Anthony Ofoegbu, an October 2021 graduate of the Amazon Career Choice Cybersecurity Engineering program, had a two-decade career in Nigeria before emigrating to the United States.
He shares his journey of immigrating to the USA and finding his way to Cybersecurity Engineering below.
A Nigerian Origin Story
Anthony spent his formative years in Nigeria. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and Literary Studies, citing his desire to work in several liberal arts fields.
“I wanted to do several things which include authoring books, bank work, teaching, journalism, and public speaking.”
Over the next two decades, he worked in public relations, corporate communications, business management, and sales. In early 2019, he relocated to America and found work at Amazon as a Fulfillment Center Associate. It was there that he learned about the Amazon Career Choice Program. The program gives Amazon employees the opportunity to receive technical training from partner institutions to pursue higher-paying career paths. Anthony cites his wife as being his main motivation for joining the Cybersecurity training program.
“She was clear about going into cybersecurity and since I had worked with tech companies back home I decided to give it a try.”
His Bootcamp Experience
Anthony was accepted into the Amazon Career Choice program and matriculated with a cohort of fellow students from Amazon. The program ran for 32 weeks from February through October with the curriculum delivered online via live lectures. While unsure of what the program would entail, Anthony said he was optimistic after completing the required prework material.
“I did not know what to expect but I was excited especially after passing the pre-program training and studying about hypervisors and virtual machines.”
Students completed about 15 hours of classwork each week while working full-time, a challenge in time management for anybody, but Anthony adapted and took advantage of his program’s resources.
“There were great teachers, great office hours, and great coursemates as well,” he said. “Teamwork and my personal commitment contributed to my success [in the program].”
He recalled finding Python Programming and IP Address Configuration challenging but had a positive experience overall.
“I loved every part of the program but System Admin, Wireshark, Hunt, GRC, and SIEM were my favorite.”
Job Search Journey
Anthony graduated from the Amazon Career Choice Cybersecurity program in October 2021 after completing 480 curriculum hours over 9 months. He began his job search shortly after graduation, supported by his dedicated Flatiron School career coach.
“[My career] coach helped me build my resume, reviewed it, and taught me step-by-step job search techniques.”
He also took advantage of job fairs hosted by Flatiron School to gain exposure to hiring companies.
“We were able to meet employers and many of us were employed right away immediately after graduation.”
Ultimately, Anthony accepted a role as an Associate Business Analyst at Infosys, based in Los Angeles, California.
Reflecting On His Journey
Fast forward to 2023, Anthony is enjoying his new job and pursuing a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity from the University of San Diego. Looking back, he values the hands-on nature of the technical education he received as part of the Amazon Career Choice program.
“[This] is a great place to start because you learn exactly what you are supposed to be doing in your daily office work.”
His advice for other students looking to transition careers is to embrace the hard work needed to reach a goal.
“You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it and work towards it.”
Flatiron School Retraining Programs
Amazon’s Career Choice offers eligible Amazon employees the opportunity to pivot careers into higher-paying jobs through retraining.
The program was created as a way to attract top talent as well as improve employee engagement and retention.
Following the initial cohort’s success, Amazon again selected Flatiron School to deliver Career Choice programs in 2023.
Contact us to learn how a Flatiron School retraining program can attract and retain top talent at your organization.
