When it comes to learning web and software development, Will Schaefer aims high and is swift in taking down any know-how foe. A recent graduate of the 12-week, full-stack coding immersive program at General Assembly, Schaefer is now proficient in Ruby on Rails and the MEAN Stack, but has some iOS and ReactJS development in his arsenal, as well.
“I love learning new technologies, solving problems, and building awesome applications with the intention of making life easier and empowering others the technology,” he says. “I think from all angles and approach problems with an analytical and entrepreneurial mindset.”
If that isn’t enough to scoop Schaefer to your team, read on to learn more about Atlanta’s newest class act coder (or check him out, alongside 19 other students, at the General Assembly Demo Day).
What program are you graduating from?
General Assembly’s Web Development Immersive
What were you doing before this program?
I was working in operations at General Assembly’s front desk, making sure the courses, events, and workshops all ran smoothly. In my spare time, I was learning how to launch products and playing around with some iOS development.
What startup/tech projects have you worked on?
I’ve built a few cool projects that could be startups in the future. So far I’ve made a pickup soccer app called “FootUp”, a social network for pet owners called “PetPals”, and a real-time people tracker for meetings called”Rendezvous”.
What tech/tools are essential to you?
StackOverflow and Github are my essentials but recently made the text editor switch to Visual Studio Code and I love it! The debugging tools and autocompletion features have changed my life.
How do you stay informed & on-top of emerging trends?
Other than Hype, I frequent Product Hunt, and the subreddit communities /r/programming, /r/javascript, and a few others.
What are your best technical or creative skills?
I’d say my best skill is my resourcefulness. If I don’t know the best way to do something, I always know where to look or how to quickly google something useful.
What’s next on your list to learn?
I want to delve deeper into ReactJS. Front-end frameworks like AngularJS fascinate me and I’ve seen some great applications built with React.
Why the interest in startups and the technology field?
Technology and startups are empowering people to do amazing things. With tech, anything is possible, and, everyday, the world gets better and the status-quo changes due to the clever uses of technology.
Are you interested in working for a startup, mid-sized company, or a corporate giant?
The size of the company doesn’t matter to me. As long as I am a part of a team as motivated as I am to learn and build awesome applications, I’d love every day of work.
