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DCG Success Stories

Andrew Widdowson

Andrew Widdowson sat on a flight of stairs

Study Type: Distance Learning
Study Location: Distance Learning
Subject Studied: IT, Digital Skills and Computer Science

Software development boot camp leads to career change for Andrew

Enrolling on Derby College Group’s software development ‘boot camp’ has led to a whole new career for course graduate Andrew Widdowson.

Andrew is soon to start a level 3 software development apprenticeship with Alfreton-based butcher Owen Taylor & Co after completing DCG’s 12-week online course.

He was offered the new role after DCG helped him secure an interview with the award-winning butcher.

Andrew, who is 30 and from Nottingham, has a degree in illustration. He took creative subjects at school but has always been interested in software development.

Most recently he worked in food retail but decided to pursue his interest in IT after seeing a D2N2 advert promoting the boot camp.

Andrew said: “I enjoyed the course. Our teacher, Valerie, was so supportive and knowledgeable. We did all out learning via Microsoft Teams and it was great to have someone there to point you in the right direction if ever you were struggling.

The other learners were great too, so friendly. We’ve kept in touch and have met up in person since completing the course.”

During his 18-month apprenticeship Andrew will be assisting Owen Taylor & Sons with the development of their new ordering app, which has been designed initially to assist the company’s restaurant trade customers.

The app has been designed externally but Andrew will be working in-house with the business to add features and fix any errors.

He added: “I’d definitely recommend the bootcamp to anyone interested in starting a career in software development.

It gives you the basic knowledge you’ll need, such as programming languages. We also learned about computer science on the course – something I didn’t know before.

I enjoyed the course. Our teacher, Valerie, was so supportive and knowledgeable. We did all out learning via Microsoft Teams and it was great to have someone there to point you in the right direction if ever you were struggling. The other learners were great too, so friendly. We’ve kept in touch and have met up in person since completing the course.