Case Study

My digital career hit the buffers, now it’s back on track

3 Jul 2023

When his dream of an IT job failed to materialise, Alfie ended up bartending for several years. Delighted to then land a junior web developer role, the company folded less than a year into his 
fledgling career.

Referred to the Government’s Restart Scheme for support, his advisor pressed all the right buttons by suggesting a place on a four-week coding bootcamp. The online course was delivered by CodeVerse, which specialises in technology training for under-represented groups including those from low socio-economic backgrounds and people with neurodiverse conditions.

With London’s chronic digital skills shortage currently running at around 29,000 vacancies, the bootcamp was designed to prepare jobseekers for roles with companies looking for work-ready candidates. It also supported the Ingeus and CodeVerse commitment to boost social mobility and support businesses to increase the diversity of their workforces.

“I’ve always had a love for computers and anything technical,” says Alfie, who studied games programming at university, “so the bootcamp was a great opportunity.

“I was looking to learn another computer language such as Python but found the course taught me something more insightful – understanding the basic concepts and principles of coding, not just restricting myself to one language.

“Being dyslexic I’ve always been a bit slower to learn things, so I found it useful to be able to speak to the CodeVerse tutor Gautham when I needed further explanation.

“Even when I was at uni it was hard to speak to the tutors because they had 200 other students demanding their attention, so being able to get a quick response from Gautham was helpful. I was allowed extra time to complete tasks as well.

“He told me to focus first on what each language does, rather than concentrating on just one, because the industry changes constantly.

“In the past I’ve always felt I had to cling on to one subject, but now I want to learn whatever I can to give me the best chance of making a success of any role. Ideally I want to get a job where I am learning while working and go on to build a worthwhile career.”

That aim has been given a boost by Alfie being judged as one of the bootcamp’s top performers. It saw him awarded a certificate listing his new skills, offering extra credibility to his CV. 

He adds: “Through the bootcamp I feel like I’ve found a network of people who can help me and I’m much more hopeful about the future.”