Making the Jump to a New Career After the Marines
After serving six years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Ben Hemann made the next step in his career and enrolled at the University of Iowa. Although Hemann intended to pursue a degree in criminology, law, and justice, his interest in coding inspired him to enroll in an IT-related course.
“Back in high school, I took some programming classes with a friend of mine—I didn’t have the best showing on that, and after a year and a half of community college, I joined the Marine Corps,” Ben explained.
At orientation, an academic advisor took notice of this addition.
“The advisor for the criminology program wasn’t able to attend that day, so someone else was filling in for them,” Ben explained. “She saw the technology course I put down, and said, ‘well, there’s this other degree—informatics—that mixes criminology, criminal justice and programming.’”
From Criminology to Coding
With guidance from the advisor, Ben took psychology, criminal justice and coding classes. Ultimately, the coding courses really captured his attention.
“I’m by no means a natural at it, but I really liked the programming courses,” he said. “When it came time to graduate, my wife mentioned the DeltaV Code School, which she knew through her work at Circle Computer Resources.”
DeltaV Code School aims to address the lack of software developers and other technical professionals in Iowa. So, we offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses in software development as well as a digital marketing fast track.
Students can become full stack JavaScript developers in as little as 20 weeks or digital marketers in just 5 to 9 weeks. Plus, we and our partners, Code Fellows, designed our programs for students without previous experience in software or marketing. Ben said this approach helped him learn that he preferred the backend computing work more than creating websites or working in UI/UX.
Turning a Passion into a Career
After completing courses through DeltaV, Ben began working as a software developer at Clickstop. Clickstop is headquartered in Urbana, Iowa and runs eCommerce sites for different businesses.
At Clickstop, Hemann does automation work, creating applications for the company’s various brands. “I develop fully functioning applications that are self-contained,” he shared. “I like the daily challenge of my job—it’s just really rewarding.”
Clickstop’s companies include US Cargo Control, which serves the trucking and moving industry; insulation company EcoFoil; and Fasterners Plus. Clickstop also owns Pepper Joe’s, which sells live plants, spices, and snacks, as well as the laundromat company Clean Laundry.
“I would not be working as a software developer had I not gone through the DeltaV program,” Ben said. “[The program] really prepared me to find a job—not just with the interview process and resume building—they also gave me the tools to go out there and figure out how to use the resources available to me to solve problems and understand the solution.”
Ben also appreciates that DeltaV programs don’t require any existing coding experience to enroll.
“You don’t need to be a technological person, you don’t need to know the basics,” he said. “DeltaV will walk you through that and, by the end of it, you’re going to be very well versed in programming logic and everything you need to know to get started in this field.”
DeltaV structures classes to run like an actual job, he added, making it seamless to transfer into working as a coder. “It really sets you on a path to success.”
Prepared for DeltaV Code School by C. Blohm and Associates, Inc.