Gordon Campbell was an Engineer Officer in the US Military before making the jump into Software Engineering and graduating from Codesmith in 2019. He is now a Software Engineer at the Farmers Dog. Gordon reflects on what inspired him to transition into Software Engineering, what made Codesmith stand out, how his military experience helped him during his time in the program, and more!
[Music] Hi my name is Gordon I was a engineer Officer in the United States military I Graduated code Smith back in 2019 in the New York City Campus and I currently Work as a software engineer at the Farmer's dog so when I was in the Military I predominantly did like Operations work so a lot of that is you Know trying to Execute other people's Visions or Working with technologies that other People have created so when I transition Out of the military into technology I Continue to do operations work and I Found it wasn't really as like the Inspiring work I was looking for and I Wanted to be closer to actually Participating in Building Solutions and Seeing how they grow over time so that's How I looked into coding and how do I Transition closer to technology and Realistically it's all problem solving And that's really why I'm really excited And have enjoyed the journey thus far in My experience similar to I think everyone's experience in the Military there's always a sense of Culture and community that we all like Love and appreciate and that was Something that As I looked at different immersives that Was something that I wanted to get a Sense of you know did they want to
Foster a community or were they just Trying to push people through the Program to then get a job because I knew This isn't an easy space to be in and It's important to have you know a Network of people that you can rely on And reach out to and work with in the Future and that's what really focused me On code Smith so I really enjoyed like Two aspects of code Smith I think The sense of community the program put In you know Having everyone rotate working as Impaired programming as partners and Then two they really fostered this Mentality of you know owning your own Learning experience and not just trying To give you all the answers you know Trying to Foster that ability to when You run into a problem what does it take To solve that problem either on your own Or with your partner or your peer Programming partner and that was Probably the two the things I enjoyed The most and probably set me up the most For success The biggest thing with like being in the Military is you know you're placed in Very like uncomfortable situations and You you have to figure your way out with A group of people Um and the program is very intense very Time consuming uh and that's when people Get tired and they get frustrated with
Each other so having that experience Previously in the military I think made Going through those tough challenges in The program a whole lot easier for me I think code Smith when they set you up For the job search they try to set the Expectations that it's not going to be An easy process and it definitely wasn't For me I I did tons and tons of Interviews uh but That adversity similar to the military We've always hit that failure point and Being able to pick yourself back up and Then try to learn from that experience To then optimize and make yourself Better for the next one I think was the Biggest thing I took from the military Into the job search and I think code Smith does a great job of like setting Your expectations going into the job Search it's not all going to be Sunshines sunshine and Roses but you'll Get through it ultimately on the other Side The biggest thing that gave me the Confidence was You know even though it's going to be Difficult they're going to give you the Support to succeed and you're going to Learn your lessons along the way and so As I was going through the job search I Knew not to just accept the role because It was offered to me or it had a Significant amount of money I wanted to
Pick the role that was right for me and Code Smith really gave me the confidence That that was what should be the driving Force is what's the right role for you And I ended up finding that after many Tries and attempts and offers and Rejections finding that right role for Me that really helped Set me up for success in my current role Today I think the the best advice for anyone Making the transition is there's no one Size fits-all solution like I've met People that did self-study I've met People that have done multiple boot Camps some people that have done Um more formal education I think you Have to really assess where you are and What's right for you and for me I needed A structural formal like a structured Environment that's what code Smith Brought but I didn't want to spend four Years of my life to make this transition But I also needed To prepare myself to have a career and I Think if you can assess where you are And where you want to be I think Codesmith really checks all the boxes Where you're not spending four years and You're not having to suffer all on your Own you have a community they'll help Guide you in the right direction and Then you can find success at the end of The past if you're passionate about
Something it it doesn't really matter And that was one thing that I was Nervous about was is software Engineering what I fit in is that Could I fit in in that space And I think Codesmith really does a great job of Demystifying that whole philosophy and That whole mindset and if it's something You really want and it's the right fit For you then that's something you should Definitely go for
