Success Story: How JT Kaufman landed a dream role at NVIDIA

Welcome to Formation’s Fellow Spotlight, a blog series introducing you to former Formation Fellows who landed their dream jobs. Today, we’ll meet JT Kaufman, now a Senior Backend Engineer at NVIDIA. 

Can you start by introducing yourself and telling us a bit about your background?

Sure! I have a non-traditional background in tech, but at this point, I’ve been a software engineer for about eight years. I initially worked as a technical recruiter and began learning about tech topics to be better at my job. I got some tech certifications and started playing around with programming websites just to be more educated as a recruiter. I found the technical subjects way more interesting than what I was doing and eventually decided to enroll in a bootcamp to learn coding and switch careers. 

After that, I even went back for a software engineering degree and then did Formation. It feels strange to call myself “non-traditional” now because I’ve done everything, but the path getting into tech was unique. 

Since working in tech, I spent about five years as a full-stack developer before transitioning to back-end work focusing on data engineering. Currently, I’m at Nvidia, where I handle a mix of coding for web apps and managing large-scale data pipelines.

What made you transition more toward backend work?

I came to like back-end work more because, when I was full-stack, the frontend always seemed to take up most of my time. I often had to solve problems I’d already solved, which I found a bit boring. Also, I got tired of fonts and colors—I had three jobs in a row that used the same font. It was a lovely font, but I just got sick of staring at it!

After completing a bootcamp, why did you decide to pursue a Software Engineering degree as well?

Honestly, I think it was a mix of imposter syndrome and curiosity. After almost a decade in tech, I can say the degree didn’t dramatically change my career, but it added to my overall experience. The real progress you make as a developer happens through your day-to-day work. While school and side projects help, nothing beats on-the-job learning. 

Why did you decide to join Formation?

I had a friend in the program and another who was a mentor, so I’d been hearing good things about it for a while. When my company had layoffs around the holidays, I knew from my recruiting days that hiring would slow down, so I figured it would be a good time to take a break and focus on something else. I felt a bit burnt out and wanted to use the time to refresh and work on my algorithms, which I hadn’t had a chance to study in-depth. Formation gave me that opportunity, and even though I was initially concerned about the flexible schedule, I found it immersive and kept me busy.

What were your specific goals when joining Formation?

I really wanted to improve at live coding. I could sometimes freeze up during interviews, even if I knew the material well. Formation gave me the space to focus solely on algorithms and problem-solving. I had always made disorganized attempts at studying algorithms, so having a structured environment to learn them was great. 

How would you summarize the impact Formation had on your technical skills?

The problem-solving framework Formation taught me was invaluable. It helped me organize my thoughts and avoid getting stuck during interviews. The repetition, especially with the end-of-section tests, was incredibly useful. These tests were difficult—solving ten problems in an hour, whereas a typical coding interview might have two or three. It really drilled those problem-solving techniques into muscle memory. Overall, it helped me stay calm and avoid the nerves that could have derailed me in previous interviews.

If you had to pick one major takeaway from Formation, what would it be?

That anyone can learn this stuff. Tech can seem esoteric, but it’s just like any other learned skill — if you’re organized and consistent, you’ll get there. It makes me laugh looking back to my first bootcamp and first couple weeks of coding where I could barely get programs running much less write an advanced algorithm from memory. Now, I have no problem with the complex algorithms I used to put on a pedestal. It’s all about practice and exposure, and really anyone can do it with hard work and consistency.

How did the job interview process go for you after Formation?

The hardest part was getting to the interview stage because the market is tough right now. I leaned on referrals more than I ever have before. With a challenging job market, you need to minimize the chances of choking during the interview process because it's harder than ever to even get to that stage.

Any advice for someone considering Formation?

Work closely with Fellow Managers to tailor the program to your needs. If there’s something specific you want to focus on, like system design, speak up. And start the section tests early! They’re tough, but they’ll really help build your speed and confidence for real interviews.

Any final thoughts or advice?

With the job market being difficult right now I feel like people considering a program like Formation have a lot to gain from the material that will let them stand out from the crowd. I was impressed with how rigorous the curriculum was and I feel like it did make a big difference for me. I landed at my dream company with a salary that exceeded my expectations so I couldn’t really have asked for a better outcome.

Get holistic interview prep with Formation

The Formation Fellowship gives mid-level and senior engineering job seekers everything they need to land their dream roles—including personalized skill brush-ups, resume help, unlimited mock interviews with experienced software engineers and hiring managers from top-tier tech companies, career and negotiation support, and more. 

If you’re having trouble navigating your job search on your own, apply here and get unconditional support from a team of engineering mentors, technical recruiters, career coaches, and more.