From chef to digital technician: how a Skills Bootcamp helped me pivot to a career in tech

Quinn found the skills translated well to project management

I’ve always enjoyed cooking at home and when the time came to decide on a career path, I was really excited about the prospect of heading to college to train as a chef.

However, I soon realised that - while I loved the actual cooking - the long hours and intense environment of working in a real kitchen were having an effect on my mental health. I knew this wasn't going to be the career path for me.

I've always been interested in gaming, and it prompted me to think about whether a role in technology was an option. Tech also felt like an area with the potential to go down different routes. And, if I'm being honest, it also felt as though that was where the money was! All of this made me curious about what my options might be. I didn't know if I had the right experience or whether I would have to go to university to get a specific qualification, depending on the area of tech I might want to go into.

After some research, I came across an AWS re/Start Skills Bootcamp run by Skills City and operated by IN4 Group - a digital technology skills and talent provider in Media City, Salford. A quick look at the website told me that, over a 12-week period, I would learn about cloud foundations, networking, python programming, databases and AWS. The programme was also fully funded, and it came with the promise of a guaranteed interview at the end.

I signed up, completely threw myself into it and haven't looked back since. The course was fully remote, which I found great for learning at my own pace. If I needed to pop out, I could still be listening in to a session, and then unpick it in more detail when I got home. There were also opportunities to be in-person, and IN4 Group organised introductions to people within the tech industry as well as social get-togethers. Being able to share the experience with others from a non-technical background was really encouraging and reassuring.

As a chef, committing recipes to memory and remembering exact amounts were essential. That came in useful when memorising multiple AWS services

One of the areas I found challenging was learning to code, especially using languages like Python. As someone who'd never done anything like that before it felt quite intense, but resources like HackerRank were great for when I wanted to get some extra practice in or breakdown certain instructions, alongside the support from the course leaders. As the course progressed, I also realised that I didn't have to become a brilliant coder - just having that overview and knowing how to code at an intermediary level has still been incredibly useful.

The part I really loved was learning about the different AWS services - and this is where some of my existing skills came into their own. For example, as a chef, committing recipes to memory and remembering exact amounts were essential. That came in useful when memorising multiple AWS services, what they consisted of and how they complimented each other, for example. Equally, the ability to get 10 different dishes ready at the same time in a kitchen meant I really thrived on the project management element and meeting deadlines. I think there's an assumption that all tech roles require hard skills like coding, but for me, it's these soft skills that have helped me in my role today.

At the end of the course, I had job offers from a couple of the organisations I'd been introduced to during the programme - including IN4 Group. The company offered me a role as a digital technician, which I happily accepted. After the stressful environment of a busy kitchen, finding the right working environment was important and I chose IN4 Group because of the culture and the supportive nature of the team.

I'm six months into my career in technology and have already been promoted to senior digital technician where I am responsible for working with the delivery teams to ensure the smooth running of future tech bootcamps. Going on that journey myself, I feel much more qualified to understand what's working well and where we can improve, and I'm currently working to analyse and manage different data sets as part of that.

For anyone doubting whether a tech bootcamp is for them, don't! One of the things that put me off initially was the belief that it would be expensive and take up a lot of time but there are so many routes that are making a career in tech more accessible - whatever your background may be.