Web or software development is one of the most popular jobs for digital nomads. Despite the huge gender gap in tech, more and more girls are making the leap to become developers. Coding bootcamps are a great way to get started and today we talked to Angelica who completed the Codeworks coding bootcamp in Barcelona.
Hi Angelica! Tell us a bit about yourself, where are you from and where are you now?
I grew up on the central coast of California and attended Santa Clara University where I studied Finance, Entrepreneurship and International Business. After graduating, I moved out New Orleans, LA where I spent 2 years working at the Idea Village, an entrepreneurial accelerator program where we helped early stage startups get to the next level in their business.
For the following 3 years, I worked at Navigation Network where we partnered with USAID and NGOs to export humanitarian aid to various countries. I started right as the Ebola virus was hitting West Africa and was able to see the good that came from organizations getting together quickly.
From there, I became interested in how technology helps us achieve this and began my journey in computer programming.
You recently completed a coding bootcamp with Codeworks in Barcelona. Did you have any coding experience before you joined the bootcamp?
Prior to attending Codeworks, I did not have any formal software developing experience. I worked on online coding challenges on Codewars and free courses on Codecademy and Code School to prepare for the course interview. Once admitted, the course provided a comprehensive preparation track that included over 150 hours of material to practice with.
Tell us a bit about what it’s like taking a bootcamp. What does your daily routine look like?
For the bootcamp I did, we have breakfast at the school which gives us the chance to hang out with everyone and relax. The course is divided into two sections, a junior section where you focus on theory and a senior section where you focus on building full applications. During the junior section, we start the morning off with a challenge problem then go over how we approached the problem.
Each morning we would have a few hours of lecture which covered key aspects of computer programming followed by an afternoon of implementing code. Each day is so different and exciting because you cover so much material. It’s not possible to do a deep dive of everything, so you have a really good outline of material you can further study.
During the senior section, we build three applications – one application that is built solo, one application that takes existing code and implements more features and a final application that is built from the ground up in a team. It’s amazing that you can go from never having built an application to building something practical in only a few months.
Why did you chose to join a bootcamp instead of teaching yourself or taking a university course?
Self studying, bootcamps and universities all have their place. Initially, I began by teaching myself the basics through online tutorials. Once you know the basics, a bootcamp is a great way to get started coding a full application quickly. It’s great because you have a whole community of students and mentors that you interact with everyday so learning new technologies and working through problems is a lot of fun.
You’re able to move a lot faster than you would on your own because you have these resources when you get stuck. A university course is an entirely different experience – it would have taken years as opposed to months to get to a practical level of expertise where you are building an application. With a bootcamp, you’re coding for 12 hours a day with a community of other coders — there is nothing more practical than this approach.
There’s still a big gender gap in technology. What was your experience as a woman breaking into the tech world?
Now is the perfect time for women to join the tech world. All the technology companies want strong, diverse teams so they are actively looking for women to join. Codeworks is addressing this gender gap by offering women scholarships for their bootcamp. Its nice to see how welcoming the industry is.
Codeworks is located in Barcelona. How did living abroad influence your experience?
Codeworks is located in a very lively and vibrant city and the school is located only three blocks from the beach. During lunch breaks we were able to catch a game of volleyball at the beach or paddle at a nearby court.
You’re building software that will be used by people throughout the world – so it’s cool to be building the application with an international cohort of students. Learning computer programming while abroad has been interesting because we are exposed to technology companies within the Spanish market. It’s the perfect opportunity to live in a new culture.
Software or web development is a great job to become location independent. However, many people are afraid to take this path as it’s perceived to have quite a high barrier. Do you think more aspiring digital nomads should become developers?
Software development is a great career path for digital nomads because all you need is a computer! You’re able to take the skill you know and apply it to almost every industry out there and create value, so for this reason there is a great demand for software professionals.
It’s an interesting field because it allows you to tap into your logical and analytical side as well as your creative side. I can see how the material could look intimidating if you’re new to the field because I experienced that as well.
However, the community fully embraces new software developers by providing mentorship and resources to be able to get started. Its unlike any other field out there because information is so openly shared. This is one of the primary reasons software development is able to advance so quickly.
What advice would you give other women who want to pursue this career?
Do it! It’s quite fun and empowering to see the things you are able to build. If you have any questions about the field, I’m happy to help you – angelicavalenta@gmail.com
If you’d like to find out more about joining Codeworks for one of their coding bootcamps in beautiful Barcelona, you can find all the info here.
