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Is Coding the Ultimate Career for Military Spouses?

MilSpouse Coders think so.

Madison Linnihan
by Madison Linnihan
December 7, 2018
MilSpouse Coders

MilSpouse Coders Jennifer Perry speaks with ToAnh Tran at a recent MSC Hackathon in Virginia Beach. Photo by Brian Arndt

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If you’re a military spouse whose family has ever been stationed overseas, you know how difficult it can be to find work. ToAnh Nguyen first discovered how challenging it could be when her husband, Trung, who is currently a Navy command senior chief, was stationed in Japan. ToAnh explains that without knowing a foreign country’s language and culture, it is really difficult for military spouses to succeed in a career overseas. Additionally, as a mother of two, she found it challenging to make ends meet on her husband’s income alone.

Even though ToAnh had over a decade of work experience and had held previous leadership and management positions, she found it impossible to find a job overseas that fit her needs. She says that most of the jobs that were available only paid minimum wage and were well below her skill-set. Remote work was just as frustrating for ToAnh as she explains that “80 percent of the remote jobs postings required various tech skills that I didn’t have.”

ToAnh Tran at a recent hackathon event in Virginia. Photo by Brian Arndt

Taking the first steps

Because the majority of remote jobs ToAnh found were in the tech industry, she took matters into her own hands and decided to learn how to code.

“I decided that I was going to learn these skills and started with free online tutorials. I started my career-changing journey doing self-taught classes on code academy then moved to Treehouse,” ToAnh says.

While ToAnh was doing her best to teach herself, she wasn’t happy with the rate she was learning. Because she was living in a small remote town in Japan, she found it difficult to connect with other coders and learn more about the tech industry. She felt like her growth was plateauing.

“I had so many questions and no answers. I grew frustrated at the slow pace I was going,” ToAnh explains, “I decided to level up and attend a coding school.” In 2015, she made the life-changing decision to attend a Software Apprenticeship in Costa Rica.

“Learning how to code has changed my life. It’s been three years and I constantly get emails requesting me for work,” ToAnh says.

MilSpouse Coders
MilSpouse Coder leaders Jennifer Perry, ToAhn Tran, Autumn Capasso and KerriLeigh Grady.

Because the tech industry is developing at a rapid pace, ToAnh is charging full-speed ahead and learning everything she can about software development, AI, and more. “There are many different paths you can go in the tech industry,” she explains.

Milspouse Coders

Since learning how to code has made such a positive impact on her own life, ToAnh started MilSpouse Coders  in  order  to  help  other  military  spouses  get  into  coding.  She  believes  that  the  tech  industry  is  a  perfect  fit  for  so  many  military  spouses.  Additionally,  she  notes  that  they  are  known  for  their  grit,  getting  things  done,  and  problem-solving  skills.

“If  they  transfer  these  skills  combined  with  coding  skills  they  can  make  great  money  and  work  remotely,”  she  says.

In  fact,  according  to  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  the  median  salary  for  a  software  developer  in  2017  was  $103,560,  making  coding  an  extremely  profitable  career.  ToAnh  continues  to  explain  that  although  most  remote  jobs  require  at  least  an  intermediate  coding  skillset,  no  one  is  too  old  to  learn.

Coffee and Coding

ToAnh  says  that  her  mission  in  life  is  to  help  other  military  spouses  find  tech  careers  that  work  with  their  family  and  military  needs.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  goal,  ToAnh  started  the  organization,  Milspouse  Coders.  The  organization  started  small,  but  it’s  grown  immensely  in  the  past  year  or  so.

“It  started  with  me  and  another  friend  that  liked  to  code  having  coffee  once  a  week  and  sharing  our  projects.  I  got  a  request  last  year  asking  if  they  could  start  a  MilSpouse  Coder  chapter  where they  lived,”  she  explains.  By  October  2018,  the  organization  had  12  community  chapters  and  one  online  chapter.

ToAnh  adds,  “we  have  over  700  Facebook  followers  and  over  300  members  in  our  closed  study  group.”

The  goal  of  the Coffee and Coding events  is  simply  to  foster  a  safe  and  supportive  learning  community  for military  spouses  within  the  tech  industry.  “Representation  is  key  to  get  more  military  spouses  into  the  tech  space  and  it  makes  a  huge  difference  when  you  have  friends  and  mentors  that  have  similar  life  struggles  and  can  understand  how  to  help  each  other,”  she  explains.

A recent hackathon was held in Virginia Beach. Photo by Brian Arndt

Future outlook

As  the  tech  industry  continues  to  grow  and  expand,  ToAnh  hopes  that  Milspouse  Coders  will  continue  its  growth  as  well.  The  organization  hosted  its  first  hackathon  in  Virginia  Beach  this  past  October  and  they  hope  to  make  it  an  annual  event.  ToAnh  elaborates  on  the  future  of  the  organization.

“We  would  love  to  have  a  MilSpouse  Coder  chapter  at  or  near  military  bases  to  help  teach  and  motivate  future  software/web  developers,” she added.

“America has a serious deficit of computer programmers, a job that is increasingly more likely to offer remote positions that are flexible and portable. These positions give a population dealing with significant underemployment and unemployment the opportunity to pursue long-lasting careers–something many of us have had to give up after just one PCS.” -Kerri-Leigh Grady, Board Chair of MilSpouse Coders.

Visit MilSpouse Coders to learn more about joining the group and events near you.

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Madison Linnihan

Madison Linnihan

Madison Linnihan is a student at Troy University majoring in English and minoring in dance.

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