I just got offered a Job at Yahoo! here in Sydney….

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped me at IAM, I would certainly not be in the position I am now without you guys!!

http://zoedowning.com

Grad 2009

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パソコンに関してはかなりの初心者、ホットメールって何？？上書き保存とは？？？という状態でIAMに入学しました。海外の留学も初めてで、何もかもが私にとっては大きなチャレンジでした。本当に自分にできるのかという不安もたくさんありましたが、入学前に見学に行った際、学校の雰囲気もよく、しっかりカウンセリングをしてくれたので、この学校で勉強してみようと思い、入学を決意しました。

3カ月間語学学校へ通い、その後すぐにIAMへ。経験も知識も全くなかったため努力は人一倍必要でしたが、一つのものを作り上げることの楽しさ、そしてプログラミングを理解できるようになる喜びを教えてくれたのがIAMでした。デザインからプログラミングまで幅広く学ぶことができ、実際のクライアントと一緒にWEBサイトを作るという貴重な経験もできました。うれしいことに、私がターム3の時に担当したクライアントのWEBサイトは、今でも実際に運営されています。

落ち込むことがあると優しく話を聞いてくれる校長先生、授業が終わってからも熱心に指導してくださった先生方、いつも助け合い協力しあっていたクラスメイト、同じクラスじゃなくてもいろいろ教えてくれた生徒のみんな、いつでも相談にのってくださる頼もしい受付の方々。一年間のカリキュラムを通して、大変なこともたくさんありましたが、全て乗り越えることができたのは、こうした周りの人たちのおかげだと思っています。

今は日本に帰国し、ドコモのモバイルサイトの構築に携わっています。全く経験のなかった私が、今こうしてWEBの業界で働いていることが夢のようです。実際の仕事環境の中で学ぶことはまだまだたくさんありますが、IAMでの経験を活かし、これからも頑張っていこうと思っています。

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Jeff Hall and his Career

I found my experience at IAM to be quite fulfilling, the education was very hands on and the class sizes were small and left lots of time for one-on-one instruction. The location is perfectly ideal being in the middle of downtown Vancouver, and the school falls in line with the relaxed and fun atmosphere of Vancouver life.

As for the technical knowledge, the school focuses heavily on the Adobe Suites software package for design work and quite heavily on the a programming language called PHP. I find PHP to be one of the best programming languages for web out there, as it is the language that many popular CMS products are based on such as Wordpress, JOOMLA, and Drupal.

We also spent a lot of time learning more cutting edge programming languages such as AJAX and Action Script, which allow you to program some great design and usability elements of a website. The one thing I would mention is that there is also many web products in the corporate world which use the C# and ASP.NET programming languages which are based on the Microsoft platform, so if you do end up working with these tools you will have to adjust accordingly. However, this should not be an issue as the logic between these languages is somewhat similar.

So what have I done since IAM ? I am now working at a company called Marqui ( http://www.marqui.com ) and would say that my experience from IAM has helped me to get to where I am now, and I use many of the skills I learned at IAM on a daily basis at work and in my personal life.

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My education started at BCIT. I first took a PC hardware course. I quickly learned that was not the field of work I wanted to pursue. I looked at other options and found web development as something I wanted to devote my time to. I already had personal experience with web design so it fit perfect. I had mixed feelings with my time at BCIT and the web development program. The teachers were good, but some of the technologies were out of date. Every course was separate from the next. Nothing was tied in together with how to use everything as a whole. To get the needed credits some of the courses I had to take were not related to what I wanted to do. Also if I were to graduate from the program there would be no guidance after to help me start my career. I gladly quit the BCIT program and looked for other options. I searched for "Vancouver web design school" in Google and found IAM Training. I was excited to find a school that had the same outlook as mine for what I wanted to accomplish. As time went by I found myself in term one at IAM Training. The structure of the courses were better integrated together. I found myself having fun learning in a new way. All the teachers have real world experience and bring knowledge of technical expertise as well. As with all the three terms I was given a real client to work with to develop a web site from the ground up. This provided essential experience of time management, communication, and practicing the class teachings. After the final third term I was quickly entered in an internship given to me by IAM. After with my diploma I started getting jobs which was the goal from day one. I am now building experience with good paying jobs. I have more content for my professional portfolio, and always looking for more opportunities in the future. I have great memories of a relaxed setting at IAM. I have made great friends with both students and faculty. Thanks IAM!

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ワーホリで１年間カナダに滞在しましたが、以前から興味のあったWeb系で、いい学校があると薦められたのをきっかけに、IAMで学生としてもう１年頑張ることにしました。実はそれまでコンピュータの知識はほとんどなく、まさに一から始めた私ですが、初心者にも分かるまで丁寧に教えてくれる先生方の指導のおかげで、今ではWeb制作にすっかり夢中です。今は２ターム目で、毎日新しく学ぶことがあるので消化するのは大変ですが、とても充実した日々を過ごしています。帰国したら、是非Web関係の仕事に就きたいと思っています。

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I graduated from Institute of Advanced Media on Dec 2007 and from Langara College on August 2008. I`m currently working as web developer in Institute of Advanced Media (IAM). I`m writing this letter to explain to you why I chose to study in IAM and would like to recommend IAM to other students. From the beginning, my goal was to become a web developer and to be able to work in this field when I graduate. With that goal, I studied in the University Transfer program (UT) and then transferred to Simon Fraser University (SFU). In 2006, after one year studies at SFU, I realized that none of the courses there were helping me to achieve my goals. Due to that, I stopped my studies at SFU and to take a two year program at Langara College--the Computer Studies Diploma with an emphasis on Web Development. At Langara College, the programs did offer better knowledge about becoming a web developer. However, the programs still contained a lot of general information and did not provide enough practice for the field. I found this knowledge not enough for me to be able to work in real life situation. As a result, after a part-time course at IAM, in 2007 I enrolled in the Advanced Commercial Web Development Diploma at the same time that I was taking the diploma at Langara College. At IAM, not only could I gain exact knowledge about becoming a web developer (designing and programming), but I could also practice my skills in midterm projects and client projects each term. For each of the midterm projects, I learned how to improve my time management and apply my skills for the project requirements. For my client projects, I also got to deal with and solve "real life situations". They were like "little real life courses" for me work on. Besides, teaching me knowledge to be able to become a web developer, my instructors at IAM also shared their experiences in real life situations to help us become a better web developers. With three-month period for each internship from term 4, I could also gain more experience in the "absolutely related" job, which made me more confident about my skills. Right now, I`m working as web developer in IAM and glad that I could apply what I have learnt in IAM into my work. I would like to recommend other students to IAM.

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カリキュラムの良さとアットホームな雰囲気に惹かれてIAMを選びました。平日の夜や休日も校内の施設を利用できるのもいいですね。最初のクライアントプロジェクトでは、地元ロックバンドのWebサイトを担当。ミーティングやメールを通してメンバーの要望を聞きながら、３ヶ月かけて彼らのサイトを制作しました。現在ターム2でプログラミングに悪戦苦闘していますが、講師やクラスメイトに助けられ、大変ながらも有意義に過ごしています。

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現在フルタイムのターム3で勉強中です。元々Webデザインに興味があったのと、プログラム期間中に実際にプロジェクトを任せてもらえるということでこの学校に決めました。授業とプロジェクトは同時進行なのでとても大変ですし、実際にクライアントと仕事をすることは、もちろんプレッシャーでもありますが、その分達成感はものすごく大きいですね。今後は、カナダでの就職も視野に入れつつ、ここのインターンシップを受けようと思っています。

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Let the Freelance Begin!
Just an update from this end. The freelancing is going well. I am working on finishing 2 sites at the moment and one more to start for a photographer at the end of this week! My portfolio is live and I will update it once these new sites are up. I am now developing using the Modx CMS system and really enjoying it. Without the knowledge I gained at school doing the custom CMS/PHP etc, Modx would have been very challenging to learn. From a time and efficiency point, the Modx system is a huge help when doing sites on your own. I still have a lot to learn but happy to have reached my goal of working for myself. Thank you again for all your support and it was a great privilege to study at IAM!

Marie Therrien

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Megumi's Term Project Success
Also, wanted to let you know that Big Wildlife's site has seen a dramatic increase in traffic lately. I've been spending my evenings utilizing Facebook more to help promote our causes and within two weeks I increased my network by more than 400 people. Many of those folks are now posting Big Wildlife alerts on their FB pages and in turn other people are posting them. As a result, I've noticed visits to our website have gone from about 90 per day to now more than 500! (I had no idea FB would become such an important tool for broadening support.) We are so thankful we have a beautiful, engaging website to send people! I've received many reports from new visitors that they find the site helpful and visually empowering. So thanks!

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I'm a Game Developer!
How are you???
Last couple weeks I get a job here in Brazil, as a Web Designer. And Im sending this email to say THANK YOU for everything i Learned there. It was the best moment in my life and i will never forget that. Also I remember everyday how good was my life there, miss all guys from IAM.
Now im doing Game Designer in brazil, and when a finish, I will pretend back to vancouver, and this time for rest of my life !
Cheers,
Daniel

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