Category Archives: thoughts

Fresh Estrella, Barcelona

A guide to attending Ironhack: Part 3, afterwards

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I had such an amazing time at the Ironhack Web Development Bootcamp in Barcelona in 2014; it was an invaluable experience for me and for my career. I’ve had loads of enquiries from prospective students regarding my thoughts on the application process, the interviews and of course the course itself.

This is the last in a series of posts about attending Ironhack and covers the topic of returning to the ‘real world’ after the intensity of the course. You can read all posts tagged Ironhack here.

How did Ironhack help with finding a job after you graduated?

During the course I made contact with several companies in the city I live in to see what positions were available. I interviewed with around 4 companies via Skype during the course and afterwards, I went to one follow-up interview in person. Within a week of returning home, I received one job offer (which I accepted!) and several other companies reached out to see if I was still looking. I had another offer from a company in a different city in Europe but it would have meant relocating, and was recommended at another company in Spain.

During the course, Ironhack regularly gave us access to their contacts (mostly Spanish-based) and sent us information about available positions that they knew about. In other cases (such as people like me who were looking for jobs in other countries) they went out of their way to make contacts and find job offers to pass on to us.

I’m interested in knowing how you were able to secure a job here in Europe as an Australian citizen. Did you have any issues with this?

Continue reading A guide to attending Ironhack: Part 3, afterwards →

Rainy Sunday

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It’s been a weird week so it was nice to spend this rainy weekend getting many things done that I’ve been meaning to do for ages. We went to the market in Castelnau-le-Lez to get our fruit, veg and other specialty deli items (nuts! sun dried tomatoes! olives! fromage!!) then spent the rest of the day experimenting with our new pressure cooker.

Tom made a delicious makhani gravy and there was so much we’ve frozen most of it to use later. We worked out that it would also be a great way to make my red pepper and tomato soup – much better than using cans or bottled veg as I have been doing up until now!

Then today I finally pulled out the sewing machine for the first time in many, many months. I’ve been meaning to fix the hems on a couple of pairs of trousers for ages – such a simple thing, really! – but it’s one of those tasks that have been put off for some reason. Then a few weeks ago Tom ripped a flannel shirt that he goes cycling in and I resolved to fix it but it also went into the ‘things to do’ pile…

Singer sewing machine
Singer sewing machine

Anyway, today I pulled out the Singer and set it up and got those ‘things to do’ done. Two pairs of trousers now no longer need to be rolled up and the ripped fabric has been interfaced and mended. I won’t pretend the mending was a great job, but it was the first time I’ve really used the zigzag foot and as long as it holds for a little bit longer it will at least have been a learning experience!

Jonçy at the door

Trucking on

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Well, well, well. It has certainly been a busy few weeks since Easter. The main change is that we have moved to a new flat, and unfortunately this time we moved ourselves which is every bit as awful as I remembered! However, I did drive the moving truck, which was really quite the experience. We hired a huge camion with a liftgate and that certainly helped with much of the heavier stuff, but the first time I climbed into the cabin was a little nerve-wracking. I haven’t driven in around 3 years and on top of that I have never driven on the wrong (errr, right?) side of the road. It was fine, of course! Even a little bit fun, if I’m honest.

So, here we are now in a little village just outside the main city of Montpellier. I miss our neighbour’s friendly cat, whom we christened ‘Jonçy’.

Continue reading Trucking on →

Monumental, Barcelona

A guide to attending Ironhack: Part 2, the course

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I had such an amazing time at the Ironhack Web Development Bootcamp in Barcelona in 2014; it was an invaluable experience for me and for my career. I’ve had loads of enquiries from prospective students regarding my thoughts on the application process, the interviews and of course the course itself.

This post will focus on attending and completing the course itself. The next post will be about returning to the ‘real world’ after completing Ironhack. You can read all posts tagged Ironhack here.

What is your general opinion of the Ironhack Web Development Bootcamp?

The course was great; really fun, fantastic teachers, helpful teaching assistants and a very motivated group of students. After completing the bootcamp I now have a strong base of skills that can be built on in any direction (front-end, back-end, specialising in a single technology or library). I would highly recommend the course if you want to become a web developer – it’s very intense, but the team is also extremely supportive and adaptive to the needs of the group.

What were the main difficulties you faced while attending Ironhack?

Continue reading A guide to attending Ironhack: Part 2, the course →

Arc de Triomf

A guide to attending Ironhack: Part 1, applying

ironhack, thoughts, ,

I had such an amazing time at the Ironhack Web Development Bootcamp in Barcelona in 2014; it was an invaluable experience for me and for my career. I’ve had loads of enquiries from prospective students regarding my thoughts on the application process, the interviews and of course the course itself.

This post will focus on the process of applying to Ironhack and getting through the interview process. I’ll follow this up shortly posts about attending and completing the course itself and also returning to the real world. You can read all posts tagged Ironhack here.

Who are you and how are you connected to Ironhack?

I attended the Ironhack course in Barcelona during the summer of 2014 and since then have been working as a software engineer for a small company in France. My affiliation with them is solely as a past-student and friend.

How much coding experience did you have before the course?

Continue reading A guide to attending Ironhack: Part 1, applying →