When I tell people I’m attending Omaha Code School, I get a lot of questions. So this post will attempt to answer some of the more common ones. If you have others, leave a comment and I’ll try to answer it for you.
What is Omaha Code School?
Omaha Code School is an intensive 12 week program that intends to teach 16 willing students the technical skills needed to land a job in web development. Intensive is kind of an understatement in this case. The class is 7 days a week, for 8-10 hours a day. Boot camp style.
That’s the book answer, but I’m probably the wrong person to ask. See, I haven’t actually started. It’s hard to answer what something is when you haven’t seen or experienced it for yourself.
Why sign up, you don’t even know what Omaha Code School is?
I am hoping that Omaha Code School is an opportunity to learn new skills and do something new. I have dabbled in creating websites for years, but I’ve never been able to learn anything beyond basic HTML. This course will teach me the skills I have been striving to learn.
What will you be learning?
There are a lot of different things we will be learning. They fall into two categories. Soft skills, and hard skills. Hard skill are the actual technologies. Things like HTML5, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, JQuery, and many more. More important are the soft skills we will learn. Test driven development, GIT, version control, pair-programming, among others. To sum up, we are going to learn more in 12 weeks than any other period of time in our lives.
What did you do before you signed up?
I am an Information Security Analyst at a large insurance company in Omaha, NE. The work is good and I feel like I make a difference. We generally work with identity management systems to make sure everyone has access to what they need, but nothing more. I have worked there for almost 6 years.
Why now?
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Before you say otherwise, it is for me. I’m 29, married, and own a home. The next logical life event is to have children. Once that happens, quitting your job and going 12 weeks without pay won’t be an option.
When does it start?
Class begins February 24th and runs through May 16th.
Do you know who you will be working with?
No. I have never met anyone involved with this program before. Thats part of why it is awesome. I will get to grow my network. They even have a group of people put together to help mentor the students as they progress through the course. Occasionally we will go on a “field trip” to meet with people in the industry and learn from their experience.
My first blog post was last night. After just over 12 hours, I have 4 new people following me on Twitter, 30 blog views, an interview request, and numerous retweets and shares on Facebook. Some of these are from people I have never met before. Overall, I’m not too worried about not knowing anybody. The people I have interacted with so far are awesome, and I know it’s just going to get better.
What happens after the class is over?
That is the question. There is no job at the end of the horizon waiting for us, no interviews lined up, and no idea of what is waiting for us. This is seriously scary. I don’t do things without knowing what’s next. I have planned out to this point in my life, and I don’t have any regrets. All I know is that I couldn’t stop thinking that this is what I am supposed to do. Hopefully there will be an opportunity waiting for me on the other side.
What has surprised you so far?
The amount of support my classmates and me have received so far is surprising. Friends and family are totally on board. Omaha Code School has helped make connections for those of us that need assistance paying the tuition cost. They’re even trying to get us cheap MacBooks for class.
If you want to check out current fundraising campaigns, check out this link. Read the stories and help if you can. http://t.co/R3sdzIjE57
Is there anything I can do?
The biggest thing is a MacBook. I have always been a PC guy. It’s not that I think Macs are horrible, they are just expensive. I’m trying to find a used MacBook Pro in good condition for under $500. That is tough to find. If you know of one that is available let me know. If I can’t use it, I’ll pass it along to the rest of my class.
Here are the requirements: 4GB memory, and capable of running Mac OSX Lion or higher (That’s version 10.7 or higher)
What Still Needs to be done?
We have homework already. There are activities that we need to complete before class begins. This way we can gloss over some of the basics, and concentrate on learning new skills. These activities will take approximately 55 hours to complete. Not a small task.
Hopefully that answers some of your questions. I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m guaranteed it’s going to be an adventure.