As a digital marketer, Jeff Hill worked closely with development teams and was intrigued by how they brought marketing ideas to life on their website and app. After moving to Nashville, Jeff heard about Nashville Software School (NSS) from several alumni who all said NSS was the “best decision they ever made” to change their career. Their advice plus being able to start a career in development without having to get another Bachelor’s degree in computer science were big factors in choosing a career change with NSS.

NSS Experience

“This program was the hardest thing I've ever done and there were times I doubted I could make it. NSS does everything in their power to give you the guidance and support needed to complete the program.”

His advice for current students? “Don't give up on yourself and the process. Patience and determination are a necessity to overcome any roadblock.”

Capstone Projects

His favorite part of the bootcamp was building his capstones. He shared, “these were the times I was solely responsible for coding something from scratch and, as hard as it was, when I was done I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment.”

When Jeff moved from Florida to Nashville five years ago, he was excited for seasons and to have a wood-burning fireplace. As the weather got colder, Jeff would purchase wood from guys who would sit in their pickup trucks on the side of the road. Over time, he started to get to know them and learned for many it was a second income to help make ends meet. He thought there had to be a better way for them to connect with potential customers than spending the day sitting on the side of the road.

His front-end application, FireFuel, connects local sellers of firewood to customers. Sellers can create a profile with their prices, the wood they have on hand, and their delivery area. Buyers can also create a profile with what they need. Both can filter other users to find someone selling wood or looking to buy wood and then contact each other. He built the app with Vanilla JS, ReactJS, and Reactstrap.

His back-end capstone, Project Partner, helps homeowners keep track of their home improvement projects by organizing the details of each project, including the materials and tools needed for the project. Jeff explained, “users can create projects, add materials, tools, and costs to help reduce the number of trips to the hardware store and to stay on budget.” Project Partner was built with Python, Django, and SQL Lite.

Hire Jeff!

Jeff really enjoys Python and SQL, but is open to front-end, back-end, or full stack positions. His main goal for his first job as a developer is to keep learning. While on the job hunt, he is keeping his skills sharp with whiteboard exercises, updating his personal site, and diving deeper into the languages and frameworks he learned at NSS.

Hear more from Jeff about his capstone projects in his podcast. You can also learn more about him on his website and GitHub.

Check out all the recent grads on Cohort 33’s class website and hear the graduates share their journey into development and their experience at NSS in their podcasts below.