Coder Foundry

When I went through the application process to attend Coder Foundry’s Master Class, I was required to take a programming test that consisted of 5-6 JavaScript problems. Two to three of my programs were incorrect. (At this point, I don’t remember the exact figures and I no longer have access to my test results, but I am certain that the percentage of answers correct was well below 100%.) Moreover, I had indicated that I had no actual software-developing job experience. The Coder Foundry reps evaluating my application materials had no basis to think I was some kind of coding genius. Nevertheless, during the Google Hangouts interview with Coder Foundry reps (which was the last step in the application process), I was told that I would make $70,000 per year after graduating from the Master Class. (Coder Foundry’s website at that time stated that the average starting salary for a graduate was $60,000.)  Further, I was told that it typically took three months after graduating for a new graduate to land a job. This was important information, because I was considering borrowing a CLIMB loan to assist with paying the $9900 price of the course, and part of the terms of the loan were that the borrower would be required to pay interest only for three months after the class, with full monthly payments required afterwards. I had researched other information. In particular, Coder Foundry’s website at the time stated that 95% of its graduates land jobs. All of these claims together suggested that enrolling in the Master Class would be a good investment. I thus decided to enroll and borrowed the CLIMB loan.

Unfortunately, despite my researching and asking questions, my experience has indicated that I was far too quick to trust Coder Foundry’s claims. I was not inflexible about a job’s starting salary; I was willing to go well below $70,000 per year. However, the reality of trying to land a coding position is *nowhere near* what Coder Foundry claimed *before* it had my $9900. This became apparent even before graduating from the class. I had one rep imply that I should expect a six-month period after graduation before landing a job. (I was told three months was typical during the interview, before CF had my money.) I found the placement department rather cavalier about actually helping me land a job. I was told by the first recruiter who was there that he and his assistants were going to *aggressively* market me. At the time, I replied that I would appreciate it, but I found zero evidence that any such “aggressive marketing” was ever done. I nevertheless worked to complete and successfully demonstrate all four Master Class full-stack application projects.

When I began actively searching for coding jobs, I submitted *countless* applications, both to companies seeking to hire directly and to recruiters. All of the replies I received (with the exception of one) stated essentially one thing: that lacking any coding job experience, I do not qualify for the position. (The common response to the CF projects which I offered to demonstrate is that school projects have very little weight compared to actual job experience.) In other words, something which CF claimed—before it had my money—would not be a problem, has turned out to be a major, nearly insurmountable problem. (The one exception was a company with which I landed a phone interview, and did not progress any further.) Developer positions that are truly entry-level receive hundreds of applications from applicants (mostly recent college graduates) all around the country. There is nothing that being a CF Master Class graduate has done to help me stand out among these hundreds. Further, CF’s placement department has hardly helped (and is presently not helping at all), despite the fact that I was told, before paying and enrolling, that after graduating from the Master Class, my lack of coding work experience would not be a problem.  I went through a three-month period where I received no interviews from the placement department. It wasn’t until I complained, pointing out the discrepancy between what I was told during the CF application interview before CF had my money, and what it was doing then, that the recruiter finally secured some interviews for me. But then the recruiter left CF and another was hired, and I had a similar experience with the second one, getting some interviews for me after my complaining, and afterwards getting no phone calls or emails from her, sometimes not even in reply to my messages to her. It is now getting close to one year after my finishing the Master Class, and I not only do not have a coding job, I have exactly zero leads for landing one. When I now contact the recruiter at CF, I get a reply with no specifics, such as: “I will inform you of opportunities as they become available.” Given the past behavior of the recruiters and the vagueness of these responses, it is clear that I cannot expect any further assistance from CF’s placement department, despite having been told, before CF had my money, that my lack of coding job experience would not be a problem in landing a job. And of course, if it is true that I am among only 5% of CF graduates who fail to land a job, I expect no clear explanation from them of why, or of the general discrepancy between what I was told before I paid and enrolled and the reality of the job search after having completed the course. The placement department, after I paid for the course, has been opaque, murky, and inconsistent. In terms of the big-ticket investments I’ve made in my lifetime, Coder Foundry has proved to be the worst.

If you are seeking to transition to a developer position from another field, I would not recommend attending Coder Foundry, especially if you have no prior coding job experience. There is plenty of information and evidence indicating that employers seeking to hire developers value open-source contributions very highly—perhaps even more highly than paid, on-the-job coding experience. I recommend following Aaron Boodman’s advice at http://aaronboodman-com-v1.blogspot.com/2010/10/wherein-i-help-you-get-good-job.html. There are plenty of open-source projects to choose from; it doesn’t have to be the one (Chromium) Aaron’s blog suggests. Yes, the process will be difficult, and will take years, especially if you have to do it while working to support yourself. There will be multiple, complex technologies, as well as industry standards, to learn. However, it is better to decide from the beginning to go through such a process—and eventually land a coding job—than sink $9900 in Coder Foundry’s course, go into debt, and find out it was for nothing and that you need to spend years going through the open-source-contribution process anyway.