The Best Salt Lake City Coding Bootcamps Of 2023

Before going to DevPoint I was in the outdoor industry working a sales job and wanted something different for myself. I was hesitant to leave a good job in an industry I loved but after diving headfirst into the course with no coding experience, I gained so much more than a job. This course provides not only the skills employers are looking for but also an amazing community of support to guide and help you in your life/career. The course requires your full 100% effort but the staff at DevPoint goes the distance to ensure EVERY student gains an education you wouldn't find at a college or university. I was lucky to work closely with the staff and saw how much they care for all the students that come through their program. DevPoint will always be a pivotal moment in my life, providing a career path where I enjoy the work I do and the lifestyle that comes with working in tech.

Main
today is 03/03/2023, what a lucky day! I have just graduated Devmountain's python software engineering bootcamp. They aren't the most expensive and are very competitive. Instructor Chalon(specs) and Garrett(foundations) were amazing. Always offered a helping hand and helped me to figure out how to think like a programmer.

Part Time Students
Foundations is amazing, Garrett and two mentors who are Matt and Nathan. It was every Tuesday Thursday night and every other Saturday. Every other week was self learn and then the next was lectures. To give you a bit of an insight of my life i am a busser at a local brewery so i had more than enough time on my hands to deep dive into certain aspects so the course work for me was great and i had plenty of time.

The Switch To Full Time
First off I had time on my hands like no other. I had my foundations so learning python was a nice ease into things at first. But then after the excitement of making a killer project in foundations my schedule was lacking and i had no sense of urgency to finish. You just got a bunch of videos to watch and assignments due whenever you complete them... there were no due dates in Part Time Specs unlike foundations you had a unit review due every 2 weeks. That's really my only gripe, I just had wished specs was more like part time foundations. And so I had a conversation with an awesome counselor at Devmountain and they helped me switch within like 5 hours. I can't say this will happen for you so be wary of trying this and i don't recommend it either. I could've done the full time all the way through i just needed to realize it first!

Full Time
Full time was amazing. Fast paced, detailed, fun, difficult, frustrating, and rewarding. All of those are good things. When learning you need direction, or at least i do. I like to feel accomplished and so i did. I was able to push myself and my instructor pushed me. I can't say how much this program has already changed my thinking about school and my love for learning has been re-energized.

Outcomes/ Job Assistance
Since i just graduated they gave us a plethora of information about obtaining a job, networking and more. Taylor helped me build my resume, LinkedIn profile and scripts to get inspired off them. The Outcomes team is truly a great feature and felt as if they cared as much as i care. In which I care a lot!

Messages to future Software Engineers. Make Friends during your cohort, most of them want friends too. I made around 4 solid friendships we talked a lot, encouraging one another and helping eachother grow. 

I began my teaching myself some programming languages but quickly realized that I didn't have a lot of direction. There is an infinite amount of information on the web and no clear path on where to begin. I chose the University of Utah Full Stack Web Development bootcamp based on the reviews and career services support offered. 

This bootcamp proved to be invaluable to my growth as a web developer. The amount of support offered is incredible, from the instructors, TA's, tutors and 24/7 Ask BCS learning assistants. You never feel like you are going at it alone. Learning how to code is hard, sometimes very hard. However, the support that the bootcamp offers, in addition to learning along with your classmates is great! 

I would recommend this bootcamp to anyone who needs structure and direction. It is rigorous so be prepared to spend 20-30+ hours per week outside of class learning. And understand that the learning doesn't stop when you graduate. 

The majority of the course is Javascript so I would recommend using Udemy or Youtube to teach yourself the basics of Javascript before the class begins. I think that doing so will greatly supplement your learning as you go through the course.

Before coming to Startup ignition I'd worked in two private equity shops, founded multiple businesses, participated in a 3-month startup accelerator, and completed a year of my MBA.  While not everything was new - I'd had experience or education in almost all the covered material - the delivery of the content created a functioning body of knowledge with the connective tissue of context where before I had just major muscle groups of hard skills.  Said another way, attending John's firehose helped me get organized and prioritize the parts of my plan that I need to focus on first.  If you are a technical founder with little background in finance or marketing, you'll need to make sure you take the pre-course prep work seriously.  If you don't learn something about entrepreneurship - and yourself - during the course, it is because you were not trying.