And the other thing? \u201cRelevant, updated programming skills,\u201d he says tersely. \u201cI grew up and studied in Palestine, and there weren\u2019t many opportunities for Data Science there, at least not when I graduated. So I worked as a waiter for some time, then as a teacher, then I moved to Germany for my Masters, and eventually I found myself working at the mission. By the time I decided I wanted to get involved with data professionally, I had been away from university for four years. That may not seem like much, but in those four years, everything changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had done some coding while studying statistics, naturally, but our programming language was R. Now the only thing that companies cared about seemed to be Python and SQL. I had zero knowledge of either of them, and everywhere I found closed doors. Eventually, I just had to give up on finding a job without first learning about Python and SQL.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having resolved to update his skills, Khader first tried to do it all by himself, as an autodidact \u2013 but soon found that learning with no guidance was much harder and slower than he\u2019d expected. He could have returned to university, but a friend of his who had already graduated from WBS CODING SCHOOL recommended that new and increasingly popular format \u2013 the coding bootcamp<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA bootcamp cannot be compared to a university degree,\u201d he says today, having experienced both of them closely. \u201cUniversities offer studies that are much broader in scope, and you emerge with a much better understanding of how coding works at a conceptual level \u2013 particularly the mathematics that underlies it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut a bootcamp offered me other advantages. It was much simpler to get into than a university degree, and so much more time-efficient. It offered focused training on exactly the skills I needed to find work, and it was structured differently too. In a university, professors give lectures to groups of perhaps 60 or 70 people and expect students to do their own research. But our bootcamp was made up of a smaller group, and each of us were followed closely by the instructor. We could ask questions and get personalised feedback in a way that wasn\u2019t really possible in institutionalised academia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khader\u2019s choice did not come without challenges though. \u201cA bootcamp is intense, I must admit it \u2013knowing nothing about Python and SQL when I went in, the first week felt more like a month to me! Almost every lesson saw the instructor introducing a new concept, or a new tool, or some other new something<\/em>. I knew I couldn\u2019t coast my way through this one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the long run, however, gritting his teeth through the difficulties paid off. \u201cI mentioned that what I was lacking were updated programming skills and tangible experience. The bootcamp gave me exactly that. My first few job interviews came 3 weeks before the bootcamp was even over. In fact, once the people from Career Services helped me fix my LinkedIn profile, the offers started coming in by themselves. I\u2019m still getting them today. It really felt good to have people show interest in me \u2013 one company called me for five different interviews!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today Khader is working as Database Administrator for Footprint Technologies (one of those offers that he passively received, rather than actively looked for), and he is happy with his position. \u201cMy job isn\u2019t so much about designing software, it\u2019s more about organising the data that is stored in the Cloud, doing data analytics and Google analytics. And it\u2019s amazing, honestly, I really like my job!“<\/p>\n\n\n\n My final question, having come to the end \u2013 or more aptly the new beginning \u2013 of his story, is whether he has any regrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wish I’d started earlier,\u201d he says, after thinking about it for a moment. \u201cI noticed that the market was looking for Python years ago, but I wasted time before going after it. To those who are considering this sort of career, I\u2019d recommend thinking carefully about whether a university or a bootcamp works best for you, as they have different pros and cons. But once you are sure about your decision, well, go for it. Don\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed. Don\u2019t wait for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Business](\"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/files\/AdobeStock-by-naatejindakum_503970121-1024x576.jpeg\")
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