Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Danielle Floyd

Danielle Floyd graduated from cohort 3 of Careers in Code in September of 2022. She is now a Software Component Technician for Thales Group.

When Danielle applied to Careers in Code, she was a stay at home mom taking care of her youngest child. However, she wanted to develop a set of skills that would allow her to find a good career in today’s competitive, changing job market.

Danielle acredits Careers in Code for connecting her to the Syracuse Surge Apprenticeship, which pairs local budding software developers with local tech companies.

“Through Careers in Code I mustered up the confidence to just go apply with the hopes of simply “networking” within the technical community,” she said. “It was a pleasant surprise when I was accepted into the program, and further able to advance my career by taking part in the apprenticeship.”

In her current role, Danielle said she works on a team of about 13 people. One of the major projects she is working on right now is developing drone software that allows for visibility and tracking. Though her role requires Java, which is still a fresh language for her, Danielle has successfully worked 4 tickets.

“Specific [Careers in Code] projects that have helped me in my new role could go back as far as week 1, when we were taught the Kanban method. Each day as a developer we have scrum meetings and are assigned tickets using this method via Jira Software. It might seem simple but Careers I Code introduced me to this time management skill, that has become one of the incremental day to day tasks as a new apprentice.”

Beyond this time management skill, Danielle said that, even though she is not yet comfortable with Javascript, she always feels confident when approaching a new ticket, thanks to her time with Careers in Code. Danielle said that a lot of the building blocks she learned in Careers in Code can be applied to her day-to-day tasks.

“At Thales when I came across API calls, converting from JSON, Variables and data structure all of this was familiar territory. I use Commits, Push, and Pulls on almost every ticket, thanks to [Careers in Code in-field expert] Nathan this was also familiar,” said Danielle.

Moreover, Danielle said that Careers in Code was instrumental in building up her soft skills.

“Careers in Code has also given me something I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else, the confidence to research, ask for help, step away from a problem and look at it differently,” she said. “The program has given me a knowledge base, a lot of the language used in the industry would fly over my head, had I not been introduced to it during my time with Careers in Code. Furthermore they all act as a Network and give students access to a Technical Community that may have been inaccessible without them being a bridge and connecting you to their partners.”

Throughout the 24-week bootcamp, Danielle got a chance to experience a multitude of different areas within the software development industry so that she could decide which areas she wanted to build upon.

“Specific projects that I want to highlight would be the blog project. Max had always been an extremely knowledgeable instructor. However during the week of the blog project he took it up a notch and really made sure that the class was getting the concepts more than just following along.”

Danielle looks forward to growing more within her role at Thales Group, and is grateful for the renewed chance Careers in Code gave her to further develop her career path.