For students looking to transition into tech careers through avenues other than attending top tier-tech schools, their stories are seldom the same. One thing they do share are challenges such as facing school name bias in the recruitment screening process, or not having extensive resources and guidance available to adequately prepare for rigorous technical interviews. This is why WTIA created Training Camp + Draft Day in order to help prepare students from non-traditional tech schools to have a better chance landing their dream job in the tech industry. Two months after this year’s’ Training Camp + Draft Day, we are happy to share two stories of success from students who landed jobs at an excellent tech company.

Training Camp + Draft Day was designed to plug people like Jeff Torres and Bogdan Pshonyak into a system that typically bypasses them as candidates because of their non-traditional paths or their education – an issue which WTIA identified during FullConTech in 2015. The good news is, not only did Jeff and Bogdan not get passed over and made it through our highly competitive, multi-stage selection process, but they both have also been hired into a top-tier tech company, Tableau.  

Jeff’s story began sounding like many others. “I think I’ve always been better with technology than with people,” he mentioned as he described keeping up with new hardware and software as a kid. Of course, life necessitated that he take a practical approach to work, getting a non-tech job to support himself after some time at community college. But his diligence in a non-tech field landed him a promotion into an IT support role at his company. Unfortunately, he was not empowered to grow in that role, so when his position was on a large layoff list after a change in management, he used that opportunity to reboot his education at Code Fellows.

After months of working, taking classes, keeping his newly acquired skills current, and applying for jobs, he received word through his wonderful mentors at Code Fellows about Training Camp + Draft Day. We’re all glad he did, as his past job searches rarely resulted in more than a phone screening, as is common for many people undertaking a non-traditional transition into a tech career. “[They] keep the barrier to entry high, so that only the most qualified get through,” Jeff said, referring to why he believed he wasn’t getting the opportunities that other robust candidates applying to jobs in tech received. At Training Camp + Draft Day, Jeff received the chance he was looking for.

Perhaps on a parallel, but shorter path, Bogdan figured out sometime between disassembling and reassembling fans and remote-controlled-cars as a kid that he wanted to work in tech. He, too, took the practical path, deciding against top tier tech schools to attend Green River Community College for their new Bachelors in IT Software Development degree. After completing the coursework, he was notified by Green River staff about Training Camp + Draft Day.

At Training Camp, Bogdan and Jeff plugged into a network of coaches, and then got to meet face to face with small to mid-sized employers at Draft Day. After enduring three rounds of screening performed by coaches and tech professionals, they came ready to give their pitches to Lyft, Limeade, Real Self, Skytap, PeopleConnect, and Tableau.

Tableau Senior Recruiter Linda Lee knew before the 7-minute Draft Day interview had expired that she would be calling Jeff soon after the event to continue the interview process: “I’ve never done a speed-interview, but I thought it was really unique, and I thought it went really well.” Tableau Engineering Manager Kiran Chitluri also found the 7 minutes to be sufficient to be interested in Bogdan.

From there, the technical and behavioral  interviews commenced, all six hours of them according to Jeff and Bogdan. But, Bogdan reassured me, “Tableau had the most outright amazing interview processes. The people were smiling and gave me a feeling that they were honored to have me there.” Apparently, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Jeff also let me know that Tableau’s flexibility was the reason he was able to continue in the interview process.

As a result of their time at Training Camp + Draft Day, Bogdan received the opportunity to join Tableau as a Software Engineer on the Touch Center of Excellence Team, and Jeff will be joining as a Senior Technical Support Engineer.

Ultimately, it’s thrilling that Training Camp + Draft Day has continued to level the playing field for candidates who have taken non-traditional paths to the tech sector, creating happy commonalities in the stories of people like Jeff and Bogdan. We think we have a solid process to build upon in order to continue that mission for years to come. Kiran agreed, “We really found good caliber candidates and it was way less crazy than at a University recruiting event.”  Plus, Linda wanted to add a message for other tech recruiters: “Keep an open mind about different avenues to explore for sourcing talent, whether it’s for dev or tech support, engage with candidates – take the opportunity to meet the great people with prior work experience, and people who are sharpening their skills for a transition.”

Bogdan’s final comment in our conversation felt like an  appropriate summary to how Training Camp + Draft Day can make a difference for those looking to get their first step into the door of an awesome company, “Thank you so much. I really feel super super lucky that I even got the chance to interview with Tableau. They are such amazing people and it’s such an amazing team. I just feel really lucky to be a part of these events.“

Check out more successes from WTIA’s Training Camp + Draft Day here.