A bright-eyed student in the making, Mariefher went into college with her interest and love in coding right until the Pandemic began. She found her much awaited classes difficult as focusing during the early-Covid times were becoming harder and harder with the online remote set-up.
She decided to take a step back and opted to take a 1 year break in her academics. Her break wasn’t for long though, as she still wished to be productive during this time. This was when she found Zuitt Coding Bootcamp and resolved to go back into learning. She has since regained her confidence in coding and had developed her skills more than she had hoped for. Today, Mariefher had just recently graduated from her Zuitt Bootcamp courses and has since started to apply for jobs in and out of the country.
In this article, Zuitt asked Mariefher about her personal Bootcamp experience, her ups and downs before coming to Zuitt, and her current rekindled passion with Coding as well as her new found love for Full-Stack development!
(Interviewed by Dana Diaz, Written by Akiko Iwai)
Meet Mariefher
—— Introduce yourself to the Zuitt Community.
Hello there! My name is Mariefher. I’m 22 years old and a Zuitt Course Completer from Batch 196. I’m actually still a college student but I do freelancing work as a Graphic Designer and a Video Editor.
Life as a Com-Sci student during the start of the Pandemic
—— Why did you study Web Development? What got you interested in coding
When I was in highschool, we had to create a website for a school project. Just the basics of html, css, and a little bit of javascript and I thought to myself ‘ you know what, hey i’m pretty good at this’ and it just seemed like something I would really enjoy! ’ . It’s also maybe one of the reasons why I pursued Computer Science (ComSci) in college.
—— How did you find out about Zuitt? What made you decide to choose Zuitt as your Coding Bootcamp to achieve your goal?
I found out about zuitt when I was browsing through job portals online. What caught my attention was the Financial Aid by Employers. Basically the whole concept was to join the bootcamp and after completing the bootcamp, you’re gonna have a job afterwards. That’s what actually interested me. For the screening process, I did not make it. I did not make it through the Financial Aid Program but I still pursued the Bootcamp because I thought that I would learn a lot from it. The appeal of the Financial Aid Program was, aside from providing the necessary skills needed for a Job, there was also the Job security from it.
If I wasn’t able to see any of the Financial Aid posts, It would most likely be Zuitt’s credibility and also its testimonies that made me decide Zuitt as my chosen Bootcamp. The social media factor is also important to me, Zuitt Bootcamp has a reach, I think Zuitt has around 50k likes, so I thought to myself that this camp must be credible which is why I would get into Zuitt.
—— What was your initial impression of Zuitt? What content posts have helped you appreciate Zuitt the most?
When you apply on the website, you have to have these screenings. You’re gonna have to answer a few questions and take a test and see the results of these tests via email. It all seemed legit to me, especially since Zuitt even has its own domain in your emails. So I did not hesitate to think that Zuitt was credible.
For me it was the batch completion posts. Those posts showed how successful the classes and batches are. The partnerships are also very helpful in getting to know that Zuitt has partnerships with Government departments and other companies, as well as Zuitt’s webinars.
—— What were your expectations before you started the Bootcamp with Zuitt?
My expectations prior to Zuitt is just to make myself more productive. I want to be able to serve a purpose in life. I also wanted to improve and hone my skills. When I think about my time learning Web Development in college, I’d be totally honest and say that I didn’t really learn much about it, since the remote learning set up was learning by myself and teaching myself as well. Web Development being the subject I looked forward to the most, it didn’t satisfy me at all. The way they handled remote learning in college just wasn’t effective for me. I decided to take a break until Face-to-Face classes resume.
While I was on the break I told myself that I didn’t want to be unproductive, and that’s when I came across Zuitt. When it happened, I immediately imagined that it would fill the learning gaps that I had when it comes to Web Development.
The Uphill Climb Towards a Better Tomorrow
—— You mentioned that your time learning in college wasn’t satisfying. What were your experiences during that time and will you be returning to your academics anytime soon after Zuitt?
Basically, the whole software engineering course tackled html, css, and the like. My professor was encouraging us to use the MERN stack, but we had no idea about it. So he just settled for basic HTML, CSS, My SQL, and PHP. In the end, I didn’t get a chance to learn about the MERN stack as he didn’t teach it to us.
I’ll still be returning to college by February of 2023 of its second semester. I’d be feeling more advanced in my knowledge. Also the courses in Zuitt made me more confident when it comes to my Web development skills.
—— After your bootcamp, have you thought about working as a Web Developer? If so, where did you try applying?
Yes, I actually applied for remote jobs as a Full Stack Web developer. I believe that I’m gonna pursue web development for my career path. I’ve applied to many local companies and international based companies.
At the moment, I’m actually waiting on an email for my final interview at one of the US-based companies and one here from a local company. So yeah! That’s my current progress.
—— How was your experience during your career searching?
It’s hard for me, since I’m still an undergraduate. But of course, I’m persistent and it will not hold me back. I know that I don’t have any experience yet working as a web developer.
It’s actually really hard, since most entry level jobs need experience. If we do not have any experience most companies wouldn’t bother looking into your profile, even though we have the skills to perform. No matter how good you are, as long as you don’t have any experience, some companies aren’t even gonna bother. That’s basically my perspective. But it’s fine.
Again, it will not hold me back, I’m actively looking for any opportunities as much as I can take and just hope for the best!
A Journey Isn’t a Journey Without Its Challenges
How was your experience in the entirety of your Developer Career Program training with Zuitt? (Front-end, Back-end, and Full-stack course.)
My whole learning journey, I’d say has been really fulfilling for me with Zuitt. I came to learn and I did. For the front end technologies, I have mentioned before that I have worked with basic html, css, and javascript. But because of Zuitt, it not only helped me expand my knowledge, but also strengthened the foundations that I had prior to the Bootcamp.
But for the backend and full-stack however, that was a completely different story. Everything was completely new and alien to me. Some were slightly familiar, like the terminologies. But yeah, everything else was just alien. My instructors were the ones who made the learning look seamless and easy to understand. They were able to provide us with a solid foundation about the topics. Overall, the whole experience had just been great!
—— Tell me about your experience with instructors and fellow boot campers.
My experience with the Instructs has been amazing, although I’m very playful, they still go with it. My classes were really fun, because they were able to make our classes engaging. Basically the whole experience was amazing and fun for me.
It’s also fun with my fellow bootcampers. We have our own Discord server. We tell jokes there, spend moments with them, and I’ve learned a lot from my co-learners since they’re older than me and because I was the youngest of the batch. It was like I was their youngest sibling, so yeah it was fun!
—— Tell me about your capstone projects. Any struggles? How did you overcome them?
Generally, my biggest struggle is actually coming up with an idea and translating it to code. Some of my ideas were scrapped because they were either too hard or too time consuming.
But most of them got pushed through because my instructors were able to provide us with really good resources that we could use as a reference. That’s my general struggle during capstone making. I’d say I was able to handle those struggles because of our instructor and their resources as well as conducting my own research through online forums like Stack Overflow.
—— Can you show us one of your Capstone projects and tell us how it works?
Sure! This is my capstone 3 project. So for this capstone, I made an ECommerce website. Right now it has no content yet such as the products to be sold but I’m planning to donate this website to a local non-government organization (NGO).
In the capstone, it’s gonna have a shop where you can see how many times the product was ordered, add the product into your cart, and can even check out once you’ve signed in an account. It also has an admin interface where you can archive products or add new ones to your shop.
Stronger Foundations in Web Development through Zuitt
—— What is the best thing about Zuitt?
For me, the best thing about Zuitt is their approach to teaching. I enjoyed the code-along teachings, mini activities, and of course the main activities which made learning more engaging!
—— What is your goal after the Bootcamp? What were your expectations?
Of course my goal is to get a job. My overall expectations after the Bootcamp was that I would have solid foundations when it comes to Full Stack Web Development. I looked forward to learning back-end development the most since I’ve only dealt with PHP and MySQL. So working with MERN stack was the most exciting part for me. It really helped me build strong and solid foundations when it comes to what I looked forward to the most in learning, which was the MERN stack.
Words of wisdom from a Zuitt Alumni
—— What is your message to the future boot campers of Zuitt and to your pre-Zuitt boot camper self?
My message for future Zuitt Boot campers is ‘Don’t be afraid’. Especially when you’re new to Web Development, because Zuitt is there to guide you every step of the way in your coding journey. It’s not a journey if there are no challenges. The good thing with Zuitt is that you’re not alone and for me, it was a worthwhile journey and hopefully you’ll take the same journey as I did.
And my message to my pre-bootcamper self is, Good Job self, you rarely make good decisions in life and this is one of them!
(End of Interview)
Mariefher started her Coding Bootcamp journey in June and has completed her Bootcamp courses (including her short courses) this September. Since this interview, Mariefher has informed us here in Zuitt about her success in one of her interviews with the US-based company she has applied to. Congratulations Mariefher!
If you want to learn more about Mariefher and what she has to say about her Zuitt Coding Bootcamp Experience, Click the link provided so you can watch her full interview at our Youtube page!
The pandemic may have changed thousands of students’ experience when it comes to learning, especially for technical courses such as Web Development, but just like Mariefher, the desire for learning will always stay true to a student. Zuitt aims to help students with these learning gaps caused by the Pandemic in more ways than one.
Here in Zuitt Coding Bootcamp, we offer Front-end, Back-end, and Full-Stack courses, available in Full-Time classes for those with no prior commitment as well as Part-Time classes for those who are interested in learning but have a busy schedule. Take this opportunity to join the Tech Industry with the right knowledge and skills taught by our experienced Instructors! Join Zuitt today!
If you have a similar experience to share with our boot campers, drop us a message at marketing@zuitt.co.
