JavaScript, servers and APIs demand everything from us

Hi! I'm Alexa, 26 years old and I'm taking part in the Web Development Bootcamp at neue fische - School and Pool for Digital Talent. Over the next few weeks, I'll be telling you about my experiences during the course and providing you with information about our continuing education as web developers at neue fische - School and Pool for Digital Talent.

I think this week our whole group had a collective low. Gaining at least a basic understanding of the entire world of backend development in just one week seemed like too much for us. Even the two participants who were passionate about backend technologies before the course even started had to give up this week at some point in resignation.

Our cohesion as a group was put to the test this week. Again and again we had to motivate each other to persevere, had to make sure that everyone kept up and no one gave up prematurely. The content of this week included Node.js and REST APIs - two things we will be dealing with a lot in the future. It was all the more important this week that we all gain at least a basic understanding of it, which we can build on in our first developer job.

A web development bootcamp is as good as its coach

Our coach Jerry reacted very well to our difficult situation: Originally, he had planned as a weekly task that we should write our own servers in groups, including a suitable API. But when he noticed that we only looked at him helplessly, we worked out the weekly project together.

Even though they say you should never say never, I think it is very unlikely that I will ever become a backend developer. However, it was all the more rewarding to watch some of the other participants in our bootcamp suddenly blossom when we got an introduction to MongoDB and Mongoose from Jerry on Thursday. It's exciting, even for me as part of this group, to watch each of us so slowly form our own interests and skill profile. I can roughly imagine how exciting this process must be for Jerry, as he perceives it once again from a completely different perspective as a coach.

Databases and APIs in the real enterprise world; visit from Coyo

Then on Friday we got a visit from Piers from Coyo. We could already meet some other Coyo employees during the breaks, as neuefische (still) shares a floor with Coyo. However, most of us did not know him before. Piers told us something about how databases and APIs are used at Coyo and how the employees use them in their daily work. This was very exciting. On the one hand, because we hadn't heard much about the daily work at Coyo so far, except in the short break conversations. On the other hand, it also created a connection between the theoretical knowledge we had acquired in the previous days and the real corporate world.

Web Development Bootcamp with pole position for applications

After Isabelle and Dörte from the Otto Group visited us last week, a division manager and a department manager from the IT department as well as a talent manager from the HR department of the individual Otto company dropped by this week. After a round of introductions and a short conversation in the large group, another participant and I each had the opportunity to have a one-on-one interview. Both of us had already expressed interest in working for Otto.
I found it extremely exciting to be able to ask my questions and thus gain a direct insight into the everyday working life of the large company. It's great that neuefische gives us the opportunity to get in touch with potential employers directly and to secure pole position for the application process.