Alumni Q&A: How Heather Became A Better Designer By Learning To Code
Heather works at a small firm as a UI Designer and although it was never her intention to switch careers she found an interest in coding while working closely with the lead developer on her team. She decided to entertain that interest and curiosity by learning to code with First Step Coding and the support of her coworkers and employer.
We sat down with Heather to get the scoop on her experience taking the Bootcamp Prep course while working full-time and how it has influenced her ability to do more technical work in her current position.
1. As a Graphic Designer and UI Designer at Gilmore Craves in San Francisco you decided to join First Step Coding (FSC). How did you become interested in programming?*
I’m fortunate enough to work at a small agency and I have a good working relationship with our developer at Gilmore Craves so it’s been really fun to get to know how he works while working with him on our projects. As I would learn more of what he was doing and ask questions about it I started to become really interested. He actually suggested that if I was interested then I should take a look at some classes. He never mentioned any specific class but that’s when I started doing my research. I found First Step Coding and I just really liked the way the program was set up so that’s kind of how it led me into wanting to take the class.
2. What did your decision-making process look like for learning how to code and what ultimately led you to decide to do First Step Coding?*
Choosing a class came down to a few things, but mainly commitment. Because I have a full-time job I wanted to be able to take a class that allowed for me to still work full time and give me that flexibility but also challenge me enough to get enough out of it. FSC seemed like the perfect way to kind of get my feet wet to get more information about what coding was like and to get more of a baseline to see if this is something I wanted to pursue more full time. The other thing that I was looking for was cost and FSC was more affordable. Another thing too was just accessibility. It was great how it was located in the city and I could go there after work. It was relatively convenient for me to get there too.
3. What kind of support did you receive from your company (if any) when you told them you were interested in learning how to code?*
We don’t have a program at my work where you can take classes and get paid for it. I’m sure if I had asked maybe my boss would’ve been willing to help out because he’s super encouraging in that way but it was more of just a verbal affirmation. They were really helpful in letting me leave early from work so they definitely encouraged me to pursue it even though they didn’t financially support me which I was more than grateful for, just letting me have that flexibility to do both at the same time.
4. Are you happy with your decision to have gone through First Step Coding? If so, what did you take away from the experience?*
Yes absolutely! I really enjoyed the course. It went by really fast just because of how much we got out of it which is a good thing in my opinion. We learned so much in such a short amount of time and although it was definitely challenging I felt like I could manage the work as long as I was willing to dedicate the time. The way the class is set up too was really nice, like having these checkpoints. Basically looking at the whole scope of the class and what you were expected to learn was a little overwhelming at first but then as you go class by class, day by day, it made it easier to take it in these little pieces so I felt like I got a lot out of it at the end. I really value just having the way it was set up too because it’s nice to go back and look at the exercises and just to be in that environment was really great.
5. Were you considering pursuing a career as a software engineer or always intending to continue doing graphic design?*
I went into the class more out of sheer curiosity. I wasn’t intending to switch careers or anything. I really was just curious to see how I would enjoy developing and coding. So taking the class, I really enjoyed it. I still feel like I’m in the right place as far as a career. I don’t know if I would want to spend eight hours coding every day but I really can appreciate it so much more. I really enjoy now, even at my current job, understanding what’s going on, being able to make suggestions, and being able to even send off some code is really great. I think for me it’s only just opened the doors a little bit wider. Maybe not a full career shift but just having that technical skill baseline under my belt will be really helpful in the future.
6. How have the skills you learned from FSC helped you in your current job as a Graphic Designer?*
The nice thing about prior to the class is that I had a decent understanding of CSS and even HTML just because that was what we were editing the most but JavaScript was huge to learn more about. I feel like now that I have a better understanding of how it works I can actually suggest certain ideas or actual code depending on the project and there have been some instances too recently where a client needs something done and I’m able to look at it and try to figure it out even before our developer. I’m not trying to take his work but if he is ever busy then I can assist him in ways that I could not have before. Also just understanding how it works has been helpful too because before I was more designing based on look, and of course efficiency and the UX/UI of the project, but now that I understand a little bit better about development I can make suggestions that are realistic and possible to do for a developer which has been good too.
7. Do you feel that having a foundation in coding has made you more marketable for future career growth?*
Yes definitely! That wasn’t overall my intention but to learn it definitely felt valuable because code is so important and definitely something that’s not going away especially in the Bay Area or any tech-oriented place, which is becoming everywhere now. So absolutely, I wanted to be able to learn more, I wanted to be able to understand at least even beyond the basics so that if it ever came up in a job opportunity or wherever I am in life, just to have that is great. I’m just hoping to continue to retain it and to continue to grow it too because I know it’ll change over time.
8. So far, what has been your biggest challenge while learning to code?*
I think the biggest challenge I faced was time. Meaning setting aside that time because the class is set up in a way that I wouldn’t say it’s easy to learn but you guys make it really accessible and convenient to be able to understand what’s happening and to kind of grow your knowledge but you do have to dedicate time in order to get to that next level. For me having a full-time job, I definitely had to balance that out a little bit better so just being really intentional about setting aside time and using up some of my time on the weekend. It wasn’t a ridiculous amount of time but just enough to really make sure I’m honing that skill, understanding it completely, and then asking questions to the teachers too if I ever needed to take time to do that because that was super helpful.
9. Do you have any other advice for people who are considering learning to code?*
If you can, do it. I really enjoyed it. I mean, maybe I won’t take a full career shift tomorrow but I’m really enjoying it and it has definitely opened my eyes a lot and made me more excited about the potential. It was a great opportunity, I met wonderful people, and I’m really excited to see where it goes from here.