Tech Elevator

In terms of curriculum and education, this Bootcamp has what you need for sure. I came out of it prepared for the majority of interviews and with many projects to demonstrate my work to potential employers. They don't get into high-level concepts like code efficiency however. Most employers I spoke to understood I would have a limited understanding of that, but some technical assessments had an efficiency variable to them that I always struggled with. There are certainly concepts that you need to research on your own to push your employability over the edge. One negative thing I will mention is that the instructors are gearing their expectations of you toward people with very little experience in technology. As someone with a technology background, I could have been pushed much harder, but instead, I was often assured that the work I was doing was difficult and time-consuming and to not push myself too hard. I'm sure that advice is much-needed for many Bootcamp students, but I think one major failing of the curriculum was not treating differently the students who were excelling, and sometimes I could feel stagnant. The best way to make up for this is to help others who are struggling a lot. It gives you confidence and a better overall understanding of the content while helping out your newfound friends. Teaching us to pair program and "mob" were invaluable, and I talked about my love for those styles of programming with many interviewers who were excited to see a team-player and someone who could easily fit into a team. 

I want to end by saying that by far the most valuable part of this bootcamp is the Pathway Program (Job-search assistance program). Tech Elevator has connections to an incredible amount of tech companies in their locale, and the support that I got after graduation was comprehensive and always available. I wouldn't have landed the job I did without being set up for success by the Pathway team. Not only do they help you prep your interview skills, resume, etc., but they will often land you direct interviews with employers whether or not you had formally applied there. The chances you get to prove yourself in interviews are numerous, and the Pathway team never stops providing those opportunities until you get a great offer. They even have connections to tons of hiring managers directly so they can help put on you on the right track when places are starting to hire or looking for something specific. I'm really happy with my choice to attend Tech Elevator. I'm confident I made the right choice in Bootcamp, and I have now received an offer to be a Software engineer with a credible company, sporting the best salary I've ever had. 

Tech Elevator's fully remote program is incredibly accommodating, especially in these times of health concerns and increased social distancing. To ensure all students start with the necessary tools, Tech Elevator will send a laptop (and optional extra monitor) pre-loaded with all the necessary software that will be used for class. Should any issues arise, tech support is fast -- they understand that the bootcamp moves quickly through concepts and lessons, so tech issues, if they arise, are usually resolved within a week.

Though the description says the program lasts 14 weeks, there are about 2 weeks of pre-work to complete before classes even begin. For those jumping in with no coding experience, significant time should be devoted to the pre-work.

The first 2-3 weeks of classes cover basic concepts of coding as well as basic syntax and logical methods. Again, it's important to note that for those with no prior coding experience, devote your time to the bootcamp and utilize your study groups. These first few weeks are intense -- they don't use the word "bootcamp" lightly; IT IS A BOOTCAMP. Trust that if you can make it through the first 2 weeks, you will have what it takes to make it through the whole program.

The Pathway Program (Tech Elevator's career program) is only as valuable as the effort put in. Your career coach will meet individually and review your resume, LinkedIn, and elevator pitch in depth, often highlighting and fleshing out details that make one stand out from the rest. There are also events in which hiring managers come to showcase their companies and students are put fact-to-face with recruiters. Because of these events, it's not uncommon for some students to receive an offer even before graduating the program. Again, it should be emphasized that this Pathway Program is only as valuable as the effort put in.

Finally, after graduation, alumni still receive career support for up to six months to land that first coding job. Personally, it was about 10 days after graduation until I received my first offer.

To sum up, Tech Elevator is for those looking for a career change in tech, can afford the tuition, and most importantly, can afford to focus on classes/homework/projects full time for 16 weeks (including the 2 weeks of pre-work). It most definitely takes a lot of commitment, but if completed, the results are worth it.

I graduated from the summer 2020 Java cohort in August and had a great experience! My 14 weeks were fully remote due to COVID-19. While I was bummed to miss out on the in-person experience, I had no issues learning or interacting virtually with fellow students, instructors, and staff. My instructor was extremely knowledgeable, and took the time to try and understand my specific thought process before just giving me a one-size-fits-all answer. The coursework was challenging, but not to the point that it felt punishing. I learned all the skills I needed in order to land my first job as a developer. The gem of Tech Elevator is the Pathway program. I came to the cohort with what I thought was a STELLAR resume. Wrong. So wrong. The Pathway program is vital to landing a job. From resume revamping, to elevator pitches, to mock interviews - I felt so prepared and comfortable when it came time to actually interview for jobs I was interested in. At the end of the cohort, I ultimately accepted an offer from an employer I interviewed with as part of the match making process. I would (and do) recommend this program to anyone interested in a coding bootcamp. Wherever you land, please make sure there is some version of the Pathway program!!

Before Tech Elevator, I have zero prior coding experience, but I was interested in making the career change to software development after having had the interest for a long time, but not acting on it.  I began doing research on coding bootcamps to determine if they were legitimate or not, and I heard mixed reviews.  What set Tech Elevator apart for me was the curriculum, their career services, and most importantly, their commitment to their students.

When I first started at Tech Elevator, I had no idea what to expect, but I was quickly overwhelmed by the avalanche of information that was dumped on me.  The experience is not for the faint of heart, but because of my drive to change my life and career, I embraced the challenge. 14 weeks later, I graduated, and was able to secure a position with an investment firm as an entry level developer using the tools and resources Tech Elevator provided.

If you are interested in a career in software development, I can't recommend Tech Elevator enough.  They will provide you with all the tools you need to succeed, however, it is your job to put the work in.  If you do, you will get the results you are looking for.  

I'm going to do a full breakdown below my review, because I wish someone had done that when I was researching Tech Elevator (TE). Here I'll just do a generic review: TE is incredible. Their process for admittance almost guarantees that if you are admitted, you're capable of completing the program. The instructors, pathway directors and anyone else you come into contact with are fully committed to your success. It's clear that it drives them from day one of the program. When you're in week 10 you'll think back to the questions you asked in week one and you'll be awed by how patient the instructors are, from start to finish. This is something you'll read over and over again, but it's true: the Pathway program is what separates TE. You can be the best developer in the world, but if you don't interview well, you're not going to get a job. This sentiment is important to remember, because when you start the program, most students (myself included) are so focused on learning code that the Pathway events tend to be an afterthought. This is fine for the first half of the cohort, but after that, your focus needs to shift. Which brings me to my "but..." part of the review: 

I was surprised to find that many fellow students had at least a bachelor's degree. I did not. I received and accepted a job offer two months after graduating, but I believe it would have been quicker for me if I had a degree. One issue with COVID is that less companies are hiring; so while you will be happy for your classmates that find jobs, in some cases you'll be going after the same job. In those cases, everything else being equal, if I was a company I'd choose the student who also had a degree. Something to keep in mind and a reason to push yourself harder, especially with regard to Pathway. Someone without a degree may get less interviews, so knocking those interviews out of the park is critical.

Overall going to TE was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The staff, fellow students, alumni and other partners (hiring and not hiring) are all amazing and all root for you to succeed. You come out of TE with a full blown starter kit for a tech career: technical skills, soft skills and a network. If you're thinking about doing it, do it - it was less work for me than the full time job that I left, and I got to learn new skills that I'm passionate about. The biggest determining factor for how the cohort will go for you is how quickly you "get it" - the instructors reference it early on, but some people can navigate the cohort successfully putting in 40 hours per week. Some need 60 hours per week. Some in between. The interesting thing is that you can struggle all cohort and feel like you're not getting it as fast as other people, and then it's possible to land a job immediately if you nail the interview, which is why Pathway is so critical. I cannot recommend Tech Elevator enough.



Below I will break down the cohort from my perspective to give a better idea of what you may be getting into (note: the curriculum can change, so this is just what I experienced in the Summer 2020 cohort). If you do the bootcamp, I would recommend coming back and reading this breakdown again once it starts:

It starts with attending a virtual (or in-person, without COVID) open house to learn a little about the program. From there you do a small assessment used to determine your aptitude for problem solving. If you pass that, next is a face to face interview, with a longer version of an aptitude test. If you pass those, you're in. Once accepted, you will be given some exercises to complete prior to the start of the cohort - the purpose for this is to make sure everyone starts the cohort on a level playing field (some people may have experience writing code, but most do not, so don't worry). These exercises just cover the basics. If you struggle with these, DO NOT worry - all of this is covered during the actual cohort. You will also get informed about the student book, which is a companion to the course. More on that below. You will also have a Google calendar shared with you for Pathway events and other miscellaneous events throughout the cohort.

The first week introduces the basics of coding, either in C# or Java (I did C#). If you don't know which to pick, one nice tiebreaker could be going to LinkedIn and searching for "java developer" and ".NET developer" and seeing which has more open positions. Otherwise I would tell you .NET, but that's just me. You will have lecture from 9am to anywhere between 12pm-1pm, depending on what all needs to be covered that day. The morning starts with a review of the prior day, and a quiz for you to gauge where your understanding is (this quiz does NOT impact your actual grade, it's just so you and the instructor can see how you're doing). These quizzes were one of my favorite parts of the cohort because it allowed you test the knowledge that you just learned. After the quiz it's on to new material. For COVID, these lectures are in a classroom via Zoom and were recorded - however, I found taking notes the old fashioned way helped me retain the information. Why not type them? You will have a laptop and second monitor provided by TE if you need it (I used a TV for a second monitor). You'll want the lecture on one screen, where your instructor will be sharing their screen so that you can see what they're doing and how they're doing it. You'll also want to follow along with what they're doing on your screen at the same time, so that you can get used to doing what they're doing (and what you'll need to do for your homework). For me that meant handwriting notes in a notebook, which helps me retain information anyways. Other students typed notes. Some didn't take notes. Some followed along, some didn't. Following along AND taking notes helped me, and I generally picked up on things pretty quickly, so take that for what it's worth.

Once class ends, you'll have a homework assignment and you'll want to check your calendar - there will usually be a Pathway event at 3pm. The homework assignment can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours - depends how quickly you picked up the material and how quickly you work. Once I had an assignment that took several hours, I began working on them the minute the lecture ended. One thing they caution you against is spending too much time in front of a computer - taking breaks can be good - I preferred to get everything done and then not work on anything until the next day, but I also have a 2 year old who I wanted to spend time with in the evenings. That worked for me; for others, multiple breaks helped them get through it. You'll have to figure out what works for you, and if it's in-person that probably further changes the conversation.

Remember that student book? You should read the chapter tonight or tomorrow before class for what will be covered in tomorrow's class. It helps wrap your mind around some of the concepts. Tutorials also starting coming out, and for me a good habit was book the night before, tutorial before class, class, lunch, homework, Pathway, homework, done by 5pm on most days.

I was a part of Tech Elevator's first completely remote cohort in their Cincinnati location.  It was amazing to see how quickly they became adaptable to such an unforeseeable hurdle.  The instructors are caring, passionate, and always present for help.  The curriculum is presented very professionally and covers a diverse spread of relevant technologies.  The career guidance was incredibly thorough and help was always available.  After I graduated I had regular meetings with multiple staff members who continued to do everything in their power to get me employed and connected in the tech community.  My life changed after going to Tech Elevator.

When I was getting ready to register I was reading reviews here and thinking: "This sounds too good to be true". Boy was I wrong! Tech Elevator deserves this great reputation. Everyone that works at this bootcamp is thoughtful, passionate, knowledgeable and driven to help you succeed. Every. Single. Person!! 

First: The Pathway program was helping me improve my resume, online footprint, practice interviewing as well as the Pathway directors helping find us opportunities and bringing in wonderful companies that wanted to hire us! Vinny, Ben and Katie are the kind of people you need in your corner! They're constantly looking for new opportunities for us, even after the bootcamp is over. They're always there to help or offer advice. Sometimes even after hours! and They will be looking out for you from day 1! Pathway is underrated.

Second: My instructor Steve Carmichael, is probably the best instructor I could ask for!! his teaching style was thoughtful, fun, engaging and We all found ourselves looking forward to lecture every day! Steve would always make time for me when I had more questions. He also brings a wealth of experience in the field that he so generously shared with us. I came out of this bootcamp knowing how to code. But more importantly, due to his wisdom and experience, We all left the class knowing how to continue to grow in our careers and how to continue to excel even in our first, second and third roles. This type of mentorship and wisdom is an unexpected bonus that is priceless for anyone who wants to excel! Steve is a treasure!

Third: Other instructors like Matt, Brian, John, Margaret, Rachelle and Matty were always willing to help! Even if you're not in their class, they were there for you to help you get unstuck, practice technical interviews and make sure you feel confident and prepared! 

It is obvious that Tech Elevator focuses on hiring great people. I'm happy to report that Tech Elevator also focuses on admitting great people into the program! I left the bootcamp with a huge network of talented, passionate, inspiring and dedicated peers. We worked long nights together, helped each other understand difficult concepts and became friends along the way! 

If you're reading this, please understand that you will have to work hard. However, if you are willing to do the work, this team will help you succeed. Keep in mind this all happened during COVID-19 and the odds were stacked against us. This program was worth every penny.

I have nothing but good things to say about Tech Elevator. Before enrolling, I was skeptical that you could learn a whole new career skillset with no prior experience in 3 and a half months and secure an exciting, lucrative software development position right away, but Tech Elevator proved it's totally possible. I had a high-paying job offer within 1 week after graduating from the program.

What makes Tech Elevator stand out and above any other bootcamp I looked into was their career preparation services called the Pathway Program. A lot of bootcamps give you some help changing your resume a week before you graduate. The Pathway Program however, is a whole separate curriculum beginning in Week 1 that continues until after graduation, that students go through alongside of the coding curriculum. From resume and LinkedIn profile makeover, to frequent behavioral and technical interview practice, to helping you create a winsome elevator pitch, to employer showcases and industry expert panels, to Matchmaking Days where they schedule interviews for you with multiple hiring managers in the tech field, I had interviewed with 9 tech companies before I even graduated from Tech Elevator.

The staff is amazing and makes themselves available to lend extra help with anything you need. Their 95% graduation rate and 92% job placement within 6 months, are verified by the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting - a third-party firm that gives you peace of mind that you can trust the results. They make sure you get the job of your dreams. So thankful for Tech Elevator for changing the trajectory of my career forever.

Before attending Tech Elevator, I was working as a server and in retail jobs. I never finished college and found myself in a loop of lower wage jobs and was considering going back to school, but my degree was in the arts and it didn’t seem like the most sustainable career route for me considering I had watched many of my friends graduate with BFA’s and even MFA degrees fall into the same spiral of customer service jobs. 
I wanted to enhance my career opportunities, but I did not want to get stuck in a dull job that would not allow me to be creative. I came across Tech Elevator via a friend who was attending and some online ads and thought I would look into it, so I attended an Open House in Detroit. The Open House was run by Margaret, one of the instructors and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of being back in college classes and it was very engaging. I immediately knew that I had to look more into coding. (Side note, I had very minimal coding experience prior to this bootcamp aside from making my own Tumblr themes in high school, which I didn’t even know was coding at the time lol!) When I got home, I decided to look into some free coding resources online such as freecodecamp (I would highly recommend messing around on there if you are considering Tech Elevator) and SuperHi. Shortly after this, I decided to set up my admissions interview with Tech Elevator and anxiously awaited their response. 
A few weeks later I heard back from Jeff (the campus director) that I got in and I continued to self teach until the course pre work began. 
I attended the Summer 2020 cohort of Tech Elevator, so Coronavirus did cause our entire cohort to be remote. Initially, I was a bit nervous to start remotely, since there seems to often be a “human” aspect that is missing with online classes in my experience. I was very impressed with how Tech Elevator handled the remote learning experience. Lectures were live on Zoom and the instructors made themselves CONSTANTLY available for homework after class and would hang out in their zoom “classrooms” for extra help and study questions. 
Additionally, I feel like my cohort as a whole really took advantage of the resources available to study together (Zoom, Google Hangouts, Jitsi, etc). It was surprisingly very easy to build bonds and friendships with people and every day students would spend time hanging out after class in a Zoom working on homework and helping each other with questions or just shooting the breeze. 
The Pathway Program was a huge selling point to me when deciding on this bootcamp, especially considering my background was mostly in food service and not as much in professional career-type jobs. I found this part of the program equally as challenging as the coding, but also SO BENEFICIAL. Caitie, my Pathway Director put in a lot of extra time coaching me on interview prep especially and was always there to answer any questions I had about presenting myself to possible employers. 

I am now 6 weeks post graduation from this bootcamp and I already have a job! If you had told me this would be my reality a year ago, I would not have believed you. Tech Elevator has changed the course of my life for the better and exceeded my initial expectations by helping me get a Web Developer job so shortly after graduation and during a pandemic and down trodden economy nonetheless. 
If you have the opportunity to attend Tech Elevator DO IT! It’s 4 months of forcing yourself to learn sometimes difficult concepts everyday (often for 10+ hours a day), but if you commit those 4 months to the program, it WILL pay off. 

I was sick of my job out of college, I wasn't being challenged and felt like I was stuck in the same routine. I knew I had to change course but did not have the resources to go back to a 4 year institution. Tech Elevator was the perfect middle ground to do something that could change my career and I also did not have to invest as much as college. When the pandemic hit, I was very nervous about my job prospects, and the program needed to readjust to online learning, but TE helped all the way to the end and gave me the direction needed to land several interviews and eventually a job. The combination of teaching you what you need to know, as well as landing the job switch made TE totally worth my time and money, and not only will I have a return on the money and time at my new position, I feel I have acquired new technical and life skills, which is priceless.

Prior to deciding to complete a boot camp I had no coding experience.  I mainly worked in the service industry and made this change because that industry has a pretty low ceiling if you aren't interested in continuing to live and breathe that world.  I explored many boot camp options multiple times before committing to Tech Elevator.  Overall, I found boot camps hard to judge given that many have the same number of good and bad reviews, and most offer limited or overly stipulated career placement programs.  The decision to commit to Tech Elevator was based on the following: 

1. I had a friend that successfully completed the Pittsburgh program, and was immediately hired by a global bank at 80K/year (this was my personal confirmation that the program works).
2. Tech Elevator focuses on two intense stacks that most large company platforms are built on, Java and .NET.  This is because their goal is to teach you 80% of what you need to begin in any junior software developer position. Many other boot camps I researched offered up to 12 programs (making me question the quality of all), and often left you specifically qualified for 1 role, versus generally qualified for any.
3. The style of Tech Elevator's program is friendly to those with no previous coding experience.
4. Tech Elevator has the most comprehensive job placement program (The Pathway Program).
5. Tech Elevator's reviews on all sites are 95%+ positive.  THEY GET PEOPLE HIRED.
6. (Learned during the program) Companies know Tech Elevator, and they wait for their graduating classes.  Large companies (like Chase) have hired TE grads, and are very impressed.  The network of committed and experienced hiring partners that TE has is great, and actively growing).

My experience at Tech Elevator was amazing.  I participated in the combined Phili/Detroit cohort with two teachers (Rich & Margaret), and one pathway director (Caitie).  Each were inspiring in their constant commitment and availability.  Each ensured at every level that you had everything necessary to succeed.  The program was intense, so definitely be ready for it.  I planned on 10-12 hour days for 3.5 months.  If you learn quickly and apply yourself, this is only necessary in specific sprints, but you should be ready for it regardless.  This is a 3.5 month program that nets you a new career paying the same as an experienced nurse.  Overall, Tech Elevator has put in the work to write their own text book, and design a curriculum that makes sense.  Each new module combines what was learned previously, culminating in a project at the end of each.  These projects work to solidify the information learned through each module.  

Going into this experience with no coding background, I was not sure what to expect.  It was incredibly difficult in the beginning (and admittedly at the start of each project), but I (and my team) made it through each one, proud and a bit surprised at how capable we became in such a short period of time.  I can't speak to any other programs, but I can say that Tech Elevator is 100% worth the cost and then some.  You get what you give it, so give it your all.  The pathway program is an active piece from the beginning; meeting with alumni, developers, and others from different companies, re writing your resume, and learning how to interview behaviorally and technically.  You are given an immense amount of material technically and related to hiring to ensure you are prepared.  While this program requires a lot of self teaching and discovery (similar to the real world), the staff pays attention to your progress and checks in regularly.  Your success is their success.  I thoroughly enjoyed that this program is not sold as some pseudo college experience.  This program has one goal, to get you hired.  

I was hired prior to graduation as a Software Developer for a successful investment firm.  I can state personally, the program works. 

Tech Elevator is as advertised.  It's not easy but if you stick with it, you can land your dream developer job.  

I'm not going to go into detail of what the curriculum offers, the price, or how the program is structured (all of this information is available to you when you go to their website or one of their open houses -- and I would definitely advise you to do these things first if you are considering attending).  What I will do is let you know how my personal experience was in terms of my interaction with the program through the Detroit campus in the remote version of the program.

I had a background in financial services and commercial real estate and was seeking something that would allow me to be more creative while still utilizing analytical problem solving.  So I knew computer programming was the right career path for me.  The next step was finding the right school/boot camp.  Tech Elevator reviews really jumped out to me and all the research I did told me it was a legitimate path into coding.  All my research proved true.  

I received an offer from PNC, for a Software Developer Associate role, the first day after I graduated.  I also received a testing role offer from Waymo two days after I graduated.  

Getting a job is why you sign up for the program but beyond that I can say the most impressive thing to me about Tech Elevator is how invested the staff is in its students.  The instructors and Pathway director are 100% invested in your success.  Every step of the way, they will offer guidance and support.  

Also the nature of the sacrifice it takes to put your life on hold and invest the money necessary for the program, attracts gritty, intelligent, creative, friendly people.  I genuinely believe every single one of my fellow students in my cohort exhibited these qualities.  It's not by chance.  Success in a program like this requires those qualities.  You will need to be able to collaborate to succeed especially if you are going through the program remotely.

A bit of advice for anyone who has small children or other time intensive family obligations - make arrangements so that you will have 45-50 hours a week of uninterrupted time to commit to the program.  I have two children under the age of 3 and the time constraints got to be incredibly difficult to handle.  I barely survived, literally.   

So in summary if you are ready to commit the money, a lot of uninterrupted time, and a ton of effort and have the right qualities then this is the perfect program for you.  You will have an amazing staff to support you in finding your dream job.  

I hope this review is helpful to those researching the program.

The support that you receive while attending this boot camp is what stood out to me the most. Instructors and staff are among the kindest people that you'll meet, and really know their stuff. I always felt prepared for the challenges and rigors of the coursework thanks to the instructors, and the professional development lead was incredible in her coaching. The pandemic of course brought challenges, but we all navigated remote learning together and I personally had a great experience.

You can't put a price on bettering yourself... but if you have to: It's whatever amount Tech Elevator is charging for tuition. Taking control of my future through TE was well worth the time and money. It was the best decision I could have made. 
I specifically attended the Cleveland campus in the midst of the pandemic, when we were forced to transition to full remote learning, and even in the midst of that madness the TE experience was smooth and controlled. The instructors and staff are phenomenal and will bend over backwards to help you succeed. I can't give enough thanks to these people, they've changed the course of my professional life forever.

Tech Elevator is worth every penny. I came to this with a very unusual background (I was a university lecturer and a freelance writer) and was worried that I wouldn't be cut out for it because I'd been away from math for so long. I couldn't have been more wrong. The level of instruction is incredible, and the support I got from the instructors helped me overcome some of my early fears about whether or not I could handle the work. The professional development is equally important, perhaps moreso, and it did not disappoint. I had more instruction and support in a summer at Tech Elevator than I had in all of college and graduate school combined. Yes, it's a fair amount of work: you will be run pretty ragged for fourteen weeks. Yes, it's scary to transition from what you know to what you don't, especially when you're always taking in a lot of new information. But I also grew a lot as a person by tackling the unknown, and when it was all over, I got a job in a new career I'm happy with. If you're unhappy with your current career track and this work sounds interesting to you, it's worth taking the plunge.

I attended the .NET/C# program at Tech Elevator in the winter cohort at the Cleveland campus. Attending the boot camp was one of the best experiences of my life I met so many awesome people and had a great time developing my coding skills. Unfortunately my particular cohort was happening right in the middle of the covid pandemic so while we started in person we had to finish the boot camp remotely. Despite the change in plans things still went really well and the team at Tech Elevator did a great job making sure the transition to remote learning went smoothly. 

After graduation the Pathway team did a great job with sharing job opportunities and getting my resume out there as well as setting up numerous interviews and special events to help with the job search. Unfortunately, it took a little bit longer than I would have liked to land an offer but again this was due to the covid situation and companies slowing or freezing hiring. After a couple months and life beginning to return to normal again I landed a great offer with a great company near the top end of our expected salary outcomes with great benefits. I am looking forward to starting my new career as a software developer and if you are looking to do the same I strongly recommend you check out Tech Elevator to help you get started.

Tech Elevator was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The curriculum covers everything you will need to know to get into your first role as a software developer, and the instructors do a great job at managing the pace and helping you if you get behind or if you're just stuck. The staff are fantastic people who go out of their way to both teach necessary networking skills, as well as resume building, LinkedIn layouts, elevator pitches, and more. The employer showcase is a great experience that allows you to both learn more about employers in the area, and also get your name and face to them through a very friendly interview.

  Career Differences Yes, going to Tech Elevator is absolutely one of the best things you can do for your career. A year ago I moved to Philly and I was applying for writing jobs with salaries around $30-45k. Most were closer to $30k, similar to the $28k I was making before moving here. Exactly one week after graduation, I accepted an offer at a global company tripling what I was making before from a company I met at matchmaking. Aside from finally being able to afford paying off college debt, I actually do something for a living that I love. I'm nine weeks into my job as a software engineer and the relaxed environment still baffles me, especially compared to previous positions where I spent all day on the phone. I mean, I'm able to listen to music or an audiobook while I work; I always have help when I need it; I'm encouraged to spend time at work learning new things outside of my day-to-day responsibilities (like using Pluralsight); there are so many opportunities to attend random events that I'm interested in throughout the week (PRIDE meetups, AI meetups, etc); and I could go on and on. I started virtually, of course, but when asking others about the office culture, I was told my team takes ping-pong breaks, works on puzzles together, brings in food for each other (all pre-covid). Comparing it to a traditional office job... it's still hard to wrap my head around. I enjoy working and coding for hours because my employer wants employees to be happy at work - who knew enjoying going to work was a thing?   The People Some of my best friends were made at Tech Elevator, starting from week one. Throughout the program, there are many pair programming assignments, and you always work with someone new, so it's easy to get to know everyone. With assignments that can take hours and capstone projects that take days, you really become close friends with people. I know things are virtual right now, but the in-person campus was my favorite thing. There were so many nights where I went on a mini-lockdown with friends, staying up very late trying to finish assignments, playing games, enjoying food the staff would bring in for us, etc. My cohort did things like going out to lunch, grabbing drinks, going to karaoke, going to a museum, playing games together, etc etc etc. As for the staff - they were absolutely wonderful. The instructors were extremely accessible, especially when we went virtual halfway through the program. They both had a lot of experience in the field and were such great teachers overall. I gathered other students for a group project (highly recommend doing a group project if you want to stand out to employers!) and they spent hours and hours helping us with it, even though it was completely outside of the curriculum.   The Career / Pathway Program One of the reasons I chose TE over other bootcamps was how impressive the career services were in the reviews and statistics I read. Other bootcamps in Philly mentioned career prep help, but I can't imagine it was anything even close to what TE offers, especially after reading reviews on Reddit about Philly bootcamps. Imagine having someone push you for 2-3 days out of every week to get yourself together and prepare for a job, starting from day one. I remember thinking, "Why are we starting so early? We have nothing to prepare with??" Yeah, it was necessary to start that early. The coursework picks up so quickly and 14 weeks seems like a lot of time to prepare for a job, but you need that long if you want to prepare the right way. I remember giving my first elevator pitch for an employer visit or talk and my social anxiety was the worst. I almost forgot my name. The idea of matchmaking later on in the program--meeting a handful of employers in only two days--was terrifying, but when it came time for that, I felt really prepared and confident in my abilities and hey, it worked! Those rounds of mock behavioral and tech interviews, the resume reviews, the elevator pitch practice sessions, the employer advice events--I mean, we had everything we needed to succeed. Even with those, Caitie, the pathway director, was absolutely one of the biggest reasons I was able to land a job within a week of graduation. She makes sure you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and that you're doing it right. She's obviously an expert in what she does, and I knew when I met her for my Tech Elevator interview that she is truly in this position because it makes her happy. I still keep in touch with her occasionally :) Despite the economy completely crashing and most employers closing their hiring doors, at Tech Elevator... it almost seemed to not make a difference. Some employers backed out of matchmaking, yet most (all? I haven't checked in with other students lately...) found jobs fairly quickly, most through the companies we met through the program.   Coursework I'm still wondering how I was able to learn so much, so quickly, AND be qualified for a software engineer position with only 14 weeks' worth of experience. A lot of my computer science friends from college who graduated around the same time as the bootcamp ended are still searching for jobs, and they have years of experience over me. In talking to my coworkers, it seems like the ability to learn so quickly is more attractive in a candidate than how much you know. Of course, you still have to put in the work to show them how much you can learn in a short time. The first few weeks were spent learning basic programming principles and intro to java stuff--the need-to-know material. Seriously though, make sure you're reviewing these basic concepts every week because you there's a 100% chance they will come up in an interview. We moved on to some database stuff, which was pretty interesting and necessary to learn if you move to a full-stack position. After that, we moved onto servers and web stuff. Ah, the good stuff. My one critique, now that I'm out and about in the real world, is that what we learned at the time was fairly outdated compared to working applications. It was a weird transition going from Spring MVC to regular Spring Boot. The course also teaches Vue.js, which I also learned isn't as popular. I don't think I saw it in more than one job posting. Despite learning tools that weren't directly applicable to a lot of jobs, I still learned the fundamentals of how databases and web frameworks work. Plus, interviewers were genuinely interested in hearing about technologies they've never used, which contributed to a nice conversation. Regardless, as I mentioned, what's more important is that you're able to learn the given material and apply it, because that's what's going to happen on the job anyway.   Going Remote for Covid-19 Honestly, going remote was a very smooth transition. The first few days were kind of weird to adjust to, but that was mostly because it was so sudden. I think it was a Sunday afternoon when I got an email that said we're going remote the following day? IIRC the staff found out pretty last minute too, but even with that, I really enjoyed virtual classrooms. It was much easier to pair program when you're screen sharing, and it's easier to work together from home/remotely when you don't have to worry about catching a trolley or train on time etc. The difference in learning environments was mainly that our instructor had to screen share instead of writing on a whiteboard, but the quality of teaching/learning didn’t change.   Compared to Other Philly Bootcamps I didn't look too heavily into other bootcamps--maybe three or four--but I noticed many of them aggressively try to sell you into their program. They seemed to care more about making money off of their students, rather than educating them. With Tech Elevator, they only accept students who they think will do well in the program. They want to make sure you have what it takes. After comparing curriculums between a few local bootcamps with the help of my friends who are software engineers, Tech Elevator definitely outranks the others in that realm. I will note that Tech Elevator did not once reach out to me by phone or email with promotional material, unlike the daily phone calls and emails I received from other bootcamps. Anyway, it's clear Tech Elevator doesn't have to have a sales department to push people to apply and spend thousands of dollars. Students don't need to be pushed to apply to Tech Elevator; it's the clear choice.   Conclusion If you like coding, and want to do what you love for a living, then do this. The curriculum gives you the knowledge you need to impress employers on your skills, but the Pathway Program is designed to help you tackle your individual professional weaknesses and highlight your strengths. If you put in the work, you will succeed.