CareerFoundry

I want to leave my review for the "Introduction to Frontend Development course" , which is part of the Full-Stack Web Development Program. My experience so far has been awesome. What I enjoy about CareerFoundry is the fact that it's fully flexible, so you can manage your own time. I also appreciate the help I received from my tutor and mentor, who were able to give me insight into bad coding practices, industry knowledge, as well as helping me when I wasn't able to proceed on my own. Although the program is remote, there is a community of students who I can connect with on the Student Slack Channel, where there are not only web development specific task-help channels, but also career advisors, who always give you helpful tips. I recommend CareerFoundry to anyone who is looking for a flexible schedule and a community of support :) 

I am writing this review of the 4 week Intro to UX Design Course. I have had an amazing experience so far. I love the mentorship and guidance that CareerFoundry provides. I am glad that they started offering an intro course so that students can decide whether or not they are interested before continuing on to the full immersion courses. Based on my experience in the intro course, I am deciding to continue on to the immersion course as I feel it will be well worth it.

After doing plenty of research around the various bootcamps (and deciding that giving up my job wasn't an option) I went for the CareerFoundry Full Stack Web Development Course.

My main reasons for choosing the course were:

• It was remote and self-paced - This meant I could work it around my full time job.
• The reviews I could find of the Web Development course were good.
• The price made it an affordable option (at the time it was £2500 although I believe this has now increased).
• The material focused on JavaScript and a MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) stack which is a up-to-date approach.
• You are given a tutor and mentor throughout the course who both work in tech, you also get a career coach when you complete the course.
• The Job Guarantee was transparent. Many bootcamps offer a 'job guarantee' but the CareerFoundry one felt like it was written to reassure students of the effectiveness of the course rather than providing so many hoops to jump through no-one would ever qualify for a refund!

The Learning Platform & Content
As the course if fully remote you complete your bootcamp using CareerFoundry's online platform. This platform is easy to use and shows you goals (such as how many sections you need to complete each week). The majority of the lessons are text-based and are laid out really well, each one has a step-by-step task at the end and these seem to get less prescribed as time goes on requiring you to put some of your new skills to good use and learn all about problem solving too. Typically your tutor marks most your work and provides feedback and a pass/needs more work and your mentor marks the final project of each section...you also have Skype calls throughout with your mentor too.

The content as a whole is excellent and I found that I learnt a lot, there's also lots of 'if you'd like to learn more follow this...' links which enable you to go deeper. For me, the pace was spot-on and other than the Redux section which completely confused me I found the whole thing was explained and presented really well. The great thing about having a tutor is that when you get stuck you can reach out to them.

The Extras
The Full Stack Web Development course also offers some extras beyond the material of the course itself.

• Mentor/Tutor - Both of these people are there to help you and already work in the industry. I ended up changing mentors halfway through but both were really good. My only piece of feedback for CareerFoundry would be that some more guidance for both students and mentors around what these calls should entail would be really helpful for making the most of them.
• Slack - CareerFoundry offer a Slack community for students past and present. I found that I didn't really use this as the majority of the discussions were around the UX/UI courses rather than Web Development but they were nice to have.
• Career Course - Halfway through your main course you gain access to the career course. This course talks you through things like telling your story as a career changer, helps you write a CV and cover letter, shares good places to apply for jobs, helps you create a good LinkedIn profile and offers some interview advice. As part of this course you have a mentor who offers feedback on your submissions and can tailor their advice when you start applying for roles. My career mentor was excellent and I certainly owe some of my success coming out the course to him.

Summary
Overall I would certainly recommend the CareerFoundry Full Stack Web Development course. The communication from CareerFoundry was great, the course content was really good and they constantly related the content and principals into the workplace which made you feel like you were preparing to put your coding into practice as you went along. I also felt like they didn't try and spoon-feed you everything but helped build your confidence in reading documentation, Googling and learning new things (skills that have really helped me as I've continued my learning after the course).

CareerFoundry has helped pave the way for me to transition into a new career path. Their curriculum is appropriately comprehensive and self-paced, tuition is reasonable, and they provide an abundance of resources for every step along the way. I have no regrets and am so grateful I found them! They've also continued to stick to their job guarantee despite the COVID pandemic, which to me speaks volumes.  

I am currently taking the UX intensive bootcamp that spans for 10 months. I am on the last achievements, working towards my portfolio, and I can tell you that it was well worth the price. I was a little hesitant at first, but the amount of information you can learn is crazy. This not only teaches you how to build a portfolio, but could also apply to creating a business and other aspects of your life. The tutor and mentor are so on point, and will answer my messages quickly when I am stuck. The people are so accommodating. You can tell that everyone there is super passionate about what they do, and this inspires me. I never learned completely online, and I find that I have been able to adapt really well with such a strong community!

I just recently graduated from the UX design program and I had a great experience with CareerFoundry. Especially the tutor and mentor combination really helped and motivated me to stay on track with the course and answering all the questions I had to better understand UX design and its industry.

I just finished the Introduction to UX Design course on CareerFoundry, overall a really fantastic course. What helped me the most were the detailed and encouraging feedbacks from my tutor as well as the opportunity to get two mentoring calls. I really enjoyed the course project too. 

I have completed the Intro to UX Design course and I am currently doing Career Foundry's full UX Immersion.

I think CF provides great value for money compared to the other schools and I really love their positive and encouraging learning philosophy. The course is structured well, having you complete a piece of your project during each lesson.

Having a mentor to call and get feedback from is super helpful. As someone doing a career transitioning having this resource feels so valuable. Also there is a welcoming community on Slack where it's easy to reach out to the school, career counsellors, and other students for help.

Since it's a self paced course, you have to be disciplined enough to stick with it- you will get out how much you put in. But overall I can say that the school provides a lot of elements to helping you succeed which is great.

Perfect place to get into a different stream with zero knowledge in it. The Mentors, tutors, student advisors and the whole team helps to make us into a Pro from beginner. All are well trained and professionals. Great course structure levelling up from intro to end. I really enjoyed the course, learned a lot, improved thinking creative, boosts up the confidence.... everything. I really really satisfied with the careerFoundry and will definitely recommend people to take a course with the CareerFoundry. Thank you team for being with me and helping me all the time when needed. 

 The course teaches you the important basics on what it needs to become a UX-Designer. The tutors and mentors are professional and the ressources are very well sorted and helpful for beginners and intermediates alike. With a real sense for progression the course motivates you to not only achieve your goals fast but also to go a bit further and dive deep into a topic. I really enjoyed the tempo of the course.
I just started the optional job prep course but for now it is great as well. Can only recommend CF! 

Best online-learning platform!

I've taken courses at General Assembly, Bloc, and now CF. Though all have pros and cons I will say CF has the most thorough self-paced course of them all. GA weighed heavily on the instructor and Bloc wasn't as extensive considering the price. I found CF to be a nice balance and give you the most bang for your buck.

The UX Design Program is an intensive, and concept heavy course, with lots of helpful information for anyone wanting an introduction to the UX methodology. I'd suggest having some basic graphic and graphic software knowledge before you decide to apply for the course to be able to finish your tasks in the estimated time, especially if English is not your first language.

There's a lot of reading, research, writing, and you'll need to learn using software or graphic language mostly all by yourself. I don't think this is necessarily bad, it's a normal studying process, but it can be stressful to meet the deadlines while having to do some extra research on the side. 

Overall, the course meets my level of satisfaction, and the whole experience with CareerFoundry is a positive journey.

This type of online bootcamp is really dependent on how great your mentors/tutors are, and I was lucky that my mentors were super hands-on and were not hesitant to give me constructive criticism.  The courses itself had some issues with flow and lessons not matching the assignments (at least for front-end dev specialization), but I am aware that they had just recently changed the lesson.  This is probably a good sign that they take into consideration student feedback and are trying to adjust accordingly!  So while it made for a confusing experience, I can appreciate their hard work.  

Just while having a hard time to find the career of my dreams I saw and advertisement of Careerfoundry. I was subscribing to their daily UX/UI mail and even the small articles I got for free, were so interesting I immediately decided I want more of this. I started my studies in June 2019 and I am super satisfied with my decision. The articles are clear and easy to understand with extra resources about the topic. The tutor who is assigned is helpful and ready to answer all of the questions I have. Their advisor team is super nice and they even check up on me regularly about how I am feeling with the course. The physical distance does not affect the quality of the studies as there is a great communication flow between the students and teachers and we even have a huge slack community. I had one bad experience with one teacher but everything was sorted out nicely, and feedback is always welcome.
The goals are reachable even beside a full time job, and you can ask for more time if you are sick, or having a holiday.
I had a small graphic design background but believe me you do not need any. You just need some imagination and creativity but you won't be lost if you dont have any design background.
I did not even finish the whole course, but I already got promoted within my company just because the portfolio I made and because of the knowledge I received from Careerfoundry.
Also I am really thankful for the way the articles are written. not too dry and really down to earth.

Thank you again CareerFoundry. And keep it going! You rock!

https://hasnik.wixsite.com/mysite/post/career-foundry-why-they-not-others
You can read more about how much I am grateful, appreciative and why do I recommend Career Foundry to Everyone on The Planet Earth on my website! Honestly speaking I do not give 5 stars often. I am actually often writing less positive feedbacks, super honest about everything and everyone but Career Foundry is beyond measure of 5 stars.
If I could I would give them 10+ for all categories. That speaks for itself. 😏

They gave me Wings to Fly HIGH! and below you would read what kind of Wings I got with Career Foundry. If you want extra tips on how to get a dream career with a great salary, please contact me. Have a great ride! You do not need Luck, you need Career Foundry!

I've just filled the Alumni Job Survey on Career Foundry LinkedIn group (6 months support, coaching even when you get your first career, which School or University does it? None, just Career Foundry) and I decided to share with you what I got from them because without Career Foundry I would not have this awesome career as UX/UI Designer. Let's see how it goes, it is new plus present sci-fi situation but my GUT Feeling, my Intuition is telling me the good stuff are coming even more and I feel so.
The trust is what we all need, in time of taking the new brave step to a new career path and when we reach pour dream career.

I was asked on this survey provided by Career Foundry if I am willing to help other students with their career path. Yes, I do. 😊 You can reach me at any time even you the reader of Career Report by connecting with me through my website above and below LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/katarzynahasnik/


One of my role in my present career UX/UI Designer is also implementing Agile Culture across the DevOps Team based in Ireland and other countries. I am Leader of DevOps, working directly with CEO and CTO, Co-founders, shareholders, clients, Marketing Executive boosting written marketing content, Graphic Designer by revaluating design, logo etc. My role would be updated to Head of Design or Creative Director after initial time as already I was told. Let's see. Just day by day, see how it goes, in this sci-fi, you never know...how the next day would look like, so take it easy and fun😎 I had been called Scrum Master already 😏and running "Clarity of Communication" weekly workshops to implement transparent culture, honest and upfront. I mentor my workmate, Graphic Designer by daily Zoom to field fo UX/UI. Plus I create UX/UI for our software products.

Just a few more words about the recruiting process.
When you know you know. It is not about Love only. Let the MAGIC happen! Believe it and let the Gut speak for you. Do not analyse too much. Logical thinking does not work here. Just go with the flow. Hiring managers, CTO, Co-Founder - KNOWS BETTER. 😊 Let go if something takes too long and let Universe do work for you! 🥳
There were 2 companies, which contacted me super fast with hiring managers interview phone calls, which went very well but the process of recruiting was slow (big companies). There was also a positive outcome by networking event open for me but due to the present situation was put on hold. In mid-time a very high level of professionalism recruiter found me on LinkedIn, call me immediately with an email with descriptions. All process took 7 working days from phone call to confirmed career offer with my weekend away in mid-time (4 days, why not to take a break from it 😎). Altogether from finishing the Job Preparation course, it took less than 3 weeks in a career search after graduation at a very easy, relaxed phase. I could start earlier but I needed to finish some projects and get into New Chapter, New Begining, go shopping etc 🙂. I and my boss established a date of start together on mutual agreement, New Moon, 24th of March as we both are into those type of stuff, which is even cooler. 😁 I also suggested or more even required to hire Junior Developer as part of the Dublin team. The great guy was chosen who click with us, similar mindset and interests count so much and we all started at New Moon. I am there for 9 days feels like we know each other for months and we did a lot.😊

More about my amazing recruiter here:
https://hasnik.wixsite.com/mysite/post/is-recruiting-process-stressful

https://hasnik.wixsite.com/mysite/post/career-foundry-why-they-not-others
More about how much I am grateful, appreciative and why do I recommend Career Foundry to Everyone on The Planet Earth! Honestly speaking I do not give 5 stars often. I am actually often writing less positive feedbacks about everything and but Career Foundry is beyond measure of 5 stars.
If I could I would give them 10+ for all categories. That speaks for itself. 😏

They gave me Wings to Fly HIGH! and below you would read what kind of Wings I got with Career Foundry. If you want extra tips on how to get a dream career with a great salary, please contact me. Have a great ride! You do not need Luck, you need Career Foundry!

I've just filled the Alumni Job Survey on Career Foundry LinkedIn group 96 months support, coaching even when you get your first career) and I decided to share with you what I got from them.

I was asked on this survey if I am willing to help other students with their career path. Yes, I do. 😊 You can reach me at any time even you the reader of Career Report by connecting with me through my website above and below LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/katarzynahasnik/
One of my role in my present career UX/UI Designer is also implementing Agile Culture across the DevOps Team based in Ireland and other countries. I am Leader of DevOps, working directly with CEO and CTO, Co-founders, shareholders, clients, Marketing Executive boosting written marketing content, Graphic Designer by revaluating design, logo etc. My role would be updated to Head of Design or Creative Director after initial time as already I was told. Let's see. Just day by day, see how it goes, in this sci-fi, you never know...how the next day would look like, so take it easy and fun😎 I had been called Scrum Master already 😏and running "Clarity of Communication" weekly workshops to implement transparent culture, honest and upfront. I mentor my workmate, Graphic Designer by daily Zoom to field fo UX/UI. Plus I create UX/UI for our software products. 

Just a few more words about the recruiting process. 

There were 2 companies, which contacted me super fast with hiring managers interview phone calls, which went very well but the process of recruiting was slow (big companies). There was also a positive outcome by networking event open for me but due to the present situation was put on hold. In mid-time a very high level of professionalism recruiter found me on LinkedIn, call me immediately with an email with descriptions. All process took 7 working days from phone call to confirmed career offer with my weekend away in mid-time (4 days, why not to take a break from it 😎). Altogether from finishing the Job Preparation course, it took less than 3 weeks in a career search after graduation at a very easy, relaxed phase. I could start earlier but I needed to finish some projects and get into New Chapter, New Begining, go shopping etc ☺️. I and my boss established a date of start together on mutual agreement, New Moon, 24th of March as we both are into those type of stuff 😁. I also suggested or more even required to hire Junior Developer as part of Dublin time. The great guy was chosen who click with us and we all started at New Moon. I am there for 9 days feels like we know each other for months. 😊

I am so thankful for CareerFoundry. The UX Design Certification online gave me flexibility to keep working and the interaction with my mentor (a Senior Designer 7+ years of UX industry experience) was invaluable. The curriculum is extremely thorough and well designed. Additionally, I had a great experience with the job prep course and the Career Specialists. Sami and Jennifer were an amazing source of support! Everyone I interacted with at CareerFoundry was helpful. They have a great staff as well as amazing tutors and mentors.
 I enjoyed interacting with other students and alumni through slack and have made friends through the course as well.

My advice: be prepared to put in the work and then additional work after you complete the course. Networking is essential. Be open to feedback and apply it. Use all the CareerFoundry resources to your advantage while you are in the course (and after). UX Design is very hard field to break into but the CareerFoundry program gave me the design training, resources and job preparation/career advice to get an awesome entry level UX job (far better than I imagined was possible for me). CareerFoundry is worth the investment. It changed my life and I am so thankful and excited about my new career!!! 

My experience with career foundry has been great! One reason I  decided to take the UX design course with them is because of the good communication and extra help from mentors. There's also a strong sense of community. 

The course was informative and helpful overall. I did find it overpriced for what it is, and expected a more in-depth learning experience. A big downside to me was not having any idea about how other students were doing and therefore not being able to ‘chart’ my learning in comparison to peers. Likewise, the tutor’s feedback on my work had no score so I never really found out how good I was doing and how much better it could be. Each tutor has their own opinions as well, so obviously to get tasks approved it has to meet their standards or expectations, and not necessarily those which are universal. Coming from no background in design though, I did learn a lot. Of course, further research is required if you want to learn in more depth. Lesson tasks are not repeated (you do it once and are expected to learn it) and there doesn’t seem to be much of a flow between one lesson and the next. The last two achievements of the Immersion course felt random and didn’t connect to each other properly, and the lessons themselves weren’t thorough. I felt like some lessons in the Immersion course were wasted on irrelevant content, some could have been more properly explained, and others could have been combined to one lesson instead of two or three. Each exercise does show three examples of other students’ work for that lesson, which is a good guide if you didn’t really understand firsthand what is expected. Starting my first job soon, I don’t feel confident enough in my knowledge, especially since I won’t be working within a UX team but rather alone and am going to have to figure a lot out for myself. It was hard for me to find friends or students to keep in touch with from the slack channels, because everyone seems to keep to themselves and has not much interest in maintaining friendships or acquaintances. The slack career channels are a bit discouraging and all the channels in general are heavily monitored by the school admin, which in my opinion discourages communication between students. Of course, doing the course was useful to me. I finished it 3 weeks earlier than planned, and also got a job within two and a half weeks after graduating which is a very short time. I also got a big jump in salary from what I was earning in my previous line of work. The field is much more competitive and hard to get into than is first advertised by the school though, which comes as a big shock when you are knee deep in the course versus when you begin and have a lot of high hopes. The course does what it says but beware. A lot of the job postings are looking for people with a background in tech, design or psychology. None of which I have! They also take preference with those who have some kind of degree in those areas. It’s a highly competitive field and finding a job is no easy task.