Coding Training for Veterans

Are you a veteran returning to civilian life or a member of a veteran’s family aiming to avail yourself of entitlements and benefits? This article is designed to help you navigate your options for taking advantage of these services to enter into a professional skills training program and learn the coding skills you’ve always wanted to learn. Learning to code can open the door to becoming a Software Developer, a Software Engineer, or a Programmer, but coding isn’t just for tech-based jobs. Web Designers, Small Business Owners, Project Managers, and more can also benefit from learning programming languages. Whether you want to launch a new career or you want to advance your current one, there are many options for learning how to code.

What is Coding?

Coding is one of the most in-demand skills dominating today’s job market. In simple terms, coding is the language that tech professionals use to tell devices how they should operate. There are several coding languages that are used for different purposes; some of the more common languages include Java, Python, and JavaScript.

Coding skills are required in many positions, including Software Engineer, Full Stack Developer, Cybersecurity Analyst, Machine Learning Engineer, and many others. The main upside of coding is that it’s also adaptable to nearly any industry, including education, fashion, finance, medicine, entertainment, and marketing. While it may seem complicated to break into a coding career, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Nowadays, anyone can become a coder and obtain an entry-level position after taking a coding bootcamp or two.

Read more about what coding is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Coding Skills?

Coding is an incredibly versatile field that covers a wide selection of topics. You’ll be able to create websites, algorithms, and programs that have uses in every industry on the market. Even if your chosen career operates primarily in-person, you’ll be able to take creative approaches to coding that will make everyone’s lives easier. 

You can make your own video game, build an online presence for your small business, or code simple programs that automate your mundane tasks. There’s no limit to what you can do with coding. This impressive skill will always serve you well if you have an imaginative mind and a willingness to learn more.

Support for Veterans

There are several options designed to support veterans in pursuing higher education or launching a new career. The GI Bill helps veterans pay for college, graduate school, and training programs. Qualifying veterans can have part or all of their educational expenses covered. The Forever GI Bill and VET TEC program can also assist veterans in pursuing higher education and vocational training. 

The GI Bill passed in 1944 and was designed to help World War II veterans readjust to civilian life. This bill established veteran hospitals, qualified veterans for low-interest mortgages, and created stipends covering tuition and costs related to college or training programs. The Post-9/11 GI Bill boosted benefits for veterans that served on or after September 11, 2001, and established that veterans can transfer unused educational benefits to spouses and children. 

The Forever GI Bill was signed into law in 2017. This bill expanded veterans’ educational benefits beyond the previous 15-year limitation on benefits, authorized qualifying work-study programs, offered the VetSuccess on Campus vocational rehabilitation program to students, offered veterans, removed the expiration date for qualifying work-study activities, established the VET TEC pilot program, and more. 

The Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) program connects veterans with qualified training providers to help veterans learn high-tech skills. The VET TEC program covers computer software, programming, data processing, information science, and media applications training. 

To explore your options for VA-supported programs through Noble Desktop, please visit their Veterans Support page. Noble’s VA-supported programs apply to students attending in-person classes at Noble’s New York City office. Learn more about Noble Desktop’s coding classes for veterans. 

Why Learn Coding

Veterans and their family members may wish to learn coding for several reasons. Most people learn to code primarily to launch a new career as a Software Developer, Engineer, or Programmer. Coding can also benefit other careers, such as Project Managers who want a better understanding of the programming process, Marketing Specialists and Managers who use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create custom emails and websites, and aspiring data science professionals learning Python’s many uses. 

Some veterans may wish to use their military experience and expertise to work for defense contractors and companies in the defense and aerospace field. Learning to code can help veterans find work as software engineers, Software Developers, or Project Managers. They may also be interested in cybersecurity, machine learning, or other technology-driven industries. 

The ability to code professionally also empowers veterans to launch a career in almost any field. Small Business Owners may use coding to create a custom website. Programmers may choose to work freelance, helping to develop apps, software, and other code-driven solutions for clients.

Why Choose a Skills Bootcamp?

Many students opt to enroll in a skills bootcamp because the curriculum focuses on teaching essential skills that help you launch a career in far less time than a four-year degree. Unlike university programs, which include several required general education courses, skills bootcamps focus solely on a particular skill or group of skills. For example, an HTML for Email bootcamp will focus specifically on using HTML to create email templates and customized emails. A WordPress bootcamp may focus on using HTML and CSS to launch a WordPress site. 

Skills bootcamps also take far less time to complete than a university degree. While an undergraduate degree typically takes around four years to complete, a skills bootcamp may last a few weeks to a few months. Career-certificate programs often include multiple bootcamps, a professional portfolio, and mentorship. These programs focus on helping students to launch a new career. For example, a coding certificate program focused on front end web development will cover HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. A data science certificate program will focus on Python programming and data analytics tools such as Tableau.

Skills bootcamps and career-certificate programs can help veterans to launch careers in: 

• Web development
• Python programming
• Data science 
• Data analytics
• JavaScript
• Software development
• Machine learning
• And more

Learn Coding at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop has a robust collection of coding classes and bootcamps that fit various learning needs. They offer in-person classes in Manhattan as well as live online classes internationally. All classes have relatively small class sizes and are taught by coding experts with practical knowledge. After completing your classes, you’ll have the option to retake those courses at no cost for up to one year, allowing you to practice, review subjects, and receive insights from instructors for free. 

If you’re eager to learn a collection of coding languages and applications, the Software Engineering Certificate will give you a taste of three notable ones. You’ll start with Front End Web Development, allowing you to create websites through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Once you understand these subjects, you’ll shift focus to JavaScript’s various frameworks and databases, including React, Node.js, and Express.js. Finally, you’ll learn Python Development with Django, which is helpful for server-side programming, among other topics. 

Anyone interested in algorithms and data collection should look into the Python for Data Science Bootcamp. It’ll show you the fundamentals of Python and everything that it entails. The possibilities of uses with Python are vast, and this bootcamp is the perfect segue into the Python Machine Learning Bootcamp. Companies such as Netflix and Amazon use machine learning programs to pull up suggested items for their users, and this bootcamp will teach you how to develop them yourself.

Key Insights

• Financial support for veterans seeking higher or continued education stems primarily from the GI Bill, Forever GI Bill, and VEC TEC program.
• Learning to code through a bootcamp or certificate program can help veterans to launch or advance a career in less time (and often at a lower cost) than a traditional four-year degree.
• You can receive comprehensive coding training through Noble Desktop’s skills-based bootcamps and career-certificate programs.