Professional Certificate in Coding: Women's Cohort

Who Is This Program For?

• Career Launchers: early-career women professionals who want to step into a new career in tech, and gain exposure to the full development lifecycle as the launch point.
• Career Builders: women in tech who are ready to build on existing skills either in coding or a related technical field, to formalize training, and earn a valued credential.
• Career Switchers: women returning to the workforce after an absence or career professionals looking to switch to software development from another field, such as marketing, sales, human resources, operations, or any other field.

There are no prerequisites for this program, though a capacity for technical concepts is recommended.

Key Takeaways

• Build, test, and deploy a web application using the MERN stack
• Build, test, and deploy APIs
• Build, test, and deploy a front-end web application using React
• Build a community of like-minded ambitious women
• Setup Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) pipelines to deploy a React application
• Present a GitHub portfolio of your work to potential employers

Program Highlights

• Flexible program that fits into your busy schedule
• Insights and coding demos from renowned MIT faculty
• Peer networking groups with like-minded women
• Market-ready coding skills for a high-growth market
• GitHub portfolio to share with potential employers
• Earn a certificate and 48 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from MIT xPRO
• Daily Live Chat with Learning Facilitators

Program Topics

This program is organized into three main modules using the MERN stack: Web Development, Front-End Development/React, and Back-End Development. Each module builds on the next and is designed to prepare you to enter the job market as an entry-level full-stack developer, or to specialize in one of these areas with further skill development.

Module 1: Web Development

You will develop foundational skills in web development using Javascript, HTML, and CSS. You’ll also create your own personal portfolio in GitHub, which you will add to as you progress through the program.

Module 2: Front-End Development and React

You will dive deep into front-end development using one of the most popular frameworks, React. You will write clean, concise code with Javascript ES6 and use these skills to work with web components in React. You will learn how to build React applications and how to test and deploy them.

Module 3: Back-End Development

You will work with MongoDB, ExpressJS, and NodeJS to become confident in the MERN stack. You will learn the essentials for working in the cloud, automated testing, and deployment for a solid foundation in DevOps.

Stepping into a career in software and web development requires a variety of skills, both hard and soft. This course offers you guidance for navigating a career path in tech, including crafting your elevator pitch and communication tips. These services are provided by Emeritus, our learning collaborator for this program. The program support team includes women learning facilitators and career mentors to help you reach your learning goals. The primary goal is to help you gain the skills needed to be prepared for a job in this field, however, job placement is not guaranteed.

There is a career preparation aspect of this course, elements include:

• Crafting your elevator pitch
• Networking for women
• Interview skills practice
• Combating imposter syndrome
• LinkedIn profile guidance
• Negotiating salary
• Building confidence and being assertive
• Advancing in your career

Career exercises focused on launching a career as a developer:

• Building your personal brand and promoting your skills
• Communicating technical concepts to non-technical colleagues
• Understanding the roles and workflow of Agile development
• Reflecting on your skills to learn how to troubleshoot and learn more quickly
• Job search and interviewing for developer positions