Mastering a New Syntax and a New Vocation: Hulya Karakaya’s TripleTen Story

Spoken languages and coding languages are remarkably similar. You can’t put words anywhere you want in a sentence and expect it to be understood, and in programming, you can’t throw variables and control structures into your code and expect it to run.

That meant that Hulya Karakaya, an English teacher by education, was primed to take her first steps toward shifting her career. She already knew how to pick up new syntax, so when she realized she wanted to dive into tech, she was more than up to it. Now, she’s using a new fluency to make webpages shine.

Here’s how TripleTen helped her achieve her coding ambitions and pursue new languages that are keeping her engaged.

Embarking on disjointed studies

Initially, Hulya’s path seemed clear. At her university in her native Turkey, she was studying to become an English teacher. She even did a teaching internship during the last year of her studies. But then, when she graduated, things suddenly changed. “After graduating, I moved to the US. So after that, my plans changed. I cannot be an English teacher here,” she said.

As it happened, though, she ended up in one of America’s tech hubs, Seattle. “I was living in Seattle, Washington, and there are so many Amazon offices there. Everyone was working in tech, so I got interested.”

She began looking into the profession.

I started searching: Is it easy to find a job If I just study by myself? I heard that universities are not so important anymore, and this encouraged me. Hulya Karakaya, TripleTen grad

She started taking free courses. “It was during COVID, so I was at home mostly. I decided, I can focus on this now; I don't need to go anywhere. I did self study, but it wasn’t enough.” Specifically, “When I was studying by myself, the material was not connected. I’d forget a subject.” 

Still, she tried to use her self-taught expertise to launch a career in tech. “I was applying to jobs, but I wasn’t getting any results. Then I checked the emails from Women Who Code and I saw TripleTen.”

So she scoped out the bootcamp. “When I read the structure of the lessons, it made sense. The syllabus was very good. The theoretical lessons were written very well.”

So she took the plunge and enrolled.

Finding cohesion: a teacher learns

She chose the Software Engineering program because it meshed with what she had already been studying on her own, full-stack engineering. This field covers the gamut of programming — from the servers that process requests to the sites that display the info and make it visually appealing. 

It was what she had been looking for. ​​“Everything was connected. At TripleTen, you combine all your skills.”

And this was complemented by the tutors who helped her through when she hit snags. “Sometimes it was hard to understand debugging the code. Sometimes projects were not working, so I got help from mentors.”

But what she looks back on with unique appreciation is her participation in an externship with Allcorrect Games_{Externship with TripleTen: Allcorrect Games}, a video game localization company. During this work placement opportunity, she and a group of her fellow students got hands-on experience in the world of tech. She joined with other TripleTen students on a project that generated models to predict requests for localizations in new languages. Ultimately, one of these models demonstrated 98% precision. 

Hulya looks back on this and sees how valuable it was. “I think working for a real life company really helped. When I did interviews, I mentioned that I'd worked with a group on a project together, and it was important.”

Future perfect: launching a career in tech

So when Hulya started looking for a job, she already had experience to show. In fact, before she had even finished the bootcamp, she landed an internship. But as she wrapped up the project with Allcorrect Games, the bootcamp, and that internship, she was looking for more.

Quickly, she found it, and it’s the company she’s been with ever since. Now, Hulya’s a Frontend Developer & Technical Writer at PSPDFKit, a company all about using software to make it easy to display, edit, and annotate PDFs. It is the sort of job she had been intrigued by when she was in Seattle. “I'm doing front-end_{All about Front End: What is It, How It Works, and Why It Worth Your Time}, and I am working with engineers. I have mentors. Then I'm also doing technical writing about how you can use our products.” 

It also has the perks tech is known for. “I enjoy a work-life balance because I work from home and have greater control over my schedule,” she said, smiling.

And her work is never dull, either. “I like it because you can always improve yourself. If I were a teacher, I think I would be so bored. Every year, teaching the same thing to kids, and every hour saying the same things. I love working in tech.”

Our pitch to you

If you’re also looking to start a great career in tech that will keep you engaged day-in and day-out, then check out our Software Engineering program.