ALUMNI CORNER
CTD Alumni Profile: Jasper Lin, Software Engineer at Biozyme Inc.
Jasper Lin is originally from Taiwan and moved to the US in 2011. Before joining Code the Dream’s first online Ruby on Rails class in 2019, he was a grade school teacher and mentor to immigrant students. Starting over in a new career was a risk for an older student, because he had to quit his teaching job to commit to full-time coding. But it was worth it, he says. Jasper completed the CTD class, then became an apprentice in CTD Labs, where he worked primarily on the Oye app, a low-cost mass messaging app for non-profit organizations; he also designed the logo for the app.
Following Code the Dream, Jasper worked as a developer for Group360, and is now a software engineer at BioZyme Inc. Jasper spoke on a recent CTD alumni panel, and offered some great advice to new developers, including:
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help
- When asking for help, make sure you get organized and do your research first, so that you can ask clear and understandable questions
- Recognize that even experienced engineers still suffer from “imposter syndrome”
- Know yourself, including what times of day are most productive for you, when to schedule breaks, and what your limitations are
- Be honest and communicate with your coworkers
- Pick a language and dive deep. Don’t skip the fundamentals, and always be willing to learn more.