Warning: serious career inspiration ahead. You are about to read the true story of how this woman transformed her life with the skills she learned (and confidence she gained) in Skillcrush classes. This series of articles illustrates how you too can accelerate, transform and take your career up a notch: from meh to awesome! Skillcrush opened new doors for them and it can for you too. 

Meet Becca Slosberg. Becca was working as a digital marketer, but found her job a bit… uninspiring. She wanted to build beautiful websites instead of just writing about them! When she got laid off, she knew she needed to make a change. Cue Skillcrush. Read her amazing story, featuring a dash of hard work, a boost of confidence, and the magic of an upcoming wedding!

Tell us about your new job.  

I am a Front End Developer at The Atom Group, a web development agency. We have some pretty big clients, and we also work with a lot of graphic design agencies who don’t have the capacity to code the sites they design in house. I work in both open source and .NET frameworks.

What initially motivated you to seek out lessons in digital skills?

I had been a digital marketer for a while, doing content creation, social media and SEO, but my passion was really in the more technical side of the job. I loved being a part of the website redesigns for clients and working within the various CMS platforms.

I love building things, but I didn’t have sufficient skills to do that.  I did not go to school for technology (I was an English major!) so I didn’t know it was something I could just go learn. My fiance is also a developer and he had taught a few of his friends, who now work with him and make a really good living. So I was inspired to learn to code myself.

What was your life like before Skillcrush?

Before signing up for Skillcrush, I had been disillusioned with the world of digital marketing. Then, to make things worse I got laid off and did not feel that I had sufficient skills to get a job in a development capacity as of yet.

Being laid off was very difficult for us. We were barely able to get by, bills went unpaid for months, we even considered moving out of our house because we were struggling to pay the mortgage. At one point our power got turned off, not a good thing when you have electric heat in NH in the winter. So between financial struggles and not wanting to be a marketer anymore things were bleak, to say the least.

How has your life changed after Skillcrush?

A lot has changed since Skillcrush!

The Skillcrush course helped me to put everything I learned together, something that I had been lacking in other online classes and books. It wasn’t just hands-on projects… it really took you through the development and design process and gave you a holistic understanding.

On top of that the community of students, teachers and alumni was invaluable. Being able to ask questions and talk to real people was amazing.

I was able to get the confidence I needed to go out and apply for development positions (which was an experience in and of itself!). The Atom Group, in Portsmouth NH, is an amazing web development shop. It’s a great group of people who really strive to be the best and do cool work. They focus a lot on employee development and teaching new technologies. It is the perfect place to start. I have been here just a short 6 weeks and I have already learned so much.

I don’t think I would have been confident enough to even venture into an interview if it had not been for Skillcrush.

Also! Our finances are back on track and we are now able to pay for our wedding in July. I just ordered my dress!!