Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Kelly Corey
Careers in Code Student Success Stories is a series focused on our coding bootcamp graduates. We’re following their progress in the six months after graduation to learn about projects they’re working on, job placements, and other exciting updates. Our first cohort graduated in August 2019.
Kelly Corey is one of our most active Careers in Code alums! When she came to the coding bootcamp in March 2019, she was looking to transition from her communications background into a full-time software developer role. At first, she wasn’t sure STEM was the right field for her, but once she started networking with some folks who were already working as web developers, she got a better sense of what the job entailed and decided to pursue it professionally.
Three months after summer graduation, Kelly joined the Leadership Team of the Syracuse Women in Coding Meetup, founded by Upstate Interactive’s Zoe Koulouris and Kseniya Lifanova, in November. They hold a workshop on the second Saturday of every month from 10am to noon at Commonspace Work.
She also co-founded Salt City Code, a podcast about the Syracuse tech community, alongside fellow CIC grad Karin Thorne. They are 15 episodes in and have interviewed several people from Careers in Code, with more on the way! Kelly and Karin are always looking for guests on the show, so if you’re interested in signing up to record with them, visit their scheduling page here or email saltcitycode@gmail.com.
In addition to the meetup and podcast, Kelly is also working on the Hack Upstate website with CIC alum Kaitlyn Warboy and intern Will Guisbond transitioning the current site from HTML and CSS to GatsbyJS.
The latest in her journey? She’s landed a job with Upstate Interactive, and has been asked to give her first-ever talk!
“I’m thrilled to be working for UI! The team has been great so far. My current role is software engineer and it’s junior dev work, which is perfect for me. I’m an independent contractor so once my contract’s up with UI, I hope to take the experience gained there and transition into a full-time role with a local company.”
Kelly will also be speaking at Gatsby in the Morning, a GatsbyJS-focused event hosted by Upstate Interactive’s Peter Smith on March 21. She will join local Gatsby legend Ben Lannon for a presentation and workshop offering hands-on experience using the framework.
“Careers in Code continues to change my life for the better even after graduation. The amount of opportunities for personal and professional development offered to me as a direct result of going through this program have been absolutely surreal. I remain grateful to the Hack Upstate team for taking a chance on me and I’m excited to see the program grow and thrive in the future!”
Keep in touch with Kelly! Connect with her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her podcast.
