AJ wanted to pursue bigger sights as he realized that the Construction Industry is one of the first to shut down or become affected whenever an economic crisis happens.
Needing to provide for his family and wanting to stay close to them through a flexible work schedule, he sought guidance from our coding bootcamp to learn the skills needed to join the tech industry. Currently, he’s working as a Developer – creating programs and updating APIs.
In this article, we’ll show AJ’s determination to break into the coding industry through Zuitt’s Financial Aid by Employers Program, a program initiated by Zuitt, and in partnership with partner employers, which aims to financially support aspiring career shifters just like AJ.
—— Introduce yourself to the Zuitt Community.
Abdul Johari Ducusin: Hi, I’m Aj Ducusin! I’m a Zuitt bootcamper from Batch 211. I studied Civil Engineering working as an Architectural Drafter for an international company. Now, I’m working as a developer.
Never too late to chase your dreams
—— Why did you study web development?
Since my elementary days, I’ve always been fascinated by computers, games, and technology-related things like gadgets, websites, and applications. One thing that made me decide to pursue my long-standing interest was during the pandemic of 2020 when I went through a lot of unfortunate events. I realized that whenever there’s a social problem or economic crisis, the construction industry is always the first one to shut its doors. That made me decide to pursue my other interests which are software and website development. So, in the last quarter of 2022, I made the decision to study web development.
I tried to study on my own, but it was difficult to proceed without guidance. I lacked clarity on what to study, and what next steps to take. I decided to study with an instructor who could guide me and answer my questions properly. Since I’m a career shifter, I knew I was going to have a lot of questions. That’s what made me decide to look for a bootcamp. I came across Zuitt and I learned that they provide an actual instructor. I didn’t hesitate to enroll when I learned about their style of teaching.
Fulfillment with the Right Career
—— How was your career search as a Career shifter?
Transitioning from being an architectural drafter to being a programmer, I can relate to being a visual learner. Being an architectural drafter requires a lot of visual perspective within the field and learning from a visual perspective is highly effective for me.
During my bootcamp experience, I faced challenges like back-end development. You won’t see any visuals aside from texts. Fortunately, our instructor was incredibly supportive and provided me with techniques to visualize and imagine how the data flows throughout the applications.. Those are very difficult challenges for me. I am thankful for the guidance and assistance of my instructor. I was able to understand how the data flows and now I can do it myself from one point to another. Those tips from my instructor really helped me.
Only in the IT industry am I able to feel a sense of fulfillment and achievement every time I am able to debug or fix a program, or every time I’m able to create something from nothing. I’m very satisfied with my current job right now. Additionally, my work setup is hybrid, I work at home for four days and work on-site for one day. It’s a big advantage for a father like me since I have more time to spend with my family. In my previous industry, the construction industry, we all know how hectic that industry is, and spending a lot of time with my family was almost impossible. Even on weekends, I was working just so I could meet the deadlines, so it’s a really big leap in my work-life balance working in the IT industry.
As for my salary, I was able to almost double it. It’s a really big blessing that I was able to work in this industry.
—— How was Zuitt able to help you with your job hunting?
Because of Zuitt, I easily landed a job in the IT industry. Through their Career Talks, they offer us tips and techniques and even help us to construct our resume properly. They help us with what to expect in interview questions within the IT industry. From time to time, when I was still in the job-hunting stage, they sent me messages to check on me. Zuitt gave tips and leads on where to apply, how to properly address some questions, and how to face an interviewer.
—— A message for Zuitt’s Future Bootcampers
Zuitt is well-known in this industry. A lot of companies will recognize Zuitt that’s why my advice to the future bootcampers is to not hesitate to enroll. I’m pretty sure it’ll create a big impact on your resume if you have Zuitt in there. You’ll also have an amazing time and amazing experience learning in Zuitt just like what I’ve experienced.
(End of interview)
If you have a similar experience to share with our boot campers, drop us a message at marketing@zuitt.co.
