#devpointlabs

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DevPoint Labs Launches Unique Partnership with U of U Professional Education

DevPoint Labs launches a unique partnership with University of Utah Professional Education. (PR)��

U of U ProEd Web Development Program

DevPoint Labs, the first coding school and highest rated program in Utah, has now partnered with University of Utah Professional Education to launch a full-time 11 week web development program. The course will provide adults looking to change careers with web development skills from the most affordable program in the nation.

In today’s digital economy, coding skills are the most demanded across all types of careers and professions. Forbes & LinkedIn noted that web development skills of full-stack developers dominate the pay scale and employer desirability. DevPoint Labs has empowered hundreds with skills in Javascript, Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS and backend data management since its inception in 2013. Silicon Slopes is a hotbed for technology companies with increased demand for highly-skilled tech workers.

“We are excited to announce a partnership with University of Utah’s Professional Education department that will provide more opportunities for people to transition into a rewarding tech career,” said Nhi Doan, Founder of DevPoint Labs. “Our mission from the start has always focused on helping people transition into technology careers through our accelerated training led by industry experts. With this partnership, we are able to lower the cost of the program so that more people can have the opportunity to transition into a tech career. We are fortunate to work with the largest provider of higher education in the state and help fill the skills gap.”

The University of Utah Professional Education Web Development Program, powered by DevPoint Labs, offers intensive full-time training. The curriculum will cover basic programming principles and extensive bootcamp training in full-stack Ruby on Rails, Javascript, ReactJS, HTML, CSS, jQuery, Postgres and more. Career services are also provided for students to get a leg up in preparing for a career in web development, like resume building, projects portfolio and mock interviews. The program leverages DevPoint Labs’ expert instructors who have extensive knowledge and experience working in the field. The program will utilize DevPoint Labs’ vast alumni network and connections with Utah’s most prominent tech companies. The program will cost is $9,995 and will launch on May 15th, 2017 at the University of Utah Sandy Center (10011 Centennial Pkwy #100, Sandy, UT 84070).

“We are excited to partner with DevPoint Labs to bring our students top-tier coding and comprehensive web development training.  Key principals within the DevPoint management structure are University of Utah graduates; we are proud to work with them to grow their excellent products and nurture their ideas, which began to take shape while they were attending the University.  We are especially excited to offer their full-time, intensive program—with its career changing potential—to our professional student base!”  - Dr. Denis R. Petersen, PMP, Director, University of Utah Professional Education

About DevPoint Labs: DevPoint Labs is Utah’s premier provider of technology accelerated training programs in Web Development, UX Design, and Data Analytics. Led by industry expert and small classes, the focus is to arm and empower students with technology skills that are career focused.

Sources: https://devpointlabs.continue.utah.edu/

(https://www.coursereport.com/schools/devpoint-labs) - Student Reviews on Course Report. 

(Forbes & LinkedIn) - High demand jobs in tech. #Javascript #LearnToCode #developer #JobsInTech 

[releaseteam]

So that’s what Dev Ops is... 😜 https://t.co/VjpgvF9iu5

— DevPoint Labs (@DevPointLabs) March 3, 2020

via: https://ift.tt/1GAs5mb

[devpointlabs]

Jamison Dance

Industry Speaker Interview

What is your role in the Javascript community/Current job and what are your primary responsibilities?

I started the JavaScript Jabber podcast in 2012. I help run the Utah Valley UtahJS meetup. I co-organize React Rally, a community React.js conference in Salt Lake City. I do the Soft Skills Engineering podcast (https://softskills.audio) with Dave Smith, a rad human being. A common theme in all this stuff is I enjoy giving people a platform to share what they’re excited about and helping others learn from excited people.

I run a consulting company called Fivestack (https://fivestack.computer) which specializes in early stage startups and people problems. My primary responsibilities at Fivestack are feeling guilty about never updating the website and applying the bogosort algorithm to our emails but sometimes I also write code.

What was your background before?

I studied computer science with an emphasis in bioinformatics in college. Before that I was a gentleman of ill repute.

Does culture play a vital role in choosing your employment?

Yes? I work for myself so I make my own culture to some extent. Culture in this case is more about habits and taking care of myself. How I’m feeling has a huge effect on my work, so it is something I think about a lot.

If I were to take a full-time job culture would be a big deal, but I’m not sure you’d find anyone who would say they didn’t care about culture. I value kind people, small egos, and fun problems. It turns out fun problems are everywhere!

What makes you excited about programming?

Lots of things! Creating something out of nothing is what drew me to programming in the first place. Figuring out a new skill or framework or bug is intoxicating. Functional programming has been a fun puzzle to dive in to for the last few years, and I’m sure there are more puzzles ahead of me.

I’m most excited about how people come together to build things, and programming is a lens to explore that.

What do you like to do in your free time while not coding?

I actually don’t code very much in my free time. I read, exercise, play videogames, snowboard in the winter, hang with my family, and compulsively check Twitter.

A few months ago I started playing D & D with a group of people from UtahJS, and it is an outrageous amount of fun.

[devpointlabs]

Developer Spotlight: James Thompson @ MAVENLINK

James is a software engineer who has worked with web technologies since 2003. He got started programming in elementary school in the early 90’s. He also serves as a lay pastor, overseeing educational ministries, for the First Baptist Church of Provo. He completed a BA in Christian Ministry from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2006, the same year he started specializing in Ruby and Rails development.

Q&A

What is Mavenlink?

Mavenlink is a Software-as-a-Service company aiming to change the way professional service organizations run their business. We are building a new class of project management, business intelligence, and resource planning tools specifically tailored to the needs of the professional services industry. Our solutions help the companies we serve better understand, grow, and otherwise improve their businesses.

What is your role at Mavenlink and what are your primary responsibilities?

I started at Mavenlink in October of 2015 as a Software Engineering Team Lead. In that role I helped establish our Salt Lake City engineering office with just myself and one other engineer by providing local insight and initial community engagement to help grow our team to nearly a dozen team members; including hires in the areas of Quality Assurance, Product Management, and User Experience. I also provided leadership for our first fully local SLC engineering team to establish sound agile practices within the company’s existing process goals and expectations. Today I have moved into the a role as a Principal Software Engineer. My focus is more purely technical, although as a senior team member I’m responsible to lead by example when it comes to the practices and processes that make our teams more effective. This means I spend my days engaged in pair programming, and normal development work. But, I also invest time identifying ways to teach other team members how to improve their effectiveness, and provide higher level technical leadership around architectural decision-making.

What was your background before you joined Mavenlink?

Before coming to Mavenlink I worked with smaller teams, and sometimes on my own, developing back office and other business utility software for small and medium sized companies. I have a lot of experience with content management and ecommerce software systems, as well as IT systems automation and service providing. I spent several years working as an independent contractor for companies like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and Ligonier Ministries. Given my educational background all my development skills have been self-taught, and all of my professional growth and development has come through consistent investment in myself and my own skill development.

As a software developer, what did you first think about coding bootcamps and what stood out about DevPoint Labs?

I only became aware of developer bootcamps about three years ago when I started working at a company who had previously hired a DevPoint graduate. In the years since, I’ve had the opportunity to work with several others from bootcamp backgrounds; including numerous at Mavenlink. I think bootcamps meet a current market need for software developers, but the real value of a team member for any company is defined by an individual's personal ambition, love of learning, and commitment to on-going growth and development. DevPoint does a good job getting talented individuals started in a good direction, but no education can give someone the right attitude, focus, and drive they need to be successful in the long-term.

How does Mavenlinks’ culture differ from other tech companies culture?

One of our most distinctive cultural features is we are highly collaborative. Lots of companies will say the very same thing, but we take things to a totally different level because of our commitment to the principles and practices of Extreme Programming. Pair programming is the normal way we develop our software, and I can tell you from over a decade of experience that makes us very different. Most companies might let their teams dabble in pair programming, but we do it every day both in person, and remotely. And, we also rotate engineers between pairs on a frequent basis, and between teams regularly to help break down knowledge silos and encourage everyone to be constantly and consistently learning.

What makes you excited about programming?

It is an industry cliche, but I like solving problems. Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic, once stated that “[e]ngineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems.” I tend to get excited about two things as a software engineer: exploring hard problems and finding interesting solutions. Ask some of my coworkers about me and metaprogramming with Ruby and you will likely get at least a few amused smirks, chuckles, or interesting stories. I’m somewhat known by colleagues for being able to do things with Ruby that are at the same times clever and insanely bad in practice. I will, at times, offer convoluted, but entirely effective, programming solutions for the sheer amusement of seeing my pair fumble through understanding code that works but has no business ever being committed for production use.

What do you like to do on your free time and not coding?

I spend a good bit of my free time programming, not as much as I used to; but still a good deal. When I’m not programming I will often read about programming, or programming-related topics. I collect books and have first editions of a number of classic programming works like “Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools;” “The Art of Prolog;” and “Programming Systems and Languages.” I also collect and read comics and books on numerous other topics; including christian history and theology. I also enjoy cooking a lot and always enjoy when the weather gets above fifty degrees and allows me to reliably use my wood-fired smoker to prepare pork, brisket, sausage, lamb, and the occasional prime rib roast.

Come meet James & hear him as the keynote speaker at our upcoming Launch Day. RSVP Here.