LaGuardia TechHire – OpenCode:
Cohort 7
LaGuardia TechHire – OpenCode is a partnership between LaGuardia Community College, The Software Guild, Udacity, General Assembly, and Uncubed. It is funded by a highly selective grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and the result of a White House initiative under President Obama called TechHire.
The goal of TechHire – OpenCode is to increase the diversity and scale of tech talent pipelines for employers by providing industry-informed training to young adults (17 – 29 years old) who are otherwise under-represented within the tech industry.
Graduates of TechHire – OpenCode now work as engineers and analysts at Google, Viacom, Infosys, Intersection, BounceX, Adobe, Capgemini, and more.
Meet the Candidates of Cohort 7
Trisha Tolentino – Full-Stack/Front-End Engineer & Product Designer
Resume | LinkedIn | GitHub | Tech Blog
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- “I worked for Turntable Lab as the Customer Service Lead for the eCommerce division in Brooklyn for 4 years. During my time there, our eCommerce division exploded in growth, with sales doubling almost every year thanks to new operational policies that I helped implement. We soon became responsible for about 80% of company revenue, and to this day are still the biggest seller using the Shopify platform as well as Amazon Seller Central.”
Strongest with:
- JavaScript, Java, HTML, CSS, SQL, PHP
Also knows:
- jQuery, Bootstrap, Thymeleaf, Spring Boot, Ajax, Rest APIs
Open to relocation?
- NYC metro area preferred, but open to relocation for the right opportunity.
About Trisha:
- “I was a Classical Archaeology major in college, where I studied ancient Latin and Greek. Surprisingly enough, knowing these has helped tremendously with learning modern programming languages.”
- “Aside from Web Development, I’ve also earned certificates in Product Management and Agile Design Thinking from the University of Virginia via Coursera.”
- “I took a course in introductory JavaScript at Fullstack Academy. Previous to that, I also completed Phase I of Project Code at the New York Public Library sponsored by Codecademy, where I learned the basics of HTML and CSS.”
Stephen Espinal – Full-Stack Software Developer
Resume | LinkedIn | GitHub | Personal Website
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science
- Has 10 years of full-time, professional experience
- Worked in Business Development at BMW for 3 years
Strongest with:
- Java, MySQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
Also knows:
- Spring Framework, Spring Boot, Dependency Injection, MVC design, Git/Github, jQuery, Apache Tomcat, Spring Security
Open to relocation?
- No (NYC or Long Island)
About Stephen:
- “My most significant personal accomplishment is being the first member of my family to graduate.”
Corey Carr – Front-End Developer
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- Prior sales, customer support, and managerial experience at Best Buy, Citi Field, and Planet Fitness
Strongest with:
- Java, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS
Also knows:
- MySQL, ThymeLeaf, Spring Frameworks, Netbeans, Git, REST, jQuery, Maven, Bootstrap
Open to relocation?
- No (New York City & surrounding areas)
About Corey:
- Learning React.js in his free time
- Regional finalist in a popular video game tournament
Dovlet Bayryyev – Full-Stack Web Developer
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- Holds a B.A. in Economics, minored in Math and Computer Information Systems
- Completing his M.S. in Finance (May 2020)
Strongest with:
- Java, SQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Also knows:
- Spring Framework, Apache Maven, JDBC, Bootstrap, jQuery, p5.js, AJAX, REST, Thymeleaf, Git
Open to relocation?
- Yes
About Dovlet:
- Recipient of a “Grow with Google” Developer Scholarship
- Member of Baruch College’s men’s varsity soccer team and VP of Marketing for the school’s Investment Club
- Tutors underserved high school students to improve their class grades and test scores
Hector Lliguichuzhca – Full-Stack Software Developer
Resume | LinkedIn | GitHub | Personal Website
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science
- In 2017 & 2018, Hector was a Tech Intern with NYC’s Department of Education
Strongest with:
- Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C++
Also knows:
- Version Control (Git/GitHub), MySQL, REST APIs, AJAX, jQuery, Bootstrap, Netbeans IDE, Tomcat, JDBC, Spring Dependency Injection, Spring Security, MVC design pattern, Apache Maven, MySQL workbench, relational database design
Open to relocation?
- No (NYC only, but open to remote work and work-related travel)
About Hector:
- “I am the first in my family to graduate!”
- “I volunteered to create a website for a public school that did not have one. Through this process, I taught myself web development and further enhanced my interest in programming.”
Jhoan Rios – Full-Stack Web Developer
LinkedIn | GitHub | Personal Website | Tech Blog
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- Worked in the hospitality industry at top NYC restuarants since 2008
Strongest with:
- Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, SQL
Also knows:
- HTML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery, Spring MVC, RESTful APIs, JDBC templates, MySQL, AJAX, JSON, Relational Databases
Open to relocation?
- No (NYC only)
About Jhoan:
- Certified as a Professional Futures Trader and Professional Options Trader through OTA
- Regularly attends the Codecademy NYC meetup
John Kontolios – Full-Stack Web Developer
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- Graduated in 2012 with a B.A. in Political Science
- Previously worked at Capital One and TD Bank
Strongest with:
- HTML, CSS, Java, JavaScript, MySQL
Also knows:
- jQuery, Bootstrap, Sass/Less, Spring, React, Angular
Open to relocation?
- Yes
About John:
- “I co-organize a meetup for full-stack web development in Manhattan.”
- “At Capital One, I opened 128 new accounts within 18 months, with sales reaching over $500,000.”
Mikhael Gonzalez – Full Stack Developer
Resume | LinkedIn | GitHub | Tech Blog
Prior to TechHire – OpenCode:
- Completed certificate courses in Java (iD Tech) and iOS (Make School)
Strongest with:
- Java
Also knows:
- Spring MVC, Spring Boot, Thymeleaf, Maven
Open to relocation?
- Yes
About Mikhael:
- Attended hackathons at Rochester Institute of Technology and Ryerson University
- “I enjoy snowboarding with a strong passion. Starting out, I picked up the sport quickly but nonetheless couldn’t go on trails past intermediate level. For 3 years, I worked on my fundamentals and skills to be a better boarder. My most significant personal accomplishment is that after hard work I am now able to go to any mountain and can go on advanced trails such as black diamond.”