From there, we have worked closely with a few radio stations and even released a mobile app!
What were you doing before Le Wagon and what led you to enroll?
Wilfried: Before joining Le Wagon, I was a freelance in web project management and SEO as well as project manager at Aéroports de Paris. After a while, I began feeling frustrated of not being involved in the design phase of projects because of my lack of technical skills. So I quickly decided to make up for this in order to really enjoy my professional life. The answer to my problem was Le Wagon.
Hugo: I was a recent graduate in civil engineering, where I never really got into programming. For me, it was really fascinating! I decided to give it a try.
What were you hoping to get out of studying code?
Wilfried: My expectations of the bootcamp were above all to understand all aspects of programming to be able to build a project from A to Z and to put together the right resources for its realisation.
Hugo: I came with a naive approach of the web but also a great desire to learn. I was attracted by the entrepreneurial side of building a web project and was also very curious about what technicals skills it was possible to acquire in 9 weeks. During Le Wagon, we were taught Ruby on Rails, which is a magnificent matrix to understand all technical aspects of a web project. We now understand the client side, server side, database part, security, etc … It was really determining for later.
What was the best part of your bootcamp experience?
Hugo: The project week where everybody was very excited and also the after-works. We continue to meet every month, and some of the students are in the coworking of Le Wagon Paris, so the party continues :)
Wilfried: Sharing personal and professional experiences between the students but also with the members of Le Wagon team.
What was the transition out of Le Wagon like? And what are you doing now?
Wilfried: The transition has been ideal. I was offered to build a radio website a few days before the end of the bootcamp. Not feeling ready to assume this workload alone, I offered to Hugo to join me in the adventure. We completed the end project of Le Wagon bootcamp together and I knew from then that we possessed complementary skills. An experience that can be said successful, since the customer was satisfied with our work and my collaboration with Hugo is still on to this day. We have since launched Digital Skills Bar a small digital studio together and accepted other projects.
Hugo: We really felt like we were at the beginning of a great adventure. To produce an iOS and Android application, we learnt by ourselves how to code in ReactJS and React Native. The way of thinking is close to software development because you take care of problems like offline mode, use of components of the mobile phone, etc... It was a really good way to deeper understand the technical side. And we continue, project after project, to learn a lot of new things.
Finally, a popular hashtag describes our way of thinking : #juniordevforlife. It means that the best way to persist in the coding world is to always be in a position to conquer! And Le Wagon gives us artillery for this!
What was the most valuable takeaway from Le Wagon for you?
Hugo: The community! Thousands of alumnis with very different profiles!
Wilfried: Le Wagon allowed me to fully understand all aspects of a web project.
Now that you’ve achieved Le Wagon Fullstack Challenge, would you recommend it to anyone?
Both: Of Course!!