What made you jump into tech and join the Yellow Tail Tech community?
I was just in a period in my career where I felt stuck. I knew deep down I could do more. I wanted more. I started doing some research, just surfing the internet, and one day, a video from Jubee popped up. He was talking about Yellow Tail Tech, and he just sold me right there. The way he explained the details and all the information he gave really caught my attention.
But what really intrigued me was when he mentioned there’s an apprenticeship. Okay, this is it. That was one of the things that really got me interested.
How did you feel about going through the apprenticeship? What was your experience like?
Oh, I’ll say the apprenticeship was everything. In my case, it gave me real-world scenarios where I actually got to troubleshoot enterprise-level issues and deal with real-world problems.
It really stresses you, it challenges you because you encounter problems you’ve never had before, and you’re dealing with tools or technologies you’ve never actually worked with. That kind of stress forces you to research and find out, “Okay, what is this?”
In the apprenticeship, we were using things like Ansible, monitoring tools, VMware, all that stuff. For me, that was one of my favorite parts. It was a real learning curve. I learned a lot, and that’s one of the things I liked most.
How did you get over that hump and get into the swing of doing tickets?
That’s another thing Yellow Tail Tech offers, it puts you in a cohort.
It doesn’t just focus on the technical side of things; it also helps you build soft skills through regular interaction with others in your cohort. When you’re stuck and there’s a deadline to complete a task, you’re encouraged to reach out. That’s what networking is asking. “Hey, can you help me with this?” or “Do you have any idea about this?”
Everyone in my cohort was really supportive. We encouraged one another, and that made my experience with Yellow Tail Tech a lot smoother. Not necessarily easy, but it definitely helped when things got tough. There were times when we were bombarded with new concepts and trying to find our footing.
Having that community of peers who would check in and ask, “Were you able to finish this?” or “Do you need help with that?” was incredibly valuable.
How beneficial have those soft skills been, in addition to technical skills, in your new role?
Working at Yellow Tail Tech feels a lot like a real-world environment. You collaborate with others, and that pushes you to understand what actually matters in the workplace.
You start to realize that you can’t just rely on your own perspective. Especially in a field like Linux, or any area of tech, there are always multiple ways to approach a problem. You can’t assume your way is the only way.
When you work with others, you’ll hear things like, “No, that’s not quite right,” and that forces you to pause and ask, “Okay, what are the other options?” It opens you up to different approaches and teaches you the value of teamwork. It also teaches humility, how do you respond when your solution isn’t the right one?
These are real-world lessons. Sometimes, your direction isn’t aligned with what’s needed, and you have to pivot. Being in that kind of environment helped me grow technically and professionally.
You secured a role just a few months after completing your program. Tell us what role you landed and what you’re doing in that position.
I’m currently a Linux Systems Engineer at the Li River Company.
What I do is manage the infrastructure to support developers in what they’re doing. I make sure our infrastructure is secure, handle user management, onboarding, and all that kind of stuff.
How do you feel Yellow Tail Tech and your journey there have helped you in your new position?
Yellow Tail Tech helped me a lot.
One of the most impactful things it gave me was the zeal to keep going, and more importantly, it taught me how to learn. You know how they say it takes 21 days to build a habit? Well, Yellow Tail’s program runs for over six months, especially when you include the apprenticeship. By the time you finish, you’ve built habits you didn’t have before. That, for me, was one of the biggest takeaways. Learning how to study and stay consistent.
Today, I’m a Red Hat Certified Engineer. I just kept learning.
Another key part was the structure. The apprenticeship really exposed me to a real-world environment. It was challenging, being thrown into a new field with a lot of moving parts to figure out. But honestly, that’s exactly what the real world looks like. You’re given multiple responsibilities, and you have to navigate through them.
Yellow Tail Tech’s structure made a huge difference. They have a clear methodology and a proven way of doing things, and that helped me feel truly prepared.
Ready to start your tech journey? Book a 10-minute intro call with Yellow Tail Tech today.
