CareerFoundry

I started Career Foundry a couple of weeks ago and have already recommended it to two friends of mine. I'm incredibly grateful for the tutor's support I've had as I try to double down on the course and finish by the end of summer. They go above and beyond to make you feel empowered. 

My experience overall was positive. I obtained skills that I used to brand myself and succeed in a UX role. I especially liked having mentorship throughout the program. I wish that my course mentor was available during my job hunt period because there were numerous times that I wanted industry specific advice that I only thought of once applying for jobs. My job prep mentor was great, however, for some of the UX specific questions that occurred to me, I would need my course mentor to help with. My job preparation mentor was very helpful to me.

I found that the structure of the course made sense, however, at times it was a bit frustrating. For instance, early on in the Intro to UX course, one task asked me to prepare a career path for myself. But at this time, being new to UX I had no idea what career paths exist in UX. I found that there were times in the course where a task was asked of me and then during the following course readings it would explain relevant information that would have been helpful to complete them. Task 1.6 in "Thinking like a UXer", Claire uses her user research to come up with a problem statement so I wondered if that meant that I had to do a quick competitive analysis, or even user interviews? I confirmed with my tutor that I did not, and she told me that my problem statement should be based on assumptions. I found this a bit confusing because I have been learning in this course that we should be wary of our own assumptions. I think it should be strongly encouraged to record interviews in task 2.2 because while conducting the interviews I wasn't as focused on preparing information and data in the format that task 2.3 would eventually ask me to do. 

*Keep in mind, these are notes about the course that I took while going through it. Having discussed this with multiple other CareerFoundry students, task structure is a common frustration. It is possible that CareerFoundry has already made changes to these issues.*

One additional point - Although I enjoyed having a tutor to approve my tasks and to provide feedback and advice, I also found that her answers were somewhat templative. It felt like she the feedback she gave me was somewhat generic and could have applied to many students completing the assignment. At times I wondered how thoroughly she read through my tasks. Having said this, I did value her feedback, and there were times when she provided very helpful feedback. She was also specific with answers when I reached out and asked her questions. 

I'll evaluate this bit by bit:

Course material: It's all reading. There are some videos from time to time but 90% of the course load will be reading. If you're the type to need a video or live sessions this bootcamp is not for you. I feel the way they introduce React in the 3rd chapter is way too complicated. It goes right to the giant project with like 6-8 components. As a complete beginner this was utterly confusing..I almost had no idea what I was doing. My tutor did help me break it down a bit but I found myself learning way better working on small project tutorials on Youtube where they did a simple React project to introduce its basic functions. I also felt like they rushed the jQuery section with the Pokemon API...not enough time was spent on it and at the end of the chapter I still had no idea what I was doing.  (4/10)

Tutor/Mentor: I learned not to completely rely on them and try to find my own solutions online or slack channel because they can take 24-48 hours to reply and that is way too long for me. If I want a bug fixed I want assistance as soon as I can. Now this is not their fault since CareerFoundry allows them a 24-48 hour window to reply but even if they reply a few short messages, I get ghosted a couple times so the bug took a week to finally fix. It sounds frustrating but without them I would not have survived this bootcamp. (7/10)

Career services: My career specialist is very nice and supporting. She is probably the best part of the program but there is only so much she can do. CareerFoundry does not partner up with any employers in your area. They occasionally post jobs on their website but it's mostly based in Europe. I live in Canada so I'm out of luck. They provide a list of websites which are free resources to encourage us to check out. I was really hoping CareerFoundry would give us direct connection to employers looking for junior web developers like other bootcamps do but they don't.
Career Specialist (9/10)
Career Services (3/10)

Job hunt: I've been actively job hunting for 4 months and zero luck. Not even an interview. Maybe it's the worst timing out there due to the massive tech layoffs but at the end of the day, I still don't have a job.

Overall: I chose Careerfoundry because it was the cheapest of all the bootcamps plus I get to work at my own pace and not locked down to mandatory live classes on Saturdays ( I work Saturdays) but I kind of regret that choice now...I can't speak for their UI/UX courses but I do not recommend them for their web development. I feel like I didn't get what I paid for. 

I love how I am able to work on this course in my own time, it’s 100% self-paced and flexible. But they don’t sacrifice any support in the mean time. Between a mentor and tutor, I feel well-prepared and confident in the new skills I’m learning. I can go to either of them with questions and they respond usually within the same day, if not by the next. My mentor is available to help with all sorts of things and provides encouragement when I feel lost. I can book calls with my mentor and he will share his expertise in the field. I love getting a glimpse of the real career field I’m about to go join. My mentor and tutor provide valuable feedback so I know where I can improve my work. I love how user friendly the course is. From day 1 I was able to jump right in, no prep time was needed. One reason I chose this program was because of the job guarantee and job preparation course. I have just started it but I can already tell how helpful it’s going to be in my job search. I have even more support now with my career specialist guiding me and helping me build my resume, portfolio, and define my career goals. I feel like this course is very well planned and thought through. I don’t feel like there’s any “busy work” rather, every assignment feels purposeful and building on the previous concept. It’s organized so well and clearly. I am able to easily stay on track. I started this program with no background experience and have talks to many others who did as well and they’ve landed their dream jobs. As a renowned program, my hope is to be able to land a job anywhere in the world. I’m so excited to put together my finished portfolio and land my first job after changing careers! All possible thanks to career foundry! 

I am halfway through my course and I have learned so much already. My tutor and mentors have been there for me every step of the way. I’m excited to complete the course and see what the world has in store for me. 

I started the course without really knowing what to do and didn’t really have an idea about UX Design, a friend who worked in tech recommended it and I watched some YouTube video ant thought it might fit me. I am beyond happy I chose this course and became passionate about learning more of UX. Thanks CareerFoundry!

CareerFoundry is a long, meaningful journey.  Yes, there are days when it's lonely and you lose motivation.  But I think overall, the learning has been solid and relevant to the main goal at hand.  It is a lot of reading (one thing I wish was simplified, shorter, or mixed in with live/recorded instruction), so grab some noise-canceling headphones and coffee and get down to the nitty-gritty.  

CF's Data Analytics course, I feel, provides lots of ways to view, manipulate, and visualize data.  I've valued this time and I am hoping for good fortunes moving forward.  If you're reading this and made it to the end of the review, I hope the same for you too.

As a Graphic Designer with a 15 year experience I thought i was a good career switch. I definitely liked submerging myself in the program and learning the methodologies behind UI design as well as UX design. 

CareerFoundry is a phenomenal way to learn online. They have incredibly helpful “mentors” and “tutors” who encourage you and advise you as you go through the course. Each lesson gives detailed information and outside sources for when you want to learn more outside of the exercise. The feedback you receive is not only encouraging but helps for revision along with comments about real world expectations. 

I find the structure of the curriculum and each lesson is thoroughly thought through and informative. I don’t think I could’ve compiled all this information on my own no matter how long I had, especially in the right sequence.

After a ton of research, I signed up for the UX Design program at CareerFoundry and have been super happy with it thus far! I'm about 1/3 of the way done and have been impressed with my assigned tutor and mentor as both provide excellent feedback and advice. Also, I enjoy how flexible the program is and the sheer amount of support offered, from fellow students and CareerFoundry employees. I'm excited for the rest of the program! 

The course has helped me to sample the key elements and knowledge of UI design. The tasks and exercises have provide a good foundation to build on. 

I’ve nurtured skills that are key to my career.

Having a dedicated tutor and mentor was a great support. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up. The courses are delivered in manageable chunks with lots of additional resources. My mentor and tutor have been timely with their feedback. They are encouraging and offer useful additional resources, tips, and tricks. 

My tutor and mentor are great at giving constructive feedback, as well as being timely. I rarely need to ask questions because all information is given well and understandably, however when I do I get a response fast.

I am currently enrolled in the Data Analytics Immersion course. I have been consistently impressed with the amount of material that is covered. The way CareerFoundry has set the program up is also really great! My tutor has been incredibly helpful and super responsive to my questions and concerns. However, nothing is perfect! The material can be unclear at times while other times you're quite literally being spoon fed directions. I've found that trying to communicate with the student advisors or powers that be at CF can be challenging. That being said, I've been having a great time learning all kinds of new skills!

When I first joined the UI program, I was excited to begin learning. To my surprise all my assignments were approved upon first submission with very little critical feedback. When I asked for feedback, I was given small things I could change about my work. So, I assumed I was doing well. I completed the course and began applying for job and networking. I found mentors in the industry who told that what was taught in this program did not match industry standards and that without any experience in the field it’s hard to get a job. Additionally, I kept trying to get advice about my job search which a year out, I still dont have a job. I was told to just keep applying and never given very much feedback on my materials. I’m now trying to piece together all the things I was not taught and finding outside mentorship and coaching. I contacted career support and they just told me they don’t know what the problem is because others are successful at finding jobs.  I spoke to other alumni of the program that are struggling to so not sure where these success stories are. One person who did the program around the same time as me has given up and decided to try something different. The job guarantee has so many requirements that I wasn’t able to complete them to qualify for a refund. 

Prior to taking on this course, I needed something that was well structured and had valuable information necessary to guide someone new to the field like me. This course has great resources and people that genuinely care for your success. I would definitely recommend CareerFoundry! 

I'm currently 1/2 way though the CF UX Design Program and I'm thrilled so far. I love that I have a tutor who I can communicate with several times a week, and a mentor to review the big achievements with. I was also just assigned a job prep course teacher as well. I'm an older student taking steps to a huge, completely different career change- it feels good to have a support as I'm learning all of these new skills. 

I have studied this course for about 1 month. There are a lot of details in the course and a bunch of tasks to do. Luckily, my tutor and my mentor response quickly. I am not sure after i finish this course i will get the job because i haven't gone through job preparation part. 

I'm not very far in the course but so far it seems to be going pretty well. There were some tasks that need more clarification as there was some confusion between my tutor, mentor and myself but overall I've enjoyed the course so far and the encouragement from my tutor and mentor.