Career Development

By Padraig Ryan

John Bruno chuckles looking back at the dismal outcome of his first computer course more than 40 years ago.

“It was the only course I ever failed,” Bruno said. “I remember my professor telling me never to go near a computer in my career.”

Luckily, Bruno, 63, didn’t listen. In fact, he aced his subsequent computer tech classes. That opened a 40-year career in information technology, where he helped revolutionize data management on Wall Street. He even taught coding courses at night.

After retiring, Bruno took on a new challenge, to create a regulatory and compliance application and build it himself. Feeling a bit rusty in his coding skills, he enrolled in the Rutgers Coding Bootcamp, a six-month intensive program offered by the Division of Continuing Studies.

At Rutgers, math teachers are looking at problem solving from entirely new angles, and having exponentially more fun in the process. Rutgers Math Teachers' Circle formed as a collaboration between the Rutgers Center for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Education and the Rutgers Math Department. Learn more about Math Teachers' Circle and other educator workshops at cmsce.rutgers.edu.

Rutgers Center for Government Services has joined forces with Public Technology Institute to offer PTI's highly regarded leadership training program for government technology professionals. Year-long classes that address the most critical issues facing IT leadership in the public sector begin in New Brunswick, N.J., on June 28, 2017, and in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 26, 2017. The deadline to enroll in the east coast program is May 31, with first-come, first-served enrollment capped at 20 seats. Do not delay.

This nationally recognized program is designed to equip technology professionals with the requisite tools to improve their leadership skills so that they may best manage their organizational technology and personnel assets. The program allows graduates to earn one of two coveted designations: Certified Government Chief Information Officer™ or Certified in Government Technology Leadership™.

By Padraig Ryan

Nancy Lukas, who retired in 2015 after spending 20 years as a teacher, always loved technology. She was one of the first teachers to have her own website, loved using a SmartBoard and made her fourth grade students create podcasts about important environmental issues.

Still, Nancy, who has always liked a good challenge, never thought this lifelong interest would take her on a totally different career path. That was until her daughter told her about the

Rutgers Coding Bootcamp, a six-month intensive program offered by the Rutgers Division of Continuing Studies that provides the skills needed to become a “full stack” software coder.

“There’s no way I ever pictured myself going in a different direction,” said Nancy, 52, who taught high school, middle school and elementary school students, both English and math. “I imagined teaching for 20 more years but I decided that I had other talents that I needed to explore.”

By Padraig Ryan

Cristal King—who left her job as a programmer and analyst more than a decade ago to take care of her young family—knew she needed to sharpen her skills and learn new computer language in order to get back into the rapidly changing technology job market.

“Before I left, web development wasn’t nearly as advanced and robust as it is now,” said Cristal. “I know how quickly technology changes and I knew that I needed to have the skill-set that goes along with it.”

According to the Harvard Business Review, 90 percent of women who leave their jobs to take care of their family, like Cristal, said they want to reboot their careers and get back into the workforce.

Cristal wasn’t sure exactly where to go to get the training she needed to make this happen. When she first decided that she wanted a job in technology, after working as a sales representative for U.S. Healthcare, she enrolled and graduated from The Chubb Institute. At the time, web development was still in its infancy.

By Padraig Ryan

They may vary in age and have different personal and professional backgrounds but a team of women who recently completed an intensive six-month computer coding program at Rutgers believes that women need to stick together to move forward in the high-tech industry. 

“Women represent more than half of our population,” said Nancy Lukas, a former teacher who graduated from Rutgers Coding Bootcamp after working for more than 20 years as a teacher. “We use technology as much as men and it is crucial for women to be part of the design and implementation of this technology.”

That’s why Nancy and four other women who met at Rutgers Coding Bootcamp decided to create a social networking application called The Loop that they say will offer help and support women in the high-tech industry who want to break into what has traditionally been a male-dominated field.