TJ Livermore believes there’s never a bad time to reinvent yourself. That’s why UofT SCS Cybersecurity Boot Camp was such an enticing option for him. After working as an HVAC technician for 11 years, TJ decided it was time for a change. He’s always had a passion for technology, but lacked the hands-on skills he…
Moving Forward: How Andy Durette Developed the Skills He Needed to Land His Dream Job
“Learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” Learning doesn’t occupy a finite space in time, and it isn’t just a four-year, pre-career commitment — at least, not for Andy Durette. If you want to be successful in work or in life, you need…
Despite the Odds, the Cybersecurity Boot Camp Experience Helped Harinder Bhathal Get a New Job During COVID-19
After nine years of working in IT, Harinder Bhathal was ready for a new challenge. He didn’t want to fully part with technology, just change directions, and pinpointed cybersecurity as his next move. “In cybersecurity, you’re always learning,” he said. “I really liked that.” Landing a cybersecurity job without direct experience would require dedication — but that…
Jobs, Dragons, and COVID-19: How Anas Qazi Navigated Uncertainty to Further His Career
Having moved from India to Saudi Arabia to Canada, Anas Qazi was no stranger to change. But when he first arrived in Toronto hoping to break into the city’s growing IT industry, he realized just how much was different from his previous experience in the field. Anas had years of experience working with physical servers in Saudi…
Breaking Through: A Cybersecurity Boot Camp Helped Faissal Islambouli Secure a New Role
When Faissal Islambouli first immigrated from Lebanon to Canada, he was most excited about the opportunity to expand his career choices. This meant pursuing technology, a field he’d always been fascinated with but didn’t have the ability to pursue back home. The only problem was that Faissal wanted to explore it all. He needed to gain new…
After Gaining New Skills, This Online Learner Took Her Career to the Next Level
Kaliesha Pickering didn’t always know that she was interested in coding and web development. But after working for five years at Bell, the largest telecommunications company in Canada, she had learned enough about the field to discover that she was hungry to learn more. Kaliesha’s next step was launching her own business. While still employed at Bell,…
How One Developer’s Love for the City of Toronto Fueled His Success Through Boot Camp and Beyond
In 2011, Shahmeer Amjad immigrated from Pakistan to Toronto. Less than 10 years later, he attended University of Toronto SCS Data Analytics Boot Camp, building a portfolio of data-driven projects that captured the city’s unique themes, from its restaurant scene to its real estate landscape. Shahmeer graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in commerce and a background…
5 Things the Online Boot Camp Taught Paskwa Mutunga About Reaching Her Goals
Paskwa Mutunga launched her career in technology infrastructure and operations, performing systems management and administration. She enjoyed implementing the infrastructure for various organizations, but found her fascination with the actual software continuing to grow. Paskwa was drawn to the creativity and possibilities of software development — and in short, she felt she was missing out on…
How Nitin Madaan Found Financial Freedom and Earned His Dream Role in Analytics
Nitin Madaan was born and educated in India. When he got a job offer in the U.S. to work in business analytics, he made the move without hesitation. Four years later, he decided to go back to school for music production. After receiving his music degree, Nitin wanted to pivot back to analytics, but the industry…
At Age 52, Fil Gambatesa Started Over. It Was His Smartest Career Move to Date.
“For me, everything came back to confidence. In order to succeed, I needed to believe I could be accepted as a developer at my age.” – Fil Gambatesa From the outside, it looked like Fil Gambatesa had it all: At age 52, he was the senior director of technology transformation for one of Canada’s leading banks. But…