learning to code

The 'Why' Of This Pursuit

by: Travis Media
Dec 14, 2016
2 minute read

Why would a 35-year-old, married, father of 4, with a fairly stable job at a well known and reputable facility want to change careers? Well here are three reasons:

1. Delayed Complacency

When I started my current job I had moved back to the Virginia area and needed a job….any job. So I visited a temp agency and was placed as a temp employee. Within a year, I was hired on as a Medical Transcriptionist. Two years later our facility adapted a new Dictation/Transcription system and I was hired as an Health Information Analyst, managing the speech recognition system. What began as an urgent need for a job, turned into a fairly stable endeavor. Ten years later I am still there. It is not at all where I wanted to be 10 years later, but we all know that complacency has its way of passing the years at a much faster speed. This leads me to my next point….

2. Interests/Challenges

Over the past three years I have been blogging and running several sites. I have become very interested in web development (in the very basic sense of the word). I love HTML, CSS, and all other tinkering that I have picked up from Google search and free online courses. In contrast, there is no more room for advancement in my department. There are, for lack of a better phrase, no new challenges to pursue and no new positions to shift into. In addition, given the high reputation of our facility, other departments (i.e. the IT department) require degrees/training, at a minimum. This leads me to my next point….

3. Stability

So why don't I begin learning and over time squeeze my way into another department? Because time is running out. This is the final piece of my exit. Basically, all signs point to our department being outsourced in 2018 if not sooner. Such is the fate of medical transcriptionists nationwide. In big businesses, cost cutting is ultimate pursuit.

So Why Bloc

At first I considered a Master's Degree in IT or IS. After significant research and advice-seeking, I realized this is an overkill.

Since my undergrad was not in this field, there would be at least 5 prerequisite classes in order to begin this program. In addition, these programs overall are designed for those pursuing IT management. Given that I only had basic IT "experience," it seemed a "no brainer" that this would not be a wise next step (in addition to a $500 per credit hour rate that would leave me significantly in debt).

Next, I spent some time looking into Coding Bootcamps, the pros and cons, reading testimonies, complaints, etc. After a few weeks I put this on pause and looked into a college certificate program. I decided against this due to the emphasis on textbooks, exams, and head knowledge over real world experience and application. I was ultimately drawn to Coding Bootcamps because you spend a good portion of your time actually building things, things that will benefit you in the future, that you can show to potential employers.

Finally, the question became: Which Bootcamp? There are some fine-looking bootcamps out there, and I am not interested in debating which are best. However, a number of things led me to choose Bloc. Here are five: The price, the mentorship, the part-time track, the ability to enter without prior training, and the number of positive reviews. I will leave it at that. If you would like me to expound on that, let me know and perhaps I will do an article that goes more in depth.

In the next post, we will look at the 'How' of this pursuit.