NYC Onsite Software Engineering Immersive

So thankful for this place. It not only gave me the tools to be a successful engineer, but also provided me with a community where people care about each other's success, and are more than willing to help. 

It’s been about 6 months since I graduated and I’m still unemployed. I’ve applied to over 100 companies so far including companies as small as 5+ employees. I consider myself to be smart and hardworking, so please don’t turn this into another convenient statement about “isolated cases” saying how you’re sorry it didn’t work out for me. There were numerous warnings from previous graduates, online board such as this, and family about signing up for Codesmith. People told me that the promise – “Become a software engineer in 12 weeks!” – sounded too good to be true and that the market is changing and getting saturated with people like us. I wish I’d listened to them because this sucks. I’m heavy in debt and no job prospect on the horizon.

Reasons I'm glad I chose Codesmith:

1) Their teaching methodology and depth of understanding of Javascript as a language is 5 steps above any other bootcamp or online program I had taken part in previously - they show you what's going on under the hood.

2) I took part in and paid for pre-bootcamp prep courses at other highly rated bootcamps and had a better experience at the free meet up called Javascript the Hard Parts - they truly care about their contribution to the larger coding community

3) I'm a self taught developer, had no professional technical experience, and there is no way I could have learned at this level by myself. They teach you to learn and push through challenging blocks - you will not be spoon fed anything and you will be forced to learn things the hard way. That being said...

4)You are never 'on your own' in terms of learning. There are frequent check ins to make sure you understand the material and they will sit down with you and go through your challenges to help you

5) Their focus on technical communication also stands out from other bootcamps and makes you more likely to be considered for mid to senior roles after graduation - you are able to communicate your skills and mentor others much more effectively

and last but not least...

6)The people here are some of the best people I've ever met. Residents all share a deep curiosity and drive to become the best developer they can be but also an astounding empathy and willingness to learn by teaching others. I was someone with the least amount of technical experience and I never felt judged or belittled by others - only encouraged and supported. The staff is also incredibly dedicated to resident's learning.

I couldn't recommend Codesmith more highly to someone from my background (no professional tech experience) though I did have to hustle a great deal. 

A little bit on my background, I am a computer engineer who has worked at IBM. Two weeks before I came to Codesmith, I was browsing the web to leverage the online community and expand my knowledge of Javascript. I somehow landed on “Javascript - the hard parts” and was mind blown on the simplicity with which under the hood aspects of the language were explained. If such in-depth content was served to the community for free then I was CONFIDENT that if I got admitted to Codesmith, my technical mindset would accelerate multifold.

Fast forward to today, I have one more day left in the program and I am so thankful for taking the decision to join Codesmith. At Codesmith, they nurture curiosity and pay a strong emphasis on understanding why a technology works the way it does. They focus on imbibing a growth mindset that helps you become a great problem solver who can learn any technology on the go. Everyone on the staff is AMAZING, super supportive and they go above and beyond to ensure that every person in the program succeeds. 
 

My experience at codesmith was much better than I had expected it to be. The curriculum was thought out very well. The main technologies taught are Javascript, React/Redux, Node, SQL, NoSQL. There is also a hint of machine learning, but not too much. Although these are the main technologies, By the end of the program you will be able to pick up any technology you would like to learn. The fact that you are able to collaborate with others and create open source projects is also invaluable and has taught me a lot. 

I ended up doing a lot of things that really challenged me and helped me improve as a software engineer. Their pedagogy is all about teaching you how to learn and you're not told to do things tutorial style. You're able to become immersed into an environment of software engineering. You will learn a lot when you start building a tool that other developers will use and it shows a sense of maturity that recruiters like to see.

Job Assistance is the greatest part of the program especially after the program, where you still have access to all their resources. The advice you get on job searching and interviewing is incredibly useful.

I was accepted to join the selective residency program last year and work with other smart people that helped me enhance my engineering experience.

This residency program is focused on a philosophy of solving problems. Although, I did know about software engineering before, here at Codesmith I had the opportunity to work on the projects that I wanted in a team and they helped me grow as an engineer. Thankfully, during my process, I got corrected of the bad engineering practices/habits I had. 

The disadvantage that I felt they had and where I think they could have improved while I was in the program, is guiding the residents to solve problems with different operating systems. However, the advantages are the guidance you will receive( I really enjoyed whiteboarding ). The whole time you are there, you are constantly being challenged to get better. You stretch yourself by questioning, informing and applying concepts until you polish your skills. The other advantage is the accountability. I found them to be accountable. I did feel I could go to them for any request and they would help me within a reasonable amount of time. Also, they are updated with what the technology and principles you should have and inform you of what the actual employers are looking for in engineers. The job seeking process was helpful as well.

I joined Codesmith in NYC at beginning of 2018 and it's by far the best decision I have ever made in my life. I came in with a technical background but minimal coding experience in Javascript. I have to say the first 6 weeks is challenging but all the team members and my cohort mates are so supportive and I would never make it through without them. After I graduated, the support never stopped. The team checks in with me regularly and there's a career coach available 24/7 and willing to answer any questions you have. I am so thankful that I made the decision to join Codesmith and it was really a life-changing experience. 

I was a resident and then a fellow at Codesmith so I think I can give some quick insights on the program. If you are about growth through technical challenge and embrace deliberate practice rather than easy wins, this is the place for you. If you want to be surrounded by determined and brilliant people who genuinely care about your learning experience, you've found it. But keep this in mind, no one will hold your hand and you have to come in with 110% of focus and self-determination to make it through. This is great opportunity to excel yourself as a mid-senior software engineer, so come and earn it.

Graduated from Cohort 2 in NYC this week. The last 13 weeks have been an amazing ride. 

My background was in finance with some programming work. I quit a fairly well paying position in December to pursue further developing my programming skills, being able to make applications and tools in your freetime is an amazing skill.

All of the accepted residents have varying degrees of prior programming experience, in my cohort this ranged from a few months to over 10 years. One day before the program started, I messaged the Codesmith team and asked them if I should defer entrance, I did not feel ready. They told me many accepted residents often feel that way from the pre-course work and that I should stick it out for the first week to feel out my readiness. I'm glad I did, three days from graduation I accepted an offer from my dream job that I've wanted for the last 4 years. 

Programming background depending, the curriculum is likely going to be challenging. The first 6 weeks (junior phase), you go through 2 day units that cover differently topics across the stack. Ideation week for your senior production project lasts 1 week, you then spend another 4 weeks (senior phase) working on a open source production project before spending the final 2 weeks preparing for post program. All together, I spent around 10-14 hours each day at the program from Monday-Saturday and also put in a few hours on Sunday. 

Our production project was focused on improving the local development experience of a Kubernetes cluster. I had two amazing partners working on the project with me and we launched the project (see Watchpod on Github) to very positive feedback from members of the Kubernetes developer community.  

Lastly, I want to dedicate a paragraph to the Codesmith team. One of the main reasons why I joined Codesmith over competing programs is because of the community. From Thursday night drinks to nerf wars, Codesmith does an amazing job fostering a caring and colloquial community. The staff puts in 110% to ensure the resident experience is as positive as possible. For the long hours they put into both emotional and intellectual support across the entire program, they deserve a tremendous applause. Kudos to the entire team, with special shoutouts to Victoria for always caring about the resident experience, Eric for the wonderful job search support, Brandon for convincing me to take part in this wonderful program, and lastly Will for building something amazing over the last 2 years. You guys have built something special, keep up the wonderful work. I'm excited to see the future of Codesmith with each cohort improving upon the last!