Student Spotlight: Jordan Dominguez

Let’s check in with Jordan who is a student at LEARN. LEARN why he made the decision to switch careers from marketing to web developer and how LEARN is helping him gain the necessary skills.

1. What made you decide to choose a career in web development?

There are a lot of factors that made web dev appealing to me; it was kind of the perfect storm that led me here. Situationally, I was ready for a change. I had been working in the tech industry for a very small Silicon Valley startup for a couple of years since graduating college, albeit remotely as a digital marketing strategist. Some pivots in the company’s business goals ended up basically pivoting me out of a significant role at the company.

I found it to be the perfect opportunity to really step back and question where my career and life in general were heading, and after some self-reflection I realized that I no longer wanted to tell the story of technology, but would rather work on actually creating it. That, along with the appeal of entering an exciting, ever-changing industry such as technology and web development drove me to look for options in education, which eventually led me to LEARN.

2. Do you have any past educational or work experience in web development?

My background is mostly in marketing management and digital advertising, but through all of that I did have some previous experience in graphic design/design applications, as well as a lot of messing around with sites using WordPress, Wix, and Shopify. Aside from that, I was also working in a very tech-heavy environment, and while I wasn’t the one doing the development, I was dealing with developers and their work quite often.

3. Were you nervous about switching careers?

A bit, but I feel like that’s natural. I’d say more than nervous, I was excited to start something new and to get back into a learning environment where I would be picking up new knowledge and skills each day.

4. Why did you choose LEARN Academy?

After deciding that I wanted to a pursue a change to web development I began looking at my options. I knew I wanted to stay in San Diego, and I knew that I needed a physical location to attend. I felt like online classes could be useful but I also wanted to be immersed in development for the entire time period, which is something I just couldn’t guarantee with an online program. I took a look at the SD offerings as far as boot camps go, liked what I saw from LEARN both in terms of curriculum and location (I love Downtown San Diego, and never really had a chance to hang out down here much before), and decided to attend the Jumpstart weekend program. After that, It was history!

5. What week are you in? How are you liking your experience so far?

We’ve just started Week 2, and so far I am enjoying it. Being surrounded by budding developers and spending my days coding/staring at code has already done wonders for my progress, and I definitely feel like I’ve learned a lot. We still have a long way to go though! Aside from that I feel like our cohort gets along extremely well, and I can tell that the friendships made in class will outlast the LEARN term.

6. What advice would you give students choosing to enroll in LEARN?

Feel it out, do some coding on your own and do the Jumpstart (if you can) before coming out. If you feel that coding is for you and you’re ready to dive right in, then I would say don’t let anything hold you back! It’s been a wonderful experience so far with a lot of cool people, and I think anybody would come out of the experience with a lot of new knowledge and a very useful skillset.