Skill Distillery

I attended Skill Distillery (SD) around end of Jan 2020 and graduated first week of May. I have only good things to sat about the program and especially about the instructors. The course work was very well laid out and had a very good structure to it. Although it is Full Stack, most of the focus was on the backend especially Java using Spring Framework. I cannot, and I write again, I just cannot say how good the instructors are. Rob, Denise, Alex, and Paul are all great. They have over 15-20 years of teaching experience and they know how to teach. They have a vast amount of knowledge but they know how to transfer it over. I cannot thank them enough. The whole program is like a family and Briana, Bruce were very understanding and made everyone feel home from day one. I was lucky to be in a cohort full of veterans, and this definitely helped me. I only have good things to say about the program and the people involved in it. However, I feel that the networking opportunities should be better. Overall, I would definitely recommend anyone trying to get into the software engineering field to attend Skill Distillery. You will learn a lot while feeling at home.

Choosing to go to Skill Distillery was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I essentially picked up my whole life and moved across the country to attend, and I don’t regret it one bit. I was working on a computer science degree in college and felt like the degree was taking far too long, with a lot of irrelevant classes that made my course load feel bloated. It was simply a more effective use of my time to spend 4 short months in a boot camp vs. 4 long years at a university. 

Skill Distillery being a 16 week full stack program that covers front and back-end means that you’ll have a lot more experience with a wide variety of technologies when compared to most other courses. This greatly improves the amount of jobs you’re qualified to apply for. The course is legitimately difficult because of the speed you learn these new technologies at, but with the help of the instructors (who actually have industry experience), it’s nothing you can’t do if you actually study and put effort into your assignments. I can’t recommend Skill Distillery enough.

This was a very worthwhile experience. I'm coming from a very different field, and I needed a school that has strong connections to local businesses. I also wanted in-person instruction from instructors with experience in the field. This school far exceeded my expectations, and I feel well prepared to start a new career in a different field. The instructors are prepared to personalize instruction where needed, and they do a great job of breaking down complex topics for people unfamiliar with the content. The graduates also find work pretty quickly after completion, and the school is a big help with job search assistance.The entire staff is very open to student feedback, and I felt that they were very responsive. I'm very glad I came to this school. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to train or retrain for a new career.

Skill Distillery was one of the most challenging and over the top schools I have ever been to. Coming from a non coding background I believe what I have learned at this school has given me enough that I can succeed in this field of work. The Instructors here are very informative and down to earth they will help you whenever you need it but at the same time push you to the extreme to get you reading and breathing code. I will say this if you are not serious, can't handle pressure, and don't like failing this is probably not for you. Through this course you will come to understand that in coding you will have alot of pressure, you will be failing alot of code, and you will be playing catchup most of the program. But when everything finally connects you will be gratful for what this program has prepared you. You will be surprised at how much you know, and you will not regret it.

This boot camp isn't going to be easy. I think a lot of us made the analogy that it felt like standing in front of a firehose of information that we were frantically trying to absorb.

But I loved it, I remembered it all, and if I forgot anything I always had a fantastic resource to look back through to find my answers.

This boot camp will absolutely prepare you for your future, and they are some of the kindest and focused individuals you will get to work with to help you on your journey. When you are graduated, they encourage you to hang out and look for a job in their lobby, and ask for help with resumes and cover letters.

They are incredibly supportive, and the small class room (I had 10) means that you get a lot of focus and attention if you need it.

You'll have to work hard. I kid you not. It will be worth it though, and you'll be better for it, and the employers they know come to them specifically for students because they know we are well prepared and people who are capable of learning.

SUMMARY

The learning process was intense consisting of 60+ hours of work a week. Each of the instructors was among the best I've ever had the privilege of learning from. I accepted a job offer I am incredibly excited about, for a position I really wanted, only a day after graduation. Overall, it was the best decision I have ever made.

In the following chapters, you can read about my background, other students' backgrounds, Skill Distillery's strengths, the school's weaknesses, financing, and the outcome.

 

MY BACKGROUND

Firstly, have no fears about your background. The first person who to have a job in my cohort had never completed their Bachelor's degree. That same person was consistently one of the top performers in the course and had multiple job-offers weeks before completing the course.

When I joined Skill Distillery, my experience with coding was next to none. A couple of months prior to attending the boot camp, I picked up some Ruby as a hobby, doing it for a few hours a week. That was enough for me to know that I want to turn that hobby into a profession. I had a bachelor's degree in business from Germany and experience in business development/sales. However, I do not think that either of these was needed for me to get a job. All you need is a combination of passion for technology and problem solving, discipline, and an always learning and collaborative mindset.

 

OTHER STUDENTS

Other students in my cohort came from all walks of life. From people who spent 23 years in the Military, to those who haven't been born that long ago. From people with no degrees to those with advanced ones. From business owners, through chefs, to insurance sales representatives. One thing they all had in common was that they were ready for a change and willing to learn. 

 

WHY SKILL DISTILLERY (Strengths)

I did a lot of research before deciding which boot camp to enroll. Skill Distillery was a clear winner, and here are some of the reasons:

        1) BEST CURRICULUM ON THE MARKET

Java is the most popular language in the world (source: tiobe.com). It is used in many disciplines - from Web Development, through IOT, to machine learning. It is an object-oriented language, just like any other of the six languages with the highest TIOBE index. If you only learn Javascript, like at most other boot camps, you will limit your possibilities immensely. Also, switching from a statically typed language to a dynamically-typed one (e.g., Python) is easier than vice versa. At Skill Distillery, you get to learn Java, as well as the most widely used technologies and frameworks used with Java for web development (Spring framework, Maven, Gradle, etc.). Finally, you will come out a very well rounded web developer, as you will learn front-end technologies such as Javascript and Angular, as well as MySQL, a language very similar to SQL, which used to talk with your relational database.

      2) BEST INSTRUCTORS ON THE MARKET

At most boot camps, you will get to learn from recent boot camp graduates. At Skill Distillery, the instructors are world-class experts and have an average of at least 20 years in the industry. They are also great pedagogues, and their teaching style is very involving. Each student also gets the individual help they need whenever working on a project/homework. Finally, a big shout out to the teaching assistants who have done a great job, often sitting with us until very late hours on Saturdays, rather than enjoying one of Denver's breweries. Good job lads.

 

CONS OF SKILL DISTILLERY

      1 ) EXTREMELY FAST PACE

The biggest con is that you have to learn all of the technologies I mentioned above, and so much more, in just 16 weeks. What that means is that almost every day you will be learning a whole lot of new things, and there is very little time to catch up on something you struggle with. I stayed many nights until after 11 pm to cope with such a pace, especially in the first 5 weeks. 

On the positive side, we did get to work on two 10-day group projects, (a mid-term and a final project), which give you an excellent opportunity to work on your weaknesses and to exchange knowledge with your peers. Besides, you will get a week to prepare for Oracle's OCA exam, at which time you will get to solidify and improve your core Java skills.

 

FINANCING

Skill Distillery has a deal with Climb for loans, or, if you are a veteran, you can use GI Bill. I used Climb's loan to pay for the school. I am a recent immigrant, so my credit history is short, and therefore I got a very high interest rate. None the less, the return on investment is great. Consequently, even if your credit is not too good, it is probably still worth it getting a loan and attending this program.

Comparing to some other boot camps, financing options are lacking support for the cost of living. You will have to figure out how you will afford your living expenses during the boot camp, as you will not have any time to work. I strongly urge Skill Distillery to find a partner who will offer a loan for the cost of living in addition to the tuition amount, as that may open the doors of attending to a lot of people.

 

OUTCOME

My cohort graduated last week, yet 2/11 of us already have jobs. Another person created a cool application for which some real estate companies have already offered to pay a subscription fee.

Almost everyone from the two cohorts before mine found a job within 90 days of completing the course. The lowest salary accepted by an alumnus I have met was still above 60k, and the highest is over 90k. Everyone I talked to said that their income significantly increased compared to what they were making before attending the course, with some people doubling theirs.

This boot camp is very different from others i researched and heard about as it teaches Java! While this makes the course much more difficult, it also give you a huge advantage over other bootcamp grads who only know javascript or ruby. Java is a tough language to learn, let alone that you learn it in two months.The first two months focuses on Java and then you move onto finishing the stack while always using java for your back end.  This course is well worth you money and time but know it is a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time. Skill Distillery did an awesome job with amazing instructors. I would and do recommend this corse to anyone. I was one of the luckier ones in my class and was able to secure a job before graduation. I do feel strongly  that my class mates will have a developer job shortly.

I originally started looking at coding bootcamps after deciding that the way colleges handled Computer Science wasn't for me.  It felt like the material was moving so slowly and had a lot of information that wasn't relevant to actual programming.  After two and a half years, I knew a lot of concepts, but I knew almost nothing of how to really write a program.  Initially, this drove me away from programming, but I decided to try it again with a different approach.

Skill Distillery stood out to me because of their curriculum.  Most of the other bootcamps put a focus on front-end development, but Skill Distillery teaches full stack development.  I really liked that I could put together a program and understand every aspect of it, rather than just bits and pieces.  Skill Distillery's curriculum is really tailored to be enticing to employers.  The technologies that they teach are the top technologies used in practice.  Java, MySQL and Angular in particular are all highly sought after.

More importantly than the technologies are the fundamentals that this school teaches.  It's not just about plugging in code where it belongs, it's about understanding what that code is doing and knowing exactly why it needs to be there.

There were times when the course got difficult, but the staff members were always there to lend a hand and were very patient.  

I would highly recommend Skill Distillery to anyone interested in learning how to program.

Making the decision to restart my career and enter the world of software development did not stop feeling like a crazy decision until the middle of my second week at Skill Distillery. I had just moved across the country, away from friends, family, and continued employment for…what exactly? To work harder than I ever had before towards the idea of coding for decent pay, rather than as a nerdy hobby? Essentially, yes, and it was the best decision I could have made at that point in my life.

 

I started looking into coding bootcamps after spending several years in other industries, always working hard but rarely making more progress than simply treading water. After speaking with some old friends (and occasionally less emotionally invested acquaintances), I decided that the coding bootcamp that would best fit my needs and goals would be one that focused on learning the full development stack with Java as the base, general purpose language. Thus began my application process: with my search parameters in place, the filtering process was at hand.

 

The bootcamps that focused on JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and other front-end frameworks were cut out from my search at the start. It’s not that these aren’t useful; it’s that my personality type needs to know how everything works, and so manipulating only one side of an equation without understanding where that information came from would drive me up the wall. This left the full-stack camps, and in this group Skill Distillery kept floating to the top of the list. Other reviews indicated smaller class sizes than other bootcamps (true), highly relevant curriculum (also true, and continually updated with private sector input), and most importantly to me, a teaching staff that was dedicated to and invested in the success of the students. This last part was more true than any college or vocational course I had attended previously, and is unquestionably the major driver of the success both I and my classmates had at SD.

 

As a final thought relating to classmates, going through 16 weeks with my cohort led to incredible new friends bonded by the intensity of this process. We were all in it together, all invested in our collective success, and for all of these reasons I would not only do it again in a second but would (and have) recommended it to close friends.

I'm from the UK and previously worked in Investment Banking. I attended Skill Distillery after doing tons of research on the best bootcamp to go to. Skill Distillery really stood out as having the best class sizes as well as a solid full-stack curriculum. The course is tough to start with but once you begin to grasp the concepts, everything falls in place. A huge part of this is down to the instructors. Steve, our Java instructor, was fantastic and one of the best teachers I’ve had to date. He really cared about helping you learn the fundamentals and when it came to the end of the course, he really spent the time to make sure you’re in the best shape to get a job e.g. CV and cover letter. Andrew taught us JavaScript for the second part of the course and was amazing help especially when it came to our final projects (he’s extremely knowledgeable on all topics Angular!). Overall, I have no regrets about going to Denver, attending Skill Distillery, and would highly recommend to anyone thinking about switching careers!

For those hesitant to enter into a boot camp, I understand. I had concerns about my age, my ability to learn a new skill, not graduating with a bachelor’s in computer science, the possible stigma of being a boot camp graduate by employers/companies, and the duration of my job hunt.

A little about me: I was in the military for 8+ years (non-IT related field), 30+ years old, with a bachelor’s degree in social science. Prior to completing Skill Distillery, I left the military during the summer of 2016 to pursue a second undergrad in computer science at a university located in Maryland. After a semester, I couldn’t fathom another 3 ½ years as I would be 33-34 years old by the time I graduated. Looking for an alternative solution, I started looking around for boot camps though it took me six-months to finally take the plunge and apply to a boot camp.

I chose Skill Distillery because it was located in Colorado, approved by the VA so I could use my GI Bill, and taught Java. After completing their technical assessments (online multiple-choice logic test and a virtual Skype-like face-to-face logic test), I found out I made it and was ecstatic.

The first month was grueling as we focused primarily on Java basics. The first two-weeks of the course, in my opinion, was equivalent to my one semester of Java during my undergrad. Take the pre-work (homework prior to entering Skill Distillery) seriously. I was lucky to have a semester of Java, but as I mentioned before, the semester of Java at my previous university only helped me for the first two weeks of the course.

About a month into the course, the instructors prepare you to take the Oracle Java SE 8 Programmer exam. Majority of my classmates who decided to take the exam passed, to include myself (I mention this because of my initial fear of not being able to learn a technical skill and to quell anyone’s doubts about themselves because if I can do it, you can). Reasons why you wouldn’t want to take the test: one, the cost (~$250) and two, you did not do as well as you wanted to on the six to eight mock exams given prior to the Oracle Java exam.

The months will go by quickly and you will get what you put into it. If you have any questions about a new concept, Skill Distillery’s amazing instructors will give you their undivided attention and make sure you understand it. During the weekends, you will have a weekend project (except for two or three weekends). When you have a weekend project, Skill Distillery will have a TA available to answer your questions during a Saturday or Sunday, in Skill Distillery's classroom, to assist you in your project.

Since graduating the program on the 20th of November, about three-weeks of actively searching for a job, I had a few offers (I mention this as my proof that Skill Distillery will provide you with the skills to show employers that you are junior level material).

I could go on and on and shower Skill Distillery with compliments. It is worth your time if you’re interested in becoming a software developer.

If I had one suggestion, it would be for the program to focus a few more hours on the job preparation and hunt (resume, cover letters, more interview questions, technical questions, and behavioral questions). At the same time, Google’s search box, Skill Distillery’s alumni network, its staff and instructors, and the actual interview process will help you become more comfortable with the job search and give you a better idea of what employers expect from a junior level developer.

Though, to defend Skill Distillery and my comment about the program incorporating a few more hours of job preparation, I want to mention that Skill Distillery does a great job in taking input from students. Throughout the program, at least twice, the founder, Bruce, came into our classroom to ask us for our thoughts to improve the program. The program and instructors continually change their curriculum to meet technical needs of employers and to improve their students’ overall experience. I have a really good feeling with Skill Distillery’s recent staff hire and dedicated time to enhance their curriculum during the month of December 2017 that the program will improve for the betterment of future students.  

To give you an idea of how long it took to me to find a job (a prior concern of mine), my experience from the time I started my job search to an actual offer took about three weeks. The process was 1) talk to a recruiter and explain why I was a good fit, 2) conduct an online assessment and/or technical interview over the phone or Skype, 3) complete an on-site interview, and 4) wait to hear back and/or provide additional references. 

Some of my classmates found jobs sooner or later. I want to note that I graduated towards the end of the fiscal year (Nov 20) so there was less emphasis on hiring and more emphasis on closing out a company's budget (from what I was told or maybe it was to ease my concerns during my job hunt). Either way, I mention this for future applicants to consider. It’s still possible to find a job during the end of the year, but it may be tougher.  

To sum up the program, it’s worth your time and will give you the skills you need to be successful. At the end of the program, you will have your own personal website, a portfolio of projects on Github, a network of peers, alumni, and instructors/staff to reach out to and connect with, and the knowledge to become a junior level software developer.

I wish you the best in your search for a boot camp! 

Making the transition into more technical roles in Software, I decided to pursue full stack development at Skill Distillery. While most programs offered only Ruby, SD focused on Java. Skill Distillery provided me the platform I needed to differentiate myself as a developer, and engineer, and learn dozens of new technologies in only 16 weeks, all of which were essential pieces to allow me to launch and design my own web applications.

They focus quality and team dynamics above all else. There was no replacement for hard work, and there was no lack of quality professors and teacher's aide assistance on the side to ensure we all were truly grasping materials as we were moving at such a rapid pace. I couldn't appreciate more the time of the staff: Cole, Erin, Rob, Steve, Andrew, Kris, and Aaron. They are always willing to put the time in to help if you are interested in putting the extra time to learn.

This program is not for those wishing to take an easy way out to become a developer. This program is a lot of hours, and a lot of work, however for those that really want to build an invaluable skillset to differentiate yourself in the market, come to Skill Distillery.

I was an electrical engineer who was looking for a career change. I was skeptical about boot camp but skill distillery has changed my mind. 

The staffs are friendly and the course is challenging. As long as you are eager to learn and interested in programming you will do well. 

First half you will learn Java and get ready to take in lots and lots of information. Personally, I thought this was the most important and basic part of the class. The instructors are always excited and ready to ask your questions. Always try to come up with questions. 

For the second half, we learn front end and in between. It is fun and the instructors make it easy to understand the technologies. 

I do recommend skill distillery and I think it is an awesome course as long as you are motivated and excited in programming.

I researched and reviewed a lot of bootcamps before choosing SD. If you can name them, i probably looked at them (it was part of my job in marketing). Skill Distillery is not a laid back, take everyone program. Be ready to take a small battery of tests as part of the application process. They want to make sure you aren't wasting your time and wont be in over your head. It is a genuine full stack program (meaning you learn back end database architecture and management in SQL, middleware/businessware with JAVA, and front end design tools of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, JQuery, and AngularJS). Most of the other programs I researched focused mostly on JavaScript and its derivatives. If you want to be a front end designer, one of those programs may be better suited to you. If you want to become a software engineer, you should pick Skill Distillery. The staff is super involved and take the time to work one on one when needed. I've been out of the program for 4 months now and am making over 90k/yr. Couldn't be happier.

Skill Distillery is the place to join to prepare you to start your dream career as a Software Developer. Before I joined, I researched the various bootcamps available and Skill Distillery stood out for their commitment to effective education and successful career placement.

I joined the school in January, 2017 and graduated in May, 2017. My experience has been life changing. Skill Distillery has a fantastic team of instructors who are highly experienced in what they teach and very passionate about software development and seeing their students succeed.

During the 4 months of the program, I have learned a solid and effective software development skill-set and developed a portfolio of over 7 applications that showcase the value I could provide to future employees.

Close to graduation, the staff prepared us for our job search with various tips. And following exactly what they recommended and leveraging what I learned in the program, I got and accepted an offer as a full stack software engineer after just 1 month from graduation. 

Skill Distillery is a great place to learn and prepare for a great career as a software developer. Join and don't look back. 

 

I graduated from Skill Distillery in May and I have to say that attending the bootcamp was an extremely rewarding experience.

I came into the program with a B.S. in Economics and some technical work experience but no programming outside of a 101 C++ class 5 years ago. The program is very fast paced and it's easy to fall behind if you're not keeping up on the labs and projects. If you decide to attend then I would recommend doing all of the assigned pre-work and as many Codecademy and HackerRank courses as you can stomach. Getting familiar with loops and methods before you attend will be extremely helpful as the first few weeks can be pretty brutal if you’re starting from scratch.

The instructors at Skill Distillery are excellent. They deliver the course material in a very clear, accessible way that makes learning how to code exciting and rewarding. Programming is complicated but they do a fantastic job of explaining very complex subjects in a simple and concise way. Class sizes are small so it’s easy to get help if you’re struggling with a lab or project. My class had 13 students and we formed a pretty tight bond amongst the cohort and our instructors by the end. Class is actually a lot of fun and I looked forward to going everyday. Class time is broken up into periods of lecture followed by hands on labs so the days actually fly by and you’ll always be engaged.

There are easier bootcamps out there. If you want to go to an easy bootcamp then Skill Distillery probably isn't the right choice for you. The biggest thing I can say about the course is you will get out of it what you put into it. If you expect to coast and do the bare minimum then you won’t learn much and you won’t enjoy the program. Expect to put in 60 or 70 hours a week. My cohort had students who showed up in morning at 7:00 AM and didn’t leave until after 10:00 PM, including weekends.

I’d hazard to guess that the negative reviews that you read here are from people who didn’t have the right expectations going into the program. Either they thought the course was too hard or they thought that they were going to be handed a job with their graduation certificate as they walked out the door. The program is designed to teach beginners how to write clean, functional code and it does a very, very good job at exactly and only that. If your expectations are different Skill Distillery probably isn’t for you.

If none of that scares you then I hope that you decide to attend. This course has been a great investment for me personally and if you’re willing to put in the time and hard work I know it will be for you too.

-Matt

I graduated from this course in March and can't say enough good things about it.

For starters, if your primary concerns are the same as mine, I found a job within two weeks making six figures (individual results may vary). 

Regarding what I realized was really the important part while I was in the course - the instruction was top notch and the class atmosphere/chemistry was extremely positive and engaging. Make no mistake though, this is challenging. I've got an undergrad from a top university and the better part of an MBA and this was by far the most challenging thing I've ever done academically. This being the case, the instructors' ability to make it fun and engaging is absolutely critical and these guys nailed it.

Since there was a bad review that mentioned Steve by name, I'll say specifically that this blew me away. I liked everyone, so I don't want to play favorites, but Steve was my favorite. Legitimately probably the best instructor I've ever had, and again, I've been through a fair bit of "traditional education" including a degree from a top ranked university and countless military courses in my previous career. The man literally has "JAVA" tattooed on his knuckles. Ok, he doesn't, but he should.

Give Cole a call today if you're considering this course.

When I was searching for bootcamps in summer 2016 there were only two programs in the nation that accepted the GI Bill, so I can’t really say that my choice of Skill Distillery was based on extensive research. That being said, and knowing what I know now about the industry, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have attended this school.    Some things you should know:   1) Skill Distillery is, to my knowledge, the only bootcamp that teaches the Java programming language. This is a very important fact. Java is a completely different beast than Javascript (which most bootcamps teach, and which you will also learn here). Knowing Java automatically puts you into reach of many thousands of jobs that most bootcamp graduates will never have a shot at. (If you’re new to this, do an Indeed search for the keywords “Java Developer”). If your primary interest is designing nice-looking websites, then there are certainly better programs out there; however, if you’re looking to get your hands dirty learning full stack Java development, well, that’s where the money’s at, and to my knowledge there’s only one show in town that’ll get you up to speed in such a short amount of time.   2) Skill Distillery is best suited for transitioning professionals. To my knowledge they are selectively looking for people who already have awesome resumes. You’ll be in class primarily with people who have college degrees and/or security clearances, and probably years of experience in their respective fields. I don’t want to scare people away from applying, but you should know that the quality and talent of your fellow students here will be off the charts. Not to worry though—there’s no competition, grading, or class ranking here. Everything is pass or fail, and the instructors are amazingly generous with their time, often staying after hours or coming in on weekends to ensure the success of every student. At least half of the projects are team efforts, as well.    3) Skill Distillery’s educational program can be neatly divided into two very distinct halves, each with its own very unique teaching style:   The first half (taught by Rob and Steve) is a very rigorous and formal course learning back-end (server-side) technology. You’ll cover Java in 4 weeks, and will then spend a week studying for the "Oracle Certified Java SE 8 Programmer” certification. Taking the test is optional and will cost you an extra $245, however, the instructors will provide you with plenty of study materials, practice exams, and feedback to help you make that decision. For reference I think about half of our class earned the certificate, which makes a pretty stellar bullet point on your resume! After this you’ll move on to SQL databases and the Spring framework. If you weren’t overwhelmed already, this is where it really started to feel for me like jumping into the deep end of a pool with no swimming experience, but after enough repetition you WILL start to get it, I promise. You’ll build your first CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) applications and deploy them to your very own AWS server.    The second half (taught by Kris and Andrew) starts around this point, and the contrast in both the course content and teaching styles is a little startling, but it works. Up until this point there was pretty much only one ‘right’ way to do things—you learned by repetition, and if you did something wrong (such as forgetting a semicolon or a bracket) your program broke in an obvious way. Now you get into some big and powerful front-end technologies: Javascript, JQuery, and Angular. With these languages there always seems to be a dozen ‘right’ ways to do something, and hundred more ‘wrong’ solutions that can break your website in weird and puzzling ways. For this reason, you’ll get a lot less formal code review in this portion of the course. Kris and Andrew are always available (and very, very helpful!) for the many moments where you’re stuck on how to implement a feature, or trying to find an elusive bug in your application, but if your project works they’re probably not going to give you feedback on how you implemented it. Don’t get me wrong, the instruction is still invariably excellent, but due to the ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ nature of front-end programming, it’s a little easier to get lost during this portion.   4) Skill Distillery provides decent, but not great, interview preparation and job hunt support. This is the single biggest change that I would recommend for the program, and I would highly recommend than any potential applicant develop their own plan to begin studying for interviews early on in the program. For reference, our interview prep consisted of being handed a copy of “Cracking the Coding Interview” on the Monday of our final week, and having a few short lectures and whiteboard problem-solving sessions throughout that week. I’m sure this will be enough for some job interviews, but I’d really like to see 10 minutes per day reserved for whiteboard practice starting as early as week 2. My advice for prospective students is to create an account on HackerRank and make it a personal goal to solve one problem a day for the entire 4 months. As far as job hunting goes, although the school does not guarantee employment, Cole (the school director) is very enthusiastic about finding placement for students, and has a pretty impressive list of contacts. The potential downside is that many of these contacts are specifically in the Denver area or else are for students with security clearances.   5) Skill Distillery really cares about its graduates. By attending this program you automatically become part of a small but growing network of alumni who have positions in various companies and corporations around the state and the nation. Cole does his best to stay in contact with his graduates as well as following up with their employers for feedback. I know that several companies have been so impressed with their hires from this program that they have gone on to hire more students, and I suspect this phenomenon will only grow. Additionally, alumni are frequently invited back to the school to give talks about their interview experiences, which makes for a very nice networking opportunity.   In conclusion, choosing Skill Distillery has been the best decision of my life. I graduated less than a week ago and have had a half-dozen callbacks and two formal interviews so far, both of which I think went very well. I don’t have a job yet but I’m feeling confident I have the skills I need to succeed in the software industry.    (My background: Former Navy Officer with 10 years of military experience. 4-year technical degree. A fair bit of amateur coding experience plus a couple of college courses in Computer Science.)