Alumni Spotlight: Ilya, theFirehoseProject

Ilya studied computer science and went into product management before deciding to make the switch to become a professional web developer. He recently completed theFirehoseProject - a mentor driven online coding bootcamp. Shortly after completing theFirehoseProject, Ilya received multiple job offers from Startups and Tech Companies, and ultimately decided to join EnerNOC, a global energy intelligence company, as a Ruby on Rails Developer. We talked to Ilya about his CS background, his experience at theFirehoseProject, and his reasons for changing tracks in his career.

 

Tell us what you were up to before you started at Firehose. Were you working or doing any kind of programming?

I actually studied Computer Science but I’d never programmed or touched any code before theFirehoseProject. People from the U.S. who studied computer science might be surprised by the idea that you can go through a whole specialized program in Computer Science without writing more than 20 lines of code. But that’s what happened to me.

 

I actually hear similar things from Computer Science grads in the US!

Exactly. You learn things about the software development process and theory, but you don’t actually learn how to code in a project and build real products.

During my studies, I wasn’t that interested in coding. I was working with young people in the community doing everything but my studies. Nevertheless I graduated and felt the need to get back into tech. I started out as a Product Manager and joined a startup here in Munich where you can book doctors’ appointments, tables at a restaurant, hairdressers; anything. They went to become the goto tool for small businesses in Germany and Europe.

 

Were you still working in that startup as a product manager when you were doing Firehose project?

During my two years at the startup I was working very closely with Ruby developers, but never touching any code. I got the itch and wanted to become a professional web developer as well. So I saved up a little bit of money, talked to theFirehoseProject team and quit at the end of July so I could start to drink-from-the-firehose in the last week of July.

 

Was your motivation for doing Firehose to get a job as a Ruby developer once you were finished or was it to create your own product?

I was pretty open-minded about what would happen. I was sure that I needed these kinds of skills no matter what I might do in the future. I imagined two paths: to continue working as a product manager but in a more technical capacity or to find work as a developer. I wasn’t sure which path I would choose until the end of the program when I started my job search.

 

Did you figure out what you wanted to do by the end of Firehose?

Absolutely, yes! I wrote so much code and built multiple web applications that the decision was very easy: land a job as a developer!

 

Why did you decide to do an online program instead of an in-person one?

Mostly because there aren’t as many great coding bootcamps in Europe, in Germany especially. Also the opportunity cost of moving to a new city and paying rent, on top of three times the tuition costs, made the decision to go with an online coding bootcamp relatively easy.  In-person courses are really expensive from what I found. Hack Reactor is close to $20,000! Of course, coding in the same room with other people 6 days a week for 12 hours would have been amazing, but that was a bit outside my scope.

 

Did you look at any other online bootcamps other than Firehose? Why did you choose Firehose?

I was considering Bloc pretty seriously and looked into them closely. Ultimately I was convinced by the personal connection and mentor quality at theFirehoseProject. Bloc has a great outreach and marketing team; they sent these beautifully-designed newsletters and hosted webinars etc., but I was really missing the personal touch in their curriculum.

With Firehose, I just registered and Marco invited me to a Google Hangout and explained how their program works and what is expected of me - it was very, very personal and I liked it.

 

What was the application process like for you?

They want to hear about your goals to make sure they can help you reach them. They also require you to submit some code before you’re accepted into the program. They have a coding bootcamp preparation course that people without good coding samples have to complete. From their and my own perspective it makes a lot of sense to prepare for a coding bootcamp so you can maximize your learning while having access to your coding mentors.

 

How much did it cost?

About $4,500.

 

So once you registered, did they match you with a mentor?

Yes, since my goal was to find a job as a technical product manager or web developer, I was matched with my mentor Ken, who hired dozens of people to his own technical team before. They Firehose team is really selective about who can mentor their students, and the new mentors that they recently brought on are all senior web developers at PayPal and TechStars companies, or held senior developer positions at Flickr and bit.ly.

 

Were there time zone issues since your mentor was in the U.S?

Not really. Ken is based in Boston. You have to think about it and consider it, but it worked really good for us. We did our meetings during my evenings and his afternoons. I didn’t have any time constraints because I was going through Firehose fulltime.

Some of their other students worked full-time jobs while going through theFirehoseProject and they had to make sure they fit all their coursework into their schedule. But obviously that worked for those students as well, since one of them landed a new tech job during the Firehose program.

 

How did you and Ken communicate?

Q&A forum, email and Google Hangouts for mentor sessions and office hours.

 

Was there a set curriculum that you were going through on your own and then asking Ken questions? How did it work logistically?

The program consists of three web applications that increase in complexity. Each web application included new technologies that you need to learn so you can ship them live.

You also learn how to write really good Ruby code by solving real world coding challenges that you can expect to be asked during any technical interview for a developer job.

During the last four weeks I worked on a group project to get the real world experience of how great software is build by teams in a collaborative coding process.  

The whole program is very flexible and self-paced, while working together with your personal coding mentor. We also had weekly office hours and group project meetings.

 

Were those weekly office hours done with other students?

Yes, their weekly office hours is a time where all the students come together and everyone can see their code, what troubles their running into and how the mentors troubleshoot any issues. The office hours are really helpful and I really enjoyed them.

 

Did you feel Firehose was personalized to what you needed or wanted to learn?

For sure. Every question I had was personalized. I wanted to dig deeper into test driven development, and my mentor was really flexible and taught me a lot of additional skills outside of the core curriculum.

For example, during the last month we focused on job interview preparation; Ken helped me design my resume and optimize it for development jobs. We went through a few mock interviews where he’d ask me questions so I could really prepare for the real interviews.

I also had to complete six coding challenges that are very likely to get asked during a web developer job interview. My mentor helped me go through the code and we practiced the solutions together.

 

You mentioned that you did three projects throughout. Were those assigned projects or were they projects that you came up with?

It’s a part of their core curriculum every student completes three web applications that increase in complexity and get pretty challenging.

During the last four weeks of the program I was also part of a group project. It’s 3-4 students and one of the code mentors is the technical lead. The group project is designed to make you learn how software is built in the real world: you have somebody telling your team what to build, maybe give you some wireframes and then the group has to break apart all the features into technical steps and start implementing them.

This was a different experience than simply coding by myself. We had to use GitHub like it is used in the real world when teams work together, fix code conflicts and always make sure that nobody is blocking somebody else on the team. Besides our personal code mentor, we also had one code mentor guiding us through the whole group project.

The project I built with my team is a platform where new developers can prepare themselves for technical interviews.

 

How did that logistically work, to work with a group?

It’s just like in the real world. We had weekly check-ins and we discussed next steps and things we need to do. We delegated tasks to be done by the next meeting.

 

That’s nice because it’s kind of like learning how to do remote work.

This taught us how to work remotely and also, to work as a team, which is really important as a developer. Teamwork is so different from working alone. You have to be  in-tune with the work that your team members are doing so that you don’t destroy someone else’s work or stand in the way.

 

How many hours were you spending on Firehose each week?

Probably 30 hours a week. I wanted to finish the program strong and learn web development, but I also enjoyed a few weeks where I was going at a slower pace.

 

What did your mentor do in that last month to help with job preparation?

We revised my resume; it was a good “project management resume” but a pretty bad “developer resume.” My mentor really coached me on what and how to talk about my experience in the interview.

 

What are you up to now? Did you get a new job?

Yeah. I received multiple job offers after the program and actually started my new job last Monday. I’m a Ruby Developer for EnerNOC, a global energy intelligence company. Currently I’m developing a tool for analysts and operators who manage the switching and bidding on the energy market.
 

 

Are you working in Germany?

Yes, I work out of their office in Munich. There was a startup here in Munich doing something similar and EnerNOC acquired them this February.

 

How large is the dev team that you work with?

There are two other developers who hand over the work to me, before they leave at the end of December. We currently looking for another developer to work together with me.

 

Do you feel like you are at that level? Do you feel comfortable with that?

It’s pretty challenging. I think that it’s the best way to learn. f you’re new, then you often don’t know what you don’t know, but I love the challenge.

 

Is there anything else you wanted to add about Firehose or your experience?

I would totally recommend theFirehoseProject to everyone considering and online web development bootcamp.

Ken and Marco are running a top-notch program that attracts amazing mentors, while keeping a very personal touch. I’m sure they will continue to grow and go out of their way to help you have a great experience.

 

Want to learn more about theFirehoseProject? Check out their School Page on Course Report or their website here!