Stephen Tiedemann, a former Georgia Tech business grad, recently traded in his stocks for a life in tech. When he’s not posing on ice sculptures, you can find Tiedemann fine-tuning his web development expertise in the DigitalCrafts Immersive, a new Atlanta developer boot camp.
What program are you currently enrolled in?
I am enrolled in the 16-week full-time immersive program at DigitalCrafts, where we are learning two full web stacks.
What is your previous education?
I previously attended Georgia Tech where I received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a Certificate of Finance.
What was your work experience before aspiring to become a web developer?
Prior to pursuing web development, I was a full-time proprietary stock trader for several years. Each day, I bought and sold stocks on a short-term basis. The job, at times, could be very fun but in other ways, it was not very fulfilling. So, I started looking for a new challenge.
What are your best technical or creative skills?
On a technical level, I like to think I am a good problem-solver. I enjoy the challenge of coding and coming up with a solution to a problem. I like that there are often many different paths to reach the same goal. Creatively, I believe I have an eye for good design. I do not always know the best methods, but I try to show an appreciation for aesthetics in the projects I work on.
What technology and tools are essential to you as a developer?
So far I am a big fan of JavaScript and jQuery. Maybe it is because I learned those first and so I have a greater familiarity with them, but those are the two I feel most comfortable with. I like how powerful they are and how they can add such a wide variety of interactivity to websites.
How do you stay informed & on top of emerging trends?
I wish I could say I have an organized system for finding them, but honestly, I stumble on most of them from the wide variety of websites I view to get information for my projects. Although I have only been in the program for 10 weeks, it has been truly amazing to see how much web development has changed in the past few years and how much it continues to change. Earlier in the program, we learned AngularJS and a whole new beta version that was released a couple of weeks ago. A new version of Bootstrap is right around the corner. It makes me appreciate just how important it is to stay on top of the trends or ultimately you may be left behind as a developer.
After DigitalCrafts, what’s next on your list to learn?
At DigitalCrafts, we are packing a lot of material into a relatively short amount of time. My most immediate goal after finishing the program is to go back through the projects we worked on and the material we covered to solidify the foundation I built. I have already purchased some supplementary online courses so I can dive deeper into AngularJS, JavaScript, and Node.js. And now that we are studying PHP I am sure I will add that to the list as well.
Are you interested in working for a startup, agency, mid-sized company, or a corporate giant?
At this point, I am pretty open. My wife is a graphic designer and has worked at agencies. From her experience, I think I would really enjoy that culture. Ultimately, though, my number one priority is to find a place where I can grow as a developer. I know if I can become an expert at the right things that the possibilities are endless.
