Le Wagon

I would describe Le Wagon as a unique, well-structured, challenging and life-changing experience that takes place in the perfect setting: a rooftop with a sea-view in the heart of Canggu, Bali. 

Before joining the bootcamp I was working in the research team of an accelerator in NYC, right after having graduated from university. During this time I was on an exploration mode, since I did not have a clear idea of what industry I wanted to work in specifically. However, I have always had the long-term ambition of going back to Peru and launching a project to help reduce the socio-economic disparities present in the country. I knew that to be able to achieve this personal goal successfully I would first have to build more skills through experience. 

While working on the accelerator I was able to learn about the different challenges and pathways entrepreneurs around the globe took to scale up. One of the main takeaways from this experience was understanding the importance of having tech skills to achieve success in today’s digitally-oriented world, especially when seeking to be a successful entrepreneur and being able to communicate and understand every aspect of a project.  I realised that, being in my early twenties, I wanted to focus my next few years on developingnew hard-skills which would be transferable from one industry to another while acquiring knowledge on different fields. 

After 5 years in NYC, I decided to leave and jump onto this 9-week adventure at Le Wagon, Bali. I chose the Bali campus due to the cultural offerings of this island and because I was looking for a place that would be a contrast with the big cities I had previously lived in (Lima,NYC and Paris). The setting of the bootcamp definitely enhanced the entire experience because every day was a new adventure that made you discover the richness of the local culture while learning how to code. In a typical day you could surf at 6:00 am with the sunrise, ride your scooter to class through beautiful rice fields while watching the Balinese Hindus putting forward offerings, intensely code from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm in the rooftop terrace of the FRII hotel with a very fresh breeze and a sea-view, and finally end your day ina very balanced way with a yoga class with your classmates. 

On the technical side, Le Wagon has a very structured program and a user-friendly platformthat gives students and alumni a life-long access to a handful of resources including libraries, lectures and daily coding challenges. Since day one it was a very hands-on experience by having several day-long coding challenges which you had to push to your own repository. The “buddy system” during these coding challenges was one of the things that for me differed this program from just taking an online course. Every day you were assigned to a different “buddy” from the class to work together through the challenges, ask questions to each other if either one was stuck, brainstorming solutions together and gave you the chance to explain your code out-loud to someone else (which I found out to be a very effective strategy for debugging). Another resource of the program I found very useful was the “tickets system”. If you were still struggling to solve a problem after using all of the online resources and talking with your buddy  you could raise a ticket and a teacher would come and walk you through the problem. This was a very effective way of learning because it would indirectly build within each student a methodology to solve coding problems.

The first few weeks of the bootcamp were probably the most challenging because you had to adapt to the fast paced rhythm of the bootcamp while trying to understand and apply most of the new concepts that were being introduced to you each day.  This could have been a little bit frustrating at the beginning, however, after applying these concepts daily you become familiarised with them, and after the first three weeks everything starts to come together. The unconditional support, friendliness and positive energy of all the teachers made this first stage and the whole journey very enjoyable. 

The most exciting part of the journey was building your own product during the last two weeks of the bootcamp together with three other people. This experience did not only enhance our team-working skills and gave us the chance to work with people with very diverse backgrounds, but pushed our technical skills to the next level by making us bring everything that we had learned in the past months together, and researching new concepts. Our final product was called “Rated Places” it is a B2B, community-based, deals and recommendations web application which was based on our own experience and needs while living in Canggu. It was very challenging to build a product while learning how to work in teams using the different platforms, like Github and Trello, under that time pressure, but at the end the feeling was very rewarding. 

At the end of the program, we did not only learn all these technical skills but we became a family and part of Le Wagon global network. We also discovered the infinite possibilities these new set of skills gave us, through the presentations of inspiring guest speakers who were former students from Le Wagon, and understood the ongoing digital boom in Bali.  The opportunity to meet so many people coming from very diverse backgrounds and with different experiences was unique. I am very grateful for this experience and it is one that I will always hold close to my heart.  

Having worked in digital for a decade, coding knowledge was constantly a block I came up against; I simply did not understand it. Outsourcing digital tasks to developers was the norm but I found this incredibly frustrating with such a keen interest in the topic.
I wanted to (finally!) learn to code, swivel my career to include dev skills as part of my remit or change it completely. After years trying numerous online courses I realised that in order to achieve this I needed to be forced into a classroom to learn in person. 
With a mortgage and full time job, a 9-week full-time bootcamp was not an option. Le Wagon - as far as I knew - was the only London bootcamp that had taken the significant steps to offer a part time course for professionals such as myself. Their first course had just started and I immediately enrolled on the second.
The course itself surpassed all expectations. I’m not afraid of hard work but this pushed me to my limits…it’s certainly not for the faint-hearted and will command your life for 6 months (yes, including Saturdays!). However the end result is worth it many times over. 
The teachers and staff make this course what it is, their commitment to our batch and their no-nonsense approach ensured we all came through with a brand new, marketable skill set. 
Regarding the teaching itself, the thing that stood out most prominently was how commercial it was - the material was always up to date and we were taught how to work as a developer, not just how to code. In support of this, the buddying and ticketing systems honed the unique type of teamwork needed to work in a tech team and upon completion of the course, we had 3 projects ready and waiting to show prospective employers the day we graduated.
Completing the course earned me a huge amount of kudos with my employer. I work in a tech team for a bank and the developers are unanimously impressed with the level of proficiency reached, the depth of knowledge gained and the way in which we were taught to code. 

En 9 semaines, vous allez découvrir et apprendre un domaine qui pourrais vous être inconnue.
En 9 semaines, vous allez vous amusez a prendre en main les outils, qui vont vous permettre de donnée vie a vos envie.
En 9 semaines, Vous allez rencontrer une équipe pédagogique prêtes a tout pour vous soutenir et vous guidez vers vos objectifs.
En 9 semaines,  vous allez vous cassez les dents sur des problèmes qui paraissent insolvable, mais a l'aide de vos camarades et des professeurs, vous allez les surmontés.

Ces 9 semaines vous ne les verrez pas passez, mais en 9 semaines vous serez capable d'exprimer et de créer des sites qui vous ressembles.

Le wagon c'est tout ça, et bien plus encore.

I recently completed Le Wagon London's batch 361. I had a BA in English Literature and came in off the back of a string of jobs in various industries (recruitment, football analysis, copywriter/editor), still yet to find a line of work that inspired me enough for it to be a passion as well as just a job. I can't remember why I first seriously considered coding, other than wanting to apply myself academically again after stagnating in various jobs. I guess instinctively coding felt exciting and futuristic. I also liked the idea of working freelance, as well as the possibility to work in another country. After briefly looking at London bootcamps, Le Wagon just looked and felt by far the most exciting, and before I knew it I had an interview penned in.

What sets Le Wagon apart as an institution, is that nearly all of the staff are themselves graduates of the school. This may seem like a subtle distinction, but I think it holds the key to what makes the course so special. What they have managed to achieve, is to create an environment in which the relationship between teachers and students is completely informal and democratic, something that differs to any other educational experience I've had. Yet despite the laid back attitude towards formality, there is an unspoken respect for the learning process from all. The staff without exception are knowledgeable, personable, passionate and professional, and they exceeded my expectations every day.

Having come from an arts background, any reservations I had about not fitting in here were dispelled instantly. It's a complete melting pot of age, nationality, class, mindset etc. The buddy system (every day you are partnered with someone different to tackle challenges in a pair) is an ingenious idea, that results in your batch feeling more like an extended family by the end of the course, as everyone knows each other intimately. It also allows you to both explain concepts that you understand - in doing so consolidating your learning - yet also to have those things which you don’t quite get explained in relatable terms through the eyes of a fellow beginner.

The real learning comes in the final few weeks, as you split into groups to build your own website. Suddenly there is nowhere to hide, and it’s truly a sink or swim situation that forces you to learn on the job. Above all it’s incredibly fun, and feels like a task from the Apprentice, with communication and micro-management being essential, as well as a lot of coding after hours. Presenting your baby on the final day, and equally seeing the fruits of your classmates’ labours makes for a truly special ending to the nine weeks. Seeing how far you have all come really is inspiring.

Based on the impossibly favourable reviews online, I joined Le Wagon with very, very high expectations, and I can honestly say that they were all met.

I just recently finished Le Wagon's full-time batch in London and it was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. While I had a Computer Science background, taking this course as a focus on one single aspect of computing made me realize just how much more I still need to learn, and how much more I can still improve. Learning the in-depth world of web developing, along with the power of frameworks, the hugely wide amount of gems available for Ruby, and it's relevance in the market makes all the time invested worth it, as those nine weeks prepare you just enough to get started into the whole new world of being a developer.
Similarly, meeting so many people from different backgrounds has helped me understand how the diversity and learning from other people’s cultures can only make yourself a better person. Being someone from really far away, stepping into a new country with a different reality than my own made me realize just how far I can get, and how there’s incredible people everywhere if you just look into the right places.
The intensive 9 weeks, the never ending challenges, the excellent teachers, and the nice community has made of this camp such a great experience that I would definitely recommend it to anyone willing to learn how to code, independently of what they’ve been doing before. Literally anyone can change their life into this amazing world with some effort and, after that, it can only get better.

Prior to the bootcamp, I had a career in Retail Merchandising, which after a while I just felt wasn’t quite for me. I had always been interested in Development, but hadn’t been sure of a route into that industry before I discovered Le Wagon.
I joined because I wanted to learn to code and begin a new career journey with the skills I would gain from the course. After a lot of research I chose Le Wagon specifically because of its reputation, fantastic reviews from alumni, and it’s product-oriented approach, which empowers you to bring your ideas to life.
It was great to learn with a bunch of like-minded classmates, all from different backgrounds, and all ready to learn and have some fun along the way. I really enjoyed the buddy system, it’s good for getting to know the other students and working together through the challenges. If you need help they are there for you, and vice versa. 
If you get truly stuck, the TAs are the heroes waiting to help you through it, they work with you to get to the answer yourself, and can explain everything so well because they have all been in the same position as you in the past.
The final project weeks were a big challenge, using all the skills we learned in the previous weeks to build a website from scratch, but so rewarding working in our group to build an app we all believed in and worked hard for!

Before joining Le Wagon, I was a Content Creator who was struggling to find jobs that would provide me residency in Europe. I took the Full Stack boot-camp to create a firm coding foundation and develop international relationships. I loved getting to know new people every day as I buddied up with people from all over the world and loved the feeling of being fully immersed in code both day and night. I could hardly believe that by the end of the boot-camp I was capable of making a fully-functional website that could be integrated with Fringe. Thank you Le Wagon for changing my life!

Before I started Le Wagon, I was working my first IT-job. As a junior developer I was programming mainframes in the ancient language of COBOL. As anyone - familiar with the field of mainframes - knows: this is not the most dynamic working environment. So I wanted to change something. My first experience with coding however had been positive and I wanted to increase my knowledge about topics more relevant to the modern age. Hence my interest in Web Development. I started searching for courses and this let me to Le Wagon. And, if I could do this bootcamp anywhere, why not do it on the beautiful island of Bali?
Going in as a somewhat experienced programmer, I had the slight fear the course might be too easy for me. It is targeted at beginners after all. Fortunately, however, this was not the case! Even for the topics I was knowledgeable about (like Object Oriented Programming and Relational Databases) I have been unable to finish all the optional exercises that where given us that day. By the way, these exercises are the core source of Le Wagons effectiveness. These well-crafted challenges integrate the topics learned that day, and the days before, flawlessly. 
Bali’s teachers are amazing, being both competent as well as great people in general. Being in a group of 30 fellow students proved a perfect base for exploring Bali in the weekend. Best of all, after finishing the bootcamp the journey is not over. Le Wagon provides a lot of resources to continue one’s coding journey after returning home. Right now, for instance, I’m working on my own personal online portfolio, exhibiting all the things I’ve learned in Bali.
All in all, Le Wagon Bali Batch #349 has been a life changing experience that I would recommend to anyone!

Where to begin! Before I started the Le Wagon course I worked as a flight attendant travelling the world. I quit my job in late 2018 because I was feeling I needed a change, I didn’t know which path to take next but I had to do something different. I had no prior knowledge or experience with coding, although I did have an interest in learning the industry. In the year prior to this course, I had actually applied to study in Brisbane, although to my disappointment my visa didn’t allow me to study, so I thought I was stuck. After a few months I decided to start researching again and look into courses that were either online or in a different location. That’s where I came across a few different coding courses, all about 6-10 weeks, Le Wagon being in that mix. I didn’t know which to choose, I had no idea so I turned to the reviews which is why I’m writing this one now. Let me start by saying LeWagon completely exceeded any expectations I had going into this course and I could not recommend it enough to anyone expanding their current knowledge or looking for a career change. Before I signing up, I also looked at the course syllabus and to be honest, didn’t really know what it meant, I really had no prior knowledge going into this so I was going in a bit blinded. But after sending it to a couple friends I have in the industry, they assured me that it would be a good course if they delivered on what they had outlined. 
I chose the bootcamp in Bali, I’ve been to the island few times before I and loved it. Idea of living there for 2 months seemed great to me! The classroom is right in the center of the very popular town - Canggu, full of good restaurants, yoga schools and beach clubs.
Right from the first day I felt extremely comfortable and welcomed, but let me tell you - the course is tough! It’s a lot of work and be ready to put the effort in because it is challenging. With that, I never felt overwhelmed or that they were moving too fast through topics. The teachers were without a doubt what made this whole course and experience worthwhile. There is no question in my mind that the teachers were anything but outstanding, as I mentioned before my expectations were completely exceeded and this was in large part down to them. 
I have to finish this review just with saying thank you. I honestly cannot recommenced this course enough to anyone considering it. After 9 weeks of hard work, a lot of fun, laughs, new friendships I am completely sure I made the right choice.

Although my friends always warned me I was the group's nerd, I started to realized that technology was my field one year ago when I begun to work closely with web projects, coordinating marketing strategies and helping to launch them with digital campaigns. As a journalist, specialized in digital marketing, I had worked for 10 years with a lot of content platforms and metrics, what made me interested about all innovations in the digital world. However, I couldn't understand what the developers were talking about when details of applications needed to be solved and if theirs deadline were fair enough or not. That said, I was also very upset with the environment of the company I was working, so I decided to turn my life around and quite it. 

A friend of mine told me about Le Wagon coding bootcamp. I checked it out on Google and some raking websites, also about job opportunities for developers and the decision was made. As I had time, waiting for the next bootcamp start, I joined all free workshops and meetings at Le Wagon in Rio. 

Then, in a blink, it was my first day of class and I faced a lot of configurations and commands on terminal, that looked like Matrix for me! Despite my desperate of changing my system to Linux I was loving everything. All the teachers and TAs were very kind and well prepared. My followed days were basically understanding very well all the lectures and feeling very dump during the exercises, but at the end of day, I was proud of my self. I was little by little, day by day, going to more complex concepts and exercises. Best part of it was building the first project, when you finally realized that you know a lot and you can make some very cool web applications with your knowledge. This is so powerful! Not only to work in one of the best careers nowadays but to build your own ideas, your projects! 

If Le Wagon teaches everything you need to know to be a developer? I would say Le Wagon prepared me with all the tools I need to be a developer. No bootcamp can teach everything, every language that the market will ask for etc. But as important as Ruby, it was learning the basics concepts to be able to learn new languages later or improving my skills. There is so much to learn and for that, I also have to mention all the students of Le Wagon community. This is a very important benefit, specially during quarantine days! We are sharing references, doubts and motivating each other. Using Le Wagon fantastic platform, slack channels and webinars, I feel very engaged with this big code community. 

At last, I can say I am very exciting to work in web development and with digital products. I really think we are facing a new way of work and a lot of companies were forced themselves to the digital transformation. That is very promising for new job opportunities, new projects, new behaviors and who knows a better society? My aspiration is to contribute to this goal with a group of passionate people. My final remark will be: I'm loving UBUNTU. Thanks, Le Wagon!

I was a bit worried before starting Le Wagon that maybe coding wouldn’t be for me, or that I would find the workload too intense. However, almost immediately, I found myself engrossed in the daily lectures and exercises, so much so that it often felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day. I thought the buddy system was a great way to practice your skills as you tried to work out with your partner how to solve a problem - and of course, this is direct practice working on a team one day after the course.

By the end, I was super proud of what I had achieved, and of the skills I had learned - I don’t know if I can speak for others, but the course left me with enough skill to teach myself an entire framework on the side of all the coursework - the JavaScript framework for virtual reality on the web, A-Frame. And using my newly developed coding skills and this new framework, I worked with a group of 2 others to build our final project - a virtual reality museum that we named Muse VR, which you can check out here: https://www.musevr.art

In addition to coding, we learned a variety of other skills, including public speaking and idea pitching. The project I described above - Muse VR - was actually a project that I was encouraged to pitch by my peers and the lecturers - and I couldn’t be happier that I decided to pitch it. 

There is so much to learn in coding, so many concepts and languages and frameworks, that it feels like the course isn’t enough, but what you manage to learn in the 9-weeks at Le Wagon is much more important than just a few languages, rather, you learn how to think like a programmer. The most vital skill as a programmer in my current position? Knowing how to use Google! (and Stack Overflow!) And Le Wagon does a good job at giving you practice with how to find the answers for yourself by either scouring the internet, or working it out with your peers. Of course, they also provide a really skilled team of teaching assistants - some of whom even recently graduated themselves from Le Wagon - who can help when you have searched the internet that little bit too long, just before you start pulling your hair out from not being able to find the answer yourself.

I literally could not be happier that I chose to do Le Wagon. For me personally, I feel like I have discovered the thing that I’ve always wanted to do. And I’m excited to see where that takes me!

After working a few years in human resourcing sectors, i figured out that's an old job and it makes me feel also old, so I decided to change this by Choosing le Wagon Lausanne. It was the best thing to do. In only 9 weeks I've learned to code, for me, that's amazing while I've had zero knowledge before. I can't say that it was easy, but if you are motivated enough, you can do it. For my luck, in the last week of boot camp I've had an interview with a company for a project manager job, and the very next day they called to announce me that I'll start a week later. 
Le Wagon is definitely the best thing that happened to me in the last 10 years!
I really recommend this experience to everyone who wants to learn to code and I can't wait the Data Scientist courses in Lausanne!

Before starting Le Wagon I was studying engineering and I discovered my love for coding in a class on C. A friend of mine told me about Le Wagon and I went to some workshops and talked about it with Rio's manager. The ideia of doing a bootcamp, only two months, and learn a lot about programming seemed invaluable. So, in January 2020, I was starting the bootcamp with great expectations.

I can not say I was fully prepared though. The bootcamp is hard, like really hard. You might go through the challenges in a good pace but when the optionals are reached, then it's a puzzle where nothing seems to fit. It's in these moments where Le Wagon's methodology shines trough the most. First I ask my buddy, if we find no answer we call a teacher or teaching assistant. It might be hard to believe but a lot of times you will end up asking your buddy and you two come up with an answer, guiding each other through the day. In the case you really need insight the best teachers you could hope for are there to help you with your problem. Having good guidance speeds the learning process tenfold and I was able to do much more than when I was learning on my own before the bootcamp.

I'm not even getting into the organization of the resources, wich is top-notch, or the workshops, talks, tests, livecode, lectures. Everything is set up to make sure you are getting the most you can out of the bootcamp, and more importantly, teach you how to learn and code by yourself. When you finish it you are already able to learn and find resources on your own, wich for me was the most important lesson, how to search for answers.

My experience was not only coding though, and there was a lot of fun moments with all the great people involved in the same goal as me. There was so many unforgettable I can't even count. All I can say is I'm really grateful for being able to have spent all this time with the incredible Le Wagon Rio's team and all of the other alumni. And if you are thinking about doing the bootcamp I can frankly say it was the best decision I made in my whole life.

My choice to join Le Wagon’s 9-week intensive bootcamp in January of 2020 rose when I finally gained the courage to take a leap of faith in a major career change. 

I am originally from Southern California and temporarily moved to London for the period of the course. Prior to starting my journey with Le Wagon, I was working in the mental health field as a children’s therapist, thus having no prior technological experience. I have always had a curiosity for technology and could not find a viable route into the tech field until I came across coding bootcamps. After extensive research of multiple bootcamps within the states and internationally, I was entirely convinced with Le Wagon’s course. I was able to speak directly to alumni I found on LinkedIn and Alexandre (General Manager) who was incredibly supportive and informative throughout literally the entire process, from applying, any frequently asked questions to finances. 

I enrolled in the course as a full-time student and if I could describe the entire 9-weeks in one word it would be: INTENSE. From the first day onto the last day, it was non-stop coding and learning. The entire experience was very difficult, but very rewarding. I have never been pushed in the manner as I was pushed to learn and comprehend new material as I did throughout my period at Le Wagon. Regardless of how intense the program was, I am beyond grateful for my decision to take on this challenge. It has been life changing and completely possible with the immense support given by the Le Wagon staff. One of the things I appreciated the most, which I also found quite unique about this program, was the fact that all staff were students who previously graduated from the course. This enabled a more genuine connection because they understood the struggles we as students went through from their own personal experience. Le Wagon not only offered a great learning experience, they offered a fun, networking environment. From meeting guest speakers that work in the tech field to social bonding with drinks, it was all so unique and more than just a “course”. One of the most challenging things I encountered was having to work on projects as a group which consisted of the last three weeks of the bootcamp. Having to work with completely different individuals truly prepares you for the reality of a work environment, learning to not only code but to work and communicate as a team. 

Unfortunately, due to the unforeseeable circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, our batches 360 and 361 were unable to have a proper graduation and present our projects to the public, we also missed out on our additional 10th week which was considered “Career Week”. Nevertheless, I highly recommend Le Wagon to anyone seeking to change their career with or without coding experience, it was definitely worth it.

Le Wagon Tokyo was such an amazing 9-week experience. I went from having zero programming experience to being able to build fully functional web apps which caught the eye of recruiters and prospective companies.

From providing a thorough lectures to making sure that knowledgeable teaching assistants were on hand to provide support when stuck on challenges, every day at Le Wagon was a learning experience.

If you are looking for a course that will spoonfeed you and hold your hand then this is not the course for you. Le Wagon Tokyo gives just enough support to grasp the content before giving ample time to put what you have learnt into practice, make mistakes then support you understand why you made the mistake which results in a real depth of understanding of critical concepts.

I cannot rate the Le Wagon Tokyo staff highly enough, they are knowledgeable, friendly, supportive and make you feel like you are part of the Le Wagon community.

After graduation you maintain access to all study materials and are part of a huge alumni network which can help with projects you are working on, make recommendations and even help with introductions to business which are hiring.

For anyone unsure of which bootcamp to pick, I would highly doubt you would find a better offering than that offered by Le Wagon and especially the Le Wagon Tokyo course.

Before starting bootcamp, I was skeptical how much I can learn at 9weeks and if it' worth investment or not, but I have no regret I made a decision to join Le Wagon. There were days I was frustrated and felt I was not good enough for coding, but I always had teachers who took time for me to help understanding and others students who motivate me. I want to give 5starts to Le Wagon not only for all the experience and skills that I gained but also for connections and friendship that I made through Le Wagon!