As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the mission to serve those who served, Code Platoon is almost entirely comprised of volunteers from the ground-up. Experience of our team members ranges from years to decades. Individuals can apply to any of the immediate openings described below by contacting Rod Levy.
Code Platoon Ambassador
CP Ambassadors play a critical role in helping senior leaders at companies learn about how to support Code Platoon.
Teaching Assistant
Teaching Assistants (TAs) typically have online or in-person office hours and help students with their assignments. TAs can choose between
Evening: 2 hour time slot, same day, every week, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, for the 15 week session
Weekend: 2 – 3 hour time slot, Saturday, middle of the day (you pick exact hours), for 15 week session
Daytime: Anytime that you are free! Perhaps your employer allows for volunteer hours or ‘open-source’ days – come hang out with us!
Location: In-person and Remote Opportunities Available. In-person opportunities are at our Chicago office, located at 1 South Dearborn Street, 20th Floor, Chicago, Illinois, 60603
Mentor
Time Requirement: 2 – 4 hours per month
Location: In-person and Remote Opportunities Available. In-person opportunities are at our Chicago office, located at 1 South Dearborn Street, 20th Floor, Chicago, Illinois, 60603
Mentors at Code Platoon play a very important and specific role for our Veteran students. The goal of the mentor is to become a trusted advisor to the Veteran as he or she discovers the profession of software development. Our students typically have no background whatsoever in programming, and need someone to help them figure it out!
IF I AM A MENTOR, WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?
FIRST MONTH OF CODE PLATOON:
After you are paired with your mentee, you will meet 3 to 4 times, over the first month. Ideally, you meet for an hour or so. You and your mentee will pick the time and location, but generally it will be after 5pm, and usually on a day that works for the Mentor.
NEXT 10 WEEKS:
Meet 2 – 4 times a month, in person, video chat, Slack, or whatever works for both of you.
OK, BUT WHAT DO WE “DO” AS MENTORS?
Help them with their project work (you will get a link to the class repo)
Answer their questions about life as a dev, career planning, how teams work, anything at all
Show them your work, your projects, your office, your story
Play coding games. Ruby Warrior or Code Combat?
Grant Writer
Time commitment: 10 to 20 hours per week, remote.
The grant writer does not need any experience in grant-writing, or experience with Veterans. He or she will need good writing and research skills to identify and apply for appropriate grant opportunities.
We have a grant calendar, and some training for this position.
Resume Coach
Time Requirement: 1 – 4 hours per student over a 5-week time period towards the end of each cohort. You decide how many students you are able to assist each cohort.
Location: Virtual, ideally using video chat
Responsibilities: Resume Coaches at Code Platoon play a very specific role for our Veteran students. The goal of a resume coach is to work with our students to produce a final professional resume. When you start working with your student(s) to finalize their resume, you will receive a resume draft that the student(s) already developed with their industry mentors. The students are also provided with a resume workshop course where they are taught the basic elements of a solid resume. You will provide the finishing touches and teach them how to write and maintain a professional resume.
Support Provided: Resume guideline templates and instructions will be shared from our career development director.
Requirements: We are looking for seasoned technical recruiters/HR professionals who have the ability to take resume draft information and distill it down into impactful resume content. Great writing skills are important for this volunteer opportunity.
Career Coach
Time Requirement: 1 hour per week per student over a 24-week time period. You decide how many students you are able to assist each cohort.
Location: Virtual, ideally using video chat
Responsibilities: Career Coaches at Code Platoon play a very specific role for our Veteran students. The Career Coach is an added resource to our Career Services team and the student you work with. As a coach, you will collaborate with students to build on their individual career readiness needs. These needs are in the areas of job sourcing, branding, networking, interview prep, and salary negotiating. The primary goal of our Career Coaches is to act as virtual motivators. You will encourage the student, educate the student, and support them as needed during the stressful job search process.
Support Provided: A Career Services roadmap curriculum will be provided by our Career Services Department. The Career Services team will also establish ongoing check-ins with our coaches to ensure you have the proper supports in place to confidently and successfully work with our students.
Requirements: We are looking for seasoned Software Engineers, Technical Recruiters, or HR professionals who have the ability to leverage their professional expertise in guiding each student’s efforts during the job search.
VOLUNTEER NOW
Contribute to a life-changing organization dedicated to veterans and military spouses.