Alchemists @ Work :: Yuval Allweil Joins Kroger’s Newly Established PDX Digital Team

· tech,software developers,portland,code,PDX Tech

Yuval Allweil, a curious, passionate autodidact, who graduated from Alchemy and made big contributions at our AppLap, is off to work at Kroger as a Front End Developer. Having come from a background working in a variety of roles, coding tapped into his desire to continuously learn and be challenged. As he mentions in his Q&A below, he asked himself when trying to decide on his career path:

“What can I dedicate my life to that I can use to change the world AND live comfortably?”

The obvious answer was learn to code.

His passion for software development continues to feed his curiosity and desire to be a lifelong learner. Through this and his hard work, he landed a position at Kroger in their newly established digital team working on some really cool projects. You can read more about it below. Alchemy isn’t the same without him here, but we’re very proud of him and love when he pops in for our monthly social hours on the last Friday of each month (everyone is welcome!) You can learn more about him in the following Q&A or by visiting the website he built: WhoIsYuval.com.

What were you doing for work before attending Alchemy?
I was all over the place. I worked at everything from banks and health insurance companies to a science magazine and tech startups.

What made you decide to take classes at Alchemy?
I was always interested in coding but was held back by the misconception that computer programming was a discipline reserved for child geniuses and math wizards.

It was while working at an e-commerce startup that I realized that coding was the most efficient means of solving my problems: both the immediate ones like “How can I get this piece of email routed to the right person in the shortest amount of time?” and the more long-term ones like “What can I dedicate my life to that I can use to change the world AND live comfortably?”

The obvious answer was learn to code.

Had you considered other coding schools? What made you choose Alchemy over the others if so?
I was living in the San Francisco Bay Area (which had plenty of bootcamp options) and had friends who attended all of them, as well as friends who studied computer science at UC Berkeley and Stanford. Though I heard only good things about certain bootcamps there, I developed some qualms.

The most elite bootcamps only accepted students that they were sure would make it through the program (which included computer science graduates of the aforementioned universities) and statistically most of those didn’t even graduate. I’m really big on pedagogy and wasn’t about to trust a curriculum that only a select few of an already high caliber could understand. That’s kind of insane, especially when you’re putting so much time and money on the line.

Furthermore, those bootcamps were focused entirely on JavaScript or JavaScript/Ruby, with no focus on HTML/CSS at all. UX and design are very important to me, so to see no focus on how to properly structure a website or application, much less make it beautiful or usable was not appealing to me. What good is a perfectly functional app if no one wants to use it?

Alchemy Code Lab had great reviews and taught all aspects of web development, not just how to make something functionally sound (although that obviously remains the most important criteria there).

What is your new position?
I’m joining Kroger as a Front End Developer to work on their exciting new ClickList project.

Why are you excited about it, and how is it going to impact your life?
Kroger has a brilliant plan for the next few years by instantiating what is being called the 4th Industrial Revolution: better connecting cyber and physical systems by harnessing the power of technologies like the Internet of Things, machine learning, big data, and essentially every other buzzword you’ve heard lately.

Groceries ordered via ClickList will be delivered by autonomous vehicles, Kroger’s warehouses will be run by robots powered by machine learning, and even the shelves in physical stores will be smart. It’s hard not to be excited!

On top of that, the tech stack I’ll be working with is absolutely cutting-edge and I get to work with and learn from very intelligent people. That’s exactly where I want to be.

What did you love about working in App Lab, and did you learn a lot by doing so? Did it help you secure your new position?
Working in App Lab was a great experience and definitely helped me secure this new position. It came up in every job interview and gave me a lot to talk about.

We built a video-review app for a local entrepreneur using the latest, most in-demand technologies, and concerned ourselves with all aspects of the business, not just the coding side. It was perfect real-world experience, and I had a phenomenal team that I really enjoyed working with.

What will you miss most about being at Alchemy every day?
So many things! The staff are genuinely interested in helping everyone become the best they can be, and are a second family for me. It’s a wonderful community and a wellspring of unconditional support.

Moreover, it’s a beautiful, sunny space filled with plants that rivals the offices of most startups I’ve seen. The space is constantly changing and being rearranged which goes hand-in-hand with keeping your mindset fluid and considering technical challenges from different angles. It’s a safe haven for everyone and I will miss it dearly.

If there’s anything you would tell someone considering an education to be a software developer, what would it be?
Make sure that coding is, at the very least, interesting to you. Be prepared to work hard, and to keep yourself motivated. It can be difficult when you’re starting out, but it is also incredibly rewarding, and it will help you in all aspects of life, not just computers.

Software development will help you approach life’s problems with less ego and more rationality, as well as the comfort of knowing that there is always a solution lurking in the background. It’s up to you to find it and make it happen.

Was career services helpful for you after graduation?
Absolutely! Our Career Services Director was a huge asset in my job search. She provided excellent feedback on my resume and website, sent me job postings that she felt fit both my skill AND personality, and was 100% committed to helping me get a job that wouldn’t just pay the bills, but would make me happy.

I call her my personal cheerleader because she went above and beyond: she would give me pep talks before interviews, make sure I was actually interested in the jobs I was applying to, and used her vast professional network to introduce me to potential employers.

It’s not just a job for her: she genuinely cares about placing graduates with jobs that fit them, and it shows. It’s the perfect job for her.

About Alchemy:
If you are interested in learning more about our program or applying, we start a new session every quarter. Read about our course descriptions here, or email us at info@alchemycodelab.com with questions. You can also apply today if you fill out our online application (will not commit you to attend, but it starts the process to do so!) We also have an open house every Thursday at 12:30PM & a social hour on the last Friday of each month. Join us! Everyone is welcome!