{"id":125364,"date":"2022-09-26T10:09:11","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T17:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/?post_type=stories&p=125364"},"modified":"2022-09-26T10:09:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T17:09:12","slug":"julie-wu","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/stories\/julie-wu\/","title":{"rendered":"Julie Wu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Julie Wu\u2019s career path started as a licensed architect. Although she enjoyed her work, she was among the millions of workers who lost their jobs in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. With her career in architecture cut short, Julie sought to transition to software engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While studying and practicing architecture, Julie always found herself working adjacent to software engineering. Keen to learn more about it, Julie picked up JavaScript from scratch and studied rigorously to gain admission to the reputable software engineering school, Codesmith<\/a>. Fast forward to today, Julie works as the first in-house front end engineer at Databook<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s her story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about your background. What were you doing before attending Codesmith?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hold an architectural license in California. I was practicing architecture, exercising my love for design, and helping to build coworking spaces until my employer had to let me and my team go due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What motivated you to explore a new career, and why did you decide to pick Codesmith?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was working on a design competition with my colleagues as we explored the future of the work environment, specifically what the next workspace would be like amid the pandemic. One aspect of our proposal was creating a digitally immersive experience so that folks could feel more connected to their coworkers, even if they were physically separated. This very aspect of our design required software integration, which was a completely foreign concept to me and became a key reason that piqued my interest in learning what this field entailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did you like about  Codesmith? Are there any highlights that stood out to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Full-Time Software Engineering Immersive program<\/a> was intense. The material they taught was challenging, and the program required serious investment of time and money. It was something that I took a chance on, not knowing how I would come out on the other side. It was a bet that I made with myself and, looking back, I have no regrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Codesmith is a special place; I have walked away with more than a handful of truly genuine friendships that I will always cherish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you fit the program into your schedule?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before becoming a full-time hermit, I gave my friends and family a heads-up. I needed to get back on my feet as fast as possible, so I treated the program as the only thing in my life for the next three months. Some might say architects are known to be masochistic, and this may be true to some extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you give us any examples of projects that you worked on during the program?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of our projects were team-based. My capstone project was OSLab’s ReacType<\/a>\u2014our team developed Version 5.0. It is a dev tool that allows users to quickly create React components via a drag-n-drop interface. Legacy code from Version 4.0 presented various opportunities to improve the front end implementation and UX\/UI design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other projects included developing a password-sharing app for video streaming and iterating on a help desk ticketing app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any advice for someone considering this program?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re serious about making a change in your life and you want Codesmith to be a part of it, consider doing the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n