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BCBUSINESS.CA MARCH 2019 BCBUSINESS 57 CEO Jeremy Shaki co-founded Light- house Labs in 2013. He says his Vancouver- based school's hands-on, accelerated approach is validated by the compa- nies that hire its graduates coming back to recruit more. "I think our grads are some of the most job-ready grads out of anybody," Shaki maintains. Ninety-six percent of the boot camp's job-seeking graduates find work within 120 days, according to Lighthouse, and 97 percent of those graduates work in technical roles. Students don't need programming experience to apply to Lighthouse Labs, but they do need commit- ment and determination to com- plete 10 tough weeks grinding through problems for 12-plus hours a day. "People are giving their everything and their all to get through a boot-camp program," Shaki says. Boot camps aren't just for entry-level workers. Waldern, the UBC grad, leveraged her degree and a co-op internship to start her career with the Canadian division of German software giant SAP in Vancouver. But when she wanted to learn about data science, she decided to take a 10-week, part-time course at BrainStation, a New York–headquartered boot camp with a campus in Vancouver. Waldern didn't want to start a master's degree because it would interfere with her full-time job as a software engineer and project leader at SAP. "It was hard for me to justify the time commitment and the price because I felt like I could probably get the kind of learn- ing that I needed from something a little bit smaller and less expensive," she says. Although many data scientist positions require a PhD, Waldern used her boot- camp education to land her new role at Microsoft, where she'll continue to learn on the job. MANAGERS WAN T ED Software developers aren't the only workers in high demand in B.C.'s tech sector. Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey offers a bachelor of technology degree with two specializations: network administration and security, and mobile and web development. Lecturer Mandeep Pannu says most of her students choose the network security stream because of the many job openings awaiting them. Some just enjoy practising breaking into computer systems. "If you don't learn how to hack, how are you going to stop them?" Pannu explains. Jared Shaw is founder of 31337 Recruit- ers, a Qualicum Beach–based agency with tech clients including Sony Corp., Walt Disney Co. and numerous startups. He says companies need more than great programmers—they need quality manag- ers who understand people, business and technology. "It is not nearly as simple as it sounds," Shaw adds. "I've watched devel- opers plow through millions of dollars building things nobody needs." Matt Tomporowski, now CEO of Vancouver-based FlareWolf Games, had been working as a video game producer and designer for Electronic Arts when the 2008 financial crisis and the upsurge in mobile gaming spun the game industry into per- petual volatility. He had risen through the ranks but hit a ceiling, and needed more business and management skills to go fur- ther. "I was a good manager, but there was a limit to going up," he recalls. Tomporowski earned a management of technology MBA from SFU in 2013, com- bining his years of technology experience with newfound knowledge about market- ing, finance and monetization. (For the lat- est MBA offerings from eight B.C. schools, see pages 53-55.) "It instantly changed the career opportunities I was presented with," he says. He went from middle man- ager to team lead to consulting. "It's really hard to find people who can see the big picture, wear multiple hats." There may not be a single educational path for everyone's technology career, but there is one critical trait for anyone to succeed: a determination to always learn and improve. "Technology is built by people who have built themselves," Shaki says. Lighthouse Labs helps its graduates find work, but that first job is considered to be an essential continuation of the learning process. "We won't facilitate job hiring unless they both get paid and get mentorship," he stresses. Budding web developer Irvine has several months of job experience now, but he still spends several hours a day hunkered over personal projects, trying to get better. "Even though you go through boot camps, you have to put in a lot of work on your own and build programs," he explains. "It's just practise, practise, practise." n 1 888 755 6482 nitalakelodge.com/meetings sales@nitalakelodge.com 2131 Lake Placid Rd, Whistler, BC plan your next executive retreat in the mountains luxury lakeside accommodation unique meeting spaces award-winning spa personalized dining 2019 EDUCATION GUIDE