“My name is Gavin, I am a 27-year-old, recent immigrant to Israel and I am currently working as a Web Accessibility Expert at accessiBe, the leading company in making the web fully accessible by 2025 through the use of AI technology.”
“Gavin Coulson who works as a Web Accessibility Expert at #AccessiBe #hired “
You know those times where you’re supposed to introduce yourself and you’re not sure what you’re going to say? Maybe you’ll say where you were born, your age, and what you’re studying? Your current job? Your favorite flavor of ice cream? (mine is Belgian chocolate, specifically the Haagen Dazs one). I recently had to do this as part of a meet-up group and I said a statement I thought I’d never say what I said.
“My name is Gavin, I am a 27-year-old, recent immigrant to Israel and I am currently working as a Web Accessibility Expert at accessiBe, the leading company in making the web fully accessible by 2025 through the use of AI technology.”
Let’s wind back to last year, 2020, when I had just left Israel, right before corona, intent on going back to Israel as a butcher and kosher slaughterer. I didn’t know anything at all about any computer programming language (other than maybe their names). If you had asked me to do a basic for loop in any language I would’ve been like, “What’s a for loop?”
I found gainful employment about a month after finishing the Bootcamp.
I returned back to Israel in the middle of corona and immediately gained employment as a butcher after working as a butcher at Whole Foods Market. After an intense, short period of time, I decided that the work wasn’t for me. It wasn’t Whole Foods. I was paid less than $11/hour for a higher workload, a pretty terrible boss, and ungrateful customers all while adapting to a culture that wasn’t mine, and having to speak in a language few could understand me in (hello American accent).
After researching job opportunities and retraining programs, it finally dawned on me that my dad, a life-long cybersecurity professional, was right. I should’ve studied computers in college, but instead because I thought I was going to be a lawyer or a rabbi, I went down the pre-law, pre-rabbinical route (funny how these two are linked so closely, makes sense when all things are considered). But did I really want to go back to a university and pay, albeit a much smaller amount, for 4 years? Did I really have time for that?
I Googled and Googled and finally found the right course for me via the Ministry of Innovation’s website — the SMARTT program at the Developers Institute. I would pay less than $2,000 and in return, I would get a very high-quality education in JavaScript full-stack development and after graduating would be placed right away into a relevant development-based internship.
I of course jumped right on this opportunity. It was intense, frustrating and, hilarious all at the same time. I learned a ton about logical thinking, how to think like a developer, and how to design a website that people would enjoy using. Thankfully, Baruch HaShem (blessed is God), I found gainful employment about a month after finishing the Bootcamp. I could not have gotten to where I am now without the great job and emotional support I received from the Developers Insitute and the community of my fellow students. Given it is almost the start of the new Jewish Year, I have caught myself thinking about the next year that will soon be upon us. All I can say is, I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring as I progress down this newly found development path (and hopefully, a corona-free year).
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