Jason Wilger joined DigitalCrafts’ Full Stack Flex Hybrid program this last August to pivot into a coding career. Learn more about his story and his passion for the tech field through this Q&A!
What is your previous education?
- My previous education is very minimal. I was originally a marketing management student at Chattahoochee Technical College, but I dropped out to get married. So really (some college)
What startup/tech projects have you worked on?
- Throughout my experience as a student at DigitalCrafts, I have been able to contribute to a few projects. One of my most recent projects was a back-end focused project called Crushn’. This project was developed by me and a few other peers and is supposed to resemble the functionality of a modern dating app that allows users to create a profile with a few details. On the home page, the user will click a button that renders random user profiles. The user can continue to click the button until they find details that match their own. This project, along with the others, is always being updated to improve the user experience and overall functionality. You can check out this project at (http://crushn.herokuapp.com/) or by visiting my portfolio!
What tech/tools are essential to you as a developer?
- One of my top tools for my development routine is Youtube. I am always scrolling on Youtube to see how someone else has solved an issue or maybe approached a problem differently. I like to broaden my scope of thinking and Youtube offers so many resources from great developers that help me to do so.
How do you stay informed & on-top of emerging trends?
- The way I like to stay informed is by networking on Linkedin. I think it is really important to connect with other peers and professionals to stay on top with the latest skills and trends in development. I enjoy following other developers in all fields to see what they are learning and creating to push me to do the same.
What are your best technical or creative skills?
- On top of my attention to detail, I would say that my top skill as a new developer would be the ability to research. I am constantly reading through blogs and the docs of frameworks and libraries trying to figure out the best way to solve a problem.
What’s next on your list to learn?
- As I am constantly trying to refine my skills in the languages that I am learning, my main focus right now is learning React. I have had a lot of fun working with React so far and I can’t wait to put some of my ideas to work using this library.
Why the interest in the technology field?
- As long as I have been able to work, the types of jobs that I’ve had were almost all hands-on or labor-intensive. Most of them consisted of developing a plan and obtaining the required materials to execute the project. Learning how to code has the same type of workflow that I am familiar with. I start by laying the foundation of boilerplate code, then putting my mind to work by filling in the gaps with good clean working code that executes the problems that needed to be solved. Both industries require hard work and technical thinking, but the main difference is that I am constantly learning new languages, skills, and techniques. I was more limited educationally in my other field of work.
Are you interested in working for a startup, mid-sized company, or a corporate giant?
- As an individual who is new to the tech field, I am open to any opportunity at all levels of professionalism. Each will have its own set of challenges that require a certain level of skill and technique to overcome and I am looking to soak up all that I can in each from other more experienced professionals.
You can connect with Jason via his LinkedIn page!
