By Nicholas Piaskoski

I recently taught Tech Talent South’s Web Development Immersive in Asheville, North Carolina.  When I shared this news with others in Asheville’s tech community, a question I was often asked is “How well does that course prepare people for work as a developer? ”  I knew how bootcamp grads fared in general having graduated from one myself, but I didn’t know specifically about TTS grads. I decided to find out for myself by looking up past graduates of the Web Development Immersive to find out what they are doing now.  Here is a sampling of 4 grads I talked to who all took the course within the last two years.

Brian Hennessey

When did you take Tech Talent South’s Web Development Immersive?

It was the Fall of 2016.

What work were you doing before doing web development?

After going to school at UNCA, I travelled for a long time and worked in restaurants for a long time, both in the kitchen and as a server.  I didn’t really have a connection with computers, never owned one throughout college…I never really got in to it. But a lot of my friends went to school for graphic design or got into coding after school because they could travel and work.  They told me I should try it out too and I bought a computer and started making video games.  Video games turned into a recommendation to do [the web development course at] Tech Talent South, which turned into an internship, which turned into a full time job.

Where do you work now and what do they do?

I work as a project manager at Greenstone Media, which is a digital marketing, full-service web agency.  I started as an intern, then was hired on as a WordPress developer.  I slowly got into more and more of the project management role and today I am project manager and do higher level WordPress problem solving

What is your typical day like?

Typical days are a little hard because things are always changing!  In the time that I have been there, we have had aggressive expansion for two years in a row meaning that we are redefining our processes and roles over and over again.  I would have to say my typical day to day is ensuring the project manager role is adapting with the desires of Greenstone’s president, vice president and head’s of department.  A great deal of my day to day also involves translating customer requests into actionable task lists for the correct staff member to knock out and creating an accurate estimate of how long that work will take. I still get to do some coding from time to time, but as my role has grown, the majority of my time is spent on other responsibilities.

What is a movie every person should see and why?

That is super hard! Gangs of New York was a particularly well done movie.  Steven Spielberg… Daniel Day Lewis…Leonardo DiCaprio…just an all around good movie.  That’s hard because I am a great movie fan in general.  I think people should watch lots and lots of movies, but be the audience of the movie.  Don’t watch a movie expecting it to be what you want, be the audience and I think that is a great way to perceive story telling in general.

Jeannette Peck

When did you take Tech Talent South’s Web Development Immersive?

I attended the Summer 2017 Code Immersion Class.

What work were you doing before doing web development?

I’ve done a bunch of odd jobs like retail and coffee shops, but most recently I was working as a receptionist in a doctor’s office.

Where do you work now and what do they do? 

Now I’m working at Tiltworks in Asheville. They are a design and screen printing company with several large clients like Disney and Universal Studios. Essentially they make and design apparel for these stores. They have their own web app and software used to track designs. This includes a client facing portion for the clients to view the products. I’m on their small software development team with another Junior Software Engineer and two Senior Software Engineers.

What is your typical day like? 

So far I spend my days writing new code to implement new features into the Rails web app and occasionally fixing bugs. We’re currently working on integrating two systems (Rails app and FileMaker) via a Rails API. We’re unique in that the users are right here in the office, so we know what’s working and what isn’t pretty quickly.

Do you have any pets? Please tell us about them.

I have two incredibly spoiled cats. One orange fluff cat Simon and one cow cat Goji. We spend too much time putting up toys and cat furniture all around our house.

Kyle Rinehart

When did you take Tech Talent South’s Web Development Immersive?  

I took the course that started in February 2017.

What work were you doing before doing web development?

The first seven years of my professional life I helped my dad build a manufacturing facility for performance exhaust systems used in race cars and after market exhaust pipes for motorcycles. I had to wear many hats and one of the many things I learned was how to market and present ourselves digitally.  When we sold that company, I started doing digital marketing for others.

Where do you work now and what do they do? 

I work at Ronningen Designs.  We specialize in building out websites for summer camps across the country.

What is your typical day like?

We are a small company, so there isn’t really a typical day.  In addition to coding landing pages and working on our own custom CMS (content management system), I also handle all the digital advertising. I took a lot of online classes from places like Udemy to get the skills I needed for that work.  When I was ready to go deeper, I knew I wanted it to be in a more formal setting where I could interact with the instructor and ask questions.

What has been a influential book in your life?

Definitely “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.  There are really a lot of good life lessons in that book no matter who you are and what you do.

Alyx Perry

When did you take Tech Talent South’s Web Development Immersive?

I was in the Fall 2017 class that wrapped up in January.

What work were you doing before doing web development?

I’ve spent the last 20 years working for nonprofits in the sustainability field.

Where do you work now and what do they do? 

I have several different things going on right now.  I am doing volunteer work with two groups in Asheville; Code for Asheville and Unite WNC.  At Code for Asheville I have been helping with a redesign their WordPress site and helping launch a campaign for policing open data.  With Unite WNC, I am helping develop a transportation app to help local seniors and others to get around Asheville using public and shared transportation options.  I’ve been using my Ruby on Rails skills from TTS to help a friend with an app he hopes to launch soon. I also just finished building a website for my community pottery studio.   Part of the reason I went into web development was to have a more flexible work schedule and with freelancing, I definitely have greater control over that.

What is your typical day like? 

I’m still doing some consulting in the sustainability field. I’m spending a lot of time on the volunteer projects, which are giving me great experience working with really great people. I’m learning Javascript. I’m attending a lot of local meetings with tech groups- there are so many in Asheville and the tech community is very welcoming.

Is there any particular music that you like to listen to when you are coding?

I don’t have a specific play list or anything organized. I usually will listen to Americana or Jazz, either on the radio or through iTunes.