Bloom Institute of Technology

Since joining Bloom Institute of Technology about seven months ago I feel that I have gained true industry experience. I feel confident that I am already gaining skills which tech companies in my area and many others find essential. This program has helped me to feel as though I'm actually going to be ready be the time I finish. I've already been reaching out to recruiters and networking as was recommended many sprints ago. I'm not even halfway through the course yet and I've gained so much! I'm excited to see where I'll be by the end of the bootcamp.

You can literally learn everything they teach from Udemy courses. Job replacement is very poor. Their interview staff thinks that real life experience depends on your tech knowledge not personality. Are you kidding me?
 I've been in tech industry for 20 years but never learned to code though.
So I wanted to make some changes and went to Lambda School, now it's Bloom Tech. After I graduated, start to look for software engineering jobs for the last 3 years. I didn't even get an interview.
Long story sort, I went back to my old job, hardware test engineer.
Now I'm stuck with $1000 a month payments to Bloom Tech. Because, they say that I'm in tech industry. I was in tech industry before Bloom Tech was found. 
Do yourself a favor and stay away from these people or any other boot camp.

My experience with BloomTech (FKA Lambda School) went above and beyond my expectations. I was switching careers and had no math or coding background. I didn't want to go into debt for a graduate degree, and a $15k 3-month boot camp seemed risky. I chose BloomTech because of their no-tuition-up-front ISA, and the 12-month part-time curriculum was the right amount of time for me (that program is on pause, currently only full-time is offered). 

The school went through some changes throughout my year there. My cohort experienced a shortening of the curriculum from 18-months to 12-months, piloted a peer mentorship program, and after our cohort there would be layoffs of the teaching assistants and no more new part-time cohorts. These things shook up some students, but I felt the school was staying true to its goal: to help me get the best job with the best salary after graduation. They communicated every change they made, and explained how it benefitted the sustainability of the program, or would help us become better candidates. I did everything the school suggested: I showed up to class and office hours, turned in every assignment, networked and applied to jobs far earlier than I thought was appropriate (2 months into the program!). 

I was surprised by the depth of education on career development. It went beyond working on your resume and interviews. I learned current work methodologies and tools, how to be a better teammate, how to work through conflicts, how to learn and persevere when faced with a challenge, how to know yourself better. It expanded the way I thought about work and life outside work. These classes, and the amazing but eventually canceled mentorship program, were part of BloomTech's efforts to create the kind of candidates that employers were asking for. 

It paid off!! I got a job at Accenture six weeks after graduating, with a six-figure salary. Before I got the offer, BloomTech hired me as an office hours assistant (Support Hour Lead), and also got me into a month-long Fellowship as a Data Engineer for a startup, where BloomTech paid my salary, not the startup. The Careers department pushed job openings my way, counseled me if I was feeling down (mental health is big here), and helped me negotiate a 9% salary increase. 

As a warning, the attrition rate of students in my cohort was extremely high. I don't fault BloomTech for this, I think it's the nature of the beast. I don't even fault the students who dropped out, they probably had the best intentions. I think BloomTech is the best option for a quality education without having to risk cash up front or go into debt, and the careers department is where the value of the ISA really kicks in. 

When I first started, we had TL's with weekly stand-ups, code reviews, and a sense of a cohort team vibe. It was great, but I hear the new direction they are taking has gone away with those things, which is what really made my experience memorable.

They do have a good curriculum, and job assistance, along with preparation for tech interviews. My resume for sure would not be as good as it is today without their assistance. I still keep in touch with some of my cohort since we developed a great bond.

Like any school what you get out of it is what you put in. That being said, I was really happy with the instructors, curriculum, and support team. I was able to land a non-developer role in a tech company within only 3 months of starting the part-time course. Then when I graduated my company offered me a full-time dev role. I had always worked hourly jobs in the past and didn't have any history in tech except for a few self-taught studies that I had done online. I was in a really tough financial situation when I started the course so the computer I was using at first was less than ideal. It would take me hours to download course material and the likes. When my team lead found out he jumped on it and the school actually sent me a computer to use for the course. 

Now that I have been working in the industry for a while and am two months away from paying off my ISA. I can honestly say Lambda School was one of the best investments of my time and resources that I have ever made. I am more than happy to pay back the ISA knowing that the school is helping so many other students just like me. 

Before starting at Lambda school I was debating going to a 4-year college or doing a Bootcamp. At the end, I went with the Bootcamp because I heard someone say that the person who does the Bootcamp will probably be interviewing the 4-year degree student since they get in job faster. This is so true. In my role, I have been a part of hiring 3 new devs and it hasn't even been 4 years since I made the career change. Also, I have noticed that unfortunately, a lot of the applicants that we get who are computer science majors are not qualified for even an entry-level job because they haven't done any projects or practical coding. 

If you are on the fence, like I was, about 4-year or Bootcamp. I would highly recommend Lambda School. 

I joined Lambda School after doing extensive research on bootcamps and listening to its founder on multiple podcasts. I had zero coding experience, and I had never coded anything before.  From day 1, I was dedicated to fully immersing myself in the course material, guided projects, and the huge network on Slack. I am an active learner, and I found Lambda to be challenging, yet super rewarding. I felt the more time I put into learning, connecting, and practicing the more I got out of my Lambda experience.

The instructors were by far the best teachers I've had in a long time. I often think back to my days in college, where professors would shrug me off and get annoyed if I asked the same question twice. Lambda School instructors were clear and open to explaining things in a different way. If I was struggling with something, I found quick relief by attending office hours.

I found the Lambda School slack channels to be a goldmine for networking, technical interviewing practice, and coding-related resources. Learning how to code is not the only thing required to get a job. Communicating with your peers, making teams for build weeks, introducing myself to alumni, and learning new ways reach out to hiring managers were all unforeseen benefits of this amazing private community.

After finishing my coursework, i was able to work on a real project for the Boys and Girls Club of Conejo Valley in Lambda School Labs. This became the first technical project on my resume, and it served as life-changing coding experience for me. During labs, I was able to "file the switch" from novice to developer. By throwing me into the deep end using a real nonprofit project, Lambda School actually made me believe that I could be a developer. I left labs, the last unit before graduation, with the self confidence to tackle even the biggest of projects.

I applied to over 150 positions after graduation before I landed my first job. I can confidently say that more than 85% of those applications were referred to me by my Lambda School Career Coach, sourced from a slack channel in the Lambda School community, or sent to me via LinkedIn by a Lambda School alumnus. Technical interviewing is hard, and it takes months to master both behavioral and data structures/algorithms questions. I found material, guidance, examples, past questions, and 1-1 practice through Lambda School.

Lambda School has changed my life. I can't stop raving about how rewarding all my hard work at Lambda School was. I believe a bootcamp should do more than just teach you how to code. Lambda School taught how to work well in a team, how to breakdown a problem, how to build a product, how to network, and how to interview. Plus, it taught how to code. I recommend Lambda School to everyone. If you're like me, when I was first starting in my bootcamp journey, you probably have a ton of questions. Feel free to reach out at ashtilawat23@gmail.com. I will do my best to answer all that I can! 

I started Lambdaschool at the beginning of 2021 full time.  I have had several years prior knowledge of web development through self study but I wanted help in finding work and also to fill in any gaps of knowledge.  I researched several schools prior and wanted to a school that passed my requirements.  The curriculum is everything I expected it to be and more.  I know what the core elements are for a web developer to have experience in and they teach all of it.  They have some excellent instructors who not only knew the material but they also do a good job in teaching it.  This kind of bootcamp is not for the light-hearted or for the undetermined person.  You will have to work, and work hard at Lambdaschool.  There are students who have completely no background in tech and graduated, but I really believe you'll have a better chance at making it in this field if you already did some pre-work on your own and have a year or more of study in the field.  In the end it's not the school that determines your success, it's YOU!  But a good quality school like Lambdaschool can help you along the way.


PROS

• ISA - If a school doesn't offer this then they can't even compete IMHO
• Computer Science Unit - You need this if you don't have a CS degree
• Top notch curriculum
• Job Finder Support 

CONS

• It's 100% Virtual - I'd prefer a real classroom setting, but because of Corona this is the next best thing
• Computer Science was a little short.  I would have loved an extension here.  (side note: Lambda allows for any student to redo a unit at no cost)
• I think a little more structure with Team settings could be improved.

When I decided I wanted to make a career change I wasn't sure where to start. I found Lambda and was initially interested trying due to their ISA agreement. It helped me go through school without paying a dime until I had a job of at least $50,000. After enrolling, I was nervous on not having any experience at all and was afraid the learning curve would be too extreme. Fortunately, the instructors, TL's, and fellow students were more than amazing and always willing to help! Not only just to find the answer but to find out why that solution worked for a deeper understanding. After going through the iOS, Computer Science, and Labs curriculums I graduated in 1.5 years while attending part time. I immediately started with a start up company to keep up my skills with connections I made through the school. Working with a cross functional team and with my experience from Lambda with many builds throughout, gave me a competitive edge when applying for full time jobs! Five months later, I've just been hired as an iOS Mobile Software Dev and starting my new career! It's hard to believe that I've gotten to this point. I know I put in the work but I will say without Lambda's faculty and students I might now be where I am today. Thank you Lambda!!

No college degree, attended school from October 2019 to July 2020, first tech job started in October 2020, been there ever since.  I make six figures, and the school helped me negotiate an extra 20k onto my salary.  I had run a court transcription business for over a decade prior to that, still do a little bit on my off time, and so I hadn't looked for a job in over 15 years.  They helped me extensively with the job search.  
I liked the classes; they were pretty fast paced.  But while I was attending, I didn't just study what they told me to; I searched out job descriptions and studied what I thought would make me more valuable.  You really do get out what you put in here; it's not just handed to you.  Put yourself in uncomfortable situations, don't be afraid to make mistakes there, and soak in everything you can in terms of learning.  They aren't telling you to do things just because; they're telling you what they're telling you because it works.

At my current job, about half the stack is stuff I wasn't exposed to at all in school.  My employer is very happy with me, and I love my job.

So I was part of the part time program.  I started in Jan 2020 and ended up moving to full time for the last Unit and thus finished Jan 2021.  There were a lot of changes near the end of my time as a student there.  Reading through the reviews you can clearly see this.  I was also a TL during my time there so felt the transition both as a student and a Team Lead during these changes.  I won't say I agreed or disagreed with the changes as I was not part of the process that made them.  

Lambda always had our best interest in mind.  Do I think taking away the TL's was not the best idea?  Yes, I valued the time I had with my TL as well as my students when I was a TL, but the reasons I was given were also valid.  Would I have finished had I joined a year later?  I think I would have as I put my all into it and got my all out.  Changes aren't easy no matter what.  Some are good some are not.

I still communicate with students that I networked with during my time there,  I still have access to the training material and although it has yes changed  I do still reference it at times.  I can't speak much on the Job Assistance side as I got lucky and was hired on as a Web Developer Instructor over at anther Boot Camp during my last month of Lambda.  But I can tell you that what I learned there including all those changes have made me a better Instructor and Programmer. 

I was bartending for 6 years in NYC, but looking for a big change. Covid hit, and I felt pressure to make the best of my time off, and I was searching for an affordable path to web development. Asking everyone in my social network, I hit upon a friend of the family who had just landed a 90k job right out of a bootcamp. It was Lambda.

I was broke, on unemployment as the bars had all closed, but our buddy told me about Lambda's ISA program where you start with no money down, and pay them back through a percentage of your paycheck for 2 years. I did my due diligence. There are good reviews, and a couple of obvious hit pieces out there. Having worked in bars and restaurants I was familiar with that one star review, written by someone deflecting their own issues, and I can sniff em out. So, I signed up.

The school starts out with pretty basic stuff, but really takes off and maintains a solid steady pace. They push you with the curriculum, but there was hardly a day where I felt I couldn't handle it. I enjoyed having the 'flex' buffer they give you, where you can redo a unit (1 months worth) if you feel you didn't nail the material. I didn't need it, but some of my buddies did, and everyone I dealt with graduated eventually. 

The biggest thing I got from Lambda, that you just can't get through things like Udemy or Youtube, and I'm guessing a lot of other bootcamps, was the team building and personality building that they do. Contrary to what I originally thought, most web development today is done in closely working teams. You may have experience working in teams, but adding the complexity of a git-flow and building software where all the parts must work in concert, and you have a complicated, and at first, clumsy process. At lambda we had many projects where we'd spend a week with a team working on these skills. A lot of their education is geared towards supporting these 'build weeks'. Plus, you get to make some pretty cool projects.

Besides learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Node.js, Express, testing, etc., we spent a unit learning computer science. This is the secret weapon that also teaches you to ace those dreaded coding tests. My CS professor at Lambda, I could easily see teaching at Cal Tech or something similar, corny math jokes and all. 

The program wraps up with their LABS program. Here you spend about a month working on a real world project, through a 3rd party company working with Lambda. You have shareholder meetings, design and planning, and real criticism. It was a great way to get a job related, team oriented, resume worthy project under your belt.

Speaking of resumes... I think Lambda downplays their job placement program a bit. I know they can't legally promise anything, and its up to you to get hired, but their assistance was amazing! We dialed out the perfect resume. They plugged me into a system where I could get the most out of LinkedIn and other job boards. But on the side, they have all of these hiring partners. Big companies, small companies, but most importantly companies that want Lambda grads. There's posts in the Lambda chats almost daily about companies reaching out for new blood. There are automated job postings specifically for Lambda Students. I also had many DMs from counsellors about jobs they thought I'd be a good fit for. 

One of those DMs led directly to me being hired! I get a 'hey are you interested in this?' .. 'heck yes!', They sent my resume over, I filled out the application, and I get a call from a charming recruiter the next week. I start in August. I couldn't be more thrilled! The job search might not be so smooth for everyone they say, but I'm here to tell you that mine was thanks to Lambda.

 I started Lambda School in November 2020. This was right after they made the change to their Full Stack Web Development (FT) program from 9 months to 6 months.

This school is designed to help you succeed. They genuinely care about your career success, and about your learning. They throw many different resources out at you to use, and lots of 'safety nets' if you don't get a concept the first time around. All of that said, you are still very much in charge of your learning, and if you want to succeed, you really need to put in the time that they expect you to.

The full-time track is a FULL-TIME JOB! It should be treated as such if you want to succeed with Lambda School. Lambda school is very fast-paced and intense, but I've seen firsthand that people from very different career and personal backgrounds have found success with this program if they had put in the work.

I have personally found nothing but an insurmountable amount of support and pointers for success in this school. The projects you get involved in prepare you for greatness and equip you with real-world experience that you can speak on in interviews. A Bootcamp/trade school can never be perfect and teach you everything you will need to know in your career, but I'd say Lambda School does an incredible job getting you to the correct point to begin your career, not stopping short at all.

I Did the Full-stack web-dev course with the Java backend option over Node. Being completely honest, your experience is really dependent on who your Team Lead is. Originally in my first two months I had a Team Lead that was kinda wack, he just gave me answers(as someone who became a Team Lead later on, that is definitely NOT what youre supposed to do but I guess Lambda cant control that) and I was having a hard time learning. After I flexed (where you opt in to redo a month). I got a new TL and my experience was pretty good after that. 

There have been a lot of changes since I went through the program so its much different now, and I believe Java currently isnt an option anymore, but wow was the Java course bad. I went through it 3 times, twice as a student and once as a Team Lead. I was part of the first cohort of the Java program and it was just WAAAAAY too much to cram into 1 month of learning. No one was really learning, we were just copy/pasting. The pass rate was something like less than 40% the first time ( I flexed again). The second time around I understood it more and was able to pass having done it for 2 months now. Still, the second cohort probably had a pass rate of 50% and a lot was also copy/paste. I will note that it wasnt the instructors fault, the instructor was UNBELIEVABLE. For the rest of my life I will hold him in high regard and as one of the best teachers I've ever had. Lambda was just trying to cram way too much info into 1 month. For it to have worked, Java needed to be atleast 2 months, preferrably 3. The third time I went through I was very comfortable writing Java, and tried my absolute best to be a good Team Lead to the students I managed and gained some connections I'll have for life with most of my students. About 9/11 of them passed.

After that I went through the program fairly well, They changed the labs portion from 2 months to 1 month, which I thought was stupid as it allowed for gaining real-world experience without actually being in a real job. This part was fine and honestly it felt like labs way pretty easy to pass for me personally. I know others had a difficult time. (Others also didnt do Java three times so theres that). The computer science portion id say isnt bad. Its computer science so its really hard, probably the hardest portion of it all.

After graduating it took my 6 months to get a job, which happens to be the exact average it takes to get one in the field post graduation. The services post-grad are really like a "you get what you put in" kind of vibe. Originally I use any of them but as the search got longer I used them more and more and honestly could not that the career coaches enough. They did end up laying off a huge majority of them, but even after the lay off, the career coach I had helped me TREMENDOUSLY(I cannot stress this enough) with getting offers, salaray negotiation, and calming me down when things were crazy or I felt like I was never gonna get a job.

TLDR: I would do it again, you get out of it what you put into it. With the new changes they made I do think its probably worse than it was when I did it, but they're CONSTANTLY changing how things work so who knows what its like now. The career coach I had was AWESOME so post-graduation job assistance was great as long as I made an effort to communicate with them.

As my business was going to crap during the pandemic, a life-long curiosity -- software development -- began to grow stronger and stronger. I had messed with some web dev stuff prior to lambda, but usually using no-code tools like webflow. I had always wanted to develop much richer web applications though. In November of 2020 I decided to go all-in and enrolled for Lambda School's web development track.

I started in January 2021 as part of the Web40 cohort. This is just after some of the changes with TLs and such. I never experienced that, so the way it was setup when I started is all I know. There weren't any major changes throughout my time with Lambda, but there were many incremental improvements.

I'll get into what I liked and disliked about the program, but here's a TL;DR:
You get out of it exactly what you put into it. Don't expect handholding. Don't expect them to teach you everything (there's just simply not enough time). Don't try to hold a job or other major responsibilities while going through the program. Start networking with developers that have jobs at companies you want to work for early. Start building a full-scale project of your own on the side by unit 2 (Not a portfolio site, either... more on this below).

My results:
I had never coded Javascript in my life prior to Lambda. By the first week of labs (Early June 2021), I had a software engineer job offer for a well-funded tech startup for over $100,000/yr. Typical? Definitely not. Doable? Absolutely. 

Some random thoughts:  
1. Lambda is still a new, scrappy company. They are trying their best to do the right thing, but will sometimes make mistakes. In my experience, they did FAR more for helping me be prepared technically and interpersonally to land a job than any other schooling I've done. They've narrowed their focus and are dialing in their core programs after perhaps overstepping a bit with part-time, UI/UX, and the iOS tracks. 

2. I'd say at least 1/3 of the student body shouldn't even be in the program. They are probably the ones you see writing most of the negative reviews. Often times during build weeks where we work together as a team to build a project, many of the students in the team are completely disengaged or do minimal work. They're like the kids in high school that would get an A on a group project despite doing none of the work. In the case of lambda, all they're doing is hurting themselves. Now that I've gone through the program there seems to be a pretty strong correlation between those that participated and their overall understanding of how to code. 

3. Some people are in it, not because they are actually interested in learning to be a software engineer, but because they think it will be an easy ticket to a high paying job. These people will fail. You've got to actually *want* to be a software developer. 

4. People skills and networking are as important as the technical skills. No one wants to hire someone that's uncomfortable to work with because they can't communicate confidently or clearly...or are just plain weird. You've got to learn to be comfortable with people. You've also got to learn to network -- to reach out on linkedin and twitter to complete strangers and be able to forge a relationship with them. Lambda gives some tips on this, but you will need to put effort into this outside of class. 

5. Think of a project and build it. And no, I'm not talking about a portfolio website. Building a fancy portfolio site is like making a really cool looking resume. You know what's more impressive? Impressive stuff ON YOUR RESUME/PORTFOLIO. There is literally an infinite amount of cool things you can build with software. Find a problem or something you wish existed and start building it. Let your Github be your portfolio. Document the journey and what you're learning. Lambda jams a TON of information into your brain in 6 months. You will forget a ton of it if you're not using everything you learn. By the time labs happens (month 6), you've gone 2 months since touching React (Node/express, and CS in between). Good luck remembering it if you aren't building something with it in between. Many students made an excuse that they don't have the time to build something outside of class. I guess it comes down to how bad you really want it. Going from a job to a high paying career is going to take some sacrifice and extra effort. 

6. Leverage the tools lambda gives you. There are countless opportunities to work with instructors in smaller, more intimate settings. I was shocked how few people showed up to some of these sessions. During Unit 4 (backend), I and maybe 3 others in my cohort would show up to a code review session offered just before class started. So we all got an hour of intimate code review. The funny part is that those of us that showed up to that code review were probably the ones that needed it the least. 

There's so much more I could share, but I'll leave you with these parting thoughts: 
Lambda School is 100% worth it, IF: 
1. You go all-in and don't make excuses. 
2. You're a self-starter and will do your own studying outside of class
3. You have a "I can figure it out" attitude. 
4. You actually put in work to grow your people skills, network, and generally be someone that others would want to work with. 

I am extremely thankful that Lambda exists. It's not without its flaws (is any school?), but it definitely did its job in preparing me to land a job with a company I really wanted to work for doing exactly what I learned in lambda. 

Also, if you want to ask me questions about my experience in detail, hit me up on twitter: @clintfix 

Here is the thing. When I first started with Lambda , it was ok. But now you are basically learning on your own. They removed stand ups meetings, code reviews, 1:1  help and such. So you are basically left out with live lectures , which even though they are great, you can find the same content on youtube. I am towards the end of the program and can't really do nothing about it but to warm people to stay away. I will have to do my best with the little I got to get a job but you are better off learning by yourself than signup to Lambda School. 

RUN FOR YOUR DEAR LIFE!

I joined Lambda School with high hopes. I began the program when they still had Tech Leads (minimum wage paid students to help you). The Tech Leads were advertised to some degree as subject matter experts.  Once they were removed the value of the program diminished greatly. We started each day with 1hr lectures from mediocre instructors, then you are left to code by yourself all day. If you're stuck, well there is google. Lambda tells you they're not there to hold your hand but to give you the tools to learn on your own, I am still trying to figure out what tools those are. I quickly realized FREE CODE CAMP, CODEACDEMY, YOUTUBE, OR A $10 UDEMY COURSE WITH 100 HOURS OF CONTENT was a much cheaper and better investment. I signed the ISA because they falsely advertised that professionals are there to help. One month into the program is they announce changes are coming, and the TLs are being removed. It was advertised like the changes coming are SO good. I decided to leave the program after trying it for a week into the transition. My ISA went active.  I can't justify spending 30k to learn from anyone other than vetted professionals not that TLs were professionals but it was better than nothing. I asked if they could make an exception with my ISA because I was only a week into the program's transition and it was ONLY 24 hours after my ISA went active. They were careless. They cant grandfather me into what I ORIGINALLY signed up for but expect me to honor the ISA. SO INNOVATIVE! They flat out did not care at all! THEY EXPLOITED THE TRANSITION PERIOD TO GET MONEY OUT OF ME! Don't let them lie to you, and don't believe all the success stories. I know many grads from their program that wish they did not join Lambda. If you have any questions contact me at matthewmsmith1992@gmail.com