Meet the Team: Nick Duckwiler, Codecademy Senior Software Engineer

Everybody’s career journey looks different — even the journeys of our team members! That’s why we’re so excited to share stories and advice from Codecademy’s Software Engineers, Data Scientists, Product Managers, and more to show people what it’s actually like to work in tech.

Today we’re spotlighting Nick Duckwiler , a Senior Software Engineer on Codecademy’s Core Services team who has been with us for six years.

Tell us about yourself.

“I’m currently a Senior Software Engineer on the Core Services team, which is one of the Platform teams in the Engineering department. Before that, I was a Codecademy Curriculum Developer focusing on web development topics. I’ve also worked as an IT consultant at EY.”

"The first time I applied to an engineering job I thought I was a prime candidate. Then I got my butt kicked during the technical interviews. I went back to the books and was a lot more prepared the next time.”

What’s it like being a Senior Software Engineer?

“Platform engineers work on all of the back-end services used by Codecademy.

For example, when you log in, we have a service that verifies your username and password. When you enroll in a course, we have a service that records your progress. When you run code in our learning environment, we have a service that evaluates your code and returns output.

I recently worked on a new service that provides access to a generative AI model in the learning environment. Essentially, learners can interact with ChatGPT during a lesson or project. We use it to introduce learners to generative AI and as a coding assistant for other content.

Building it was really tough but really fun! It involved a lot of security questions like how we inform users where their data is going, and whether we provide access to our [ChatGPT] account or we ask learners to use their own ChatGPT account.”

What advice do you have for people interested in software engineering?

“If you’re interested in a job, talk to people in similar roles. Even better, find a mentorship program! They can give you a realistic sense of what the job requirements are and give you advice on what gaps you need to fill. If you’re nervous about asking for someone’s time, remember that most people like talking about themselves.”

What do you wish you knew before you began your career?

“If you match 75% of the job requirements, send an application. Even if you don’t get the job, the interview process will show you what people are looking for and what you’re missing.

The first time I applied to an engineering job I thought I was a prime candidate. Then I got my butt kicked during the technical interviews. I went back to the books and was a lot more prepared the next time.”

*Not sure if you’re ready to apply to coding jobs? Chances are, you’re more prepared than you think! Here are six signs you’re ready to start submitting those job applications.

What do you want to learn next?

“I’d like to level-up my Ruby on Rails skills. I’d say I’m ‘conversant’ in Rails but not quite fluent. Luckily, we have a lot of Rails experts on the Engineering team, and we have a great culture of pairing, which is a fun and effective way to grow.”

What’s your favorite Codecademy course?

“Many! I used to be a Curriculum Developer at Codecademy, so I’ve written a lot of them too.

If you’re looking for new content, I have to mention the AI-enabled course Prompt Engineering for Analytics, which is one of the first pieces of content to use the AI features I mentioned earlier.”