Janet Weber

A few years ago, Janet Weber found herself looking to rejoin the workforce after taking time off to raise and homeschool her kids. She had a master’s degree in Computer Science, but wanted to update her skills after more than 20 years away from the field.

She decided to visit MCC to talk with Bill Skrzypczak, MCC’s Mobile Design and Development department chair, about her next steps.

“After speaking with Bill, I decided I would pursue both the Android and iOS Development certificates and the Web Development one as well,” she said.

Weber describes her experience in the MCC program as extremely positive.

“I enjoyed the challenge, the process, and the people,” she said. “I always felt supported and encouraged to work through any frustrations.”

Students get a lot for their money with MCC’s program, Weber added.

The Mobile Design and Development AAS degree takes 64 weeks and costs only $9,212 to complete.

“All of our recent graduates have found employment within a few months of graduating,” said Skrzypczak. “And on average, their starting salary has been around $60,000. That means these students are seeing about a 600% return on their investment in the first year alone.”

The College also offers certificates in Android Development, iOS Development, and Programming Fundamentals.

“Students receive tons of support from both peers and teachers in a very collaborative environment,” Weber said of the training. “And in later courses, the structure mimics a typical work environment using Agile concepts.”

About six weeks after finishing school, Weber took a position working for a startup with no pay while she continued her job search. After working there for three months and gaining some valuable experience, she was hired by her current employer, The Chamberlain Group, as a front-end developer. Her current job title is Software Engineer 3 and she is the Lead iOS Developer on her team.

“MCC’s program definitely prepared me for my current job,” Weber said, “But you also have to be ready to keep learning and willing to stretch yourself. For me, the program provided that solid tech base of mobile development skills. On top of that, some of the soft skills I learned (like organization and communication) have helped me continue to succeed.”

Mobile development is interesting work, she added.

“I love being able to meaningfully contribute to a team effort—bringing features to an app or finding that elusive bug,” said Weber. “It’s fun working with others from Marketing, Middleware, Firmware, UI/UX, and QE (either here in the U.S. or halfway around the world). Plus a career in mobile development is fairly impressive to most people—my kids included!”

To learn more about MCC’s Mobile Design and Development program, visit www.mchenry.edu/appdev.