Breaking into the tech industry and switching careers requires a strong support system. That’s why Thinkful students learn 1-on-1 with our team of experienced mentors. January is National Mentor month, so we’re excited to celebrate the dedicated mentors at Thinkful that help our students every day. Meet 3 Thinkful students – Jason Powell, Maren Breckman, and Lucy Sanders – and discover how mentors helped them develop technical skills, prepare for interviews and land a job in the tech industry.
Jason sold business loans before learning data science.“The best part of the curriculum is by far the projects and the mentorship. The projects really help you learn by doing. More importantly though, they are all real world projects where you can easily transfer the knowledge to other things. And the mentorship is simply incredible. The program is very challenging, but if you're determined and don't mind a bit of hard work, Thinkful’s data science program and mentors will put you on the path to achieving your goals no matter what your background is.” - Jason Powell
Before enrolling in Thinkful's Data Science program, Jason was selling business loans for a financial services company. Now he’s a Business Intelligence Analyst at a content discovery platform!
Maren managed a movie theater before switching to data science. “I ultimately chose Thinkful because of the mentorship model. I wanted the one-on-one engagement and reinforcement. [Supervised learning] was so new and different, but fascinating. It was also my favorite experience with my mentor, he was able to help me understand the material in a very useful way.”- Maren Beckman
Maren was a General Manager for a movie theater before learning data science. Now she is a Business Intelligence Engineer for a company that uses predictive analytics, real-time driver feedback, and coaching to increase driver safety.
Lucy nursed others to health before learning to code. “I love having a mentor to turn to whenever I have questions. One thing that stands out about my mentor is that he knows how to let me struggle productively! I learn better by solving my own problems, and my mentor gives me space to do that. It has relieved any anxiety I had about switching careers and learning something new knowing there is always one person I can turn to if and when I need assistance.” - Lucy Sanders
Lucy was a Registered Nurse before learning how to code with Thinkful’s Full Stack Flex program. Read her full story here.
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Interested to see why industry professionals take the time to mentor? Read this story about 3 mentors from Thinkful’s Engineering Immersion Program.