| Name | Thanh Cao |
| Role | Interim Technology Lead |
| Course | Full Stack Software Development |
| Skills Gained | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, jQuery, Flask, Django, plus self-directed moves into mobile development and C# |
| Key Achievement | Went from running a sushi takeaway to serving as interim Technology Lead at a Norwegian tech company within four years |
In March 2020, days before Norway’s first COVID-19 lockdown, Thanh Cao opened a sushi takeaway shop with a friend. Four years later, Thanh is serving as interim Technology Lead at a Norwegian tech company, sitting in on high-level roadmap decisions. The road between those two points runs directly through a decision to bet on themselves, and a Code Institute diploma.
A Creative Itch That Wouldn’t Go Away
Running the takeaway meant managing every part of the operation, and Thanh did it well. But something was missing. “The work felt repetitive,” Thanh recalls. “There wasn’t much room for creativity.”
The creative outlet Thanh kept coming back to was one from years earlier: customising Yahoo blogs with basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Web design had always held a pull, but circumstances had pushed it out of reach. Thanh’s Norwegian visa required employment matching their master’s degree in communication and media, so a leap into tech wasn’t on the table. That changed after Thanh married their Norwegian partner, and with it came the freedom to choose a different path.
Free online tutorials were the first stop, and, as for so many career changers, the first stumble. Without structure, the commitment was hard to sustain. What Thanh needed was a programme with a spine.
Why Thanh Chose Code Institute Over Other Bootcamps
At the time, there were no physical upskill programmes available in Norway. Code Institute stood out among online options for its comprehensive full-stack curriculum built around portfolio projects, where alternatives such as Le Wagon concentrated on front-end alone. The decision came with a real cost: Norwegian support schemes like Lånekassen don’t cover bootcamps, so Thanh self-funded the course, helped along by some modest economic support from the government during their studies.
Thanh enrolled part-time while still working full-time. Then came the second milestone project, the JavaScript project, and with it, proof. “Finishing that project showed me I could actually succeed at this,” Thanh says. The response was decisive: they sold the sushi shop, quit their other job, and committed to programming completely.
The Hard Way, On Purpose
What makes Thanh’s learning journey distinctive is how deliberately difficult they made it. Rather than following Code Institute’s walkthrough projects, Thanh built highly complex personal projects specifically designed to be challenging. Because the projects were unique, mentors couldn’t simply hand over solutions, which was precisely the point. Thanh learned to dig through documentation, search independently, and lean on the student community on Slack.
That community became a second classroom. After the JavaScript milestone, Thanh threw themselves into Slack channels and hackathons, and discovered one of the fastest ways to learn: debugging other students’ problems.
From Placement to the Leadership Table
The timeline from first lesson to employment was remarkably short. Nine months of part-time study with Code Institute, followed by a three-month intensive upskill programme in Norway, roughly a year in total, led to a 12-month job placement. Six months in, the client company bought out the contract to hire Thanh permanently. Within ten months of starting the placement, Thanh was a full-time employee.
Today, four years on, Thanh works in a tight team of four developers. In Norway’s famously flat corporate culture, that means real responsibility, currently serving as interim Technology Lead while the company’s CTO takes five months of parental leave, and contributing directly to the product roadmap.
Along the way, the Code Institute curriculum proved its worth as a foundation. Having learned to move between Bootstrap, jQuery, Flask, and Django, Thanh found the transition into mobile development and C# a natural next step.
“The curriculum is a blueprint. It teaches you how to adapt to whatever framework comes next.”
Thanh Cao, Interim Technology Lead
Thanh’s Advice for New Coders
Build challenging, personalised projects with complex logic rather than leaning on basic tutorials. For Thanh, practical problem-solving ability outweighs a traditional four-year computer science degree, and the portfolio proves it to employers.
A career change like Thanh’s takes a massive personal and professional investment. Selling a business partway through a course is not a step taken lightly. But it’s exactly the kind of story that shows what’s possible with structure, community, and the willingness to choose the hard project.
Ready to Make Your Own Career Change Into Technology?
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