“I learned pretty much everything from the Village 88 Training,” ~Kei Kishimoto
Village 88 Training Batch 1 was a success! And we couldn’t be more proud of our alumni who have already landed jobs as developers in different companies.
One of them is Kei Kishimoto. After the training, she applied to Village 88 as a front-end developer and has contributed much ever since!
Important Note: Village 88 alums are not required to apply to Village 88 and are free to apply to other companies.
We interviewed Kei to learn more about her experience and thoughts about the Village 88 training.
 Noemi:“Hi, Kei! Thank you for accepting this interview, and I’m very excited to hear your story about your career journey, from completing your V88 Training to becoming a certified Village 88 Villager.” |
 Kei:“Welcome! It’s an honor to share my own experience with you guys and help other developers out there.” |
| Noemi: “Okay, so if you’re ready, let’s get into it!” |
Could you tell us about yourself? And describe your background.
| Kei: “Well, I graduated from De Lasalle Araneta University with the degree of BSBA major in Financial Management. I got my first job as a marketing staff. It lasted for, like, one year. And then, after that, I took off freelancing as a graphic designer and a writer. “That’s where I realized my true passion is, and that is coding.” |
| Noemi: “Wow, so you started from different career paths, right? You had a lot of jobs before you ended up deciding that “Coding is really my thing. This is what I love to do.” |
Is the training difficult?
| Kei: “Let me share a story. I worked as a freelancer. And before that, I have always dreamed of coding and designing because coding is something I find challenging. It started as just a dream. I didn’t believe that’s gonna happen very soon. Not until I met Village 88. “When I was working as a freelancer, I felt dull. Like, ‘Is it always gonna be like this?’ It’s not too fulfilling. But when I started scrolling on Facebook that time on, I think, January 2021. I saw the post on Facebook. When I first saw it, the first thing that came to my mind was that “Wow, this company is too good to be true. Really? Free training? What??? “I see the opportunity for the career shifters as well. I did not waste any time. I messaged the company. And then I received the email, and they said that they are open for career shifters, to train them and then hire them. That’s where I started going to training at Village 88. “I think in March; I invited, like, 10 people. I invited 10 of my friends. I forced them to join because I was afraid to train on my own at first since I was a beginner. After that, they messaged me and said, ‘Wow, Kei, what is this? Hacker Hero? And it is required to join the training?’ And I was like, ‘Yes. They said that it’s a requirement.’ And then after that, they said, ‘Sorry, we cannot join because the codes were really difficult for us to solve.’ I was disheartened because I was left alone to code on my own. But I didn’t give up. I sought help from programmers out there on Facebook and from my friends who are already developers. I widened my network just to fulfill my journey in Village 88.” |
| Noemi: “Some of the trainees right now, they said ‘to learn new skills.’ So what is your purpose in joining the training?” |
What is your purpose in training?
| Noemi: “Some of the trainees right now, they said ‘to learn new skills.’ So what is your purpose in joining the training?” |
| Kei: “I really wanted to code. Last 2020, I took a Tesda training in Web Designing and Web Developing. The trainers there said that I have potential and they wanted to hire me. But I said, ‘I saw a company that I know would fulfill what I want,” and that is Village 88. “I made a lot of friends here in Village 88. I talked to the trainer, Karen Igcasan, and she really inspired me to join Village 88. You know, we’re both women, and as a woman, I feel confident since I was given a chance to join Village 88. And after that, my dream is to be a front-end developer.” |
| Noemi: “That’s great to hear! And also, I would like to emphasize that even though we are women, we can do a lot of things. So, it’s actually women empowerment. In the industry, web developers are mostly male, right? But of course, women can also do that. So, we are encouraging those aspiring developers out there, those who want to pursue coding, you can enter the training. You are free to join. You don’t need to pay anything. That’s my next question to you, actually.” |
Is the training really FREE? And is it worth your time?
| Kei: “Yes! Actually, I did not pay a single penny. It’s really really worth it.” |
| Noemi: “So you’re not going to pay anything when you join the training. It’s FREE, 100%. We will not ask you to pay afterward also. But we are going to offer something to you. Probably a job or incentive, if you pass the training. Just like what happened to Kei here. She was given an opportunity to work in the company. And now, she has a job, and she said she’s very happy about it. And she’s excited to work more and do other stuff.” |
Did you try to join other companies before joining Village 88?
| Kei: “Well, I graduated last 2019. So after that, I did not apply that instant. I waited for, like, one and a half years before I truly wanted to get a job. You’re not sure if you can get hired by a good company. It’s easy to find a company, but it’s not easy to find a good company for you.” |
| Noemi:
“That’s actually the struggle of millions of people, not only here in the Philippines but all over the world. It’s really important to, you know, up your skill, try to acquire a new skill, and add to what you have. Talent will not sustain itself, you need to inject something into it.” |
In Village 88 Training, what are the things you learned that you didn’t know before?
| Kei:
“Pretty much, I learned everything from the training. Fundamentals of coding, up to the complex of backend coding. It was really hard at first because I wasn’t really that knowledgeable in coding. But with the help of rigorous training, I kind of survived it.”” |
| Noemi:
“I’m happy to hear that! I’m also grateful to you because you pursue your dream, and you continue to strive harder when you encounter some challenges. It’s not really easy to start at first. You need to have a passion, you need to have the heart to do it. But if you have those things, like determination to pursue and you have an open heart, eventually you will learn the skill. And you will learn to love it as you build features, and then you have your own product. And even improve your own portfolio.” |
Any word of wisdom for the upcoming trainees?
| Kei:
“For all those who aspire to become a developer, my advice is that, ‘Be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams. There will always be blood, sweat, and tears but please, never give up. Because if you really want something, you will work hard for it, and you will put your heart into it.’ In my training, this is not a joke; I used to cry every day because of the codes. But now that I’m a probie, I only cry, like, once a month. But in reality, I see that coding is a part of my life. Without it, without coding, I don’t see life anymore. Coding has become part of my life now.” |
| Noemi:
“So, to those who don’t think that they can learn a new skill like coding, programming, it’s actually hard at first, just like what Kei said. But as I said a while ago, you just need to have an open heart. And then you just need to keep on doing what you love, and then little, by little, step-by-step, you will see that you’re growing as a person. And then you are going to be happy with whatever product that you will receive soon after completing all those things.” |
What path would you like to take or explore more?
| Kei:
“I’d like to be more comfortable in front-end development. Since I’m a beginner, I still struggle with front-end development. Afterward, I’d like to immerse myself in UX and UI, as well as marketing. I like to see things in both creative and logical ways.” |
| Noemi:
“Yeah, I heard that you love to design also. Maybe you have a future in that. It would be good to explore that as well. Because as a front-end developer, you need that skill, too, when you are designing. I mean when you are implementing products while building it out of the design.” |
Bonus Question: When you’re not coding, what do you do in your spare time?
| Kei:
“Well, I love gaming. I’m a girl gamer. Ever since I was a kid, my dad has spoiled me with games. Since I was, like, three years old, I started gaming. I also like reading books. Especially with a topic of UX and UI and marketing strategies because I love non-fictional books. I also love anime since I have, you know, Japanese blood. “For me, doing things like that makes me relax. Watching anime make me creative as well because of the graphics and the music.” |
| Noemi:
“One of your hobbies is drawing, right? Do you post it, or do you collect your drawings or illustrations? Do you have an account?” |
| Kei:
“Well, I do graphic designing, and I have an account in dribble. And my account there is dribbble.com/keikishim.” |
Conclusion
We hope that you have been inspired by our girl programmer, Kei Kishimoto, and her life-changing experience in the Village 88 Training. You can also watch her interview on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Village88IncPhilippines/
As mentioned earlier, the training is free. You will be trained and will be skilled with 30+ industry-relevant technologies after the training. This will give you more chances to be hired as a developer.
Registration for this batch 4 is currently open. Sign up now and reserve a slot!
Just visit the Village 88 Training website to learn more about this training and sign up.
For inquiries, you can send us a message on our Facebook page.
We hope to see you in the next batch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LQrgxwkm7Q
