.
Anuar had zero-experience in coding before the bootcamp and he was pleasantly surprised by what he learned:
“The most surprising thing about learning how to code was the mindset, how you solve problems. Communicating digitally is completely different. The way you solve problems is different. They want you to do things step by step… and it’s eye opening what’s happening behind the scenes. You have to think differently…tackle things differently.”
It’s no surprise that he is leaning strongly towards bank-end development. Often your personality is reflected in your coding preferences. As a structured and well organized individual, but also a natural people-person, Anuar especially enjoyed the last two weeks of the program.
Known as “Project Weeks”, this is when the bootcamp works in teams using Scrum techniques and tools like Trello to build their products:
“I definitely improved my team-work skills, I never had standups before and that was quite cool… I liked the format, they were short and you just say what you did and what you are planning to do… very effective compared to some of the meetings I’ve had before…having that flow and monitoring your processes”.
It is striking how often we are reminded that Le Wagon isn’t just a Web Development Bootcamp. It’s a community for life, a home from home and a second family. This kind of hospitality is also a cornerstone of Turkish culture. Anuar shared his favorite memory of the bootcamp, which took place on the very first day:
“We were very welcome, made to feel part of the family, that’s something I really liked and related to, its also part of my culture. The very first breakfast together when we had coffee, Turkish delight, it was amazing, that was one of my favorite moments”.
We had Turkish Delight for breakfast on our very first day of the bootcamp, which definitely set a good tone for the 9-weeks. It was also an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other and talk about our diverse backgrounds:
“For me it wasn’t just about coding, it was also about communication, meeting new people, and I like being in a diverse environment with people coming from different backgrounds so that was great…it broadens your knowledge…and you are making good friends for life.”
In addition to learning from others, what often happens at the bootcamp is that you learn more about yourself, and sometimes discover new enthusiasms. In Anuar’s case he unearthed a keen interest in entrepreneurialism:
“I wasn’t that interested before, but I definitely want to look into it now…how this startup environment operates and how to do this without tons of money, all you need is a good idea. I really got to know how the startup industry works. I didn’t have that process in my mind… until we got the guidance you provided”.
Towards the end of the bootcamp we like to encourage conversations about the future, especially in the run-up to Week #10: Career week, when we focus entirely on helping our new alumni with their future tech-careers.
During the bootcamp Anuar realized that his process-driven approach combined with a love of team-work makes him an excellent candidate for a job as a product-manager. His sights are set on tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google.
When I reminded Anuar that using our career platform he could reach out to Le Wagon alumni all over the world who work at all three of those companies, he revealed another observation that highlights the strength of our community:
“I’m definitely going to reach out to those people because I’m all for this kind of approach. I understand now that the more open you are and the more you show your curiosity and your passion the more people are willing to help you and vice versa.”
We are definitely curious to hear how Anuar’s journey into tech progresses and are grateful that he will continue to give back to the Le Wagon community by mentoring prospective new students in Istanbul.
Good luck Anuar!
