23 year old Nick Bryan’s interest in the web came from a desire to learn how something we use everyday, and often take for granted, is both designed and implemented. When Nick then found himself, with a background and degree in Music Production, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, he decided to seize the opportunity and focus on his coding skills. After six short months learning web design and development with Treehouse, Nick was hired as a full-time web developer for a major computing firm, and now looks forward to going to work each day.
We caught up with Nick to ask a few questions about his learning experience and landing his first job in the industry!
What first drew you to the web industry, in particular web development?
Web design and development has always interested me. Trying to create websites for personal projects was my main starting point. Once I stepped into learning HTML and CSS I was hooked on code. I went on to learn C++ and PHP came next. I find it fascinating learning how the things we take for granted and use everyday are designed and implemented.
What work were you doing when you first joined Treehouse & what encouraged you to learn with us?
I was working behind a bar when I discovered Treehouse. I had been trying to figure out what to do with myself for a while. I came across an advert for Treehouse online and decided I would like to pick up programming again so I gave the free trial a go. After seeing the amount of content that was available and how well presented each track was I knew this was the right method of learning for me and thus got cracking.
What is your educational background?
I have a BA(Hons) degree in Music Production. I have always been torn between computing and music, I wouldn’t say computing won, but I can say that I can now enjoy my two passions in life properly.
You recently landed a new job, congratulations! Tell us a little a bit about it, and the experiencing of embarking on a new career in the industry.
I work for a major computing firm. It’s awesome, I develop API’s for internet service providers. We do most of our development in PHP and have an in house framework based on Laravel. For the front end we use HTML, CSS, Javascript and jQuery. Learning the business is the hardest part but it feels great when it all fits together. As cliche as it sounds, the best part about it is looking forward to going to work each day!
What has the value of a Treehouse education meant to you?
Treehouse has helped me step into a career I love! It provides training and education that I personally believe would be hard to find in any other environment. The Treehouse community are awesome and I will continue to learn from them throughout my career.
What are your plans for the future, and what’s up next on your learning path?
Plans for the future are to keep learning, become a better developer and check out the Laravel tutorials on Treehouse.
I really didn’t think I would ever make it as a developer without having a degree or relevant qualification. Thanks to Treehouse and the support of others I’m now in a career that I love and enjoy.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with new students who are aspiring web developers?
If you know in your heart what you want to do then go for it. I really didn’t think I would ever make it as a developer without having a degree or relevant qualification. Thanks to Treehouse and the support of others I’m now in a career that I love and enjoy. Theres always more to learn as a developer and I can’t say I have found a better community to do it with. Learn the code and be willing to learn the business, hard work really does pay off!
To read more student experiences, check out Treehouse Stories.