Meet Ian. He went on a life-changing journey to a career in tech
“I had always been interested in software development,” says Ian Baker, speaking of his time before Revature. But without a bachelor’s degree in computer science, “I could not find someone willing to give me the time of day.”
Instead, while working various jobs at a pizza parlor, a grocery store, a gas station, and finally in remote tech support, Ian began developing Android apps as a hobby. He recalls waking up in the middle of the night to check his bank balance, worrying that his paycheck might not get him through. When he became a father, he decided to up his game. He applied to Revature.
“The training is not for the faint of heart,” Ian says. Nevertheless, he threw himself into it body and soul. From the start, he realized that this would be a team sport. He formed various study groups with his peers, as well as an online discussion group that would eventually be known as the Devs’ Guild.
On a technical level, his training was in Java. But it was also good preparation for learning other technologies. That was fortunate, because for his Revature client placement, he had to learn a whole new stack. “It took additional time and study before and after work every day but within a month’s time I was as proficient as any other junior developer with 1-2 years on the job.” Since then, Ian has turned his hand to various technologies—including e-commerce, enterprise resource planning, and customer relationship management—always with success.
His current job as a software engineer with a national retail chain gives him work-life balance, health insurance, and enough left over to take vacations and hire tutors for his kids. “These are things that, prior to my life-changing Revature journey, I never thought about because affording them was simply beyond my reach.”
Nowadays, people consult Ian about the best people to hire for software development roles. Revature helps with that, too. As Ian says, “I know that I can recommend someone who graduated from the Revature program with confidence at any place I happen to be working.”