Chris Guizzetti: Putting in the work landed him at Snap

Chris began his career in project management and then went on to join a coding bootcamp. But after job hunting for months and getting nowhere, Chris took the leap and joined Formation. Here’s Chris’ journey to becoming a Software Engineer at Snap. Learn more about our Fellowship here.

What was your background prior to Formation?
I studied Engineering Management at Arizona State University, focusing on processes and improvement. Once I graduated, I interned as an IT project manager and ended up working there for 1.5 years. Then, I got the opportunity to quit my job and backpack through Europe for 4 months. During that time, I was learning how to program and would create websites for family and friends. When I got home from traveling, I started job hunting, but I realized I didn't really have any skills, just the 1.5 years of project management. I thought, “If I were to start over, what would I do?”

I thought a lot about coding, which had always been an interest of mine. I was getting pretty into cryptocurrency, and kind of had this realization that crypto is essentially programmable money. COVID had just begun, so I feel like that opened up a door for me to fully dive into coding. I went through a period of discovering what I should do and which language I should learn, and then I finally realized I needed to go to a bootcamp. I went through Codesmith, which gave me a fundamental level of skills, communication, and DSA.

I grappled between having a short-term focus or a long-term focus; a short-term focus meaning I could brush up on the skills I needed to simply get a job and then get the experience that I was missing through my next job, and a long-term focus meaning I could put in the time and proper amount of work and then land the job I actually want. That’s what led me to Formation.

What did you do after Codesmith?
After graduating, I was on the job hunt for about 4-5 months. I still felt like I had so much more to learn and I wasn’t getting any feedback after interviews, so I didn’t know what I needed to do to become more efficient. Eventually, I landed my first job at a Web3 startup. I was on a team of 5, which was great in that I got to learn so much and wear a lot of hats. On the flip side, there was no structure and no one to review any of my code. I knew there was still a lot I need to learn if I wanted to up-level my career.

After less than a year there, the company closed and I was job hunting all over again. I felt lost in terms of DSA since I hadn’t done algos in quite a while. In thinking about the route forward, I grappled between having a short-term focus or a long-term focus; a short-term focus meaning I could brush up on the skills I needed to simply get a job and then get the experience that I was missing through my next job, and a long-term focus meaning I could put in the time and proper amount of work and then land the job I actually want. That’s what led me to Formation.

Having done a traditional bootcamp like Codesmith, I realized that a traditional learning style wasn’t for me. Having a whole cohort on the same schedule put pressure on me. I felt like I was never going to catch up to everyone. Formation was the opposite of that.

What other kinds of training did you consider, and why did you end up choosing Formation?
A friend from Codesmith was already in Formation and recommended it so I looked into it. I had already done a bootcamp, and I didn’t want to waste time or money. I know firsthand how stressful it is to make a decision like this, so I took my time. What sold me was that, after talking to [the Co-Founders] Sophie and Michael, I didn’t feel pressure to join. I got actual feedback on my coding that was beneficial to me whether I joined or didn’t.

Having done a traditional bootcamp like Codesmith, I realized that a traditional learning style wasn’t for me. Having a whole cohort on the same schedule put pressure on me. I felt like I was never going to catch up to everyone. Formation was the opposite of that. They offered personalized sessions that vary week-to-week, small mentor-led sessions, 1:1 sessions, and dedicated time with a Fellow Manager to see what you’re struggling with and what you want more or less of. All of that made the Fellowship personalized to me in all aspects.

What was your specific goal in becoming a Fellow?
I wanted to feel confident once I graduated. After I graduated from Codesmith, I still had to job hunt for months afterward. My goal in joining Formation was to confidently say I graduated and got the job I wanted. Ideally, I wanted to work for a FAANG company, or close to that level.

How did you work with the Mentors?
The Mentors were as promised, especially in the sense of them providing direct feedback that would help you improve on the skills you needed to do well in interviews. All of the Mentors were very different from what I was used to at Codesmith. Those sessions would be hosted by people with just 3-4 months of experience. The Formation sessions—whether they were algo, system design, or even behavioral—were hosted by engineers that actually had years of experience and knew what you needed to do to improve for the next sessions.

A few of my favorite Mentors were Daniel and Matt Oates. Daniel has such awesome energy and was really transparent. I felt like he really listened and gave really good feedback. Even if you didn’t know what was going on in a session, he made you feel included and got you up to speed. Matt gave me a really good learning experience. He gave me extremely detailed feedback after every session. You knew you had to bring your A-game when you had a session with Matt.

What did you think of the tech platform?
The platform itself was excellent. It surfaced your backlog of items, things you were working on at the moment, your customized plan, and all your session feedback in one place.

Behind the scenes, it’s so much more impressive. As you progress through the program you get different kinds of sessions that adjust based on how well you’re doing on certain topics. Toward the end, my Fellow Manager, Cara, asked which types of sessions I wanted more/less of, and they customized that for me.

Formation gave me confidence and peace of mind in interview sessions.

How did your interview skills improve with your Formation training?
I personally benefitted the most from mock interviews. Before Formation, I used to get really nervous before calls. I’d almost always want to cancel right before we were set to start.

All the mock interview sessions during the Fellowship are like practice reps to get you more comfortable with interviewing. I’m now able to be more present in interviews, talk slower, and make it more of a conversation. Formation gave me confidence and peace of mind in interview sessions.

How did Formation help you prepare for your new role?
At my first job, I was doing work and getting tickets but no one was reviewing my code. I had no confidence that if I joined a new company I would know how to do PRs. etc. During my Fellowship, I would get actual comments on my PRs, get code reviews, and became much more knowledgeable about the soft skills that are indicative of good engineers.

What is a project that you are working on in your new role?
Bringing AR lenses to the web building an SDK so devs can build this into any website they want.

First code you shipped?
The first code I shopped at Snap was building a drop-down to select different lenses on a demo page

Proudest moment?
Putting in the work to complete Formation and feeling the way I wanted to feel when I first joined. And getting a job I’m so excited about.

Biggest mistake?
I think everything I’ve done has led me to where I am today.

Favorite “Lunch and Learn”?
Kent Beck! It was awesome hearing from someone who has dozens of years of experience in the field and creating something that is really still in use to this day.

Favorite group session?
One of my Favorite Mentors, Daniel, had a Dynamic Programming “bootcamp”. He turned a not-so-fun (and somewhat stressful) topic into an enjoyable time for everyone.

Biggest surprise about Formation?
That it’s everything they said it would be. There’s a lot of hype wrapped up in bootcamps and other programs I researched. But Formation actually delivered on what they said they’d do. Sure, it’s still up to the Fellow to do the work, but Formation delivered on its promise.

Anything else you want to share?
Something I wish I knew was to not rush it. When I first joined I was trying to get a job as soon as possible. That made me feel burnt out. I shifted my focus to getting better each week, enjoying the process, doing the work, and understanding everything I was learning on a deeper level. If you do that, it will set you up for a much better outcome. Work on getting the skills you’ll need to land your next job and do well in it instead of fast-tracking everything just to get to the next role.

Ready to supercharge your job hunt? Apply today to join Formation's Fellowship and land your dream role.