Josh Jackson | Code Student Testimonial

We catch up with Learning People student Josh Jackson who changed his career by studying the Diploma in Full Stack Software Development…

 

 

Were there any specific skills you were looking to gain or develop by enrolling with Learning People?

I had done a bit of Python before but I didn’t actually have any expectation or any requirements going into a course. At the time I was having a quarter life crisis of what I should do next – and I thought, right, okay, let’s do it. I need to and I want to learn this. And I want to be good at it.

I wanted to find a place where I could learn with people, so I could talk with someone and get help if I needed it. 

The main thing I got out of my enrollment with Learning People, that was different to other providers, was my experience with Career Services and an understanding of the entire process of being job ready.

The most amazing thing is that I actually got a job working with Java, which was actually not taught on the course. But thanks to Learning People, I was still able to apply the skills I had learned .. And now I’m absolutely loving Java.

 

Was there a particular reason you chose to enrol with Learning People, and did you speak to any other educators or training providers?

I definitely had a look, and weighed up the different options, but I didn’t feel a connection with the other providers, while Luke from Learning People was amazing. It felt like I was speaking with a human being, not a salesperson.

 

How did you get on with the 5 step coding challenge ?

It was fun. It was more tailored towards people with no experience, and if I had no experience it would have been very helpful. 

 

Tell us about your experience of learning online using our system and the associated labs.

It was great. Everything was easy to follow. The mentors I had were absolutely great. The most impressive thing I found was when I sent them a message at about three in the morning saying I was stuck on a problem, 20 seconds later someone got back to me. 

Any time I had a problem, and not just about the course content, I could send a message and they’d answer almost instantly.

 

 

Were you able to gain support from our StudentCare™ team when you needed it?

Yeah, definitely. That was something I found was great with Learning People. Also, my career consultant Luke was really helpful whenever I needed support, he would always direct me to the right place or answer the question himself. When I had a job interview with short notice, he immediately put me in contact with Career Services and I managed to get on a call with Rachel at very short notice.

 

Did you utilise any of the course mentoring – if so, how did it help you?

Yes, they were mainly for milestone projects and Jerry, my mentor, was great. He would go through everything with me. I would tell him what my project concepts were and how I planned to implement the solutions and also how I was managing my time. He would tell me if I needed to change anything or if there was anything that I could improve – which was great. 

 

How did you get on with the projects?

I’ve passed the first three projects which have been great. They all went really well and I loved learning the skills and putting them into practice. I’m now on the fourth project and am really looking forward to seeing the results in a few weeks.

 

Tell us about your experience of working with our Career Services team, and what did you find most useful?

I really didn’t utilise them enough from the beginning of my enrolment, mainly because I didn’t think I’d get a job that quickly! I was offered a role completely out of the blue just after I quit my job at McDonald’s. It happened so quickly that I actually apologised to Rachel in Career Services for dropping it on her at such short notice – but she just came back with, ‘okay, so this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to run you through some questions and get you prepared’. And when it got around to the interview I felt really confident – and I got the job.

 

 

How did enrolling with Learning People affect your career?

The course itself gave me the technical skills, but Learning People gave me a wider context of how my skills would apply to industry. Interacting on LinkedIn, putting myself out there, how to brand myself and all of the things you need to do to be successful.

 

Tell us about your new job

It’s absolutely wonderful. As I said I work with Java which is what sparked my interest into programming to begin with. But that was years ago and I never really did anything with it. If it wasn’t for Learning People getting me onto the course and teaching me how to use all of my skills I wouldn’t be in this job now.

 

What has been the best part of your Learning People experience?

I’d say it was definitely the support and the phone calls. Luke would call me at half four every Tuesday. If it wasn’t for that, I might have struggled quite a lot. He gave me a lot of confidence about the time I was taking to do the training and reaching deadlines. 

 

What advice would you give to somebody who is thinking about enrolling with Learning People?

Just do it – you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. And that kept going through my head at the time of enrolling. I thought, am I really going to continue working somewhere I don’t like, or do I take the leap? Luke never pushed me into doing it, which I really liked. What he did do is encourage me and told me I had the skills and ability. And now, I’ve exceeded my own expectations massively.