Bitmaker General Assembly

I work as a Graphic and Web Designer in a small marketing company.  We have to be very versatile and have many skillsets since we are a small department of a big company.  My Front-End Developments skills were pretty intermediate but I was looking to become faster and work cleaner.  So I recently took the Front-End Web Development night course at Bitmaker in Toronto to advance my skill sets and discover new resources to assist in my job. I had minimal expectations as my understanding of HTML/CSS was already very advanced.  The first 2 weeks were a little redundant for me, but after the first 2 weeks, I was learning tricks and skills that I didn't even know existed.  In 12 short weeks I went from a novice to a professional.  The professors were extremely helpful, and even stayed till 11pm one night to diagnose a computer issue for me.  The course is very demanding, since there is so much information to learn and cover in 12 short weeks.  I spent a good chunk of time on weekends doing reading and drills to make sure my skills advanced to where I needed to be for the following week.  I wouldn't recommend this course to anyone who is unwilling to do this homework/studying as you wont take anything away from the course.  This course is definitely for people with serious interest in Front-End, and not just hobbyist.  If I had to list a complaint, my only complaint would be that some of the students didn't take the course as serious as me. I was there for work and was trying to absorb as much information as possible.  However, I found many students wouldn't do the homework, or drills/reading, and wouldnt be at the level they needed to be at for the following class.  This would then slow down the class getting all the students up to speed.  Not really a Bitmaker issue though.  Overall, I am fully satisified with my experience.  I would love to take more courses at Bitmaker.  

Having a background in marketing and online ad buys, I was concerned this class would be too general for me. I appreciate that there was still a lot to learn! The most important thing to take away from this course is the case study focus - build a campaign and bring it with you each week. That will allow you to tweak the ad sets and copy under the guidance of a true expert. Instead, we were working on a live brand (but not one I had experience in knowing the audience or copy). So it was relevant for the practice, but not as useful to my daily life as working on my own brand would have been. Overall, the connections to the instructor, guest presenters and inside information of how campaigns are truly run was incredibly valuable and worth taking even if you have a background in online ad campaigns.

I took the Front end web development course as I was interested in taking the Bitmaker course and ofcourse in learning the tools and web development languages. Overall it was a great experience. The TAs and the professors were really helpful in answering any necessary questions. The course material was up to date and ofcourse you get hands on skills with the mini projects. 

 It was probabbly not the best course targeted towards me. I initally wanted to take their web development development bootcamp coruse  but it didn't work as I work full time. I should have taken the ruby on rails course. I do wish they would come out with a part time course for web development instead of the intensive bootcamp. I think it would be a great refresher for me. 

Skepticism is understandable. The bootcamp value proposition does seem too good to be true—and indeed, many bootcamps are overstating their claims about how much value they bring to students. 

I’m a Bitmaker alumni, and I firmly recommend its program. It has been one of the most difficult learning curve of my life, but most importantly it made a high-impact!  Code is hard and do understate that aspect, but Bitmaker Labs has designed a perfect program to dive in and feel comfortable learning. 

Your code journey does not stop after the 9th week of Bitmaker Labs Bootcamp and its up to you to sharpen the skill set that has been given to us at the lab.  I highly recommend continuing being curious and mastering your skills.

Serguei K.

I decided in May to quit my full time job and take the 9 week immersive web development course at Bitmaker Labs as I had a strong interest in learning Ruby on Rails. The course provided much more detail on the lifecycle of the HTTP request than I had anticipated and also an introduction to TDD as well. The instructors are very knowledgable and helpful, and the entire environment was very fun and welcoming! I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn web development with no prior experience in programming.

Prior to the course I was very much into UX but didn't have any training or experience in it. My wife was taking a different course at Bitmaker and she suggested I should take the one about UX. I looked into it more and thought it would be a good idea. 

Right from the first class I was really impressed with everything I was learning. The material was very good and they provided a lot of links to read up on your own. I think I learned more outside of the class but overall I think my UX unedrstanding grew tenfold. Especially after going to a UX conference that the instructor suggested.

We worked on a project throughout the 12 weeks. That was very helpfull in practicing our new skills as we learned them. Maybe there could have been a bit more time dedicated to that part during class hours.

Overall, after taking the course I knew that I had to change my career from graphic design to UX and I think that the course provided a solid foundation for me in understanding UX.

I recently completed the 9-week web development course at Bitmaker. After doing a lot of research, I choose Bitmaker because I wanted to learn both front and back end skills, and I they offer the opportunity to accelerate the learning process.

At first I was a little skeptical about the schedule because when you have four hours every afternoon, it is easy to get distracted and be unproductive, however, as long as you are willing to remain focused and dedicated, and put the time into the program, this was the best part of the day. It was during this time I was able to work on the assignments and figure out what concepts I understood and where I was struggling.

I quickly learned that the true value in the course is the instructors and TA's. They all have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry. More importantly, they were great at spending time with each student to answer any questions we had. What I really appreciated was that the TA’s would help walk us through each problem and solve the problems ourselves rather than giving us the answers right away.  

Prior to enrolling in the course I had no coding skills and was struggling to learn independently, but after completing the bootcamp I have successfully build a web app and I am now able to pick up new skills and have a  much easier time learning new languages. 

A graduate of Bitmaker Labs fourth cohort, I joined the program to follow my passion for web development. I chose Bitmaker because I felt it had the most comprehensive exposure to help build a solid foundation for entering the web development world. This included:

- Teaching both front- and backend web development in tandem, focusing on Ruby on Rails, an excellent framework for building a career (and apps!) off of. I felt that other programs in Toronto didn't have as comprehensive a career and instead focused on front-end development.
- A flipped classroom which focused on instructor interactions, of whom there were many. Very approachable and always willing to go the distance to ensure concepts were understood for students. My personal favourite was when students didn't fully understand how the internet worked (for ajax calls), so we had an impromptu lecture on the internet. Lots of lightbulbs went off after that.
- Building a 'community' both within the classroom and outside in the Toronto tech community. Internally, students learned and improved their skills together and got comfortable with pair programming, which is how this industry functions. Externally, we were able to network and get excited for our future.

The most important thing prospectives need to realize about coding bootcamps is that you don't become an expert taking these short programs. If you want to become an expert, go back to school for a proper degree. 

What this program teaches is a solid foundation for learning web development on your own after you leave the program, and (hopefully) through your new career. Bitmaker does this really well, and for that I'm thankful I was a part of it. 

I enrolled into Bitmaker Labs as a part of the October 2014 Web Development cohort, and since then I was hired and now continue to work at Kobo as a Web Developer/Producer. Starting out, I had my concerns that my only real formal education in web development was through an after school program in beginner level HTML. I knew I wanted to learn more and so before coming to Bitmaker Labs, I spent many hours going through tutorials like CodeSchool, Lynda, and even Youtube.  However, I often found the learning experience to be completely one-sided.

Bitmaker Labs is a platform for learning that pushes you to challenge yourself in being better prepared for the tech industry.  Of course, the lessons with the instructors are awesome but I felt like one of the most invaluable resources was the shared knowledge between classmates and instructors on how to better prepare yourself as a junior developer.

The program creates a space for you to not only improve your skills and knowledge in building web applications but the right habits and mentality to accelerate your development.

In a nutshell, Bitmaker Labs is stepping stone to launching new ideas, expanding your network in the developer community and preparing you with the tools necessary to succeed as a developer.

If you ask me whether you should attend Bitmaker Labs, my response would be to simply ask you whether the thought inspires you of being able to create new ideas from paper to full-fledge applications? Are you willing to be engaged and participate with your classmates? And lastly, are you willing to put in the time and effort to learn as much as you can? If so, I would absolutely recommend Bitmaker Labs.

There’s no doubt that there is a lot of work and a lot to be learned. However, if you come into Bitmaker Labs with the right mentality to be involved and excited to learn, the opportunities and possibilities for you as a developer are immense and it’s up to you how you want to plan your next step.

Bitmaker Labs promotes preparing you to step into a new role as a web developer seamlessly in just nine weeks. Can you really learn to be a developer in just nine weeks? I quickly learned by the end of week two that this highly depends on what you’re willing to put into the program. The intent isn’t to teach you everything there is to learn about programming, it’s to equip you with the right amount of both technical and problem solving skills to take your own learning further. Learning how to learn is just as valuable as a technical skill, especially in an industry or environment where things are changing so quickly.

I took the January 2015 cohort and found a full time job as a Jr. Full Stack Developer within a week of finishing the program, where I still work today. At work I'm building web apps with Django and Python, though I knew nothing of either prior to starting. My education at Bitmaker allowed me to transfer my skills to be able to pick up this language and framework quickly. I believe this is a testament to what Bitmaker teaches beyond technical skills. 

I had a great experience at Bitmaker and value the non-traditional education route they take. I thought the curriculum was well structured and moved at a good pace. Extra assignments were available to students who were looking for the added challenge. The instructors and TA's were extremely helpful and stayed quite late to help students, especially during the final two weeks. The students that seem to do well are those who are prepared to work hard, work collaboratively and stay inquisitive. 

I recently took "Front-End Web Development" at Bitmakers and let me say; it was one of the best experiences I've had in any course I've taken. The instructor was very helpful, the people there always had a smile, and were extremely inviting! They offered after class help, skype help on their downtime, and even give you access to classroom notes even after you've completed the course! This course was worth the money, and I learned a lot!
I'd love to take a full time program in the future. 

The full time web dev program at Bitmaker labs runs for 9 weeks and you learn HTML, CSS, SavaScript, and Ruby on Rails. So far, I've completed 3 weeks of the program and I am really enjoying the experience. I completed an undergrad program in IT, and I pleased with the training approach they are taking. You are being trained with skills that are relevant, right now. It is fast pace, and challenging but not overwhelming. Like any form of education, you get what you put into it and there's Bitmaker offers a lot to someone who wants to take advantage of their resources. The instructors are very helpful and always willing to offer advice and information in order to advance your progress. Weekly site visits, and industry guest speakers really help put what you're learning into perspective. There's no easy route to becoming developer, but if you're a motivated and willing learner then Bitmaker is a good first step!

I was lucky to have the full time Web Development program included as part of a compensation package from a local Toronto startup. 9 months after finishing the program and I'm in a web-developer role specializing in PHP/CakePHP. Bitmaker taught Ruby on Rails so well that I am now able to pick up new languages and frameworks quickly.The program exceeded my expectations. I was expecting to leave the program knowing how to code. What I was not expecting was how empowered I would feel after finishing. Having access to such incredible staff, who are experts in the industry, make me feel like I can take on any coding challenge or entrepreneurial project that I have in mind. Definitely worth the investment, but like with most investments, what you get out of it is a function of what you put into it!

It's been two years since I've been through the Rails course, and since I've held a great web developer job with a second one lined up to start very soon. In short, Bitmaker started a whole new career for me, but it's not your traditional assignment-in, assignment-out type of post-grad education experience. Your own efforts are going to weigh on the outcome of the course 100%. There are no grades, only the lessons you learn from going through with something so intensive and life-consuming. And it all hinges on your attitude.
So if you decide to take the adventure that is a full-time bootcamp, I can only give you some realizations of my own:
First, it's going to be more useful once you've got a clear vision of what you want out of it. Do you want to change the trajectory of your career entirely, or are you thinking of making something from scratch as a basis of a start-up? How you approach the course depend on your answer.
Second, it's an opportunity to push yourself to work on stuff that feels incredibly intimidating to you, every step of the way. The whole nine weeks, I was often overwhelmed, frustrated, but ultimately thrilled to find answers to a day- or week-long problem. The satisfaction in having your small wins at Bitmaker are going to be addictive and unlike any sense of achievement you've felt before. Lots of your fellow classmates will have their own personal wins and it feels great to celebrate them together. 
One ultimate benefit is to become a self-directed learner. This is an industry where changes and improvements occur constantly, and different ways to solve a problem always exist. The instructors are incredibly helpful, but not a short-circuited ticket to a quick solution. Ask for advice, not a crutch.
It's going to be a life-changing decision if you want and work for it. Good luck!

So much hype when you walk into this place. No joke, they make you feel like they are about to change your life and you will walk out of there with some crazy ability to code at an intermediate level. Then you go through the interview, which really is a formality, because judging by the class, they are letting ANYONE in. Like anyone. I think 4 ridiculous people couldn't even really use a computer. So I'm stuck sitting next to them and watching as our TA is trying to help them for like 30 minutes and I'm feeling like I'm watching exactly where my money goes. No matter. I'll get a job. Except I didn't. And don't have one. And their CEO doesn't know my name. But he knows if I paid or not. But what's super stupid is that when I talked to a guy who went there who interviewed me for a job in his startup, he told me the problems were the exact same like 2 years ago! WHAT?! So it's always been like this and nobody is fixing it? For sure people know the name which is probably worth something. Julie Hache was so good too. And really even liked some of their staff like Erik. Lots of these people cared for sure. Also, really liked some of the speakers who came in. If I had to pinpount the problem it's probably that their CEO (will remain nameless as I'm not about name dropping) could do a bit more to know the students and know what's going down in his own place. Pretty sure the dude just learnt how to code himself. 

Picked Bitmaker based on some of the reviews I'd seen on here originally so figured I would let anyone else trying to make that choice know what's up! 

I wouldn't say that Bitmaker was a bad experience, it was just not what I thought it would be. Having had friends that went to other bootcamps I decided to go to one in Toronto where I live. There were 2 that I found and Bitmaker was definitely awesome in looking at it from the outside. Great space, really cool people and interesting curriculum. 

The problem is this place is all about the money and has some pretty backwards policies. First off, compared to what I have heard from other schools, their career side is abysmal. Their '9 weeks' include 1 hiring week where they set you up with some interviews and that's it. They don't help you beyond the 9 weeks and once you are done the program they really do nothing for their alumni. I know bootcamps like Hack Reactor, MakerSquare, HackerYou and Lighthouse Labs all help you until you find a job. Also, pretty sure their 93% can't be true because I literally met so many alumni who are without jobs and many of which gave up. It truthfully made me feel stupid for not finding them before, so I guess that's my fault. Overall, they just take your money, teach you whatever they can and then let you leave and figure it out. 

Also, small things here, but they have 40 people in a class and 3 people on the floor at any given time. Not super helpful, though I must say that their teachers themselves are really cool and very good. Just not enough to really help 40 people! 

Look, I can code and that's awesome, so I'm really happy with that, and I won't say the money was poorly spent, but bootcamps are everywhere and from what I have seen and heard, I probably could have picked a better one. 

I owe Bitmaker Labs a huge debt of gratitude. Bitmaker Labs was a huge stepping stone in my career, and without them I don't believe I'd be where I am today. If you're looking for a career change, or looking to really immerse yourself and learn what it takes to program for the web - I would recommend Bitmaker.

I was a student in the pilot cohort starting March 2013. Since the program ended I have been working as a web developer and I'm currently working with an organization that I've dreamt of working with for years. 

I'd give an in depth review of the program, however I have heard that the program and school have changed dramatically from my exit, so a more recent review may be more relevant.

When I was there we had three full time teachers who I was incredibly privileged to learn from. We had classes all day for most of each day and had TA's to help us through any stumbling blocks. During the pilot cohort, the vast majority of the curriculum was on Ruby/Ruby-on-Rails with very little time spent on JavaScript or higher-level comp sci fundamentals -- both of which would have been helpful. The program was hard and I certainly still have had lots to learn in my career since then, however I definitely would not have been able to get here as quickly or as efficiently without Bitmaker. I also met some really great people who are still in my life.

During the pilot cohort we also had a week long round-robin/speed-dating interview process with several hiring partners. Outside of the interview week, I'm not sure how much job assistance was available to those that needed it.

Again - take my interview with a grain of salt. Bitmaker is expensive, however for me it's one of the best expenditures I've ever made. That said, the teachers, structure, curriculum, and job assistance, have all apparently undergone some sort of transformation since I've left according to talks with other students.