MAXX Potential

Autumn Davis

By MAXX Potential

Autumn Davis

Autumn worked as an Apprentice for over a year, gaining valuable on-the-job tech experience before she exited MAXX Potential to work at Spring Oaks Capital, LLC.

What were you doing before MAXX Potential? What drew you to pursue a career in technology?

Before MAXX, I was working as a Vaccine Scientist here in Richmond. I did like my job, but I knew it wasn’t my calling. During my time as a Vaccine Scientist, I was a part of a team that worked a lot with SQL to query our database, as well as Python and R Studio. I dabbled with various front-end languages in my free time and really wanted to do more; I was super blessed to have a supervisor that allowed me to expand my knowledge during down time at work.

Can you talk about what you’re currently working on? What are some of your job responsibilities?

At Spring Oaks, there was an initiative to give our operations team more ownership over certain tasks. My supervisor and the rest of the team thought the best way to do that was with an internal control panel. With the help of an amazing team, we got our control panel Heartwood up and running within about 6 months! I worked on the Front End using React and CSS and learned SO much within such a short period of time. It was an awesome and challenging experience! Now, I’m responsible for implementing new features into Heartwood and assisting with our landing page and payment portal.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your current role?

My supportive team! I have never been around an environment that is so patient and that fosters learning and growth (besides MAXX of course!). Here, there is so much growth, and the learning never stops. They really are great people at Spring Oaks, and I am truly grateful to MAXX for getting me here.

How do you keep your skills up to date? What’s the best way to learn new concepts, technologies, programming languages, etc.?

I’m definitely a visual learner. I love watching YouTube videos and seeing how other people approach developing. I also try to attend as many programming themed Meetups as I can. Conferences are also a great place to get new information.

What’s the best piece of advice you can give to someone early in their IT career or looking to get their start?

Write down everything that you can. A piece of paper really helps keep track of your thoughts when you’re planning or troubleshooting. The website Notion is a life saver for organizing thoughts and notes. ChatGPT is also a great resource when it’s late at night and you don’t want to bother anyone. Also, be really patient with yourself; this is not the easiest field and the learning process takes time. Try to make learning something that you look forward to instead of dread.

Interested in becoming or working with a MAXX Apprentice? Attend Career Lab or explore MAXX Business Solutions!

MORE POSTS

Autumn Davis

By MAXX Potential

Autumn Davis

Autumn worked as an Apprentice for over a year, gaining valuable on-the-job tech experience before she exited MAXX Potential to work at Spring Oaks Capital, LLC.

What were you doing before MAXX Potential? What drew you to pursue a career in technology?

Before MAXX, I was working as a Vaccine Scientist here in Richmond. I did like my job, but I knew it wasn’t my calling. During my time as a Vaccine Scientist, I was a part of a team that worked a lot with SQL to query our database, as well as Python and R Studio. I dabbled with various front-end languages in my free time and really wanted to do more; I was super blessed to have a supervisor that allowed me to expand my knowledge during down time at work.

Can you talk about what you’re currently working on? What are some of your job responsibilities?

At Spring Oaks, there was an initiative to give our operations team more ownership over certain tasks. My supervisor and the rest of the team thought the best way to do that was with an internal control panel. With the help of an amazing team, we got our control panel Heartwood up and running within about 6 months! I worked on the Front End using React and CSS and learned SO much within such a short period of time. It was an awesome and challenging experience! Now, I’m responsible for implementing new features into Heartwood and assisting with our landing page and payment portal.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your current role?

My supportive team! I have never been around an environment that is so patient and that fosters learning and growth (besides MAXX of course!). Here, there is so much growth, and the learning never stops. They really are great people at Spring Oaks, and I am truly grateful to MAXX for getting me here.

How do you keep your skills up to date? What’s the best way to learn new concepts, technologies, programming languages, etc.?

I’m definitely a visual learner. I love watching YouTube videos and seeing how other people approach developing. I also try to attend as many programming themed Meetups as I can. Conferences are also a great place to get new information.

What’s the best piece of advice you can give to someone early in their IT career or looking to get their start?

Write down everything that you can. A piece of paper really helps keep track of your thoughts when you’re planning or troubleshooting. The website Notion is a life saver for organizing thoughts and notes. ChatGPT is also a great resource when it’s late at night and you don’t want to bother anyone. Also, be really patient with yourself; this is not the easiest field and the learning process takes time. Try to make learning something that you look forward to instead of dread.

Interested in becoming or working with a MAXX Apprentice? Attend Career Lab or explore MAXX Business Solutions!

Apprenticeships & Internships

Is there a difference?

By Kim Mahan

While most educators and workforce development professionals are very familiar with these terms, working in the entry-level talent development space, we often hear them used interchangeably by industry professionals, parents, and students. So what exactly is the difference between an internship and an apprenticeship? The more relevant follow-up question is, “If I’m trying to break into the industry, which should I choose?”

First, the difference:

The easiest way to think about it is that internships are typically short-term work engagements designed to enhance an academic learning experience. They can be paid or unpaid, and are often structured as a full-time summer job, or part-time semester-long experience. The student’s primary focus is on their education, which is enhanced by supplemental exposure to actual work environments and industry professionals. Basically, school comes first, supplemented by work experience to apply their classroom knowledge learned in a professional environment.

Apprenticeships, on the other hand, are a very different approach toward embarking upon a new career and are often the preferred pathway for skilled trades. In an apprenticeship, the focus is on gaining work experience first, with close supervision and guidance by a more experienced professional in addition to supplemental coursework on the side.

Even though IT Professionals spend a good portion of their time at a keyboard, most skilled technologists view themselves as craftspeople and the progression of skill development more closely resembles that of a skilled trade than other traditional “knowledge workers.” Based on our experience, skills are best developed by working on actual problems where there isn’t an answer key in the back of the book, or “Time in code.” By starting off in a support role, for example, an Apprentice is exposed to multiple applications written by more experienced developers. They get to see how a more experienced developer thought about the problem, and how systems fit together.

Challenges:

The challenges with internships are that there just aren’t enough to go around. Every student would benefit from gaining hands-on work experience to help their resumé stand out and further their career. Unfortunately, given the talent shortage, there are not enough employers with readily available professionals to help mentor and guide beginners.

As far as apprenticeships go, they are not all created equal, and you should shop around. The apprenticeship model has existed for centuries, and in some cases has gotten a bad reputation. Even today there are apprenticeship programs that require extensive time commitments or income share agreements that affect the short-term earning potential of an Apprentice.

So which approach is best for me?

The short answer is, it depends. It depends on where you are at in life, your financial situation, and your learning style. These past two years have made it clear that it’s essential to take control of your journey to maximize your potential both professionally and personally. At the end of the day, success in any field requires both knowledge AND skill. It really boils down to the order in which you acquire them, and what you can afford. If you are eligible for grants, or the ability to pay, a higher education experience can add valuable credentials to your resumé. If you’re thinking about signing loan papers, however, an apprenticeship is likely to produce far greater long-term economic outcomes. Many employers offer tuition reimbursement programs should you decide to pursue a degree later. Most hiring managers in the technology field are looking for examples of your work more than anything.

Take The Next Step With MAXX Potential!

At MAXX we have invested in building out equitable pathways for both seeking a technology internship experience, and a proven paid apprenticeship program for full-time career-seekers.

If IT is your passion and you are ready to jumpstart your career, MAXX Potential is ready to give you that boost. Our growing alumni network has given us the opportunity to mentor some of the nation’s best technologists, who are working at some of the world’s best companies.

For those looking to learn more about the real-world experience that can be gained from a MAXX Potential Apprenticeship, join our next Career Lab!