SPICED Academy

I attended the Full Stack Bootcamp at SPICED Academy between Sept.17 and Nov.17.

The experience was hard, I worked every single day for 3 months, between 10 and 12 hrs a day, I suffered under stress and banged my head against the laptop when I couldn't figure out how to solve the problems. However, I did not regret any single minute of it. It was an extremely gratifying time, where I changed from my old me to this new me that I am right now (professionally speaking :-) ).

The curriculum at SPICED goes gradually from learining basic Javascript, HTML and CSS stuff during the first half of the course, to managing both the frontend and backend of relatively complex apps. I found the exercises and projects to be very well designed to learn more and more difficult concepts gradually. At the end, when you get into the final project, which you choose and design on your own, I felt like I had really learnt a lot. I found myself being able to architect and build the idea I had in mind.

The atmosphere at SPICED was great, I went very gladly to school every day, looking forward to meet my classmates, the teachers, the school team and the students from other cohorts. I hold the teachers (Dave and Matt), as well as the other employees of the school (Shilpa, Paul and the CEO Frederik) in the highest regard for the job they do running the place. Besides their professionalism, they were always extremely freindly and helpful, always taking care of us making sure we had the best time possible at school. My classmates were also amazing people. We developed a great and tight relationship and learnt to work together, help each other and count on one another when needed. The body of students at SPICED is amazingly diverse, coming from all corners of the world, but somehow they all turn out to be really great and funny people. We worked and studied together, but we also played together, partied together, ate together, chilled together... As the weeks went by I found myself more and more comfortable at school and it began to feel almost like a big family.

Thanks to the preparation I received at SPICED I am to say that I was able to find an entry-level position pretty quickly after the bootcamp. Within just two months, even with Christimas and New Years in between, I got offered a paid internship as Fullstack Developer. Currently (Mar.18) I am beginning my second month of internship, I am learning tons of stuff, frontend and backend, and there is much more to come. If everything goes well I will be hired as junior developer right after the internship. As far as I know, all the students from my cohort that graduated with me have landed a job as developers of various levels.

I can say that my life has completely changed after doing the bootcamp at SPICED. Before I had a job where I was terribly unhappy and which I could not see myself performing any single day more. Now, after some months of hard but gratifying work, I have a job with great prospects, in a firm which offers me a chance to learn and grow, and with a team I cherish and admire.

If you are not affraid of a challenge, if you are ready to work hard for a certain period of time and you are looking for a change in your life, do not hesitate and take part in SPICED Academy's program. You will not regret it a single day!

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Before I came to SPICED I graduated in Communication Sciences and Sociology at University and had almost no experience at all in programming. 6 weeks after the graduation, I land a 12 months internship as Junior Software Developer. 

When I decided to enroll I was sceptical about how much it is possible to learn in 12 weeks with no prior experience. Today I can say that I am amazed on how much I learned at SPICED. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't an easy journey, I had to work a lot but everything is made for you to success if you put the right amount of work.

First, the teachers are amazing. I think there is a well balanced teaching team between Matt, David and now Ivana. They know what you will experience and they will push you out of your limits so that you will progress fast and learn the right skills to get a job. 

The job assistance teached by Shilpa is really usefull! I started with very little professional experience and had no idea on how to behave in front of interviewers and after the training and the advices we got, I felt more confident in my interviews and I was able to set my goals in order to find the right position for me. 

Finally, I would advice anyone that is ready to work hard to change his carreer path to study at SPICED!

 

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Before i came to spiced i had been studying towards a degree in computer science. I knew alot of theoretical stuff, and had a little experience with some languages, but i did't feel i was ready to get a job.

Over 12 weeks at Spiced, i learn a huge amount about full stack web development. 4 weeks after graduating, i received two job offers, and i'm now working as a junior javascript developer. 

The ciriculum was great. I got alot of support from the teachers and other staff members, and my classmates were awesome. 

Although i had been studying before signing up to Spiced,  some of my classmates had never coded before, and went on to make amazing apps. Regardless of your current experience level, if you work hard, and your prepared to leave your comort zone, you'll be amazed at what you're capable off after graduating.

 

 

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Learning coding at SPICED was such a great experience! You work together with like-minded people and learn from the great teachers at SPICED - your goal: to learn how to code for the web in a professional capacity.

I graduated SPICED in September 2017. 6 weeks later I got a job as a Full Stack Software Developer. In just 4.5 months I basically turned my life around. But don't expect to just cruise through it - you will only truly succeed if you put yourself into it 100%.

The 3 months at SPICED felt like a true bootcamp experience for me - I didn't have much time for anything else, but it was 100% worth it for me. The great staff members and the helpful teachers were always there to help.

All things considered: If you want to learn how to code and are dedicated to that cause, then go for it. You won't regret it!

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Being a student at SPICED was such a great experience. You will have a great place to work, a cohort of like-minded people who have the same goals as you and great teachers to give you a well-rounded education. 

I graduated from the course in November 2017 and got a developer job only a few weeks after graduating. I would recommend everyone with the right mindset to apply for the course to become a web developer.

Be prepared to work hard. You should be willing to put in extra work. It will not be enough to just work the minimum required hours. This is a commitment for 3 months and you should use this time to put in 100% of your energy. If this is what you are looking for SPICED is the right place for you.

The curriculum will provide everything you need to understand what full-stack JavaScript development is about and you will be able to create applications with a lot of great features. I would still recommend everyone who is interested to do some coding before joining - both in order to be sure about your goal to become a developer and to have a basic overview once you start.

To sum up, SPICED was an awesome experience and I really learned a lot. I can only recommend joining the Bootcamp!

 

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I graduated from Spiced Academy's full stack developers course eight weeks ago, and today I have signed a contract as a Frontend developer at an established start-up in Berlin. I feel that Spiced Academy's course was very relevant and up to date and that  the curriculum prepared me well for the technical questions that came up during the interviews. I would not have landed this job without Spiced Academy. 

The course is fast moving and you do need to be somewhat self-reliant. The lectures and course notes are clear and well organised and guide you in completing the exercises and projects but you a given a lot of freedom in your approach to the solutions. It was important to ask for help when stuck as the instructors do not always check in with you. I liked this style of teaching as I feel it is more realistic of the real world and increased my confidence of tackling technically challenging  problems by myself, although it may not suit everyone.  When I did need additional help, both instructors, David and Matt, were approachable, friendly and extremely supportive. I was impressed with their  knowledge and like their different approaches to problem solving and teaching. I learnt a lot from both.

The first half of the course focus on learning the basic and fundamentals of web development. There is a lot of information to learn and I didn't realise at the time how important so of it was. During the second half of the course, the projects become bigger and what we had learnt in the first half came together and I felt like a full stack developer. I found that the projects from the second half gave me a good portfolio to put on my GitHub to showcase my abilities but most to the technical questions in the job interviews were based on what we had learnt in the first half of the course.  .

I had completed a couple of free online coding courses  before joining spiced and this definitely helped and I would recommend this. However, without Spiced I think I would have struggled to know what I should be focused on learning and I would have struggle to stay motivated. I definitely would not have learnt so much in such a short time.

My favourite part of the course were the React projects, my least favourite part of the course was the Backbone project. However, having said that, the interviewers seemed to like that I had knowledge of an older library such as Backbone and could compare working in it with the more modern React. For that reason alone I am now glad it was included in the curriculum.

I am in my late 30's and I was concern that my age may be an issue as tech is a young person's game. During the course, my age was not an issue at all and all ages mixed well together. Afterwards, during the job hunt,  I do believe I possibly did not progress with some job application because of my age, however where I was offered an interview I was told that they saw my age as a positive and liked that I had previous experience in a different field.

The career works shops was more relevant for people that have not had much experience in the job hunt process so a lot of it I already knew  but I did take away some good tips that helped  during the job search and it was also a useful refresher and motivational component. 

My cohort was also amazing people from many different countries and I am glad to have had this experience with. They made it easy to stay motivated through the 12 weeks and the job search.

In summary I found the course to be fun, interesting, challenging, relevant and believe it offers good value for money.  However, it is hard work and you will need to take responsibility for your own learning and success. I would not hesitate to do it over again. 

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I have a background in HR and I had worked in couple of tech startups and in IT consultant resourcing. I however realised I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of software development and be able to code myself. I was already living in Berlin and I was researching the different bootcamp opportunities here. I soon noticed that SPICED and its Full Stack Web Development program would be the best option because of its interesting and encompassing curriculum and the positive reviews I read about it.

I haven´t regret my decision a single moment. I could never have been able to believe how much you can learn in only 12 weeks. I still remember watching the previous cohorts´ final projects and thinking I could never be able to build anything like that. But as the 12 weeks passed I noticed I had grown from someone who was struggling with Codeacademy´s exercises to being able to create full stack web applications. Many thanks to the excellent teachers David and Matt!

If you are determined, willing to work hard and want to learn to code in a supportive and encouraging environment, SPICED is the right place for you.

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I had studied product design and wanted to go from making physical products to software. I did a bit of studying on my own through codecademy and such but had a hard time keeping up my own pace and knowing what to do next. I started looking at developer boot camps and SPICED caught my attention, I was a bit causious as I didn't believe that three months was enough time to fully learn what was promised but decided to reach out and book a meeting with Shilpa. She was happy to meet me and answer any and all questions i had, i got to meet with the teachers and even sit in on one of the lectures.

I made the decision to do the course and since the first day I haven't looked back. David and Matt, the two teachers are competent and willing to help at all times, the curriculum feels tailored for the job and is constantly updated to match the fast changing job market. The career workshops helps prepare you for getting a job when you graduate and most importantly, SPICED feels like a little family, you spend 8-10 hours a day in school so having a good atmosphere and work environment is very important.

If you feel willing and ready to really dive inte coding then this course is for you. With that said i wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants to take a lot of days off or keep a job on the side, the course really is full-time!

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I entered SPICED Academy a couple of months after graduating from a bachelor's of economics. I am passionate about development economics and technology and I want to work in social entrepreneurship. I had been trying to learn how to code for a long time, so I chose a bootcamp for an intense learning environment, and I decided on Berlin both because I adore the city and because its tech scene is thriving (and it's great for beginners, so many meetups!). I fell on SPICED by chance but it’s after my Skype call with Shilpa, the Director of Programs and Community, that I knew SPICED was the right fit for me.

I wasn’t wrong. Frederik (SPICED CEO), David (Head Coach), Matt (Coach), Paul (Marketing Manager) and previously mentioned Shilpa, have managed to create an inclusive, supportive and superior learning environment, where any student with the right motivation can grow and excel. I have gotten so much more out of SPICED than I had even hoped to. I still cannot believe I managed to create 4 quality Full Sack Applications, using JavaScript, Node.js, Express.js, PostgreSQL, Angular.js, React.js and many more! I have to say, I went home exhausted every evening, and had a couple of coding dreams... It’s an intense 12 weeks! But I finished the day proud of what I had achieved, and excited about what I’d learn the next morning.

I believe that the most important thing about SPICED is the quality of teaching, as it is the reason you would choose a bootcamp over an online course. David and Matt are incredible teachers and form a great team. They were always there for us if we needed them, whether it was for a quick question, or to save us after a couple of frustrating hours facing a bug we were initially determined to solve ourselves. Other than learning a programming language from scratch, I realised that my problem solving skills immensely improved too. Following David and Matt’s example, we slowly learn how to identify where the problem comes from and how best to solve it, and soon enough you know why your app is crashing, on your own! Another key skill you learn is simply how to learn on your own - which is something that you will have to continuously do as a developer.

Another thing I loved about SPICED was its community. The cohorts are small and cohesive. Your classmates come from very different backgrounds and countries, but everyone sticks together and helps each-other during the bootcamp and even beyond the 12 weeks. I have made friends and good memories during my time at SPICED, and now away from Berlin I miss our well-deserved beers and a chats on Fridays.

Overall, I recommend SPICED because of:

• Its quality instructors.
• Its curriculum that teaches the best practices to be a good programmer.
• The care and work they put into improving themselves and making each student’s experience the best it could be.
• Their career workshops that help you be more self-aware, confident and job-ready.
• And finally because you want to take your first steps as a Full Stack Developer in a kind and caring family.

 

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Before SPICED, I had been working in the Berlin tech/startup scene for about two years as a journalist. After a startup I was working for went under, I knew I wanted to expand my knowledge and find a new comfort in the industry. I stumbled across SPICED by chance, but I'm so glad that I did. 

I'm not going to lie to you. My time at SPICED was frustrating, exhausting and emotionally draining... but it was also equally fulfilling, rewarding and empowering. Learning a new skill can be rough, especially if you're starting from literally nothing. Fortunately, you're immersed in a supportive environment throughout the entire process. The cohorts are small, so it's easy to become close and ask for help from your classmates - plus David and Matt are always there if you get stuck. 

Having worked in Berlin tech before, I didn't think that I needed the career workshop part of the program - but I was totally wrong. Shilpa was such a valuable asset to my success post-SPICED, helping me craft my career story and pitch my skills to potential employers. While I decided to accept a role in technical writing, I had also received multiple interviews and offers for Frontend and JavaScript developer positions. All of this happened within weeks of my graduation. 

That's why, for the most part, SPICED receives top marks from me. But not everything is perfect, so there are some downsides: SPICED is still a growing community, so the network you gain is pretty small compared to other big boot camps like General Assembly. This is changing, and there are some alums trying to plan meetups for graduates and current students outside of official SPICED events. I also wish there had been more on pair programming, testing or other workflow aspects of development within the curriculum. But hey, there's only so much you can do in 12 weeks! 

Overall though, 12/10 would suffer through it again. 

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I am a musician from France, and decided to join the full-stack course at the SPICED Academy in April 2017. I just finished the course and I'm now focused on finding a job in France. 

I was a beginner and was wondering what we could learn in just 12 weeks. I had now idea about front-end, back-end, databases and large concepts of web development so that was really a new start for me... And we learnt a lot ! That's crazy, I feel now prepared to find a job of developer, and this is because of the amazing work of Shilpa, David, Matt, Frederik and Paul.

In a cosy atmosphere, Matt and David were very involved and passionate teachers, extremely supportive, giving me more confidence. They were always available to help, and I really enjoyed the content of the course. Big point for me : I see all the time on the jobs offer the languages and frameworks we learnt, and I have the feeling that part of the course is useful in the daily like of a developer.

I had to work a lot during my experience at SPICED, to don't feel overwhelmed by all the new technologies, concepts that we had to use everyday. Obviously, 12 weeks of coding doesn't make you an experienced programer, so you will have to keep being curious, working on new projects, all the time, but it's an habit you can easily take during the course, because it's a part of Matt and David's pedagogy.

As I was not used to look for a job, to write a CV and a cover letter, the career workshop was super useful for me and I learnt a lot from Shilpa and everybody's experience. I still using all the tools, tips, and references she gave us, for finding a job that fits with your expectations, and I'm already seeing the positive results.

During those three months, I learnt something I wanted to learn since a long time, and I had way more than what I expected. I also met amazing people, teachers, other students, that I consider now as friends and I will keep tons of good remember of my experience there.

That's why I give the max rate for the SPICED Academy !

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I've been a tech recruiter in Silicon Valley (with companies such as Facebook) for many years and I must say that if you've been wanting to start a career in web development while wanting to explore new cultures, there's no better place to be than the Spiced Academy. Spiced has some of the best curriculum and teachers focused on critical thinking/fundamental skills needed in both interviews and when on the job. They'll help you go from knowing very little about the digital world to securely programming your own ideas in less time than a typical college internship. After graduating, they'll help you to successfully navigate the exploding Berlin tech scene. 

Probably the best thing about Spiced is its Javascript focused curriculum (the most popular tech stack amongst startups, yet not bootcamps for some reason) along with a teacher who seems to have solved every issue in web development. He's passionate about passing on this knowledge and helping students learn from their mistakes. This is not just another for-profit coding school that seem to be popping up in every city. Spiced is committed to producing an academic structure that prepares students to tackle any challenge they see with curiosity and courage. It's an attitude that I'd always look for when hiring for software developers in the past. 

Lastly, Spiced is a great way to get introduced to a new city and make new friends. There are hosted meetups, hackathons, and happy hours to get to know one another and the larger community. If you're looking for a reasonably priced entry into a new career in a fun, vibrant, international city, the Spiced Academy is the place to be. 

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I am an architect but a couple of years ago I became very interested in computer science and coding. I decided it was something I definitely wanted to learn, but I couldn't find the will to do it by myself online, nor the time to take a university degree.

After reviewing several bootcamps both in the US and in the EU, I finally found the right one! Much better than anything in London, Barcelona, Madrid... Why?

- First of all, they have a great professional team. Everyone, from the CTO to the teaching assistants will be there to help you and give you advice.

- Second, they have a great curriculum: for the first time in my education life I was learning actual USEFUL stuff. Things companies require the moment you start applying for a job. And it's not a few weeks, it's actual months, so we go deep into everything we learn. 

- Third, they have a great space in Berlin, really beautiful offices full of light, space to work, a really nice kitchen...

- Last, but not least, the price. It's an investment, and it's much cheaper than all the american bootcamps, and quite well priced among the europeans. If you work hard on it -and they'll make it easy- you can get a job after graduation in a matter of weeks!

Looking back, I can say it was one of the best choices of my career. Completely worth it!

 

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I recently graduated as part of the first cohort in the Product Management Bootcamp and I can only recommend the experience. 
It was an unexpectedly great combination of theory and practice with well structured curriculum. We covered a lot of topics, had cross-functional workshops, developed a capstone project and all that for indeed a lot of hours of hard work. 
The coaches Lea and Amr are very competent, supportive and were able to create a good environment to share, ask, learn and grow. 

To anyone who is expecting a very social academy environment, influenced by the Instagram stories, it was nothing like that but I can without doubt recommend this specific bootcamp for the great organisation, professionalism, atmosphere and coaching.  Read less

My time at SPICED Academy was wonderful, not only because of the tools acquired for data analysis, which have made me more competitive professionally, but also because of the professional growth!
The incredible support of the teachers, their commitment to teach and accompany me in every part of the process made me acquire tools that I never imagined I would have.
I highly recommend this course and this academy. I can confirm that even if you do not have knowledge in programming or data analysis, you will acquire them in the Bootcamp under the best guidance and with a very human and committed staff.

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I participated in a Data Science bootcamp from the Spiced Academy. Due to the very well prepared teaching material, exciting hands-on exercises, detailed and clear technical instructions, good teaching sessions, and a positive and supportive atmosphere, it was a very good experience, I wouldn't like to miss. The example exercises are interesting and provide the needed, extensive hands-on training. The topics covered provide the foundations for beginning your own projects. Furthermore, I could directly build on a lot of the things I learned in the bootcamp in my subsequent Data Scientist position. Beside the course material there were extra challenging tasks, allowing you to further extend your skills, if desired. As the course was fully online, I thought that sitting for 12-weeks in front of the computer would feel like a long time, but the contrary was the case. It was never boring and every morning I was looking forward to the classes. In conclusion, if you want to learn Data Science hands-on in a good atmosphere, I can really recommend this course! Read less

I will start off by saying I am very happy with my experience at SPICED Academy's Data Science Bootcamp, because I learned as much as one can about the topic in the period of 12 weeks (any more and my head would have exploded) and I felt like I was among close friends with the other students, teachers and staff there.

I was accepted to 3 data science bootcamps overall, but I decided for SPICED Academy for 3 reasons:
- I got great feedback from alumni
- The material is at my level and is up-to-date (I watched a sample lecture before joining)
- They have a dedicated careers team to help build my CV and job-search strategy (I found most other bootcamps to have little-to-no support on the job-hunt)

Each week I completed one project which centered around one or a few topics. Every project has a couple of building blocks (like modeling, visualization, then deployment) and if you only complete part of it that's perfectly okay. At the end of the week you discuss your progress with the class which is very chill but also a great moment to learn from others. 

For the final project, I had only about 10 days to complete so as you can imagine it was not the most impressive thing I could do (other bootcamps typically allocate 4 weeks to final project) but I choose to have more class time over a more impressive final project because I knew I had time after the bootcamp to complete impressive projects. Others did more impressive things than I did, so it's not impossible.

The teachers mostly come from PhD background and have industry experience, so they know what they are talking about. Some of the teaching assistants are still getting the hang of it, and that would be my only minus point.

Other bootcamps (like Data Science Retreat) give the impression of being more technical, but the SPICED Academy bootcamp was at the exact right level for me, someone with an Economics + Analytics background without experience working in a technical field who wants to get a job as a Junior Data Scientist. Read less

 I was lucky and happy to be able to experience the 12 week Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp at Spiced Academy. I found the course was lay out in a very structured and logical way. You dont just learn the the easiest method to get to solve a problem but are encouraged to find your own way. The instructors at Spiced give you all the tools you need as a basic tool kit to not only solve course tasks but being able to get to viable solutions for the time after the bootcamp. 

The instructors in general have been super helpful, always having an ear for you and very competent. Taking this course really changed my life and I was even able to build my own digital business after my graduation. Thanks again to Spiced and all the people contributing.  Read less

I had already been working as a test automation engineer and was seeking new challenges, when I decided to join Spiced Academy.  I had done online courses previously but Spiced Academy's full-stack program fast-tracked my learning. It gave me structure and focus, and my instructors were my most valuable resource. Though some topics were difficult, I never felt lost thanks to the help of my instructors and my cohort. They offered insights without spoon-feeding, and encouraged me to consider different approaches and solutions to problems presented. 

It is important to understand that one's progress in the bootcamp and afterwards is self-driven. Spiced Academy's curriculum provides key information for web development but my most important takeaway from the bootcamp (and my instructors) is an approach to learning that tries to balance effectively navigating a fast-evolving tech landscape while encouraging deeper understanding of a particular technology.  Everyone in tech accepts that continuous learning is part of the job, and with Spiced Academy,  I learned how to do this more effectively.  Read less