Fifth Anniversary Series: Where are they now?

Over the past five years, Code Platoon has trained some incredible individuals into becoming first-class programmers. Since our first cohort in 2016, over 150 Veterans and military spouses have graduated from our coding Bootcamp and have entered the tech industry. In addition to the training they received through the program Code Platoon, graduates have also become a part of a network of alumni and have access to continued professional growth and career opportunities. 

We checked in with two alumni to see how they are and to showcase their accomplishments since graduating from our programming Bootcamp. 

Jyn Kim is an automated logical specialist with the U.S. Army Reserves. She was part of our second cohort, Bravo Platoon, and was one of our Women in Tech scholarships’ first recipients, allowing her to participate in the program. Since graduating from Code Platoon, the trajectory of her career path continues to move upwards.

Upon graduation, Jyn was part of Code Platoon’s internship program. Graduates of Code Platoon’s Full-time In-Person program compete for three to six-month paid internships with corporate sponsors.

Jyn interviewed with five companies within the Code Platoon network and received an internship with Underwriter Laboratories (UL). Within just a few short months, Jyn joined UL as a full-time software developer. In 2019, Jyn accepted a new job opportunity at ActiveCampaign as a software support engineer. One year later, she was promoted to a full-time software engineer. 

Jyn continues to develop her skills as she is currently learning the React programming language to grow her programming skills. She has also established career and financial security for herself. 

In addition to her career growth, Jyn is giving back to the tech community. She recently received a Fellowship from GET Cities, an initiative designed to accelerate women’s representation and tech leadership. This 9-month fellow program is geared towards women and marginalized genders in tech to help them gain practical skills and navigate building their careers in technology. Fellows learn how to bring new innovative ideas and insights to the table and develop a more dynamic, inclusive work environment within their team and the teams they are yet to be a part of.

Conlin McManus, another graduate of the Bravo Platoon, has also done well in the programming field. Conlin served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Supply Chain and Operations Manager before attending Code Platoon. He excelled in the program, and upon graduation, he secured an internship at Raise, a Code Platoon corporate partner. Over the last three years, Conlin has moved up the company ladder, obtaining a growing technical skillset, professional growth, and financial security. 

Three months into his internship, Conlin was offered a full-time position as a software engineer at Raise. With each successive year, he moved up the ranks to Software Engineer II and is now working in a manager-level role as a Senior Software Engineer Technical Lead where he has nearly doubled his salary. 

Code Platoon helped Jyn and Conlin translate their military skills into a flourishing career in tech. They were able to find jobs in the civilian workforce that they are fervently passionate about. 

Donate and support the Careers of more Veterans like these here.

If you are a Veteran or a military spouse looking to launch into a career in software engineering or programming, you can apply to Code Platoon here. 

Brenna Koss is Code Platoon’s Development and Operations Coordinator. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Greensboro in Political Science and French. In her free time, Brenna loves to travel and spend time with friends and family. Follow Brenna on LinkedIn.