Matt Yamarino

In Need of a Career Change

For seven years, Matt worked as a Logistics Coordinator for a Dallas-based delivery company. He worked 12-hour days and weekends that significantly affected his quality of life and the time he had with friends and family. He missed out on the lives of his loved ones, and oftentimes returned home too exhausted to hang out after work. When he was laid off from his job, Matt was both too frustrated and burnt out to begin looking for new employment.

He attended a local career fair and met Jackie Anderson, the Senior Manager of Student Recruitment for Customized Training at Per Scholas Dallas. “She explained to me how students are trained in some of the industry’s most sought out tech skills and are connected with some of Dallas’ leading technology employers,” Matt recalled. She also shared with him the robust career development opportunities available to students throughout their training. “A career, that’s what I needed, and the support to pursue it.” Matt decided to enroll and was accepted into the Application Developer program.

Work/Life Balance

Although Matt did not have a family to support, he encountered similar challenges that others in his cohort struggled with, such as keeping up with the assignments after spending all day in class. To support himself, Matt worked for DoorDash in the evenings. The pay was barely enough. By the time he received his paycheck and paid off all of his bills, there was hardly any money left in his account.

In the end, Matt remained committed to his training and to his future self. Like most of his classmates, Matt entered the program without any prior technical experience yet graduated as one of the strongest students in his cohort. He helped many of his peers with the coursework and encouraged their success as if it were his own. Currently, Matt is living a more rewarding life. He now works as a full-stack developer at a major Fortune 500 employer, earning a salary three times more than what he was making the previous year. He not only has a career that he is truly passionate about, but also the work/life balance he never knew possible, spending time with his friends and family, including those who graduated alongside him.