I live in a city that does not have a huge tech hub. I tried to teach myself programming and web development for a couple of years. Then I discovered I wanted to build user interfaces, things that people use all the time and interact with. I love the front-end side of web development and that aspect of constant learning and growing. So I enrolled at Lambda School.

I started looking for jobs before I graduated. I had a career coach who did mock interviews with me, looked at my resume, and gave me tips. There are also technical interviews with classmates to practice code. I felt more prepared going into interviews after that and was able to get a job quickly.

I had been networking at local companies, so when opportunities opened up I started applying. The fact that I built relationships put me ahead of other candidates because hiring managers saw my growth.

"Lambda, because it's so accelerated, it's impressive to employers to see the difference in what you can do in such a short amount of time."

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In my first interview, my manager told me he hoped I would start to contribute within about 12 weeks. But I started working on my first project a month in. So I think Lambda definitely prepared me to hit the ground running.

Now I make more than 35 thousand dollars a year more than I made before Lambda School. I actually feel happy about giving back because I know others will have the opportunity I had. I would not have the job that I have today if I hadn't enrolled.

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