Our students come to Code Chrysalis with a variety of backgrounds and motivations. Some are English teachers looking to change careers. Others, like Kumiko, are software developers aiming to level up their skills and become internationally competitive engineers.

Kumiko graduated from our first cohort in September 2017. Before joining Code Chrysalis, she worked as a front-end engineer in Tokyo. When we last checked in on her, she was in the middle of her studies. Now, a year later, we sat down with her for an interview to see where her life has gone since graduating Code Chrysalis.

From Code Chrysalis to Fintech

After graduating from Code Chrysalis, Kumiko returned to her hometown in Aichi for a month before beginning her job search. Despite the slow start, when she came back to Tokyo things took off immediately.

“I applied to 6 companies and received 4 offers in 2 weeks. Even though I applied to 6 companies, I had already decided where I wanted to work. I had an interview at my top choice — the company I’m currently working at, in fact — and that same week they OK-ed me moving forward in the interview process. So that Friday I came in and finished my 2nd and 3rd interview, one after the other, all in one day.”

She was hired to work as a front-end engineer at Paidy, one of the hottest fintech startups in Tokyo. For Kumiko, working in an international environment was a must-have, so the Tokyo-based startup was ideal.

“For me, working in a global environment was a must-have. My current company is a startup that was co-founded by ex-pats, and the engineering team is made up almost entirely of engineers from abroad."

She credits her time at Code Chrysalis for her ability to keep up in the high-paced, English-language environment.

“It was so helpful. Having to process so much information and pick up so many skills in such a short time during the bootcamp has made me able to adapt and excel at work. Knowing how to find, use, and understand information quickly and effectively is all thanks to Code Chrysalis…My experience doing the immersive at Code Chrysalis has made me able to keep up.”

Even though she already worked as a front-end engineer before enrolling in Code Chrysalis, after graduation she says that she doubled her salary.

As for enrolling in the immersive, Kumiko says:

“It was really challenging, but even so it was a great experience. Even now, after graduation, I think of my classmates and Code Chrysalis as family. I don’t think I would have gotten this offer if I didn’t go to Code Chrysalis. I made the best choice in my life!”

We’re beyond happy to see how well Kumiko is doing post-graduation. And she isn’t the only one — our other students have found similar success. If you want to change your career, apply to our immersive!

Not ready? We have an introductory course you can check out, too.

Code Chrysalis is a Tokyo-based 🗼 coding school providing a full-time and part-time programming courses in English and Japanese. Join us in-person or take our classes remotely. See why we are an industry leader in technical education in Japan 🗾.

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