Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Melaquan Saffold

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.

In the wake of losing his job as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Melaquan Saffold, or Mel, decided it was finally time to learn coding. Although his experience with coding & programming was limited to an Introduction to Computer Science course as an undergraduate student at Stony Brook University, he was not afraid to challenge himself by diving deeper into coding.

Before joining Careers in Code, Mel worked part-time as a teacher while holding a full-time position in operations at Anheuser-Busch. He said that he has always been an outside-of-the-box thinker. He is never afraid of competition and enjoys being challenged.

Upon joining the second cohort of Careers in Code, Mel cited his goal as achieving a job in the tech industry where he could gain working experience. This comes soon after he started his own business, which he also hoped would benefit from his time with Careers in Code.

Mel now works in IT for the City of Syracuse as a Product Manager. He is the Enterprise Project lead for the Digital Services division of IT, which means that he is currently managing payroll modernization products for all of the city’s employees. This is a flowering position; as the city continues to build on its smart city initiatives, Mel says he will manage several other products.

He says that his time in Careers and Code helped him understand agile principles, sdlc, and gave him a greater understanding of data from a technological standpoint. All of these tools were applicable to Mel’s new role in the Digital Services department.

Mel’s story is a shining example of what Careers in Code has to offer to students with little to no coding experience.

After completing the Careers in Code journey, Mel is now among numerous other CiC graduates who used the coding experience that they gained to take their career path by the reins. Congratulations and best of luck, Mel!