Data Analytics Flex

I had an excellent experience with Thinkful from day 1. My Academic Success Specialist Sue was highly responsive and always offering encouragement and tips for success. The mentor that I was originally paired with wasn't a great fit for me so after a couple of weeks I reached out to Sue and she found me an incredible mentor for the remainder for my program. My mentor was always available for a quick question via e-mail and was extremely helpful in cleaning up my presentation skills. I had a job interview near the end of my program that included a take-home data analysis project. My mentor offered to talk through the project with me and gave me advice on how to get started. I landed that job and started in July while finishing up my Thinkful coursework. Don't be afraid to start looking for work before you complete the program. At the start of my program the only experience that I had was some free online courses/youtube videos. I am confident that the knowledge that I gained in 5 months of the program was essential to my landing this job. 

This is a flexible 6 month data analytics bootcamp that teaches students valuable skills in Excel, SQL, Tableau and Python.A strong support system is provided by Thinkful including a personal mentor and Academic Success Manager.Personally I am not great at identifying the proper resources to develop specific skillsets. The structure provided by Thinkful enabled me to learn effectively and efficiently. If you need structure in order to succeed, then reach out to the Thinkful team to inquire more about their program. They are helpful and responded promptly from my time as a prospective student all the way through being a graduate.

The curriculum is as-advertised, informative, concise, and illustrative. I was paired with an extremely knowledgeable mentor who assisted me through any issues that came up for me. That being said, the effort put in the back end of the experience was the most surprising, you will very likely not feel alone in the process of finding a job. Resources from applying to evaluating the best job offer for you. Flexibility in scheduling every step of the way, the consistent flow of new information to assist you when coaches cannot, I would describe it as a very well-rounded program.

I was enrolled in the data analytics flex course through Thinkful from November 2020 to June 2021. If you are wanting to change careers and get into the technology space, this is a great program to help you do that! I will leave my review on a few factors: 
Curriculum
Course format
Mentorship
Career support
Cost
Return on investment

Curriculum |If you do the work, ask good questions, and utilize the many resources here is what you can expect to learn:
Excel | The essential formulas for an advanced excel user. You will be able to create new datasets and calculations from a raw data set, conduct basic statistical analyses, clean data, create visually appealing dashboards in excel. I started the program knowing nothing about Excel and after Thinkful I passed the LinkedIn skill assessment within the 90th percentile and got hired for a job that required advanced Excel proficiency.
Business skills | I greatly appreciate that throughout the course you learn what may be expected of you on the job and the practical use cases for data analysis skills. You learn the type of employers you can work for and the pros and cons of private, public company employment as well as government employment. I knew I was not entering a new job but a new career and Thinkful's course structure helps you get oriented to that world very well.
Storytelling with Data | You learn how to make good presentations and will be challenged to present your work to others. This is excellent practice!! I did not expect to learn design principles in this course that is just one way that it is clear Thinkful's instructors think through a lot.
SQL | You will be proficient in basic SQL skills leaving you job ready to expand your skills and take your work to the next level. The practical knowledge combined with the understanding of how databases work will prepare you to manipulate relationships within data visualization software such as Tableau and Microsoft Power BI.
Tableau | You will learn to make dashboards using Tableau and get exposure to creating data visualizations and the logic behind them. At work, I use Power BI and even though they aren't the same, Thinkful's Tableau instruction helped me become a better Power BI user. 
Statistics | Thinkful gives you a helpful introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics. A very valuable skillset for data analysts. I underestimated howi mportant it is and am very glad that Thinkful's course teaches this. 
Python | You will gain an introduction to Python that prepares you for more advanced data analytics work. From data cleaning to collection to visualization - you can now do that in python and can explore more of its applications beyond such as automation.

Course Format | I think the curriculum is very well designed. I have found multiple times that what I learned early on prepared me for the more complex coursework. In some cases Tableau and SQL felt easy to learn  and understand after I learned Excel and I think it is by design. The graduation plan is a very good tool to help you stay on track and know how much time you need to plan on Thinkful every day.They also enable you to chat with an instructor so if you ever get stuck you can get help from expert instructors. I have used this more than once and it is truly a great feature. My only suggestion for change is that most of the content is written out and requires you to read and follow along (you also have the help of GIFs showing you what to do). There are also video recaps of what you learned at the end of some checkpoints. In my opinion, I think creating more video-based content and adding it to what is already written would be an excellent addition. This is because for those of us who may be more visual learners it will help a lot and also because a lot of other learning platforms such as Udemy courses are video-based and show you what to do while explaining it. Mentorship | This is one of the best features of Thinkful. I had a very excellent mentor for the first couple of months and then she actually left to pursue another opportunity. Thinkful promptly got me a new mentor and I think his particular style was not helpful for me so I asked my academic success manager and she paired me with my other mentor who gave me the support and accountability I needed to finish the course successfully. Know this, Thinkful cares about student success and will work with you to achieve your goals. Having a mentor is great because they have the expertise to tell you what is ahead for you professionally as well as being a great resource to ask questions you cannot really find an answer for online. That is a huge benefit when you can talk to somebody about the non-technical things too.Career Support |The career modules are very helpful. I worked for a religious non-profit for my first four years after college and my BA was not a STEM degree (Arabic language). Having not interviewed for four years I almost felt like I never interviewed since college so in a weird way this felt like my first job since graduating in 2016. I was nervous about the job search especially for a technical role and was filled with doubt about doing well and even trying to explain the change between two very different industries. Thinkful's career support helps you with everything from how to find a job to building a great LinkedIn profile and resume and preparing for interviews. I actually was directed to my current job from someone in my network and Thinkful's career modules and the coursework  prepared me enough to land the job only months into the program! I know this doesn't happen for everyone but in my current situation Thinkful's coursework gave me enough experience and practice to answer specific questions in interviews and helped to make me a strong candidate. The careers team is excellent and this is one of the most valuable aspects of the program.Cost | The programs cost is significantly higher if you do it full-time so I chose the part-time flex course. This was affordable for me both cost and time wise. I was able to work hard for 6 months while working in order to prepare for my new career. It does cost money but I would also add that it does cost you in time. To succeed you need to be all-in and committ to studying after work or waking up before work. I struggled for a little bit in the middle of the course and fell behind but Thinkful's team helped me create a plan to get back on track. Just be ready to put in the extra time and scale back your other commitments to the essential priorities for a time. The more disciplined you are the faster the course will be.Return on Investment |While the program cost was about $4,000 for me with the part-time course, the return on investment was fantastic. While you could probably find enough resources to get into this field through platforms like Udemy or Coursera, Thinkful is a very strong option due to its career support and professional mentorship. You are meeting with real people every week to ask questions, learn, and be held accountable to your goals which makes this program have a higher chance of success. The whole program is oriented toward helping you land a role in data analytics so for anyone wanting to change careers this is an excellent choice to do that. When I think about my own situation, I paid $4,000 to learn the skills that helped me get a job that paid me more than 12 times that amount every year. This is a great return on investment considering I have a foundation to build on not just for a job but a career with even higher earning potential. Very much worth it!!!!Advice for new students |Here are a few words of advice from my experience:
Stick with the learning process. You will get frustrated and totally confused, by continually going back to the material and using the resources at your disposal you can learn! 
Work as hard as you can to get ahead of your grad plan early on. Getting momentum early will prepare you for the Capstone projects you will get to show potential employers. I found these to take much longer and you may want to put in extra time and effort on them. The more margin you have for yourself the better!
Don't take long breaks in the week-consistently work on the program every day. This builds good habits and helps you stay on track and not have to spend time relearning things once you forget your spot. 
Get involved in the Thinkful Slack community and other resources. I did not take do this enough so I would in retrospect recommend it!

For someone that is completely new to tech, I think I did pretty well. Yes, it’s not easy but that is part of the struggle and it’s up to you how you move forward. I chose the Data Flex program because I feel that I learn more when I read and do the exercises on my own. At time, I’d get stuck and I’ll go on the slack to seek guidance or wait for my mentor meeting. My mentor was amazing. He’s very knowledgeable of the industry and the school material. The only things that Thinkful struggles with at times was their mock interviews or temporary mentors and scheduling. There was times that I would book a mock interview a couple of days in advance and use their calendry system, but for whatever reason, the interviewer would be unaware. Not sure why that happened a couple of times but once I’d meet up with them, they would make it up and give great feedback.  I am not yet employed, but I am confident I will find a job with the skills I earned.

This is a great course that touches on all of the important aspects of the digital marketing field.  Having a mentor is really helpful to understand how it all works in the real world. The career coaching is super helpful and prepares you for a real career pivot.

It was in the midst of the anguished-filled 2020 pandemic where I realized that I did NOT want to work (cranky) customer-facing retail for the rest of my increasingly uncertain days!I already had a STEM background. Years ago, I had obtained a Bachelor's of Science in Environmental Studies from a large state university. In retrospect, one of my greatest regrets was not properly seeking out internships or training for job seeking itself while I was still an undergraduate. Hence me now languishing, working underemployed in retail during a pandemic despite having an undergraduate degree. I had no proper guidance or motivation to effectively job search, network, or practice interviews post-graduation long ago!Because I already had a STEM background, learning some data analytics concepts wasn't too difficult or foreign to me. While obtaining my B.S. degree, I already learned how to implement basic Excel spreadsheet functions, create effective PowerPoint presentations, calculate basic statistical functions, and think scientifically and critically. Online Thinkful coursework can begin easily enough while motivation is high, but unfortunately the coursework can become more challenging while motivation diminishes! This is why I really appreciated weekly mentor online meetings. These regular mentor meetings and email communications kept me accountable, on track, helped me solve coursework roadblocks, and reassured my occasional Imposter Syndrome away. The benefits of education online is that it's very flexible to students' personal schedules (especially the "flex" programs, as per their names). Additionally, online school during a pandemic has no risk of contagion spread, unlike traditional in-person education. With that said, one must be DISCIPLINED and create a determined weekly schedule to effectively succeed in such a flexible education! This same learning flexibility can make it very tempting for a student to slack off and not learn or complete work as effectively! Always remember why you originally started this program when the motivation gets very low...Additionally, the Thinkful data analytics flex program coursework is only a starting point to learn certain technologies and programming languages- it is not the end all, be all! Luckily, there are countless different resources out there to supplement the learning of Excel, PowerPoint, SQL, Tableau, and Python 3. There are books, ebooks, YouTube videos, LinkedIn further education videos, blogs, Slack groups, online coding practice websites, Stack Overflow, and even TikTok videos to practice and reinforce data analytics and data science technologies and concepts. Choose the best learning medium(s) for oneself! How else was I supposed to practice coding proper syntax in SQL and Python 3 outside of the Thinkful course content?The most valuable resource to me personally was the career-related coursework in Thinkful. This was the critical jobsearching information that I never learned back when I was an undergraduate that could have theoretically help start my environmental science career with my newly minted skillset back then...if I could have just learned this as an undergraduate! Thinkful coursework includes how to effectively write resumes and cover letters; craft an eye-catching LinkedIn profile; network and conduct informational interviews; and excel in behavoral and culture fit interviews. After all, what use is one's new job skillset if one cannot effectively advertise oneself in the jobmarket to get hired in the new prospective field in the first place?Very helpfully, post-graduation I have a career couch who, similar to my mentors during my main coursework, give me effective job-hunting advice and motivation via weekly video meetings and regular email correspondence. This is crucial for me to actually land my first data analytics role post-graduation with my new skillset! As of this review writing, within the first month of me job hunting using the career couching, I have not yet received any job offers. However, I have received two job interview screening requests! I am very hopeful, despite how mentally and emotionally grueling job searching activities can typically be!Overall, I would definitely recommend Thinkful courses, especially to STEM-minded individuals needing a quick career reboot in the very prospective and rapidly growing tech industries!

Pros:Flexible deadlines Self pacedGreat 1-on-1 mentor sessionsGreat communicationLots of support from multiple contactsIf you’re floundering or behind, just TALK to them and they’re so willing to helpLearned about techniques and tools at the forefront of the fieldNeeds improvement: Thinkful Chat is hit or miss on if they actually are helpful. Sometimes they didn’t even understand what my question was.Need more practice with each module. Instead of just having assignments, it would be great to have an additional ungraded “practice problems” section.Overall: This program has been worth it for me. You’re not going to become an expert in these 4-6 months, but you’ll get hands on experience and build a portfolio to get your foot in the door of a new career. 

Greatfoundational base for learning the tools. Up to you to keep applying the skills in independent projects and master the skills. 

My prior experience was not fully as a data analyst. I used excel to make some insights but it did not truly go much beyond averages and totals. It did make me want to learn more and become a data analyst, with a full set of tools at my disposal. Enter Thinkful. I expanded my excel knowledge, as well as got a nice bit of background for SQL, Python and Tableau. Through the course of the three capstone projects, I learned more about presenting data and different tools to do it well. Most importantly, during the careers section, I had someone who looked over me, listened to me whine and grumble, gave me additional project resources, and kept me on task when I felt like stopping the job search. And I got results. I accepted a position as a Business Analyst, and I will definitely be using my expanded excel and tableau skills. I am very excited about my new journey. That said, there are things that offer frustration. Thinkful tends to change up curriculum, but sometimes the assignment solutions and problems don’t always line up. Or the testing tools have their own hiccups. It’s like there is room for some QA in the program and with some of the chosen tools, and as a student these can be frustrating. But the community is very helpful and the mentors are great. It serves as a reminder that these things happen in the work world too, don’t forget to call on your team.  Also, I would have like more tableau and more SQL and Python, but it is not meant to be forever. There are other resources to gain further experience. 

Before I got into Thinkful, I was doing some research on courses on how to become a data analyst.  I looked at Thinkful as one possibility and Udacity as another.  To get my feet wet, I decided to enroll in Udacity first as that was a cheaper option to see if I had the "chops" to do this as a career.  After passing two different courses, I enrolled in Thinkful as I wanted to gain some skills in Excel and Tableau.  I picked up doing SQL and Python from Udacity.  The other reason I decided to enroll in Thinkful's Data Analytics course was for the career assistance to help graduates for up to six months after they graduate to land their first job in the field.Needless to say, because I live in a fairly rural area of the U.S, and I don't qualify for the tuition guarantee.  It is something to keep in mind if you don't live near a big city.  Nevertheless, despite that, I decided to go forward with it and do the program anyway.I thought they did a good job with the structure of the program and set deadlines or goal dates that one should complete a certain assignment.  While the course is outlined to be six months in duration, I was able to finish it in 3.5 months from January to April.  For me, it ran smoothly and I rarely got stuck on anything.  They do a good job explaining most modules and give a decent walkthrough on how to tackle certain things.  Granted you have to take some time to think on how to proceed with certain projects and assignments, but one can employ the slack channel as well as getting coaching help if needed.However, I felt they should have had a capstone project where a student uses SQL and Tableau to demonstrate their skills outside of the assignments in the curriculum.  Another issue I had was the beginning module of Python.  I feel that they should revise that and have student practice more coding exercises on their own outside of Qualified.IO (the assessment website that tests students' ability on coding).  I was thinking to myself while going through that first module, "Thank goodness I took Udacity and got exposed to Python!"  The latter Python modules were great, and I picked up a few things doing those.I just started with the career portion of Thinkful, and I'm seeing that if one applies the tips and lessons that a career coach gives as well as the general career modules that Thinkful shares with students, they should be able to pick up an entry-level job within six months.  While this process streamlines the way to get a job, a student still needs to put in the work to network, apply, and keep practicing their skills that they have learned from Thinkful.TL;DR Course is good; Career support is Wonderful; Learn basic Python before enrolling in this course.

I recently graduated from Thinkful and the course was excellent. The curriculum was easy to follow with great instruction. My mentor helped me throughout the course. I enjoyed it so much I may take another course.

I absolutely loved my experience in the Data Analytics Flex Program with Thinkful.  The content was engaging but was not overload, my mentor was incredibly professional and encouraging, and I really felt like I received the sort of training I need to be a relevant candidate on the job from day 1.  I recommend this program as highly as I possibly can.  

I attended Thinkful's data analytics flex program from October-February. The recommended timeframe was 6 months though I finished it in 3 months. The curriculum which involved Excel, SQL, Tableau. and Python were all relevant and appropriate for a job in data analytics. However, I would say that the bootcamp revolved mostly around Excel which seems to be less and less relevant as the data analytics field becomes increasingly technical. I would've appreciated a greater focus on SQL as that was the skill most tested for as I began applying. I felt that the SQL portion of the curriculum was a great foundation but didn't help me apply the skills in practical contexts. Additionally, the Python portion was rather sparse and also questioned frequently during my interviews.Overall, the bootcamp did an excellent job for what it is. It provided a foundation and starting point for me to learn on my own terms. I could take it as fast or slow as I wanted to. I ended up landing an amazing job after attending with a salary beyond my dream scenario. The bootcamp is a launch pad for an individual to push for their own success. It will not lead to a job magically on its own or be an end of your learning. It gives you structure for you to explore on your own and create projects that will dazzle interviewers. However, the onus is on the student and it is not as guided as some may be expecting.

Thankful was a great experience and led to me getting a job less than a month after graduating. I’m now building the experience I need to excel in my field. My professional coach was extremely knowledgeable and helped me connect what I was learning to how it would be helpful. After the graduate the career team is very knowledgeable and encouraging in what can be a very trying time. Anyone who has job hunted before can tell you how miserable it can be. But they are extremely knowledgeable about what you have to do and when you have to do it in order to start getting results. Would definitely recommend Thinkful to anyone looking to get in to the tech industry. 

Going through Thinkful to learn and hone my data analytical skills was one of the best things I have ever done.  The curriculum solidified skills I already had and taught me skills that I never would have thought I would be able to learn such as Python and SQL.  What is different about Thinkful is that not only do they teach you the skills necessary to perform the job, they provide skills on interviewing, culture fit, networking and cover letter/resume writing.  They provide the full gamut of landing your next job.  They even have a post curriculum career coach that works with you until you land your next job.  Because of Thinkful, I was able to make a career change and land a job as a Data Manager for an amazing company.  I will definitely turn to Thinkful for additional learning in Product Management and Data Science.  

Overall: Really informative, effective program. Were very up front with the program, process, etc. Site and modules were laid out well and organized. Would definitely recommend for getting your feet wet (if you're willing to pay the financials) and will work if you immediately continue to practice what you learned in the program. Programs like this though seems best for someone with a related college background (statistics for example) who's looking to build upon or enhance their knowledge/skillset.  Instructors: I did the Flex program which meant I was paired with a mentor. I went through a total of two after losing touch with my first mentor (mostly due to my own poor communication). Both were very friendly and seemed generally knowledgable. I didn't get much of anything out of these meetings though. After completing an exercise I was often recommended to go through it with my mentor after, but because the modules provided the solutions and "how to" there wasn't much for us to go over. Would recommend Thinkful to provide their mentors more talking points/guidance on how to run these 1:1s to make these interactions more valuable. Curriculum: A lot was covered and was very informative. Definitely covered what would be needed in a real position from a conceptual and technical standpoint. Would probably recommend either removing some of the sections on resumes and other related points since a lot of this was also just covered again by the career coach after graduation. Despite covering Tableau, SQL, and Python, after searching the job market I don't feel this program provides enough for you to immediately step in to a position that requires you to use these skills proficiently. Excel would be the exception (SQL maybe). I think it does provide a solid foundation, but you would need to practice and develop those skills on your own after to land a position which uses them (I landed a position that primarily uses Excel). Job Assistance: I had a great experience with this. After graduation you are assigned a career coach to guide you and help you in the job search process. Mine was excellent. She was very knowledgeable and had a lot of great tips. The guidance and tools they provided were valuable and helped me land the role I have now. This is why I feel the modules in the regular curriculum covering resumes and Linkedin are a little unnecessary. This was covered by my career coach and their instruction was far more valuable. This portion covers the 6 months after graduation and I found a position after about 3 months. Though I also didn't follow through with the networking and some of the tasks assigned by my career coach as diligently as was recommended. I also don't have a college degree which did limit some opportunities. To reiterate, I did the Flex program. In the regular program you will be in a "class" so you're going to be connected with others to collaborate with and ask questions of. Overall though, as far as bootcamps go, I can't see how it gets much better than Thinkful. I chose them because of great reviews and it lived up to them. If you don't have any background or related college education, you're going to have practice and put in extra work in order to actually get proficient with the skills you'll learn. After just a couple months I found myself forgetting a decent chunk of what I had learned. The program simply doesn't provide enough exercises or projects (and even then the modules sometimes walk you through it a little too much) to master anything outside of Excel. But as I said before it does provide you with a great introduction and solid knowledge foundation. Also if you take more initiative than I did with freelance or practice projects after graduation, you may find yourself with a better mastery of the skills and programs. 

I took the Data Analytics Flex program from August 2020 to February 2021 and it was a challenging yet fulfilling experience. Very comprehensive and was a great introduction to the world of Data analytics. Specifically, it teaches you how to use current data analytics tools such as excel, tableau, SQL, and python to perform analysis on many different applications. There is some flexibility in the course to choose which capstone projects you want to work on but for the most part, the curriculum is streamlined to give you a strong base in the world of Data analytics. Thinkful does a great job with providing you with a great support system. You have access to your mentor, an academic counselor, and the ability to connect with other students going through the same course as you through Slack.

When I began Thinkful,, I primarily had some good Excel skills and a background of finding trends, problems, and proposing solutions. Thinkful boosted my excel, and gave me a solid intro and background in SQL and Python for data wrangling, along with Tableau for data visualisation. 

There is a 6-month program, I have learned Excel, PowerPoint, SQL, Tableau, and python with no additional cost. I do not have a background in Data analytics and computer skills, the materials I have learned quite challenged to me, but it definitely worth helping me to pursue a career change. I have been working as a full-time employee in the daytime, my mentor always can accommodate my schedule to meet up 2 times per week to keep me engaged in learning and solve struggles.