What is the Tech Community Like in Atlanta? And Why Did Flatiron School Go There?

At Flatiron School, we’re empowering people to do what they love and pursue a better life through education. We’ve already helped thousands of students start exciting careers in tech and we’re proud to further our mission with the launch of a new campus in Atlanta.

Why Flatiron School chose Atlanta

As a city, Atlanta was the ideal location for a new campus. “Atlanta has become a hotbed urban destination for millennials in the southeast,” said Noam Mintz, Flatiron School’s Director of Expansion. “The city is growing, the millennial population is growing, and the number of jobseekers is also growing,” Noam said.

This growth, coupled with the myriad Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Atlanta and a strong startup scene, makes it easy to see why we chose Atlanta.

Coca Cola, Home Depot, UPS, and Delta are just four such companies who are looking for tech talent. “They are all thinking about what their 21st Century operations will look like and they are looking to build out their developer teams,” Noam said.

Simultaneously, a tech and startup innovation hub has spawned around Georgia Tech, one of the premier tech universities in the country, notes Noam. That’s helped foster a robust and growing tech community in Atlanta.

It’s also the reason why Antonio David, or Ajay as he likes to be called, felt comfortable taking a big leap of faith.

Why Flatiron School

Ajay graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He enrolled at the George Washington University Law School, passed the bar exam, and did what so many did before him.

“You go for the pretty standard thing and work at a big corporate law firm,” Ajay said.

He did that for three years and, while he liked his colleagues, Ajay was unsatisfied with the job itself. It was repetitive and he wanted to do something a little more creative. It was not something he loved.

Even though being a lawyer is a full-time job, Ajay found time to sneak in a few Ruby classes. After taking a few free courses, he decided it was the right time to say goodbye to the legal world.

It was time to say hello to the tech world in 2016 and Ajay enrolled at Flatiron School.

Before selecting Flatiron School, Ajay had several coding bootcamp options. The first bootcamp had a great local reputation, but he was unsure if the recognition would translate if he went to another state. The second bootcamp was too impersonal.

Flatiron School has a national reputation, which was something Ajay was really looking for in a coding bootcamp. Additionally, Flatiron School had a strong sense of community long with verified outcomes and money-back guarantee. “I thought it was very fair and honest package in how you teach people how to code,” Ajay said.

Compared to his finance and law education, Ajay enjoyed the practical nature of Flatiron School. He would learn about financial valuation, for example, but said what he learned sort of applied to what he did in his actual work. But, the actual work was still removed enough from what you learned in the classroom, so you end up doing something completely different, notes Ajay.

At Flatiron School, he learned skills that were actually used in his job. “It’s pretty special when you feel places that really teach you what to do so that by the time you get to your job you already know what you’re doing,” Ajay said.

A future in tech

After Ajay graduated from Flatiron School, his wife received an incredible job opportunity in Atlanta. Luckily for Ajay, he graduated from Flatiron School well-prepared for a career in tech and found his own job as a developer.

“Atlanta has a budding and growing tech community where a lot of people are excited to start their companies in the city,” Ajay said. This means a lot of companies are seeking high quality tech talent.

His first job after graduating Flatiron School was a perfect fit and he applied to his knowledge of Ruby on Rails and JavaScript in this role. “I had an opportunity to grow and didn’t feel out of place even in a developer role at a real company,” Ajay said.

The burgeoning tech community in Atlanta means there’s potential everywhere and gives people the opportunity to make a direct impact on the community itself. It’s one of the many reasons why Flatiron School chose Atlanta for our new campus. “It’s a tight knit designer and developer community. Everybody tends to know each other. If you’re just starting out, so is the tech community,” Ajay said.

Ajay just started a new job at a larger startup that opened a new Atlanta office. It’s a small team  — especially compared to the company’s offices in San Francisco or Paris — which made it accessible for starting out, and was the perfect situation for Ajay. “I do feel like I got a seat on a rocket ship with the Atlanta office,” Ajay said.

We can’t wait to see where Ajay goes next. His story is just one of many similar ones in Atlanta. At Flatiron School, we’re excited to join this incredible community and empower the next generation of tech leaders.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is current as of July 24, 2018. Current policies, offerings, procedures, and programs may differ.