Rose, a former Management Information Systems professor with 15 years of experience, found herself working at an Amazon warehouse during her transition back to the United States from Canada. While there, she learned about Amazon Career Choice, a program offering free tech training to employees, through a poster and an onboarding meeting with HR. “Career choice gave me the opportunity to reconnect with my first love, which is tech,” emphasised Rose. The program partnered with We Can Code IT (WCCI) to provide valuable employee benefits.

“I saw a poster about upcoming Career Choice options. Plus, it was promoted during our onboarding meeting with HR when they covered benefits,” Rose recalled. She decided to apply for Amazon Career Choice to take advantage of the opportunity and set an example for others, especially her son, Blair, also an Amazon employee. “I wanted to practice what I preached. Amazon does caution us that choosing Career Choice training does not guarantee an advancement in career at Amazon. However, I felt it was better to take advantage of the opportunity rather than do nothing.” Amazon Career Choice also inspired her son to go back to school, crediting Rose’s experience with We Can Code IT as inspiration.

Rose was pleasantly surprised by the extent of the benefits Amazon provided through Career Choice. “I was pleasantly surprised that they covered the entire tuition. Amazon also reduced my work hours. I was only required to work 30 hours instead of 40,” she said. Eager to reignite her passion for technology, Rose embraced the opportunity to attend the WCCI coding bootcamp.

Despite facing challenges, such as battling pneumonia and falling behind her 22-week cohort, Rose persevered with support from WCCI. The instructors assigned her one-on-one sessions with a teaching assistant, who helped her complete a full-stack web page project using Java and JavaScript. “We Can Code IT was so supportive,” she said.

The Career Services Team at WCCI played a vital role in Rose’s success, too. They helped her overcome imposter syndrome, screened her resume, and taught her various interviewing techniques, which led to her securing a job in tech immediately after completing the bootcamp. “The Career Services Team reached out to me often, which really helped. I got my first job in tech right away,” she shared.

Rose appreciated the Agile and Scrum methodologies taught at WCCI, which she now applies in her role as a Product Specialist at New Innovations. “Because of We Can Code IT, I came into the workforce and was not caught off guard. The WCCI way is the way you do it in the workforce,” Rose expressed.

With a successful career transition and a newfound sense of belonging, Rose is now an advocate for continuous learning and growth at any age. “Why stop learning and growing because you are a certain age? Attending We Can Code IT inspired me to keep on going. My brain and body work fine. Now I have a great new job and career. I often refer adults to We Can Code IT if they still have that vigor and desire to learn. The experience changed my life.” Rose now enjoys a fulfilling career, blending her teaching skills with her love for technology.

Rose’s inspiring story was also featured in a news segment about We Can Code IT and women in tech. Click here to view it.

For more information about We Can Code IT’s program for Amazon Associates, visit https://amazon.wecancodeit.org.

For more information about Career Choice, visit https://www.amazoncareerchoice.com/home.