Change isn’t always easy.
For some of us, the notion of change could be something we are afraid of or just something foreign that we wish not to embark on. But not for Kwok Cheong (fondly known as KC), a Programmer Analyst with Cognizant Singapore and a recent bootcamp graduate of our FullStack Development Bootcamp. He not only embraced change in his own way, but excelled in it.
KC’s journey began with a leap of faith, where he withdrew from his first year Business Management degree to pursue a Part-Time Business Analytics degree in the National University of Singapore.
‘To be completely honest, it was a tough route to take as many of my course peers possess prior programming knowledge and had that head start over me.’ It all started when KC was exposed to coding through an entrepreneurship programme in university where he had to work with tech developers and needed to understand the processes required to develop a feature. ‘I like how coding gives you the opportunity to create amazing things and the more I do, the more I learn.’ – KC exclaimed zealously while sharing with us.’
It was not a walk in a park for KC, as he realized that passion alone is not enough to keep him going but acquiring the right set of knowledge is. Having learnt C/C++ in his degree programme, KC felt the need to bridge the gap in practical programming and explore the different frameworks widely used in the industry. This motivated him to look out for programming courses that could provide him industry relevant skills and to build his foundational knowledge. ‘This is where I stumbled onto the FullStack Bootcamp Programme offered by Trent Global College which was exactly what I needed to stay on track and prepare me for my career.’ KC went on to elaborate that key topics taught during the bootcamp such as JavaScript, Django and Node.js were helpful and applicable in his job as an analyst.
With the constant development of technological frameworks, keeping abreast of the latest skills is imperative. ‘Having an open mind is extremely important in programming and we should be keen to explore new tools and frameworks.’ KC shared that he personally taps onto online learning resource such as Udemy and YouTube tutorials to pick up concepts such as Flux in React. As a participant of the recent Shopee Coding League 2020, he found that it was a good experience to get your hands dirty, (coding of course) and to work as a team to solve various real-life problems.
Speaking of real-life problems and the ongoing COVID-19 situation, KC wanted to create a useful tool consisting of a dashboard that would provide data visualization on the number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore, potential clusters as well as hospital occupancy rate of those infected. He was however faced with a setback as the pool of data for Singapore specific cases was unavailable. KC added that it was imperative to know what kind of information people look out for, and how to display the data concisely an accurately. ‘It was definitely a tedious challenge as I had to format the data manually, by adapting it from MOH’s daily report and reflect the updated numbers on the dashboard.’
As we wrapped up our conversation, we got KC to share what working in a tech environment is like and what are his goals for the future. ‘Working in a tech environment has its merits, as it encourages continuous learning and self-improvement, where you will be presented with opportunities to tackle new challenges, which makes it an exciting place to be in.’ ‘The drawbacks on the other hand, would be being desk bounded and experiencing screen fatigue as you spend majority of time troubleshooting codes. It would be great to incorporate some kind of exercise regime to stay healthy as well.’ (Ps. KC took part in a Half Ironman Triathlon, 90km in Bintan)
When asked about his long-term goals, he humbly indicated that he would like to contribute to the healthcare sector as a data analyst. ‘I see that there is still room for growth in healthcare technology and want to hone my skills before that time comes to make healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone.’
In closing, we invited him to share a piece of advice to individuals who wish to further their studies in the tech industry but lack the courage to do so.
‘No one is going to be responsible for your education but yourself, consider what you want for your future and what sort of skillset/abilities are needed to achieve that.’
We are glad to see how KC has embrace change and his heart for continuous learning.
We wish him the best and great success as he works towards his dreams in the tech industry!