Coding Dojo coming to Tulsa, offering a new career path

TULSA — In an economy increasingly driven by information technology, there’s a major skills gap growing in the United States.

It’s something that’s gotten the attention of President Trump, as well as Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin.

In September, a new type of school will open in Tulsa designed to provide a bridge over that gap for those who don’t want to spend years in college racking up student loan debt, or for adults who want to change their career, or even for entrepreneurs who want to do their own tech work.

It's called the "Coding Dojo," and founder Michael Choi tells KRMG it's an intensive, 14-week boot camp.

It’s not for the faint hearted; he says students will need to spend 60 hours or more a week to succeed.

But when they’re done, they’ll know the front end and back end of application development, plus how to attach that to a database and deploy it to the cloud.

They currently have six campuses operating in major cities, Tulsa will be the first mid-sized city to have a campus.

Choi says they then help students prepare for job interviews, and put together their resumes.

“When it comes to computer programming, what employers and what companies are looking for, they’re more looking for ‘do they know how to build things? do they think analytically?’” Choi told KRMG. “This is one of the few fields where even if you don’t have the degree, if you have the skills they’ll give you a chance.”

Governor Fallin tells KRMG she’s excited about Coding Dojo coming to Oklahoma.

“A Coding Dojo school will certainly put Tulsa, and Oklahoma, in a great position for investment opportunity, and more jobs,” she said. “It will be a huge leg up for the city of Tulsa to have a school, and a program, that helps us with those types of skill sets.”

Coding Dojo will open at 36 Degrees North in Tulsa this September.