Tell us a bit about you! Hello there ! I’m Ioana , currently living in Paris. In my professional life, I work as a Cybersecurity Officer in the Defense industry. In my personal life, I like to travel, paint, play guitar, and to regularly learn new things. What did you do before joining the Bootcamp? I used to be a Project Manager in the aerospace industry, at the crossroads of IT & Engineering - type of - projects. Why were you interested in Cybersecurity in the first place? On my last project I had to accidentally deal with a cybersecurity-related part as the project was in a military environment. So I had no previous knowledge of cybersecurity & I somehow had to start training myself on my own the best I could in order to make the project go smoothly. Why did you decide to make a career change? With plenty of time on my hands due to Covid, I was also financially able to invest in a new career as it was already on my mind for some time. The hardest was the first step - meaning the decision to dive in a new field, after that, everything kind of started to fall into place gradually & quite effortlessly. Looking back now, a year later, I can say beyond the shadow of any doubt, that it was one of the best professional decisions I had ever taken. How was your experience at Ironhack during the course? During the bootcamp I experienced a mix of fulfillment (at what I was achieving) sprinkled with frustration here & there (on the more technical or complex parts). I would say the most important is: to never give up even if it may look hard (or close to impossible at times). Success is going all the way, effort & resilience always pays back (in due time). How was the remote collaboration with the rest of the class? It was nice & easy & although remote, the colleagues were always eager to help out when someone gave them a shout. We even continued our collaboration after the class, when recommending different positions and/ or companies among us. It’s a pity we didn’t create a group on Signal or some other rather safe social network, we could have definitely kept in touch for longer. What did you enjoy the most about the self-learning format of the Bootcamp? It was done remotely in the comfort of my home - I tend to learn quicker & work more efficiently when I am in a psychologically safe / Home-like environment. I was also able - up to a point - to manage my own learning rhythm & adjust it accordingly based on my brain-sharp or brain-lazy hours during the day. After graduating, you found a job. What would you highlight from your current company and position? I actually found several positions & I worked for 3 companies already since I graduated last year, all of them in cybersecurity. It was hardest in the beginning due to the obvious lack of cyber work experience. But once I got on the cyber market, it literally rained with opportunities & I was no longer forced to let other people choose me, I chose the best for myself. Piece of advice on this one: life is short so never settle unless you feel appreciated, valued & fulfilled where you are. And yes, it does exist. How did the Bootcamp prepare you for the job market? I honestly don’t think I could have been here without the Bootcamp. It definitely provided the necessary tools, knowledge, technology & the self-confidence that came with all these. It was thanks to the bootcamp that I managed to get on the cyber market & to make my career change & ultimately proudly work in an awesome company that I greatly cherish. What advice would you give to those who want to get started in the tech sector and are afraid of change? Whether we like it to admit or not, our entire life means constant change. Look at it this way: yes, it’s scary to make a big change (& fear potential failure) but you know what it’s even scarier ? Regret (of not having risked it when you had the chance, energy & finances). So be scared (if you cannot help it), but do it anyway. Just some advice from my side: whenever you feel not (experienced or skilled) enough for a position you’d like to apply & you somehow don’t feel ready, do it anyway. Take the risk, let a company tell you no (it’s a possibility), but don’t tell yourself no beforehand, don’t sabotage your own opportunity. don’t forget to celebrate success (even small successful moments), remember you are your biggest fan, be kind to yourself & understand this is a process - stairs to climb one by one - and not a one-time target to hit. fear is an illusion, most of the things we fear do not happen, train that resilience & mental strength, run risks regularly & know that failure is a greater teacher than success & a perfect trainer to prepare you for better things to come. Now go & be courageous & enjoy every bit of that cyber ride out there !

We recently met with Daniel, a 32 year old front end developer. He trained with Ironhack in the very first Madrid cohort which started at the end of 2012. Being first to market in Spain meant that the first group of trainees would enter a whole undiscovered opportunity. It gave him the chance to be part of something bigger from the start. 10 years later he reflects about his experience and his journey which lead him to become a Senior Front-end Developer. He is now based in London, a capital for tech working with Beauhurst. Here is what he told us: What was your perception of bootcamps back then? What made you want to start? Back then, the tech “bootcamp” was not well known in Madrid, so Ironhack was really the first one coming up! It caught a lot of attention since it was something really new! At the time, we studied Ruby on Rails, the concept of tech bootcamps was still unknown, and it was an incredibly exciting opportunity. I was taking the bootcamp with both Ariel Quinones and Gonzalo Manrique, the co-founders of Ironhack, joining as fellow students. Before joining I did a Computer Science degree at university and I wanted more experience coding. I thought Ruby on Rails would be good for my CV, and thought why not learn something new! What have you been up to these past 10 years? I haven’t stopped learning! There are always new languages to learn. I’ve studied React, and Angular. Right now I’m focusing on React as I’m doing personal projects with React and using View in my work. It’s good to know the basis of these languages as you can compare what you like and what you learn more easily. I moved to London in 2015, started working almost immediately. What benefits did you get from doing Ironhack? One of the main benefits is the community! I’m still talking to the guys that did the bootcamp with me, some are in the US. You have this community that you can ask when you’re looking for someone with certain skills, you can help them and get help from them! Sometimes you get drinks together, sometimes you get interesting emails. So one of the best benefits is definitely the community. The other benefit would be the skills that you get that are actually used in work. It’s not like in university, where you have a lot of theory, in Ironhack everything that you do is applied in real work. Why did you move to London? Can you tell us about your experience finding the job and working in London’s tech scene? I learnt English in the USA, in San Francisco, and I asked them what is the place in Europe most similar to San Francisco, and they said London! It’s the most cosmopolitan, everyone speaks English, there’s a lot of buzz in fintech and job opportunities in tech in general, so it was the place to be! My first day in London I went to a meetup and got a job, The fourth day since arriving to London was Monday and I started working! This city is crazy, always busy and always changing! People care about how you’re treated, the companies care for you, you work with people from around the world, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English, etc. The salaries here are excellent as well. What has been the outcome from the time you took the bootcamp to what you’re doing today? I guess if I look back from the boot camp until today, I think it helped me a lot to open my mind, to know what my strengths were at that moment but also, help me a lot to Interact with people much older than me and work as a team. Remember that I was 21 when I did it. So all these points are things that from the bootcamp I realized I needed and today I am still trying to improve them. What have been some of the most amazing achievements that you have accomplished since then? Well, I am quite proud right now of the Beauhurst platform, the company I've worked with over the last 5 years. It is something that I care about a lot. What is your current role, company and responsibilities? How have they changed over the years? Right now, I am a senior front end developer at Beauhurst.  We are redesigning the entry platform and at the same time I need to help juniors to progress to their task. Since the beginning I remember the first website I made… I will say to myself, good job but you need to improve in this or that, so keep going! Lastly, what would you say to someone who’s thinking about breaking into tech or just getting started? First I would tell them to try any tutorial and try to build something to get the feeling of if they’d like to work in this industry. Check job offers and their requirements, try to see yourself working in that environment and if it suits you. If you want to work remotely, try working by yourself for a couple of days and see how you feel. If you want to work in a company, try working in a coffee shop with a little bit of noise and see how that feels. Go to meet-ups, meet people, open your mind and see if it’s really what you want to do. Now Daniel joins the alumni network that we’ve built for Ironhack in the UK. He keeps building more connections while learning and supporting others and taking part at community events.

Sometimes choosing a Bootcamp doesn’t need to be with the aim to have a 180° change in your life. Bootcamps are also very resourceful for people who want to upskill themselves. This exactly is what Cindy Oran did. She works right now as the Head of Product Marketer and used the Bootcamp to learn UX/UI to better collaborate with the designers in her team. Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m Cindy Oran, born and raised in Toronto, lived a couple of years in Paris, and then moved to Berlin because the European lifestyle appeals more to me. I like to call myself a curious chameleon as I’m adaptable but also tend to question everything. I love to travel, try new cuisine, hang out with friends, and meet new people. What were you doing before you decided to join an Ironhack bootcamp? I was working as a Product Marketing Manager for various companies. As a Product Marketer, you are focused on evangelizing, branding, and positioning the products. This means there are different projects I would be working on every day cross-functionally. It can be market research, designing product pages with designers, creating collateral for clients, training the sales team on the products or new features, writing out white papers and case studies, influencing the product teams on roadmaps, and so on. Why did you decide to make a career change? I didn’t go into this with the intention of changing careers but more so leveling up my skill set. I was open to roles as a Product Designer by the end of the course but had more so the intention of combining my skills. Essentially I wanted to learn a solid foundation in UX/UI design to better collaborate with the designers I was working with on a regular basis (Graphic, UX, brand, etc.). I noticed there was an overlap when it came to product marketing and design such as user flows, where a feature should be added on a platform, or how we conducted research for users and products. By taking this bootcamp, it was my way of helping to make the collaboration more seamless and efficient. What convinced you that Ironhack was the right choice for you? I did a lot of research and asked friends who had done different UX/UI bootcamps. There were many options out and I was also looking for something that was covered by the Agentur für Arbeit since I was unemployed at the time. It came down to two options which were CareerFoundry and Ironhack. I read a bunch of blogs comparing the two. Most people I knew actually did CF. In the end, what made me decide on Ironhack were a few things: The LIVE classes with an instructor and classmates were a huge selling point. We were already a year into Covid (this was March 2021) and I missed having human interactions, to be honest, and this felt like the perfect opportunity to stay motivated, engaged and meet new people while learning a topic I enjoyed. The course being covered by the German government was definitely a huge plus It covered topics I genuinely was interested in such as design thinking, interaction design, and so on. I had done other courses in design thinking with IDEO and IDF (interaction design foundation) It was full-time, and you were expected to be done in 2.5 months The career service was outstanding. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to switch careers at the end but they were very supportive in helping me keep both options open. Helping me prepare a CV with my current Product Marketing skills and adding UX, then also having a separate Product Designer CV. What was your experience like on the course? Absolutely brilliant. Honestly one of the best decisions I’ve made in my career is to take this course. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the curriculum to the teachers and classmates. I could not have been more pleased and grateful to have Milan as my instructor. He is incredibly knowledgeable in the field. He used real-life examples every time to help us better understand the concepts and led by example when it came to giving feedback. He also has a dark sense of humor, making it even more fun. As for my classmates - they were super fun! We had Ironhackers from all over the world in the Berlin remote cohort. We are still friends to this day and hang out on occasion. I think it's beneficial that Ironhack limits the class size to ~18 people so you can really get to know your peers. You're spending so much time together and it was one of the motivations to wake up and dive into the class. Everyone was so lovely, including our two Teaching Assistants Rafa and Maria. Maybe I’m just biased… but I think we had the best cohort! :) What interests you most about your bootcamp topic? (UX/UI, WebDev, Cyber, Data) Everything in the UX/UI course. Ironhack has given me more confidence when collaborating with designers, proposing new ideas, reviewing products, and conducting research. There’s so much overlap so it feels great to know that I can bring something to the table outside my product marketing scope. I was also curious about the Ironhack competition, where we came in 2nd place! (designed a whole website for a startup). Did you take advantage of Ironhack’s career services? How did your bootcamp prepare you for the job market? Helped me create a CV that combined product marketing and UX/UI design, and another as a Product Designer. Very impressed by how much effort is put into helping the students land a job. We had alumni speak about their experience and what they were doing now (some freelanced, others found work in the field) What have you been up to since graduating? After graduating I got a job as a Product Marketing Manager at Klarna where I was able to combine my UX/UI skills (as intended)! We were short on design staff so I was able to jump in and apply my new skills - and it was very beneficial as expected. Since then, I’ve moved on to a new role as Head of Product Marketing at Moss where I hope to continue applying my design knowledge. I still keep in touch with my classmates! What are you looking forward to in the future? I’m looking forward to seeing where this new role will take me. This is the largest design team I’ve had to work with so far, so I am curious how we will collaborate on all the projects. I truly believe there is an intersection between Product Marketing, and UX/UI Design and am excited to see how it will unfold. Interested in boosting your career with UX/UI Design, like Cindy did? Take a look at our bootcamp !

Choosing the right career for us isn't just about the field itself: its culture will also impact our lives. Many people that pivot into tech seek more flexible workplace cultures, or a different type of fulfilment from their job. We talked to Rosa, a former architect from Düsseldorf with a passion for volunteering, who became an Ironhacker by completing one of our bootcamps and subsequently becoming a UX/UI Design Consultant. Tell us a bit about yourself. I'm Rosa, I'm 29 years old, and I come from the Architecture sector. I studied my Bachelor's and Master's in Architecture in Düsseldorf and Munich. I love to travel, I've visited many countries: I did a semester abroad in Ljubljana, I went to New Zealand to work and travel, and after I finished my studies, I spent some time in India and completed yoga teachers' training. I also enjoy volunteering: during my Bachelor's I helped build a youth theatre. Last year, I built a camper van with my husband to go explore Europe. In my free time, I love to do sports, such as running, bouldering or hiking. In the morning I always start the day with some yoga practice, too. What were you doing before you decided to join an Ironhack bootcamp? Before Ironhack, I quit my Job in an architecture office and tried to figure out what to do, and I came across the UX/UI Bootcamp and was really interested. I enrolled and before it started I self-studied a bit in Figma and tried to get ready. Why did you decide to make a career change? I was not happy with my previous career. I wanted to work in more flexible, less conservative structures. What convinced you that Ironhack was the right choice for you? I heard about it in a podcast. I liked the idea of a different structure than in more classic studies, especially because I already spent some time getting my Bachelor's and Master's. I liked that it seemed really close to practical experience, so you get a good preparation for the real work experience. What was your experience like on the course? I got along with most of the other students: everybody was nice and brought some new insights from their different backgrounds. My instructor, Juno, and Teacher's Assistant, James, were super nice– I always had the feeling I learned a lot and didn't need to hesitate to ask something. They gave great insights besides the Ironhack materials, sharing lessons from their real-life experience, which was super helpful. What interests you most about your bootcamp topic, UX/UI? I love the psychological aspect of it: thinking about how people use the product, and figuring out what they actually want or need, instead of designing what I think is going to be good for them. And then, being creative and building something for them to use intuitively. For me, it's about the process, which is super fun and interesting because I don't just create something– I learn so much during every Design Thinking process. Did you take advantage of Ironhack’s career services? How did your bootcamp prepare you for the job market? I was always in close contact with my career coach, Inese. it was super helpful to have someone to ask if you don't know how to handle a situation. The best part of the career week was the preparation of my CV and LinkedIn. I felt really well-prepared to know how to talk in an interview and how to show my skills and background. What have you been up to since graduating? The job hunt went well! After less than 2 months of "hunting", I had 3 job offers and could pick the one I liked the most. What are you looking forward to in the future? I'm excited about my new career path, and working in a cool team with great people in a flexible work environment: I look forward to learn something new every day, and get great insights from all kinds of people with different backgrounds and interests. Interested in switching careers to UX/UI Design, like Rosa did? Take a look at our bootcamp !

The Ironhack community includes everyone who enrolls in our bootcamps, as well as everyone who has already graduated from them– our Ironhack alumni! It also includes our awesome teachers and TAs (because what’s a school without teachers?), our on-campus staff and, of course, Team Ironhack! (Like the people writing this article… hi there!) Ironhackers are people who have decided to take the leap and start the tech career of their dreams. We are inherently diverse. Ironhackers are often tech newbies and career changers, which is a very open definition; our community includes people from all walks of life, demographics, and lines of work. We have Ironhack campuses in 10 countries, and that’s not counting our remote students and campuses! However, we all share a set of values and traits that make us true-blue Ironhackers. Our sense of community defines us: we collaborate and support each other, and organize many networking opportunities and Ironhacker events to meet and come together, like the Ironbeers events. As you can see in this video, with 10 years of Ironhacking and over 10,000 graduates, we’ve become a large tech family! What Makes An Ironhacker So, do you have what it takes to become an Ironhacker? Read on to find out about our core values that define exactly who our Ironhackers are. A love of learning Working in tech requires constant learning. There’s a myriad of coding languages, programs, and technological advances out there, and their number grows every day. A relentless thirst for knowledge is, therefore, a must to face the daunting world of tech and thrive! At Ironhack, everyone shares this enthusiasm: we pick up new skills, we learn from each other, and we share what we’ve found to be valuable in our social media channels, live webinars, and more. Just take a look at our podcast, where Ironhack alumni and industry experts tell us about the unique tech careers they’ve built and how they did it. Or check out some of our blog posts, where we talk about stuff like digital nomads in tech or ethical hacking ! The spirit of adventure If as a kid you fantasized about exploring jungles, oceans, or even other planets, the tech world might be the place for you! It takes guts, nerves of steel (or rather, iron!), and, especially, a love for change and uncertainty to work in tech, where trends and technologies change in the blink of an eye. Ironhackers know that flexibility is key to improve, and are ready to jump into adventure. Some of our alumni even cross borders to change their lives! Ironhackers aren’t afraid to embrace change, going as far as moving to a different country or turning their careers around to follow their passion, like Amr did when he left Syria for Germany and used his background as a fine artist to become a UX/UI designer . Respect and empathy Ironhack is for everyone: we love people and their stories! Diversity makes us stronger, and that isn’t just a catchy phrase: it fuels innovation, bringing in new voices and a variety of perspectives that spark new ideas and out-of-the-box thinking. Research has proven that the more diverse the team, the more fruitful and original the results of collaboration will be. But being open to diversity also changes the way we think and behave. If we consciously make an effort to listen to others and put ourselves in their shoes, no matter how different their viewpoints, what we put into the world will be more inclusive of differences and constructive, too. We’ve all seen the studies on how face recognition AIs can share the unconscious racist stereotypes of their creators. Our biases and prejudice reflect in the technology we create; but our actions to respect and include those that are different from us will have a profound effect, too. Ambition Everyone who comes to Ironhack comes because they have a goal. Whether you want to take the plunge into tech for the first time, level up your current skill stack, or completely transform your life, Ironhackers are all in! We're driven and ambitious, and we can adapt to any environment in order to reach our goals; we’re committed to long hours of learning (bootcamps are intense!), and we don’t wait to start our own projects. In Ironhack, we’re always hearing about the latest ideas our students and alumni have come up with. We’re just that excited about tech! Do You Have What It Takes To Be An Ironhacker? The Ironhacker life is challenging, but incredibly rewarding. As we said at the beginning of this post, we aren’t just any tech school: we value our community more than anything, and we care for our own. No one is an island, especially in the world of tech. When you become an Ironhacker, you get a family for life. The friends you make along the way, as you acquire tech skills and become job-ready, will accompany you after you finish the bootcamp. We keep in touch; we constantly hear stories about alumni who met on campus and started projects, startups and other ventures together! But with Ironhack, you also get much more than a top-tier education and a diploma: we are outcomes-focused, which means we want you to get that tech career you’ve been dreaming of! We give our students personalized career support and access to our list of hiring partners so you can start your tech career with a bang and an unshakeable confidence in your career prospects. With Ironhack, you’ll join a global community of learners and tech lovers. Download our syllabus and start your journey into tech!

It's not uncommon for people to discover their love of the tech industry whilst they're in the middle of a completely different career. Pivoting into tech is actually more common than you think. We got to chat with Dominik, a former Customer Success Manager, who studied Web Development with Ironhack Amsterdam and achieved his dream of becoming a Front-End Developer. From Customer Success Manager to Front-End Developer Tell us about your experience at Ironhack It was intense for sure, to the point that I spent several weeks even coding in my dreams! But it was also great: my progress was immediately visible. Day by day, week by week, I was able to create things I wasn’t able to before. I went through the ups and downs of coding, the frustration and successes, together with the people and friends I met there and a tutor we could always rely on. What did you do before doing the bootcamp? I was a Customer/Partner Success Manager before. It’s a job which I mostly spent in meetings, listening to the customers’ needs and challenges and orchestrating our own internal departments to provide a fitting solution. Why did you decide to make a career change? As much as I enjoyed my previous job along with my colleagues and management, ultimately I felt something missing from it. I enjoy creating things, be it drawings, stories, music, or even games; I found that my job didn’t include this aspect. I just mentioned games: at one point I started tinkering with game engines as a hobby, out of curiosity. For that, I needed to learn about coding, and I was immediately hooked. I didn’t want to make games professionally, but I enjoyed the process of programming and the problem solving that comes with it, so much that it became clear to me that this is the track I wanted to steer my career towards. Do you think your experience as a Customer Success Manager has helped you in the world of programming? How? There is this idea that coding is mostly done in solitude, which really isn’t the case. It’s very important to know how to work together as a team and communicate well. These were also some of the focal points in my previous job and it helped me a lot to gain traction as a fresh developer. After graduating, you found a job. What would you highlight from your current company and position? As a developer, you might be more flexible than you realize. I worked on some projects that included tech stacks I had never worked with before, sometimes even picking up a new program language along the way. And that’s the beauty of this profession for me: y ou always, always learn new things . Problems that seem initially insurmountable can be broken down into smaller problems and solved. What advice would you give to those people who want to get started in the tech sector and are afraid of change? My advice is to feel the waters first. Do a basic coding course , see if you enjoy it and write a few pieces of code on your own. If you enjoy doing it and see yourself doing this as a profession, then simply go for it. This is how I did it and I am happy that I followed my gut.

Before 2020, it would have seemed impossible to change the course of your career with nothing but a laptop and some free time. But our student Ioana took the leap with an Ironhack remote Cybersecurity bootcamp and did just that! Let's hear from Ioana on how she made the change to become a Cybersecurity Officer and overcome self-doubt. And, of course, listen to her advice for building a career you love without fear! Hi Ioana! Tell us a bit about you. Hello there! I’m Ioana , currently living in Paris. In my professional life, I work as a Cybersecurity Officer in the Defense industry; in my personal life, I like to travel, paint, play guitar, and regularly learn new things. I used to be a Project Manager in the aerospace industry at the crossroads of IT & Engineering projects. Why were you interested in cybersecurity in the first place? On my last project, I had to (accidentally!) deal with cybersecurity as the project was in a military environment. I had no previous knowledge of cybersecurity and I somehow had to start teaching myself the best I could in order to make the project go smoothly. Why did you decide to make a career change? With plenty of time on my hands due to COVID-19, I was also financially able to invest in a new career; it had already been on my mind for some time. The hardest part was the first step (I mean the decision to dive into a new field); after that, everything kind of started to fall into place gradually and quite effortlessly. Looking back now a year later, I can say beyond the shadow of any doubt that it was one of the best professional decisions I had ever taken. The Ironhack Experience During the bootcamp, I experienced a mix of fulfillment at what I was achieving sprinkled with frustration here and there due to the more technical or complex parts. I would say the most important thing is to never give up, even if it may look hard or even impossible at times. Success is going all the way; effort and resilience always pay back in due time. Ironhack remote It was nice and easy and although it was remote, my colleagues were always eager to help out when someone gave them a shout. We even continued our collaboration after the class, when recommending different positions and/or companies. What did you enjoy the most about the self-learning format of the bootcamp? It was done remotely in the comfort of my home - I tend to learn quicker and work more efficiently when I am in a psychologically safe/home-like environment. I was also able, up to a point, to manage my own learning rhythm and adjust it accordingly, based on my brain-sharp or brain-lazy hours during the day. After Ironhack I actually found several positions and I've already worked for 3 companies since I graduated last year, all of them in cybersecurity. It was hardest in the beginning, due to the obvious lack of cyber work experience. But once I got on the cyber market, it rained with opportunities and I was no longer forced to let other people choose me; I chose the best for myself. A little piece of advice on this one: life is short, so never settle unless you feel appreciated, valued, and fulfilled where you are . And yes, it's possible! How did the bootcamp prepare you for the job market? I honestly don’t think I could have been here without the bootcamp . It definitely provided the necessary tools, knowledge, technology, and self-confidence. Thanks to the bootcamp, I managed to get into the cyber market, make my career change, and ultimately work in an awesome company that I greatly cherish. What advice would you give to those who want to get started in the tech sector and are afraid of change? Whether we like it or not, our entire life means constant change. Look at it this way: yes, it’s scary to make a big change (and fear potential failure), but you know what it’s even scarier? Regretting not taking the chance when you had the time, energy, and money. Be scared if you cannot help it, but do it anyway. Final Thoughts & Advice Whether or not you feel experienced, ready, or skilled enough for a position you’d like to apply for, do it anyway. Take the risk, let a company tell you no (it’s a possibility), but don’t tell yourself no beforehand. Don’t sabotage your own opportunity. Don’t forget to celebrate success, even small successful moments. Remember, YOU are your biggest fan! Be kind to yourself and understand that this is a process, there are stairs to climb one by one, not a one-time target to hit. Fear is an illusion; most of the things we fear do not happen. Train that resilience and mental strength, take risks, and know that failure is a greater teacher than success. It's truly the perfect way to prepare you for better things to come. Now go and be courageous and enjoy every bit of that cyber ride out there!

A French and Canadian national, Clémence is an Ironhacker who is passionate about the world of design and the life of a freelancer. After completing the UX/UI design bootcamp, at the Ironhack Barcelona campus in 2020, Clémence began to manage her network of contacts throughout Europe and found a niche within the freelance world. Learn about her story in this interview. Ironhack Barcelona Studying at Ironhack changed my life at every level. I chose Ironhack because it was more advanced and demanding. I was looking for an immersive experience that could level up my designing skills and it exceeded all my expectations. I applied for a scholarship from Canada, chose to study at the Barcelona campus, and fell in love with the city. Now, after a year, I am still here. Before Ironhack I originally studied Systems Engineering. During my first 3 years of work, I became passionate about work methodologies and tried different roles in technology such as Scrum Master and Product Owner and in the end, UX design. I was able to gain design experience through this work and then switched to freelancing. So I was working as a freelance UX designer before the bootcamp ! The bootcamp helped me deepen and solidify my skills. Do you think that having previously worked in other countries has helped you in the world of design? How? Sure! Since I started my career in Canada, I was primarily exposed to the North American culture of working. This means that in the world where I grew up, entrepreneurship and autonomy were highly valued. It was a world where I felt like I had the freedom and support to grow in the direction I wanted. That allowed me to change careers several times and launch myself into freelancing without fear. Also, the fact that I speak 3 languages gives me many job opportunities. For example, I have a project with an American company where I have to do User Research with people in Spain and France! After Ironhack I was already working as a freelancer in Canada before the course started. So when the course ended and all the students were applying for positions here in Spain, I was doing a lot of networking all over Europe to create my network of contacts from scratch. And now I have job opportunities in different cities in Europe and have the privilege of being able to choose my favorite projects. What is your day-to-day like as a freelance UX/UI designer? Being a freelancer allows me to have flexibility in my day-to-day life. I work 3-4 days a week from where I want to and I collaborate with several people in different companies throughout Europe, which allows me to continue growing and learning in a very open context. All graduate students have access to the Ironhack campus to continue working by their side. What do you think of this opportunity? This was one of the reasons why I chose Ironhack! Even though I finished the bootcamp, I go to work from campus almost every day! People even think I work for Ironhack! But also, I love the idea of being able to visit the other campuses because I move around a lot in various cities and that allows me to have access to a workspace and a local community. For example, I went to visit the campus and team in Berlin and that gave me opportunities to do events and collaborate with companies in Germany. Would you recommend Ironhack to friends or family? Of course! I love talking about my Ironhack experience and all the positive things it has brought into my life. I highly recommend the bootcamp for people who want to dedicate themselves to changing careers and who are looking for a very dense and practical type of education. But I also know that it is a big decision, so it is important that each one thinks carefully about the best way and the best time to change careers. Just doing a bootcamp is not enough to become a UX designer, but the course is the beginning of a great adventure 🚀 Can you imagine doing a bootcamp and having the opportunity to work as a freelancer? Don't think twice and apply to our bootcamps !