Enthusiastic, passionate, and most importantly, driven. These are just some of the words we would use to describe Sadie Larson. After graduating with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from UCLA, Sadie went on to become an instructor at a technology summer camp, teaching kids how to use Arduino coding. While her summer job was fun, it was seasonal, and she was driven to land a long-lasting engineering career.
While searching for engineering positions on job boards, she came across Revature. “I noticed that Revature offers training in full-stack development, so that encouraged me to apply. Especially because I didn’t have a computer science background, and it felt like an opportunity to challenge myself.”
After being accepted into Revature, it was time to make the move from California to Florida. “The move was a huge change! Of course, I was scared at first, but my career goals overcame my fear, and I went for it.” When Sadie reached our Florida location, she was selected to train in Pega technology.
“Before learning Pega, I couldn’t decide between engineering for robotics, the medical field, or aerospace, but with Pega, I can reach all of those industries. It helped me understand what I really want to be doing.”
What did she work on in Revature’s Pega training? “My project was a development proposal management system that utilized Pega 8.3.1 to automate and ensure timely completion of approvals for building permit applications. On the project, I led my team by working with them to create a full workflow life cycle with optional stages, actions, and processes. I created the properties that were pertinent for the production of the application and assigned tasks alongside my scrum master to our colleagues. In order to complete the project, I assisted my colleagues with creating service level agreements, data transforms, email correspondences, organizing section views, and simulating SOAP services.”
Surprisingly, Pega wasn’t the only skill Sadie learned – she also became skilled in communicating what she has been working on and how it works. “Before Revature, I used to be afraid of communicating technology terms because, in interviews, I would have a difficult time explaining the projects I’d been working on. Now, I know how to effectively communicate what I’ve been doing and can expect it to be understood.”
The knowledge Sadie has gained thus far, and her Certified Senior System Architect (CSSA), Certified System Architect (CSA), and Certified Business Architect (CBA) certifications she credits to her Revature training manager. “What made my Revature experience amazing has been my training manager. From day one, she provided us with all of the material we need to succeed. She went above and beyond as far as feedback and helping us reach our potential. Most importantly, no one never made us feel stupid for asking questions.”
As far as being a woman in the tech industry, Sadie has this to say, “I’m proud of being a woman in tech. I know the distribution of women going into engineering is typically pretty low, but my coworkers thoroughly value the knowledge I bring to the table, and that feels awesome.”
Sadie was selected to join one of the leading financial institutions in the country. We only expect a bright future for her, so where does she see herself in five years? She’s excited for what her career has in store “I want to get more into the robotics side of Pega and eventually become a project manager – I like looking at projects as a whole and assigning things.”
Sadie's advice to anyone considering Revature: “I urge anyone who’s considering Revature to speak to someone from within the company and get the answer to whether it’s the right fit for you. Get to know people – you will be surprised by the amount of support you receive.”
