Alumni Spotlights

Breaking into tech doesn’t hinge on a single moment of inspiration or a perfectly timed career move. More often, it’s the result of sustained effort and building a real portfolio, then networking with intention. Two

After a decade in financial services, Spencer Polans found himself at a crossroads. His mortgage lending career was stable, but it wasn't fulfilling, and he knew he wanted to be at the forefront of the AI and technology revolution, reshaping industries. Spencer decided to take the leap, enrolling full-time in 

After leaving her job at a veterinary clinic in 2023, Char Burton knew she wanted a career that offered long-term growth and impact. Inspired by her boyfriend’s success in a coding bootcamp, she began researching tech careers – and after comparing dozens of programs, she landed on

After years of working as a dietitian in healthcare and food service, David hit a career ceiling – and with a young family at home, returning to school for four more years wasn’t an option. In this Q&A, David shares how he made the leap into Software QA with

Mai Vang is a Flatiron School graduate who made the leap from political science and finance to software engineering. After graduating from Flatiron School in 2022, she faced a tough job market and treated the job search like...

Ippolito Ricca is a WBS CODING SCHOOL graduate who enhanced his career in music and entertainment by adding AI expertise to his toolkit. Since completing WBS CODING SCHOOL's AI for Business Bootcamp in 2025, Ippolito has leveraged his new skills to consult music tech soft...

In 2017, Tim was working in finance and feeling the familiar mix of fear and uncertainty that comes with a major career pivot. But after enrolling in General Assembly’s Web Development Immersive, he made the leap into tech. Today, Tim is the Manager of Solutions Engineering at Quantum Metric. In this Q&A, he shares how the netw...

After 15 years in education and school administration, Miriam Chait was ready to return to her original passion: technology. With a Computer Science degree but a long gap in technical work, she turned to Springboard’s Software Engineering Career Track to refresh her skills and re-enter the workforce. Miriam landed a f...

Julie Liu already had an impressive foundation in UX design – a double major from UC Berkeley, the Google UX Design Certificate, and real-world product experience. But when the job market got tough in 2023, she turned to Springboard’s UX Career Track bootcamp to sharpen her skill...

When Kiffany Scammell was furloughed in 2020, she used the unexpected pause to reflect on her career path and take action. After discovering a newfound interest in analytics, Kiffany embarked on many Udacity courses that helped transform her career. Now a Senior Product ...

After working in property management, Valerie Rodriguez was ready for a new challenge and set her sights on the tech industry. Drawn to the problem-solving side of coding and inspired by her small projects with Python, she enrolled in 

When Isaac Lewin enrolled in Careerist’s Tech Sales Bootcamp, he already had a solid foundation in sales. But Isaac wanted more than experience — he wanted credibility and a better understanding of tech sales. Isaac saw Careerist as a way to lev...

Danielle Cook’s journey into tech began with a desire for change sparked during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a manager and essential worker, she realized she wanted the flexibility and opportunity a remote tech career could offer. With support from friends already in the tech industry, Danielle began researching programs that could help her pivot, eventually landing on

Running his own website-building business gave him a broad skillset, but Josh Kleckner found the operational demands overwhelming and wanted to focus on what he enjoyed most: improving systems and finding bugs. That desire led him to enroll in the

When Rachel Yen started encountering more complicated datasets in her job at HubSpot, she turned to the Data Analytics Short Course at General Assembly to level up her skills. Over 10 weeks, Rachel got hands-on experience with SQL, Snowflake, Ta...

René Weiberlenn made a bold career shift from audio engineering to full stack web development, fueled by a long-standing interest in tech. After choosing Berlin-based

With over a decade of tech experience, Alok Roy knew he had the technical skills to succeed — but when it came to interviews, something was missing. He turned to Interview Kickstart, a structured program that helped him refine his technical knowledge, bui...

It's no surprise that understanding AI is becoming a key component of the software engineering career. But how and where can software engineers learn the right AI tools and skills that will advance their careers? We caught up with Will Kencel, a Software Engineer (SDE II) at Microsoft, to lea...

The way software engineers work has changed a lot over the past few years, especially with the rise of remote jobs. Lately, we’re seeing more companies push for a return to the office. So, what are the benefits of either work environment for new developers? Does working in-person make it easier to learn and network, or does remote work still win when it comes to flexibility and work-life bala...

Why would a college student add a short course to an already busy schedule? For university student Jade Looi, enrolling in General Assembly’s Data Analytics Short Course was a smart move to boo...