Junior Developer Bootcamp

I had little to no problem with the Guild despite the lead instructor consistently showing up 20 minutes late to class. All was fine and dandy, even though the week before we were going to start working on capstones most people were several labs behind schedule, I couldn't know if it was a reflection of the Guild, or the difficulty of the course. Then comes the 2nd time I go to study hall, a week ago today. I am immediately asked if I needed help by the same instructor that failed to help  me last time, so I thought maybe he might actually want to help me this time. The last time he was clearly looking and typing in another screen before I left saying I would figure it out on my own. This time he feigned interested and threw a couple generic solutions to the problem at hand, but they actually made my situation more complicated, still with no sincere interest to help. So I left, and unwisely posted in their Study Hall that I had only gone twice, and got no help. This was apparently grounds for expulsion and I was expelled by the Director by the next day. This is sick how they would just discard a disabled veteran who dropped out of college to use this VA funded program to get a job to support my now 4-month old and wife that has just returned to hybrid work. It's good that I can spend more time with him, but this is a sick practice that must stop! Reported to VA, but of course that will take it's time to get down the pipe. The instructors are incredibly knowledgeable, just not always helpful, and if you join this program, keep your head down and mouth shut and learn from my mistake.

With no prior coding experience-- thanks to the instruction and guidance of the PDX Code Guild team, I'm currently in the middle of interviewing for Meta, Google, Amazon and other tech powerhouses of the world.  PDX Code Guild was the BEST professional decision I've made for my career.After making the leap of doing a career switch into software development, I enrolled into the Full Stack Development Bootcamp at PDX Code Guild.  They give you an opportunity to test the waters of their curriculum with a FREE two week introduction course where you learn the fundamentals of programming.  If you decide they're the right fit for you, and vice versa,  you're in for the most rewarding experience of your life.The Instructors:Pete was our instructor and I have no words to explain how amazing he was.  He was patient, his methods were intuitive, and he went out of his way to answer every single question we had.  I would contact him endlessly asking him questions about our course AND personal projects/endeavors.  Pete set me up for success.  The TAs were phenomenal.  No matter how chaotic it got in our class, Dustin, Kelsey and Lisa were there to put out the fires.Career Services:Keegan was our career counselor.  Around a month into the program, I scheduled meetings with Keegan at least once a week.  From resume reviews, to technical mock interviews, to fun tech conversations.  Keegan was there, and his advice and insight is INVALUABLE.  I can't emphasize enough about how important Keegan's services are.  Keegan set me up for success.PDX Code Guild:Sheri, the CEO was so amazing to work with.  My secret is that I came to the Code Guild twice.  I asked Sheri about the Code Guild in 2020, attended the introduction classes, and I couldn't continue due to other circumstances.  In February of 2022, over a year later, I called Sheri again and not only did she welcome me with open arms, BUT SHE REMEMBERED ME.  She cares about her students, and there's nothing that's more important than that.

After 16 years with a company I was laid off.  Although I had Computer Technical background and strong WAN Technologies background I was struggling to find any Job.  I also had recently made a Career change into software development, but I only had 4 years and never held the title of senior so I was unable to find work in that field either. So, I worked with WorkSource and using the Reboot program and I found PDX Code Guild.  Sheri Dover the Schools President was warm and inviting.  The interview process left me feeling encouraged that I had found a group of like-minded individuals who were on a similar journey.  Although I had read through the program on the website, I came away with a real sense that this program was the best program fo me.  We had a small class of six people to start with and the instructor Andrew Hedges had real world experience giving the class a broader depth to real world uses of everything we learned.  There was a lot of material to cover in 12 weeks, and it was very intense, but the smaller class size gave us many opportunities to work together and if need be a lot of one on one with Andrew.  One of the best parts of the class was not just having recruiters and industry leaders coming in to speak to us weekly, but was the mentoring on how to network outside the guild connecting with local meet ups like Front end PDX or Donut JS.  One of the greatest strengths of PDX Code Guild is there continuation of support while in class with gaining understanding and after you done with the class with give you a space to continue to build your portfolio to help you find jobs.  My greatest take away after the friendships and professional relationships I have built, is being able to put the code guild completion on my resume. In fact, although the Job I am currently working at is not in software coding my experience with the code guild was the deciding factor with getting this Job.  Because of the steep learning curve in the code guild I was able to show that i have the propensity to learn new things and be productive quickly and that gave me the edge I needed to land my current position at XO Communication a Verizon Company.  While they may not have traditional Job assistance where they have Job postings I believe I have gained greater skills in finding and getting a Job then I had before because of the networking skills they provide.

As with anything in life, what you put in is what you get out. Learning to be a programmer is no exception. I attended PDX Code Guild, worked hard, and now have a job that I love.

Most of my classmates love code guild and still frequently go there for meetups. If you work hard and are honest with yourself on what you need to improve on, you will flourish at code guild. I have seen many people do this: Those that are successful have used programming to augment their passions, interests, or past careers. Those that I have seen fail were more focused on making money, or their heart wasn't in it.

So my advice to anyone on the fence reading this. Go for it. I had been pushing through online tutorials and books for months. This was a great foundation, but when I got to boot camp I was able to take my ability to the next level. There are certain things that the instructors, having worked in the industry, can teach you that books just can't.

One of the best things about PDX Code Guild is the instructors. To whoever is saying the good one left: The idea that one person can make or break a school is just silly. There are plenty of instructors here who are available to help. It is true that each of them have their different strengths. What you learn will be in some way influenced by their specialization. They have all been working in the industry so if they can't answer a specific question for you, they can know someone who help you. This is one of the reasons I chose PDX Code Guild. The instructors have industry experience. Other schools often hire TA's who were graduates of the same school. And they are kind of generalists. I feel very fortunate to have learned from someone who was an excellent JavaScript programmer. I have had much more luck getting work as someone specialized than if I had gone to another school to learn a bit of everything.

Realistically many of you reading this are probably wondering what the post graduate job hunt is like. There is no magic job tree for junior programmers. I got rejected close to 20 times before I even got a phone interview. But if you keep learning and stay persistent it's entirely doable for anyone. Despite getting email rejections alot, I had a job within a week of graduation and significantly increased my income. Coming from a business career definitely helped, but regardless of your background you can earn a livable wage with the skills you start learning here.

tl;dr: If you want to learn programming. Code Guild is a great place to do that. It ended up being one of the best decisions I've made.

I just receently graduated from PDXCode Guild after taking the Intro to Python course in May and then the 12 week Full Stack Devops class. I want to say that it was the most rewarding thing that I have done in a long time and it was also the hardest thing I have ever done because coding is not a trivial task. That is why you go to this school. Everyone there that I met talked a lot about that. Everyone was also very supportive and positive. My instructor had years of coding experience and knows Javascript especially well. I was very glad that I took the Intro to Python course first because I really wanted to know if I could hack it. It is an accelerated bootcamp so yes you are moving at a fast pace. I recommend taking an Intro class to see if you can handle that. Because I finished that I felt confident enough to take the 12 week course. I learned so much. I would never have made as much progress as I have or got as much done or so much support, encouragement, instruction plus meaningful curriculum as I did without this school. The CEO is also a great person to work with and she wants you to succeed as badly as you do. Class sizes are small. The environment is great. I was in the lower building which I love. I had 4 people in my class plus a couple TA's to assist. We had several guest speakers come in which was enlightening also. We were pointed to good tools to learn with. All things that are important when you are first starting out. It was a great experience. 

To be fair I've been told that our class was the worst one is this program's history.  I loved my classmates but we had a horrible instructor who was fired with three weeks left in the course.  Our instruction was uneven at best and negligent at worst.  We had a curriculum that was often glossed over or ignored completely by our instructor.  Our instructor knew close to nothing about CSS, HTML, JavaScript or SQL but taught all topics.

Having said all of this I know that there have been much stronger classes with better instruction and there is now a head instructor who has created a more structured curriculum.

I'm a recent graduate of the 12-week Developer Bootcamp offered by PDX Code Guild, and I am very happy with the education I got here. I started the course with intermediate Python knowledge, and I picked up all other components needed for web development pretty much from scratch. Our instructor, Tiffany, did a superb job in covering a very wide array of subjects needed in every day development work, and equipped all of us in the class with the necessary tools to get a job and further develop our skills. Tiffany was very accessible throughout the course, and she was super dedicated to helping us absorb as much knowledge as possible.

To illustrate the well-roundedness of the education we got in this course, here is the list of the major topics that were covered: Python, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Django, PostGreSQL, git, MVC design paradigm, database design, test-driven-development, paired programming, code reviewing, Scrum, development using an IDE, and project management. We also got hands-on practice with using AJAX to interface with a public API, team collaboration using git repositories, live deployment of a Django website on Heroku, and using node.js. The course was fast-paced, but the small class size allowed us to get individual help from Tiffany as needed. The final project was to design a Django-based website to showcase our knowledge of the full stack. WIth this educational background I feel well prepared to be able to perfom the duties of a software (web) developer.

The school also provided substantial assistance for our future job search, including networking opportunities, resume preparation, and job interviewing practice. With this assistance I think I am also well positioned to find a job.

In summary, PDX Code Guild did an excellent job in preparing me to get started in a software engineering position. I think the value I got from attending this bootcamp was fantastic.

My review, I feel, may fall short of the incredible opportunity I had to learn with PDX Code Guild's recent instructor, Tiffany Ralph.  The course work and curriculum were top notch and wonderfully indept of the syllabus we covered.

I had a great experience at PDX Code Guild. I just completed their 4 month Evening FullStack Development Program, which covers Python, Javascript, CSS/HTML, SQL and Django. The program emphasizes quality over quantity of work, so in each section we learned the basics of the technology, completed a small instructor led project, and then completed a custom custom design project, with input and guidance from our instructor. The projects I worked on are as follows:

Python:
Todo list/Task Manager
Weather Forecast App using forecast.io
Mini HTTP Server

HTML/CSS
A personal portfolio website

Javascript:
Yahtzee Game
E-Commerce Front end using AJAX to query product info

SQL:
A SQL back end for the E-Commerce Project

Python/Django
Blogging Platform
Capstone Project (mine was a recipe engine that created a cocktail recipe
book based on the ingredients you had on hand).

The classes are small (max of 12), so you get a lot of time with your instructor, and they are able to go in depth into software design concepts and design patterns. They also offer advice and career guidance, help you organize your LinkedIn and Github and provide professional headshots.

I worked full time (as many of my classmates did), and the hours were long. There is no homework, but I think that in order to get the best results, one should set aside the 4 month period for learning. I spent many nights and weekends perfecting my projects, and it paid off. I received a job offer the day after class finished from the #1 firm I wanted to work for. I have also been contacted by recruiters in other local tech firms based on the strength of my LinkedIn and portfolio. I accepted the offer, which was more than a 50% raise from my current position. Fair warning, PDX Code Guild advises that it typically takes 3-6 months for a student to find employment after completion, so YMMV. They also advised not to take offers under a certain level (I'll leave it to the Code Guild to provide that information), and the offer I received was over the number they recommended. Over all I am very happy, and would definitely recommend PDX Code Guild.