Graduate Profile: Juan Marquez

Juan Marquez’s path to career success is one of resilience, perseverance, and transformation. Diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of six and unfairly labeled a “slow learner,” he faced many challenges in school, pushing through countless obstacles and earning recognition for strong grades and perfect attendance. 

But at 14, the loss of his father sent him into a downward spiral of missed school and lost focus. Later that year, Juan met his future wife and, as he began his junior year of high school, he learned he was going to become a father. 

“I realized then that my dad would have wanted me to do better, so I turned things around and graduated high school, with my son in attendance.” 

After graduation, Juan enrolled at Arapahoe Community College. Shortly after, his son became seriously ill, forcing him to leave school and work multiple jobs to cover a mountain of medical bills. To cope, he turned to drinking and partying, which strained his marriage and separated him from his family. 

Juan’s Turning Point

Hitting rock bottom, Juan reached a turning point in 2018. With the support of his wife and mother-in-law, he got sober, rebuilt his life, and found steady work in IT at Aspen Systems, where he first got his foot in the door to learn hardware IT.

A couple of years later, when the COVID pandemic cost him that job, Juan poured his efforts into earning entry-level certifications through Linux in hopes of finding a job. Still struggling to find employment, he stumbled across an Indeed ad for ActivateWork’s tuition-free 15-week AWS Cloud Fundamentals bootcamp. Skeptical, but desperate, he took a chance.

“The ad said I could become an entry-level cloud specialist without spending a dime and earn a salary that I couldn’t believe,” he said. “It seemed too good to be true, but what did I have to lose?”

How ActivateWork Opened Doors to Opportunity for Juan

Juan attended ActivateWork’s AWS Cloud Fundamentals bootcamp with people across the U.S., many of whom had also been laid off from tech companies due to the pandemic. The one-off virtual program, due to the pandemic, gave him both technical training and career development tools, building his confidence to overcome the imposter syndrome he had grappled with his whole life. 

“Collaborating with my peers took my learning even further as they showed me tips and tricks I never would have learned on my own,” he said.

In addition, Juan valued Career Development Fridays, where the class learned vital business skills, such as how to approach looking for a job, resume-building, and other soft skills that could apply to any job. 

“This bootcamp was more than just the course and certification to me. I learned so many other business skills that I know can help me excel throughout my career.”

Juan’s Apprenticeship with Ping Identity

Graduating from the program in January 2022, Juan landed a DevOps apprenticeship with Ping Identity through ActivateWork’s network of employer partners. That apprenticeship quickly turned into a full-time role, propelling him from an entry-level income to a competitive salary as a DevOps professional.

“This apprenticeship took me to a whole new level. I had the opportunity to make more money than my family or generations before me have ever seen. It has completely changed the trajectory of our lives.”

A Bright New Future for Juan and His Family

Today, Juan continues to advance his skills in cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence through ActivateWork’s technical training partner, Per Scholas, while providing a stable, thriving home for his family. His perseverance has allowed his family to buy their first home and create a future that once seemed out of reach. 

Juan’s story reflects the power of persistence, community support, and lifelong learning. He hopes his story can inspire others in the hearing loss and minority communities to never give up and keep pushing forward. 

“It’s not always easy,” he said. “In fact, it can be very hard, but don’t ever give up.”