Become a web developer after a career as a pastry chef? Martin managed! Here he tells us about his choice of career path and training—as well as the technical side of the pastry world.
From the ovens to Wild Code School: a leap into web development
Hi, Martin! Can you introduce yourself in a few words? What was your background before joining Wild Code School?
After leaving school at the age of 16, I studied baking and pastry making until 2017, and then was a pastry chef for two companies before starting my training in September 2019 at Wild Code School in Nantes, France.
Pastry chef by profession, you decided to dive into the digital world. Why did you make this choice?
The world of IT has always interested me! As my brother works in Big Data, we often talked about his work and it made me want to take a closer look at it. So, I decided to take the leap!
It's been a year and a half since you finished your training and became a web developer. Can you tell us about how you feel about the digital sector?
It's a rapidly expanding world in which you have to know how to adapt and evolve. There's never a dull moment, with new elements to consider—news about the world and IT that I was not aware of before and about which we talk very little in the end!
The tech sector: Why choose web development? What opportunities exist? Has the pastry business sufficiently adopted hi-tech?
Did you find a job easily after your training?
Easily? No—but it wasn't that difficult, either. I was recruited by a company that had come to a job dating event at Wild Code School, and it ultimately decided to take on an additional individual. My feeling on the current situation is that it's a bit more complicated to find a job as a junior developer. There are a lot of us in the market, and companies are also looking for senior developers to be able to hire junior developers in order to train them, allow for rotation, etc.
Why did you get interested in web development, and what attracts you most in this field?
It came pretty naturally. While doing some research, JavaScript came up a lot, so I started learning it. If I still work on JS today, it's because of the diversity it offers!
In your opinion, are bakery businesses hi-tech enough?
No, bakeries aren't that hi-tech in the vast majority of cases. Some can be, but those are companies with a certain reputation. Neighborhood bakeries/pastry shops often haven't adopted technology due to lack of knowledge or budgets.
What issues have you been able to identify regarding the digital turn in the baking industry?
Regarding the employee side:
- Facilitate management of employee schedules as well as the management of orders and stock
- Enable automation of the calculation of revenue proportions. This also applies to the catering and sales departments
On the customer side, an application or website to book your weekend orders or simply lunch isn’t a given for all pastry shops, yet this would be very convenient.
What advice would you give to those who want to move into web development?
Go for it if that's what interests you and you're willing to develop throughout your career!
Thanks for all these answers! Any final words for Wilders?
Hang in there, don't give up, and above all, take a step back from what you are doing. Sometimes, the answer is simpler and closer than you think!
To learn more
Wondering if web development is for you? Try our web developer prep course and discover the basics of this profession while having fun!
We have still more resources to share with you:
