How TripleTen’s self-paced programming can turn anyone into a tech pro

Technical.ly is a free news resource thanks to financial supporters like TripleTen, which sponsored and reviewed this article. Learn more about TripleTen here.

In late 2020, Chris Dillard knew he had to completely change course. 

He was desperate to start making more money after working in the call center customer service environment for a decade. And that eagerness wasn’t the only motivator pushing him toward a career shift. Signs were showing up in his everyday life. 

With the NFL season in full swing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Dillard remained busy serving as league commissioner for his fantasy football league. Frustrated with the tools Yahoo Fantasy Football offered to run it, he decided to try to build an improved service himself. 

So the 37-year-old Colorado native began pursuing coding. 

Over two years, he taught himself fundamentals by watching YouTube videos and taking free online lessons, but eventually hit a wall. In January 2023, he joined TripleTen.

TripleTen is an online tech education platform that offers part-time coding bootcamps to help people transition into the tech industry. They range across myriad fields like software engineering, quality assurance (QA) engineering, cybersecurity, data science and business intelligence analytics. 

“Our curriculum is both beginner-friendly and approachable — concepts are introduced with a mixture of text, video, illustrations, infographics and examples before students check their understanding with instant feedback,” said TripleTen chief product officer Elise Deitrick. “We are constantly trying to break down topics so they are as easy to understand as possible. Tech doesn’t need to be intimidating!”

There are minimal barriers to joining TripleTen, and it’s accessible to everyone regardless of experience level. 

This open-endedness has attracted people from all walks of life to join a TripleTen program, from college students to nurses, teachers, mechanical engineers, stay-at-home parents and other diverse backgrounds. Only 13% of TripleTen students have prior experience in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“Each student comes to TripleTen with a unique set of experiences and transferable skills,” said TripleTen career coach Sharahn McClung. “Regardless of whether students have worked with a coach a lot, a little or none at all, our curriculum, programs and events are designed to meet them where they are.”

Building the skills to launch tech careers

TripleTen’s courses are specifically designed to translate students’ skill sets into the tech industry no matter what their background is.  

The company structures its programs in multi-week “sprints” to get students accustomed to the nature of most tech positions. But it’s ultimately up to the students to complete the coursework at their own pace. 

Dillard completed the QA engineering program — which included eight sprints and a final project — in June 2023, about six months after his fantasy football frustration inspired him to enroll. The course focused heavily on automation, test scripts, manual coding and learning how to make sure things function correctly.

He landed a spot as a QA automation engineer for food safety and compliance company Trustwell just four months after graduating.

“They want you to succeed, but in the end you have to do it,” Dillard said. “It’s basically self paced. You do it on your own, but they have tutors to help you with questions and to get through the course with stuff you’re struggling with.”

TripleTen offers a wealth of resources to maximize students’ exposure to the tech world as they enter this industry, such as hack-a-thons, code jams and various workshops. Its routine one-on-one meetings with tutors and career coaches also add a human component to the courses that many traditional online bootcamps lack.

Coaches help students refine their resumes, LinkedIn profiles, cover letters and portfolios. They run mock interviews so students can practice articulating their skills, projects and results.

Students can also participate in externships — temporary training projects where they complete real-life projects for companies. On top of that, they have access to an online career support team to ask for advice and discuss ways to improve their job-hunting strategy. 

“I firmly believe that each of us possess the seeds to our own success, but we can’t do it alone,” said McClung, the career coach. “We need the support of others and we need to build relationships in order to manifest our futures.”

These resources are especially crucial as students aim to develop both technical abilities and interpersonal skills.

“TripleTen’s mission is to change people’s lives so we go beyond teaching technical skills to ensure our students are career-ready,” said Deitrick, the TripleTen CPO. “The curriculum includes realistic examples and projects, students graduate with an application-ready portfolio, and there are many opportunities to practice working on teams so you have plenty of experience to talk about during interviews. Our career coaches have experience working with career switchers and can help craft your story so that your boot camp training is a clear addition to your existing expertise from previous jobs.”

TripleTen remains committed to its students well beyond graduation, too, encouraging alums to continue reaching out to its career team for support after they secure a job. 

“Technology changes quickly and we support our students to learn how to change right along with it,” McClung said. “Whether a student is new to the workforce and has never created a professional resume before or has 10 years of experience under their belt and needs to create their first tech resume, they walk away with tools that they can use again and again to stand out after working with our career coaches.”