Student Stories: A Successful Professional Conversion

Meet Ewa, a special education teacher turned web development instructor for our Paris training programs

Please tell us about your background. 
My professional background began as a specialized educator for autistic children, which is very different from coding. Within my SESSAD (structures of the medical-educational sector) I started to be interested in code. I didn't know how to code at all, but I joined a community called Ladies of Code. They are the ones who introduced me to web development and I liked it !
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Shortly after I had back problems, the work doctor advised me to change jobs so as not to put my health in danger. I thought why not go into web development, just to see if I would really like it or not. I started to take small distance learning courses and I heard about Konexio. And a few months later, when there was the fourth DevWeb class, I could start my new studies.

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Did you like this training ?
The training taught me a lot, because when you are a bit self-taught you are very scattered and it's not always easy to organize yourself or prioritize actions... the training helped me to be more organized. Beyond that I was able to acquire all the good fundamentals to go further. And I know that the basics I acquired will serve me for the rest of my life. The Konexio program was very interesting, very enriching, and allowed me to learn about the technical aspects as well as the Soft Skills. Very complementary.

And since your training, how is your career path going ?
After my training I did a 6 month internship in a small start-up where they are creating a new messaging platform. On this platform users will be able to put personal and professional information. It is definitely a futuristic project.  This internship was very complementary to the training. For example, we did a lot of tests and experiments. In parallel, I was preparing for my DevWeb exam. It was a very busy period in the end.

Just after I passed my exam, I got my Web Developer certificate and I slept for two weeks because I was really tired! The training was very intensive, you really have to be focused and attentive. You also have to deepen everything you learned during this training.
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After that I started looking for my first job as a Web Developer and I was offered to become an assistant trainer at Konexio. It's a great opportunity to be able to pass on my knowledge... and to be one more woman in the Tech sector. This was all very important for me.


And since your training, how is your career path going?
After my training I did a 6 month internship in a small start-up where they are creating a new messaging platform. On this platform users will be able to put personal and professional information. It is definitely a futuristic project. 
This internship was very complementary to the training. For example, we did a lot of tests and experiments. In parallel, I was preparing for my DevWeb exam. It was a very busy period in the end.

Just after I passed my exam, I got my Web Developer certificate and I slept for two weeks because I was really tired! The training was very intensive, you really have to be focused and attentive. You also have to deepen everything you learned during this training.

After that I started looking for my first job as a Web Developer and I was offered to become an assistant trainer at Konexio. It's a great opportunity to be able to pass on my knowledge... and to be one more woman in the Tech sector. This was all very important for me.

What is it like to be an assistant trainer at Konexio? 
It is a great opportunity for me because it is a dream come true!

In the future, I would love to work with autistic people. I would like to create a school or at least workshops, such as coding, for autistic people. Autistic people need a little bit more time to learn and the Konexio program of four and a half months might be too difficult for them. That's not to say they can't do it, but it takes a lot more time and patience. Some people will adapt more quickly than others, each case is different, each person has its difficulties. 

What did you gain from the training? 
The training has brought me a lot. When you are a bit self-taught you are very scattered and it is very difficult to gather everything. The training has helped me to be more organized. This training provides very good foundational skills to build upon and I know that the bases I acquired will be useful for my whole life. The Konexio program was very interesting. 

What is it like to be a woman in tech? 
I was shocked to see so many men in tech, because in the courses in Poland, my home country, it is more likely for women to study computer science. There are quite a few women who have participated in project creation. It was when I arrived in France that I saw that there were many more men in the field.

Afterwards, thanks to an association, I was able to meet women who were in tech like me. In the training class that I teach, there's only one woman. However in the training class that I participated in as a student, there were 5-6 girls out of 21 people. I think that the presence of women in tech is very important because we have a way of thinking that is different and in IT it is very much appreciated. 

What do you think needs to be done to bring more women into the tech world?
I think we need more visibility and show that women can be in tech. Tech is not a strictly "male" universe, everyone has a place in this environment.