Have you considered a career in Web Development? What would you do if you knew computer programming? Share your thoughts with Makers Academy

[AnnMumsnet]

This activity is now closed

We have been asked by the team at Makers Academy to find out what you think about the fascinating world of coding.

They say "Makers Academy is a fully immersive, 12 week computer programming bootcamp. It's like Oxbridge meets the Royal Marines, but for people learning to code. It’s designed to turn people with no knowledge of web-development into job-ready junior developers in just 12 weeks. We’re Europe’s #1 Developer Bootcamp, running a new class of 25 highly selected students every 6 weeks".

"Ronin, Makers Academy’s latest offering, allows you to enrol at Makers Academy, and enjoy all the benefits of being a student at Makers Academy, without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home".

They go on to say "we take a "learn by doing" approach, through self-directed, project-based work. Students are encouraged to work in pairs on practical coding challenges, with weekly tests, culminating in a final project presented to hiring partners on "Graduation Day". We actively support and mentor our graduates into work, helping set up job interviews with our extensive network of hiring partners. Of the 300+ students we've taught so far, almost everybody who has finished our course with the intention of becoming a developer has achieved this within 3 months of graduating or less".

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not? Are your older DC interested in coding?
~ What would you do if you knew how to code?
~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?
~ What do you find interesting about coding?

Add your comment to this thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win £100 Amazon voucher.
Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Hello,

My name is Arfah and I lead the Marketing at Makers Academy.

Thanks so much for taking part in this discussion and I'd like to address a few of the comments. The feedback was also super helpful!

There are some very valid concerns about how with a course with so many hours is possible as a mother? The truth is we've seen a lot of mums return to the world of work through our course!

As a mum is it possible?

We just had Ruth land a job at Merger Market, a single mother of two. You can have a read on the blog about her experience: blog.makersacademy.com/ruth-earle-i-was-a-full-time-mum-for-7-years-and-before-that-i-had-my-own-franchise-business-to-junior-developer-at-merger-market/

We also had Emily who landed a part-time job at Compare the Market (So yes it is possible to get flexible jobs in web-development but it does come down to the employer in the end). medium.com/@SasEmily/making-it-work-at-makers-62086874303f

Why the mums market?

The reason why we have started to explore the "mums market" is simply because it's a growing customer segment for us. We've had a handful of mums now come on the course as a way to return into the world of work and find that the tech scene is much more flexible in terms of the lifestyle they want to create for themselves.

We are also in the process of running our 2nd cohort for RONIN our online remote beta which is the 12 week course but from home: More information here: ronin.makersacademy.com/

Is the tech industry a boys club?
It is also true that sadly the tech industry is male dominated but then so are many other industries! This is however changing fast and there is so many women in tech support groups. One of our cohorts ended up being the largest ever at 43% blog.makersacademy.com/gender-balance-at-makers-academy/?doing_wp_cron=1433249898.3245511054992675781250

Is this really for beginners?

All our graduates were beginners. They may have dabbled in playing with code online and using online tutorials but learning the language is one thing but for us it's also about teaching best software practices like test driven development, working in pairs through pair programming and being taught how to learn how to learn so you are empowered to learn new technologies quickly.

Anyway I hope that has addresses some of the issues that have come up and I'm happy to keep this discussion going.

Thanks

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not? Are your older DC interested in coding?
Briefly, after going on a basic dreamweaver course and setting up some websites for friends with small businesses. However, I felt that there was probably just so many half-knowledgeable people out there trying to make money the same way that it wasn't worth pursuing.
~ What would you do if you knew how to code?
I may start off with some web design part time whilst home with the children.
~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?
I think it just sounds too hard and boring to be accessible to the masses!
~ What do you find interesting about coding?
It really appeals to me as I am from a physical chemistry background so used to a lot of logic, maths, some programming, and hugely computational. I think coding in nature would appeal to people who are extremely logical and mathematical, and not everyone would say they were that.

I like the idea of RONIN - it wouldn't work for me now (I run my own business & can't afford to take 12 weeks off) but there are times in my life when it might have been doable. I'd still have the issue of needing to work for myself at the end of it though. And would I have the skill set?

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not?
I was a sql developer for a few years. I wasn't very good at it. You either 'get it' or you battle along with it never entirely understanding what you're doing but somehow getting things to work.
I never got C++ and couldn't pass my MSc until I took a different module. I could have been taught that for years and still never have been able to do it.
I am now a software tester. I have the basic understanding to test it without actually having to write code.

Are your older DC interested in coding?
My 8 year old possibly, but only because he knows its something to do with gaming.

~ What would you do if you knew how to code?
See above. I doubt I'd do anything. I find it dull.

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?
comprehension. Its a set of different languages. Literally. Its like learning a foreign language with a smattering of words you can understand.

~ What do you find interesting about coding?
Not much. I didn't grow up with technology though. I never used a computer until I started uni.

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not? Are your older DC interested in coding?
No. Because I started my career in scientific software development before the web was invented. Web development looks a bit meh to me TBH. My 16yo DD is somewhat interesting in coding - in her case related to her interest in electronic engineering so not web type stuff.

~ What would you do if you knew how to code?
Oh, I'd have a nice part-time job working from home developing applications that are useful to other scientists for developing new pharmaceuticals and suchlike. With nice 3D graphics so even prettier than a webpage.

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?
No idea. Maybe the ridiculous idea that you need to be a geeky bloke to do it? Back in the day I just learned as I went along. It's a means to an end - you need to have something to write code about.

~ What do you find interesting about coding?
Writing an application which does something interesting and useful. I don't care much what the code looks like under the surface, though finding a neat way to solve a problem or do something faster is pleasing.

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer?

Sort of, I learnt how to code as a teenager and a bit more at university, I was always quite interested but not enough to want to make it my main career. I have done various bits of web design for my main work - university research pages mostly.

Are your older DC interested in coding?
Yes, dd1 is learning a bit with a raspberry Pi, and dd2 has taught herself on her laptop. Their father is a computer programmer and he teaches them.

~ What would you do if you knew how to code?
I do know. Am out of date but have learnt several languages in the past and would be confident about learning more.

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?
A lot of people think that it's hard and you have to be a certain type of person to do it, I think it's probably easier than they realise to do a bit of coding, especially in the web design area where there are lots of packages.

~ What do you find interesting about coding?
It's fun working out code, like a logic puzzle.

Hi Arfah, great to see Makers Academy responding to the discussion here, and thanks for the links to Emily and Ruth's stories - sounds like it's still possible to be successful and get a job without working through the weekend.

Your partner network seems very London based. Do you think that you'll be able to maintain your high placement rates with Robin after the first cohorts? Given that many companies who will go remote for senior devs are less willing to do so for juniors (both due to more competition for junior roles, and to the difficulty of mentoring junior remote candidates effectively).

How long does your post-course support last? If a graduate finds they picked the wrong first company, would you still help them to move on?

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not? Are your older DC interested in coding?

• yes have considered and already do a little bit of front end web design and dev, but not enough to call myself a coder. would love to do more as it would open more doors for me as a (graphic) designer, and also more money in my pocket!

~ What would you do if you knew how to code?

in terms of websites, build more complete websites myself, to my own exacting design specifications. I often work with coders who are unable to make my designs look as I need them to but usually with a bit of hunting about I find a solution, it just takes me longer as I am not as au fait as they are. I think often coders are used to using short cuts and not sensitive to the level of perfection and detail of a design needs to look great. Thus a compromise has to be reached and usually it looks less than great. So I would make my own designs look brill, as I know it can be done I just don't have that level of detail yet.

If i could both design and code that would be genius as I could save myself money and headaches on outsourcing the development side, and make my projects look exactly as I want them to, as well as bringing in the good money that you can get as a developer (and designer combined).... !

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?

I think the hardest thing is it's often something learned at home (at least what little I know has been learned mostly from home), so having someone you can ask with your queries is the most helpful way of progressing your knowledge (e.g. a forum, or someone you can chat with online?) Having really simplistic instructions really helps, from the point of view that no-one knows anything to begin with, then someone to be able to ask directly for help if you go wrong.

~ What do you find interesting about coding?

it's a means to an end, and the end results are always getting more sophisticated. I know very little but when I apply myself I surprise myself that I can actually get it a bit, which interests me more. I love finding solutions to problems and coding offers solutions.

Just out of interest, why is Makers Academy using the term "coding" instead of "programming"?

They would answer better to that question I think CultureSucksDownWords but I guess it is more widely used now in schools, etc.

culture see this www.huffingtonpost.com/kiki-prottsman/coding-vs-programming-bat_b_7042816.html

It's like there is a difference to scripting too.

Hi slightlyeggstained

The tech scene is very London centric however there are a lot of hubs emerging outside London. One of our hiring partners is ComparetheMeerkat.com and they are based in Peterborough! They're also one of our partners that are open to Flexible working and is where Emily is now working.

The honest answer? Our first ronin cohort graduated last Friday! These are two of the projects that came out of our ronin cohort:
www.ronin-giftbox.co.uk/
pacific-tundra-1942.herokuapp.com/ (This one was built for a real life social enterprise client)

So the next couple of weeks will bring us the results. We are however pretty confident we will be able maintain our high placement rate regardless of their location as we get students from all across the UK who tend to return back to their hometown and manage to get developer jobs easily.

Our post-course support is infinite. For people that do the offline course we encourage them to keep coming on site until they get a job. That way they have access to our onsite careers support and can re-visit lectures, carry on coding and get further helps on things they may struggling with. If you've picked the wrong first company then that is okay! We have students who come back to us a months or a year later, asking for support for their next job. Yes technically you pay for 3 months of our course but our students often say it's more of a life-long membership!

Hi CultureSucksDownWords we used the word coding as for us in this case programming and coding is synonymous. There are however differences but people have various definitions and as mentioned by bluebell345 coding is just an easier mass word that most people now understand.

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not? Yes I did like the idea as I did learn a bit of coding many years ago and liked how I could make things work. Children etc. then became much more important than career.

~Are your older DC interested in coding? DS works in the area - he is currently writing all the software/website for a new company. He finds inventing the software to do things which haven't been done before fascinating - but the ordinary web design side fairly boring.

~ What would you do if you knew how to code? Write small scripts rather than relying on DS to do it when we want to do something more efficiently.

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding? Persuading people believing that they could do it. Also there's a different between people who, for example, would write two large bits of code to achieve an aim and people who can write one small bit of elegant code to achieve the same thing. Not all coding is equal.

~ What do you find interesting about coding? The ability to find a way to do something which you haven't been able to do before.

'The tech scene is very London centric '

If there's one industry which should be geographically neutral, it's software. It should also be one of the least constrained by the 9-5 mentality. Which should make it ideal for people who want to combine work with quality of life - the ability to choose a place where you can buy a house, find decent schools, have the flexibility to combine with being a parent.

Hi ErrolTheDragon

I agree with what you've said but just to clarify what I meant by "the tech scene being very london centric is that it's where there is a lot of noise.. eg: Silicon roundabout etc.

Software is defo one of those industries where it's beyond the 9-5 mindset!

Tell that to some in the industry then. Only 2 years ago, i got a company telling me office hours are strictly 9-5 because they do pair programming. I have a child who attends nursery so I wanted 8-4. That covers most of the office day!

That's a silicone valley firm btw. In Dorset. There are lots of job opportunities outside London. Silicone roundabout probably hires a lot less people than Thames valley and Cambridge combined. The finance sector pays better than web start ups if you are in London too.

HeadDreamer That is such a shame to hear. Each company is different however. At Makers Academy we are pretty flexible with our hours. Some of our coaches/engineers work 8-4 because they want to spend time with their family. At the end of the day it comes down the culture of the company. Some companies just haven't got with the times!

arf luckily there are others who are willing to accommodate. Do you remember Marrisa Meyers and yahoo and their remote working policy?

I'd love to know how to code. I'm a primary school teacher so I'd love to be able to make my own helpful websites including games/activities that could help the children in my class learn whilst having fun. It's also be nice to pass the skill on to the children in my class and to my own once they were ready.

So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not? Are your older DC interested in coding?
It was my job for ten years before I had DC. (Am sahm now, much prefer it.) My eldest is four, so a little young to be considering his future career, but he does have an app on the iPad that teaches basic code!

~ What would you do if you knew how to code?
I am not interested in going back to work, but if I do find some time, I would use my skills (which do need updating now I've been off the scene for five years) to make my own websites.

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?
Just the self, really. If you want to do it, and find it interesting, chances are you can do it.

~ What do you find interesting about coding?
It feels a little magical!

Sceptical than it an be taught in 12 weeks.

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not? Are your older DC interested in coding
I have been considering it of late. Currently, I am a SAHM, however, when my son goes to school this year I want to retrain and pursue a different career from that which I did before having children. Interestingly, I have messed about on Cbeebies app - Go digital with Nina and the Neurons, with my son. Seems like a good exercise in getting preschoolers interested in code.

~ What would you do if you knew how to code?
Use it as a foundation to pursue a different career.

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?
Fear of the unknown, mental barriers,

~ What do you find interesting about coding?
I think it is a good idea to have a basic understanding of how things work in the digital age.

~ So, have you ever considered a career as a web developer? If not, why not?

I am a web developer (can i still enter!?), but my skills have seriously atrophied since i learned to code at uni 15 years ago.

~ Are your older DC interested in coding?

mine is only 6, but i mentioned doing a small program to her the other day and she was very interested (just a simple thing to ask an age and if they don't say her age to say 'too old' or 'too young' ;)

~ What would you do if you knew how to code?

I think if I felt more confident in my skills I would have a go at freelancing, there are local businesses that would probably benefit from a better web presence. However, I know local mums that already do this, so would have to be careful not to step on their toes!

~ What do you think are the biggest barriers to coding?

Confidence. I think men have less 'imposter syndrome' than women, it's a barrier for me at least.

~ What do you find interesting about coding?

The application of logic. I enjoy the clever noodley bits to figure out something complicated.