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Original text is in Chinese, English translator - Natalie Tsang
For everyone, being 20-30 years old can be metaphorically taken as being a piece of dehydrated sponge. The pursuit of knowledge together with all nutrients, abilities and experience, all equated as the long-imagined versions of ourselves in the future. Stepping into the society, Jacqueline started off by developing her marketing career. However, she had no intention to slow down her pace. Instead, she once again reflected upon her life. Eventually, she made a life-changing decision in determination to boost up her career once again. Now, to her avail, Jacqueline has switched career paths and is currently working as a Front-End developer in a website designing company. Her initial decision has opened up an entirely new portal for her to lead a life full of possibilities and excitement.
“ In these four months, I’ve finally found my direction in career, marking my success in achieving my savings goal before 30!"
Jacqueline Tsang (Full-time software engineering course graduate)
Thank you for coming to today’s interview, Jacqueline! Would you mind sharing your background before joining our courses with us?
I initially worked for the marketing department in an overseas logistic company. Since the scale of our company was relatively small, the marketing team was actually formed by both my boss and I, while the IT work was allocated to outsources. Therefore, not only did I need to be responsible for online and offline marketing jobs, I also had to manage our company’s official website. It was harsh.
When did you realise you were interested in website building?
Once, my company’s website had to undergo reconstruction. My duty was to monitor the outsource IT company’s progress. In the meantime, I needed to regulate all operations of the current website. So, I had to bring myself to learn some basic tangible HTML and CSS skills to fix bugs. From then onwards, it sparked up my interest in IT. Furthermore, the needs of my current job also prompted me to take relevant courses from night-schools.
Were your courses in night-school helpful for your job?
To be honest, I don’t think they were much help at all. As these courses were designed to be more like interest classes, theories dominated a majority of the class curriculum. Yet, the content included was not rich enough, nor was I provided with enough chances to put the knowledge into practice. It actually feels like I was learning something but actually I was not. Therefore, I hoped to apply for courses that prioritize both elements of practice and theory. However, I came across many full-time courses which required at least one to two years of studying, I couldn’t afford to leave my job having no income for such a long time. After a few rounds of inquiries, I finally discovered Xccelerate’s four-month full-time software engineering courses. It suits my demands in terms of my financial situation and time. So, I decided to apply for it.
Why did you choose to apply for Xccelerate courses, but not pursue further studies on your initial digital marketing profession?
After studying through multiples of night classes, I eventually discovered I quite enjoy viewing the end product when after a website undergoes transformation through programming. Different from the forever fluctuating digital market, the changes made by programming are fast, concrete and absolute. Moreover, in my view, Hong Kong’s digital marketing is still not mature enough in its development of educational and market awareness. This explains for my lack of chance to sharpen my digital marketing skills in my former company. Although marketing is my strength, my preference leans towards stepping into the tech field more. Learning through Xccelerate’s tech courses not only helps me to forge my own career path, it also broadens my thinking and job opportunities at the same time.
Did our courses meet your expectations?
Before applying, I went through the course content and contacted the staff for more information on the courses. They patiently explained through the course curriculum in detail and informed me more on the career support provided. This greatly helped me visualise a clear image of how the courses were like in reality. So, yes! The courses completely met my expectations! Apart from covering all aspects of software engineering, the course gave me a precious opportunity to meet classmates from diverse backgrounds, including chefs, clerks and even profession pianists! I am a person who loves working as a team, we had classes together, exchanged experiences and views, finally completed all sorts of project hand in hand. It was an experience to remember.
In these four months, what was the most memorable to you?
The schedule of the course was very packed. In the first month, I already felt like I was not able to catch up with the progress. At those times, I started to doubt myself, questioning whether I was actually the right material for software engineering. I then kept on asking myself: Would the final outcome of the course be as expected? Would the money, time and effort pay off at the end? Luckily, I was supported by my instructor and a career advising team of staff, who helped tackle much of my confusion. They further on shared many of the similar experiences from the alumni of Xccelerate’s courses, describing how they made it through the numerous obstacles and challenges. I could see my very own reflection through these past examples. Actually, those people had been through what I was dealing with back then. If all of them could overcome the hardship, why can’t I? Therefore, with a stronger heart of confidence, I successfully faced this challenge head-on.
In your opinion, did Xccelerate bring about any life-changing influence to you?
This was absolutely the turning point of my life. Actually, I have set a savings goal to achieve before hitting 30. If I continued working for the original job, I guess I would be far off from my goal right now. Now, I have found myself a job which satisfies both my financial and content needs and even helps me hit my savings goal way earlier than I expected! Moreover, this course encourages self-learning. The immersive mode of learning in these 4 months has established a foundation for me as I paved my own way as an outstanding Front-End developer and also allowed me to connect with friends who share the same views and values towards life. Here, I would like to thank Xccelerate and myself for making the right decision.
What is your expectation towards the coming 5 years?
I hope I would get used to the upcoming job I am going to take on as soon as possible, and further on strengthen my skills in phone development. In the coming 5 years, I wish to be an exceptional web developer, gaining the ability to lead the team towards completing different projects.
