Software, Web and Mobile Engineering

The coaches are excellent and there's always somebody available when needed, but figuring things out yourself first is encouraged. I became more self-sufficient and learnt more than I thought I'd have been able to in 12 weeks. Most importantly, it was fun. The time flew by and I'd do it all again if I could. The job support afterwards is also great, plenty of workshops, one-to-ones available and plenty of hiring partners offering lot's of opportunities.

Deciding to change career and start my tech journey at Makers was by far the best decision I have ever made and the friend of mine who convinced me to go with Makers said the exact same thing. It is not a coincidence.Despite joining in April 2020 at the begining of the pandemic and the course moving remotely, I still feel that I learnt all that was needed to become a successful software developer. The curriculum is spot on for the types of roles/companies that you want to be working for when applying for your first job. The senior coaches are experts in their field and always on hand to answer any questions you may have, even months after you have finished the course. And the learning environment is unique. Makers is a special place and if you do decide to join you will quickly appreciate the "we're all in this together" ethos that is developed among your colleagues in your cohort.It's not a quick fix by all means and it is not easy, but if you are willing to put in the hours and completely dedicate the next 4+ months of your life to the cause, look no further - Makers is the place for you! Good luck!

A great way to learn to code and wonderful colleagues and coaches to help you on the way. Trains you to be a developer rather than just learning a coding language, and really sets you up well for that first coding job in a relatively short amount of time. A great course! 

I joined the Makers programme in June 2020 and I'm really glad I did, the programme structure is top notch, support from the staff and colleagues were great and the pace of learning while high was also great at giving a real insight into how software development projects work in the workplace. If you have the means to join this course I would highly recommend Makers as they not only show you coding concepts that are widely practiced within the industry but also team working skills which is something you don't get while learning to code by yourself. I have grown so much not just as a coder since completing the course but also as a person and have made friends for life which is worth it's weight in gold. Having a support network around you is invaluable for any burgeoning software developer and there's no better place for that than Makers!

My experience at Makers was overall extremely positive. It enabled me to move from a career in senior administration into my first job in the tech industry, within a year, which is an incredible timeline for a career change. The course itself is hard work and constantly stimulating, equipping you to become a driven self-learner in software engineering. For those who are committed to pursuing a career in tech, keen to challenge themselves, and willing to make the time & financial commitment, Makers will help you thrive. Their emphasis on and approach around wellbeing, ensures that those students who may struggle with the intensity/speed of the course or the team working aspects, have the necessary support to move forward and achieve their goals.The staff are fantastic and switched on. I was fortunate to have been placed in a wonderful cohort with hard-working and like-minded peers. The course is heavy on team work: you pair program daily as well as build projects in teams. This is vital to building first-hand experience of collaboration (and people skills) within this field. I imagine it is down to luck what kind of people are in your cohort, which will inform your overall experience.The careers team are very communicative and clearly work hard to assist you in your job hunt. The job hunt can still be a real challenge, depending on the current job market etc, but I am not sure if there are other bootcamps out there with the same level of job hunting support and aftercare for their students.

Overall, I had a very positive experience at Makers. Before Makers, I was a primary school teacher with very little programming knowledge. The course was challenging, and sometimes incredibly frustrating, but my Makers experience helped me to develop both technical and soft skills that have served me well.  I'd like to reiterate what others have said - while there are coaches on hand, this is very much self-led learning. You'll only get out what you put in. The Pros:- A solid foundational curriculum that teaches best practices such as TDD and pair programming. - A focus on soft skills such as effective communication within teams, self-regulation, and problem-solving. - Job seeking assistance was awesome, even for me as an international student (Canada)The Cons:- There was wide variability in coaching skills and techniques. It was incredibly frustrating to try to get help from some, while others were very supportive. -The JavaScript curriculum needs to be updated (this may have been resolved since I graduated)

I was a grad who wanted to get into coding more, but wasn't able to pick up any jobs with my little experience in coding. This course provided me with the fundamentals to learn more and more and get a job.The staff are lovely, friendly and helpful. But it is on you as the student (as it should be, and always is) to make the most of the opportunities they provide.The course is intense, I coded pretty much everyday for 12 weeks as well as doing the 4 weeks pre-course. But there is no better way to learn and this certainly proved that. You have to be prepared to put the time in to learn and improve, especially on weekends to consolidate what you learnt in the week.

Intro Considering attending Makers? Well, you're in the right place! Hopefully, my review can help give you some valuable insight and help you make a decision with confidence.
Last year I took a huge risk and left the stability of my job to pursue a career in software development. It was a really tough ride going at it alone so I reached out to a fellow developer for advice, it was not long into the conversation he recommended Makers. He's a senior technical consultant and stated; "You should try Makers, some of the best developers I've known came from there". Needless to say, I was sold and attended a Makers open day to find out more. I highly recommend doing so if you're on the fence or have questions about the curriculum, I went to 3 open days prior to enrolling and applied with confidence I was making the right decision. 
So, what was it like joining Makers? I knew early on my experience at Makers would differ largely from previous cohorts. The semester commenced right as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK hard, we were officially in full lockdown. Ultimately this resulted in my cohort only physically being on campus for one day, the remainder of the lectures were hosted via Zoom calls. This said, if you're reading this further down the line, your experience could differ largely from mine! Prior to attending the course, you are required to complete a fairly easy-going interview. This interview consists of an introduction and some very basic questions about the Ruby language. (You will be using Ruby for the first half of the course and later be introduced to JavaScript. Ultimately however you can explore any tech you want for your final project.) 
Following the interview, clear instructions are provided and you will be assigned some basic technical tests. Providing you complete your tests you will then be enrolled to attend the main portion of the course. I highly recommend you take advantage of this time to get to know your cohort. During this time my fellow Makers were a wonderful source of support and I had the chance to form some very meaningful friendships. As previously mentioned you start the course using Ruby and I was admittedly a little put off by this. If you are London based and know the job market Ruby is not a popular choice, however, I was missing the point. Ruby is used by Makers to illustrate the concepts of programming as it's a clear and simple language to get to grips with. The further you get into your development career the more you will realize the concepts of programming play a much larger role than syntax does.
What you cover in the main portion of the courseYou will cover;Object orientated programming, Test-driven developmentAgile/XP principlesRuby, JavaScriptRails, NodeJs, PostgreSQL, SQL, Mongo DBRSpec, Jasmine, CapybaraAnything else you wish to learn 
A friendly warning: as the main portion of the course is only 3 months long it is very intense. You will have to work very hard during this time to keep up, however, you will be provided with a lot of support too. During your time at Makers, you will learn not only how to code, but you will also learn how to look after yourself and manage workloads. Makers emphasize the importance of looking after your mental health, daily meditation sessions were on offer, and prior to lockdown yoga sessions too! You will address subjects such as imposters syndrome, burnout, and anxiety as it's something we all deal with at some point in our career.
During the course I found Makers did something very unique, you learn how to learn. Yes, you heard that right! The tech industry is a very fast-moving one and having an effective learning process is paramount, 'What do I need to learn?' is a very ambiguous question. I feel a lot of courses out there neglect this factor and Makers does a great job of addressing the subject. 
Preparing yourself for the job market Makers did a fantastic job at helping us write a good CV, every job I got a response for would comment on how well written it was. We had workshops on platforms such as LinkedIn and support preparing for interviews. However, I have to confess I felt a little out of the loop during the job hunting process. Morning check-ins were available but ultimately it felt like a rather isolated task searching for work. It would have been great if there were more post-course up-skilling workshops, just something to help prevent people from stagnating. 
During this period I recommend continuing to pursue projects with your cohort and supporting each other. Keep in touch, don't drop off the grid, and keep learning!  
Pros and cons
Pros You will be fast-tracked to getting your first developer role, providing you put in the work.Wonderful culture and friendly staff. Internal job applications are available via Makers recruiters.You have the chance to meet industry experts. You get to meet like-minded people and form meaningful friendships. You remain part of the Makers alumnus even after the course is finished.You get support writing a great CV for your first job.
ConsThe course is a very intense experience and may be overwhelming for some. The course cost is a fairly hefty lump of cash, however a similar price to others of its kind. (£8000).No option to work on-site at present (11/11/20) (However this is out of Maker's hands due to Covid in fairness).The course is aimed at web development, which may be a pro or con depending on what you're looking for. There were few jobs to apply for through Makers (Again I believe this to be due to the Covid pandemic).
In summary, would I recommend makers? The short answer is yes, I would, but it depends. Are you dedicated and enthusiastic about development?Are you looking for a challenging career with continuous up-skilling? Are you willing to put the time in to learn the skills?
If your answer is no to any of these questions, I would say with all honesty this is not the course for you. If your answers are all yes go for it and don't look back!
I hope you found this review helpful and informative, I am at present employed leaving the course and my career prospects are looking very bright.Thank you for reading!

ProsFantastic fast-paced curriculum covering the practical side of development so you can produce applications as quickly as possible.Great collaborative techniques and online hub for resources.Dedicated, skilful and patient coaching staff (Thanks Eoin, Katarina, Alice, Tatsiana and everyone else who helped me!)Fantastic mental health and wellbeing management (Thanks Dana!)Emphasis on balancing delivery, learning and fun.Really teaches you invaluable best practices and design patterns  and tools to land you in a job quickly.Accepting, inclusive and motivating environment. ImprovementsA bit too many pairing sessions. Outside of special weeks, you are allocated another developer to work with in the afternoon every day. While I absolutely enjoyed pairing and saw great value in the process, five out of five days on occasion felt like a lot!Little theoretical teaching on topics like advanced data structures and algorithms. They do however, for free, provide this as extra work outside of the course. You will have to ask or look for it though.

I think the best part is it simulates the actual office environment. The tools used and agile methodologies adopted in group project gives feeling of working in actual office. You have to learn things by yourself and with your pairing partner or group. If you are stuck there are coaches to help out. 

 Overall I had an amazing experience at Makers. I was on one of the remote cohorts in 2020.The course focuses on teaching you how to learn (growth mindset) and wants you to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.You will be supported by an amazing array of coaches, staff and peers whilst you are on the course and overall will feel confident that you can learn and build anything when you've finished!
The learning started slow with the prep work and precourse. But quickly ramped up during the full time portion of the course.I worked with an amazing bunch of people to help navigate all this new information and worked to learn industry best practices, get the confidence to build anything and have fun doing it!But don't kid yourself, the course is intense! It'll challenge your learning style and patience to accept that you can't learn every minutia of everything. Makers promotes a growth mindset. Once you are comfortable with this, you'll enjoy the learning process all that much more!Coaches are there to help unblock you but will help only after you've followed an effective debugging process (which in almost all cases will help you unblock yourself anyway). The coaches do help you with all aspects of the course including (but not limited to) the job support post course as well as additional workshops. You are here to upskill and gain new knowledge and all these things lends itself to helping you find the right job for you!The support for job hunting post course has been crucial to helping me find a role. There are plenty of opportunities to help you practice being interviewed, what kind of questions you'll be asked during an interview, what kind of questions you should ask during an interview and what you need to do for technical interviews.
If you can put learning at the forefront of your time whilst on the course (and even post course), you'll gain everything you need to be a successful developer! 

The Makers Academy bootcamp was the best decision that I made. From having zero coding experience and coming from an entrepreneurial background it had to be challenging to leave everything behind and dive deep into this experience. What led me to make that decision was my friends who had already been through this bootcamp and started jobs with in a period of 3 to 6 months. I have also done a MSc in Banking and Finance but this bootcamp provided me with more learning than a year long degree. It helped me understand how tech teams work in real work environments and how you can implement what you have learnt into projects. It's a lot of information to process but the idea that Makers heavily promotes of having a Growth Mindset really helped me conquer the problem of getting "Stuck". They explained how to get around problems and break them down step by step to eventually resolve the issue. The pair programming was also a good experience since I was able to understand concepts from different perspectives and also work from people with different multicultural backgrounds (always good for team work/team building).I would recommend not to focus too much on the idea of "getting a job" but the idea of up skilling yourself and learning. I felt that when I was chasing a job I was not learning but was more focused to getting a job but that only came when my perspective changed towards learning and developing the technical abilities, which would then get you the job.

Ultimately I would recommend Makers as the best way to quickly get into the exciting world of software development. If you’re someone who loves learning and is excited to work hard at something new, then this course is for you!
Pros
No background in coding needed.
Cheaper and quicker than a degree.
Good course materials, you will learn loads in a short space of time, and have more material than you can possibly get through so you can choose bits that interest you. If you missed bits during the course, the material is always available to you after the course.You learn how to code in a workplace to make you as employable as possible. You’re taught Test Driven Development, Version control, good code fundamentals, how to pass interview tech tests and how to code as part of a team which are all really useful.
Makers have a great team of coaches/staff that are lovely, both during and after the course. They are open to feedback, which has resulted in the course evolving over the years. The coaches are happy to help with problems if you’re struggling. I found the post-course coaches to be the most helpful, they have a wealth of knowledge and resources to help with all job hunt aspects.
Emotional wellbeing focus - there is a dedicated person to provide emotional support, there to listen and help if you’re finding it stressful (and a career change can be pretty stressful). Meditation and yoga are great if you’re into that.
Amazing network of active alumni that help out with problems and will link to mid/senior roles for later in your careerThis course is good for people who are willing and able to work hard. You don’t need to be super smart, just able to deal with situations where the work is tough and no one is providing you solutions straight away.
There are projects to get involved in after the course to learn additional skills while you job hunt, the teamwork never has to stop!
Macbooks provided while on the course.
Cons
It’s not easy. Your brain will work hard to put all this new information into it. And it doesn’t end once you land a job - you never stop learning. Be prepared.
The course is best for people who like to work with others - you will be pairing or in teams every day on the course. If you prefer to work by yourself, this is probably not the course for you.
The course is currently remote due to the current world situation. You will have to work a little bit harder to get to know your cohort, however there is plenty of time dedicated to working with your cohort so bonding really does happen. Also remote courses work best with a reliable internet connection for all the zoom calls.
Course is mostly in Ruby with some Javascript, which is lovely for beginners, but there are not so many jobs in Ruby. You have to be willing to work after the course/at the start of a new job to pick up something new (this is much easier with the skills you learn from the course).
As of September 2020, the job market is just picking up after Covid, and Makers don’t currently have as many hiring partners with open roles as they did. There are still roles, but most people will get jobs from outside of Makers. Be prepared to spend time dedicated to jobhunting after the course.
The job offer guarantee refund isn’t automatic - to get it you need to apply to ~20 jobs a month and put in learning hours after graduating. Talking to coaches can give you flexibility and help you find a structure that works for you. If you take the refund, you will lose help from coaches so it’s not the right option for everyone.
Graduates in Comp Sci will know more than you, especially on software and hardware background. Learning about algorithms is an option course for makers grads whereas Comp Sci grads often cover it early on. To get jobs, you have to be able to market yourself in other ways, explain non coding work experience is relevant, show you know how to code in the workplace and have made cool projects during your time at Makers. Absolutely do-able and Makers will help you do that. Makers have a good reputation in the industry which works in your favour, but there are some jobs that will favour uni grads.

Makers provided a really great environment to learn how to become a professional software developer. It catered to all styles of learning and had a good balance between directing our learning and forcing us to learn by ourselves. Experiencing this process with a group of like-minded people also created a fun and supportive environment which helped to maintain motivation throughout the course.
Makers also offered amazing support after graduating to help us find a job. I attended free workshops to further my coding skills, a hackathon and I participated in a group project that was lead by one of Maker's coaches. Makers also offered loads of 121 support with coaches, interview practice, and so on. Job hunting during a pandemic was tough at the best of times, but Makers put in a lot of effort to help us be successful despite this.

Overall I had a fantastic experience at Makers Academy and it was the best decision I've ever made. It goes without saying that it was very intense in terms of how much you learn in a relatively short time-frame, however, I'm sure all bootcamps are similar in that sense and the pros definitely outweighed the cons for me.
Pros:- Excellent technical coaches who are willing to help and guide you in the right direction to finding the solution.- Regular workshops in the first few weeks, which teach you the fundamental processes of software development and coding best practices. (These were also recorded as the course was fully remote, so we could watch them back later if necessary).- Emotional Intelligence workshops led by the 'Chief Joy Officer' - learnt how to communicate better, how to give and receive constructive feedback and working with different personality types etc.).- Great careers support upon finishing the course - workshops on CV's, cover letters, all the different jobs boards etc. (provide 1-2-1 careers coaching sessions if required).
Cons:- Didn't anticipate how much we'd learn in a short time, however, if you're willing to put in the work and some self-led learning you'll still enjoy the course as much as I did!- The coaches don't 'spoon feed' you and won't give you the answers straight away, which although can be frustrating at the time, it really made me think for myself and I can now unblock myself most of the time rather than asking for help straight away.

It wasn't without trepidation that I decided to hand in my notice and look towards a career in development. I had no idea what to expect at Makers, especially after we were told that the entire course would be remote. After having a tour of the facility in Shoreditch, it was a bit disappointing that we would be spending no time there. However the Makers team made things very easy in terms of what was needed to get set up, pre-course learning materials, the interview itself.Once the course started and we had our initial full cohort Zoom session the feelings of anxiety were replaced with excitement. I could see that even though everyone came from wildly different backgrounds, we were all in this together and that brought an instant feeling of calm. The course was run extremely well and whether I was just lucky or not, the cohort themselves were just amazing. I have really made some friends for life.There are times when you feel that some of the coaching could be a little more hands on rather than sticking to the ethos of 'teaching you to teach yourselves' to the letter. But having said that, I never would have thought that just a few weeks in I could be able to pick up SQL queries and a new language in JavaScript within the space of a week!Once the course had finished I think you really get a sense of where the strength of Makers lies. The course is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but the help guidance that you have at your disposal from the careers advice team is wonderful. They assist with putting CV's together, writing cover letters, or just picking you up when you're feeling down. And you will feel down at times.Looking back at my time at Makers, I can honestly say that it has been one of the greatest experiences I've ever been through. I have cried, laughed (a lot), pulled my hair out, helped others, had others help me (a lot), stared in wonder at the things I can now create and build, and just generally had an amazing time.I look forward to getting started in my new career and will always look back fondly at my time at Makers and could not recommend them enough if you are thinking of taking the plunge.Best of luck!!

I had a fantastic time at Makers, so much so that I have regularly said to people that I wouldn't mind starting again!  It is a really supportive positive environment where the main takeaway for me was that the key was "Learning to learn".  The coaches offer just the right amount of guidance and support without holding your hand. This allows you to learn to unblock yourself and find your own answers which is ultimately the key skill which will see you succeed. 

To sum up, the approach at Makers is to help you learn to learn better. You will not be spoon-fed, they will teach you the basics and from there it is up to you to find the answers where you do not already know them. This is important, as one of the aims of the course (although not stated) is to get you to a point where you feel comfortable being uncomfortable. A point where you feel comfortable not knowing something and then being able to use the process they give you to find the answers. This is better than other courses that follow a 'we demonstrate and then you replicate' approach. You will be constantly stretched throughout the course, simply because of the time constraints. As soon as you think you are getting to grips with a concept, you have to move on to the next thing. You cannot hope to learn all the material available on the course and one of the toughest things was to be at peace with that.The curriculum is good overall. They start you off using Ruby due to its accessible nature, you then move onto learning JavaScript which is a fairly smooth transition because of most of the things you know from Ruby translate to JavaScript. You also look at other areas such as databases and the HTTP response cycle. In our course, there was a two-week project that used Ruby on Rails which I personally felt was wasted time. Although there are plenty of companies using Rails, two weeks would almost certainly be better spent building a full-stack JavaScript application using a framework like React or Vue. These skills are simply much more in demand. There are other technologies or concepts that would be great if they could include in the curriculum but I think considering the time constraints it is a very useful and complete grounding in web development.The coaches are all very personable and are genuinely determined to make you better. As I touched on previously, if you can't work something out, they won't give you an answer, they will start by asking you what your process is and making you go through the process so that you can arrive at an answer. For sure this is the right way to go about things. Occasionally, however, you simply just don't understand a concept, you've tried your best to find out the answer and you really need someone to explain it to you like you are a dummy. I found the coaches could be a little blind to that, and on occasion somewhat resistant to helping. Indeed there were some frustrated conversations where we wondered what we were getting for our money as we may only get 3-4 hours worth of workshops in a week, and otherwise, we were teaching ourselves everything (again I acknowledge self-teaching, overall, is a pro of this course). I also think that the coaches are a little overstretched. It could take a while to get feedback or help with something. I believe there are some moves being made to get some extra coaches in, which should help this. All Bootcamps are naturally intense experiences and one of the things that Makers do best is look after you. There is an emotional intelligence curriculum to help you manage your emotions better and also to work with others. The coaches are all very empathetic and approachable but there is also a coach dedicated to the emotional well being of students who gives fantastic, constructive methods so that you can finish the course without excess stress. I know for a fact that Makers supported people who needed substantial help to overcome some serious difficulties and for this, I cannot commend them enough.The careers team is great and very supportive. You feel they are genuinely in your corner and rooting for you all the way. Again I think they could do with more technical coaches for post-course but I believe steps are being taken to increase numbers here.A final minor point is there were a couple of moments where I felt that political opinions were given by Makers staff which I felt were shared in the assumption that everyone would agree with them and whilst I don't think organisations have to be apolitical, I think care should be taken over this. Overall I would definitely recommend this Bootcamp. The curriculum is good, the coaches are great and I've definitely made some good friends who I've shared the experience with. I mentioned that at points we wondered what we were getting for our money. The price tag is hefty (but cheaper than some others), but so much of the value of that is being put with a group of fellow students who share your ambition. You drive each other on. By being with like-minded people you are so much more likely to achieve your goal rather than going it alone. I think there are things to improve upon and I have had no problem with writing my critiques publicly because as an organisation they are very open to constructive feedback.If you want to change career, this won't be easy, but commit to it and you will get the rewards.

I was stuck in a job that I hated for 7 years. I spent a lot of that time trying to teach myself how to code but never managed to develop the skills I needed to switch careers. Choosing to study at Makers is on of the best decisions I have ever made. The full team are excellent form the coaches that work with you every day to the careers team that help you to find your next job, the support has been overwhelming. In six months I managed to secure my first role as a frontend engineer. This is something that I could never have achieved without Makers Academy. Thank you!

The title sums it up quite well to be honest! I used to be enrolled on a Computer Science degree program but I had to drop out due to catching Pulmonary Tuberculosis. I spent months recovering and then worked as a bartender. Makers allowed me to get back on track with my career and switch careers from Bartending. It certainly wasn't easy, and I would say the hardest part was job hunting after the course was over. A big pro is that there is a dedicated careers team that helped with planning my job hunt. They also provided a lot of encouragement along with the alumni group!