Balancing College, Work, Family, and a Part-Time Bootcamp to Find Tech Success: Jeremy Rivera’s TripleTen Story

Sometimes, words lose their meanings. The word dedication, for example. It has been rendered semantically vacant over years of contradictory use. But sometimes someone makes you realize that these words do actually signify something. Jeremy Rivera has reminded us what dedication truly means. Here’s how his embodiment of the word brought him to a new, fruitful career in tech.

Starting out

Jeremy’s schedule was booked up. He had family duties, was finishing a college degree in communications and media, and was also working a full-time job in distribution. But it was slowly dawning on him that his career wouldn’t be sustainable in the long-run. He wanted something more reliable. “I saw the market value of being a software engineer or a web developer,” Jeremy says.

So he was already primed when his friend confirmed that he should pursue a new career and recommended TripleTen. He enrolled.

Knuckling down

According to Jeremy, seeing to all his responsibilities was tough but doable. “It just came down to time management.

“I worked my distribution job 4-5 days a week. I would leave work, drive to school, go to class at 2:30 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m., and get home around 10 p.m. before waking up at 3 a.m. to get ready for my job. I managed to fit the bootcamp in the time I would’ve spent binging Netflix or being out every weekend.”

But more than just squeezing the bootcamp into the gaps in his schedule, he made the most of it. He joined friendly competitions and an externship.

The externship was for a real company, making a project they could implement and use. With a team of 12 students, we built the front end on an app and built the user experience for that app. Especially when you start learning, you need that extra experience away from the rudimentary project-based structure — the hands-on experience at TripleTen was invaluable.

Going beyond distribution

As Jeremy was getting his skills down in his externship, TripleTen was simultaneously helping him with career prep. “TripleTen focused on tailoring my resume and getting me active on LinkedIn. They also encouraged putting my portfolio on Upwork for freelancing work plus connecting with people through word-of-mouth to build my network.”

Soon enough, he was applying for jobs. “I applied for everything without even reading the qualifications. I saw it as a numbers game.” 

The gambit paid off. He got the attention of The Walters Institute.

Overall, I wasn’t nervous about the interviews — if I got past the resume clearing I felt confident I could sell myself in the interviews

The confidence he had earned during his time with TripleTen shone through. Before he graduated from college or finished the bootcamp, he had landed the job. “TripleTen prepared me,” he says.

The job he was looking for

Now, he’s a key member of The Walters Institute. “Currently, I am the tech team! The Walters Institute is an on-demand tax planning, education, and support platform. I started out by doing a pretty heavy site migration to get it in a stable place. I intend to do further refactoring on the back end. We’re using the CRM and Salesforce, and I’m doing a lot with their data.”

And TripleTen was a crucial piece of the puzzle.

I use what I learned at TripleTen every day. TripleTen not only taught me programming but how to think logically about different things.

The dedication he put in? It paid off. Now instead of balancing college, a fading career, family, and a bootcamp, he’s pursuing new knowledge in his free time. “On top of JavaScript and React, I’m learning TypeScript and other React frameworks.”

Our pitch to you

If you, too, are looking for a part-time bootcamp that will reward your dedication to finding a sustainable career, then TripleTen can help. Check out the programs we offer, and if you’re not sure which tech specialty to pursue, try our career quiz.

And if you want to hear Jermey in his own words, check out what he has to say on our podcast.