Aidan Torrence: From Video Producer to Gopuff Software Engineer

Welcome to Formation’s Fellow Spotlight, a blog series designed to introduce you to former Formation Fellows who have landed their dream jobs. Today we’ll meet Aidan Torrence, a Full Stack Software Engineer at Gopuff. Aidan began his career in video production for a modeling development firm, then moved into finance before finally finding his passion for engineering. Here’s his journey to becoming a Software Engineer at Gopuff.

What was your educational/professional background prior to Formation?
I grew up in North Carolina and went to NC State to study Chemical Engineering. After graduating, I spent a year looking for work and figuring out my next steps. I wanted to get into video production, ideally on film sets. I worked odd jobs and internships and eventually moved to NYC to work in video production at a small modeling development firm. I joined to create a video production for their new program to bring in models from around the world to help them get signed with agencies. It was a fun and interesting rollercoaster—I started in video production, then became the staff photographer, and finally, managed a cohort. When the startup shut down, I moved back to Charlotte and landed a job at Wells Fargo where I worked in finance supporting the trading desk. I spent just over 4 years there before wanting a new challenge.

What originally got you interested in engineering?
During my time in New York, I was really trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. I considered all the different career paths—literally all of them. I was interested in a few, one of which was SWE. While in NYC, I applied for a scholarship at a bootcamp. I got the scholarship, but then right around the same time is when I landed my job at Wells Fargo.

I tried a few different programs to learn to code. I started two bootcamps and quit both because I ended up finding Formation. So, I’m mostly self-taught, you could say.

I wanted to focus on being able to pass an interview and so I leaned on Formation’s help.

What made you want to up-level your career?
I was very pragmatic about it. I tried to get as much info as possible from others, but I knew that one aspect of securing the job I wanted was being really good at interviewing. I’ve always thought about it from that perspective. I wanted to focus on being able to pass an interview and so I leaned on Formation’s help.

I also really got a lot out of the mock interviews; Formation has great mentors that have great experience. It was awesome to work with senior engineers and learn how they think about things and get insight into their perspectives.

What was your specific goal in becoming a Fellow?
Well, I definitely wanted to get a job. After I joined, I set a goal for the end of the year. I really just wanted to move on from finance and get into software engineering.

What's one thing you got out of your Fellowship experience?
The thing that I loved most was the career support. I can't speak enough about Ashley and Heather and the rest of the Mentors who worked on my resume with me and helped me prepare for non-technical interviews. They were incredible. I also really got a lot out of the mock interviews; Formation has great mentors that have great experience. It was awesome to work with senior engineers and learn how they think about things and get insight into their perspectives.

I wanted to pass a coding interview and I passed quite a few so I’m definitely happy I got to that point. Having mock interviews and getting into that interview setting often were super helpful.

What did you think of the Formation platform?
I think the platform was great! It’s really well made, does a great job of scheduling, and its emphasis on getting feedback from my performance on tasks was critical.

How did you benefit from practice interviews?
My interview skills pre-formation were at zero. So, I improved a lot. And that was the biggest reason I joined. I wanted to pass a coding interview and I definitely passed quite a few so I’m definitely happy I got to that point. Having mock interviews and getting into that interview setting often were super helpful.

How did Formation help you prepare for your new role?
Getting actual hands-on frontend coding experience, particularly when I was doing actual PRs and getting them reviewed by a mentor was critical. I will always remember Michael’s reviews—I point back to his reviews when I’m giving or requesting pull requests. He helped me set high standards!

What team are you on in your new role?
I’m a Software Engineer supporting driver scheduling and onboarding at Gopuff.

What is a project that you’re working on in your new role?
I’m working on a new scheduling system that allows drivers to request hours and then the hours will either be granted or denied to the driver.

I knew there would be engineers who came in with experience and knew what they were doing so I was nervous about that...The other Fellows and Mentors are really nice and easy to work with, they’re not intimidating at all. It’s been a nice community to learn with.

Quick Fire Questions

First code you shipped?
Back in 2017 when I was getting ready to join one of the bootcamps I went to, I did a bunch of prep problems and I shipped some code. That’s when I first became excited by the idea of programming.

Favorite “Lunch and Learn”?
Adam Wolff—he was great!

Favorite group session?
Sophie’s by far. She’s just a really good instructor. The largest amount of my learning happened during her sessions. She’s great at giving real-time feedback which really helped leveled my game up. Sophie and Michael were the biggest reasons I joined Formation. They have big resumes and I thought it was so cool I’d get to work with them.

Biggest surprise about Formation?
I knew there would be engineers who came in with experience and knew what they were doing so I was nervous about that. I wasn’t sure if I’d measure up. I was surprised it wasn’t scary at all. The other Fellows and Mentors are really nice and easy to work with, they’re not intimidating at all. It’s been a nice community to learn with.

Advice you’d give someone considering joining?
1) It’s not easy, but take advantage of the opportunity.
2) Being proactive is extremely helpful. Don’t go in thinking some company is going to do everything for you, you have to be self-sufficient. Know you’re going to work hard; it's your career to improve on. Have the mentality to actually make progress and get ahead.

Looking to level up your career like Aidan? Apply to Formation's Fellowship today to land a life-changing SWE role.