After a decade as a real estate attorney, Jason Campbell spent a stint working in real estate and tech. It was at this point in his career that fell hard for the startup world. Upon his return to Atlanta from Seattle and with one Computer Science course under his belt, Campbell enrolled in Digital Crafts‘ 16-week full-stack web dev program. The newly-minted graduate enjoys working with AngularJS and Node.JS, but is open to learning more about data structures and mobile development.
“It’s exciting to me that there’s just so much out there to learn, and I look forward to continuing to add to my skill set for years and years to come,” says Campbell. This well-rounded junior developer (he even has legal expertise!) won’t stay in the market for long. Scoop him up before it’s too late.
What program were you enrolled in?
I was enrolled in the 16-week, full-stack web development program at DigitalCrafts.
What is your previous education?
I graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law and completed my undergraduate work at Carson Newman College, where I studied Religion and History.
What was your work experience before aspiring to become a web developer?
I’ve spent over ten years working as a residential real estate attorney handling escrow and closing related matters, as well as actually assisting individuals and families in the purchase and sale of their homes. During that time, I worked for large and small offices, managed an office and a team of support staff, and ran my own small practice.
Recently, I spent a couple of years living and working in the dynamic real estate and tech market of Seattle. While there, I had the good fortune of working for a small yet innovative law firm that was changing the way individuals purchased and sold their homes. I fell in love with the startup world, decided to take an intro to Computer Science course, and have been hooked ever since. After moving back to Atlanta and evaluating my options here, DigitalCrafts was an ideal fit for helping me make the transition into web/software development.
What technology and tools are essential to you as a developer?
Early in the program, we worked a great deal in Python and utilized Flask as our framework for handling routing and rendering HTML templates.
Currently, I really enjoy working with AngularJS, as the routing features and directives have opened the door to some more robust front-end features and services make it much easier to make server requests or to work with API’s. Along with Angular, I also enjoy working in Node.JS and the options available through its modules.
StackOverflow can be a great resource, of course. For front-end help, I like CSS-tricks, Codepen, and this JQuery API reference: oscarotero.com/jquery. For back-end work, I use Postman like crazy.
How do you stay informed & on top of emerging trends?
Currently, I receive and share a great deal of info on the DigitalCraft Slack channel, which includes experience from alums, articles, podcasts, and newsletters: Coursera, DevChat.tv, CSS-tricks, Stickyminds.
After DigitalCrafts, what’s next on your list to learn?
I’m interested in digging further in a lot of the technologies that I’ve already learned, but I’m especially interested in ES6, React, and Test Driven Development. I’d also love to delve deeper into computer science (algorithms, data structures) and work more with mobile development. I had a chance recently to work with Ionic, which paired well with my experience in Angular to develop a mobile app.
Are you interested in working for a startup, agency, mid-sized company, or a corporate giant?
Ideally, I’d like to work on a team of developers who enjoy their craft, are building interesting software, and who are open to mentoring and developing new talent. While the past four months have been extremely challenging (more so than even my first 4 months of law school), I’m confident in my ability to hit the ground running as a junior developer, but I’m also mindful of the fact that I still have plenty left to learn. I’d love to be in an environment where I can jump right into the fray, while continuing to learn from other experienced developers.
Interested in looking at Jason’s credentials? Check out his website, GitHub, and LinkedIn.
