CareerFoundry

I'm over halfway through my UI Design course at CareerFoundry and am very satisfied with this school! I have a mentor, a tutor, and advisor! The course has tons of resources as well as a job placement program. They also have a supportive Slack channel for students and alumni to connect around the world. I like that the course is on my own time, so I can work full-time and go to school - I don't have to quit my job to do an intensive 3 month bootcamp! : ) I'd highly recommend for anyone looking for a career change!

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The tutors and mentors are professional and the resources 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! Read less

CareerFoundry was the push I needed to start my career change! I am so glad that I decided to take the course. I was a bit nervous at first about juggling it part time while working full time, but it has allowed me to go at my own pace and learn what I was hoping to about UX and more! My tutor and mentor have been super helpful with feedback and any questions I have.  Read less

I cannot express how thankful I am for CareerFoundry! When the pandemic hit, I lost my job as a freelancer in the fashion industry and realized how unstable the industry was. I needed to make a career change quickly and was so lost. With no previous tech knowledge, this course has helped guide me through difficult lessons and taught me an entirely new skill set. Ultimately, CareerFoundry has given me hope to turn around my future in an uncertain time. Read less

At a time where job security means more than ever, CF was a perfect investment of my time not only for hard skills, but also for my confidence! The student community, instructors and mentors as well as support staff go above and beyond to help you succeed and I’m so grateful I decided to invest in this program. So worth it. Read less

This is a great course for anyone who is looking to get into UX - whether you have background knowledge/experience in the field or not. Having consistent feedback and support from my tutor and mentor has been the driving force in keeping me motivated to complete the program. Read less

Going into this new field of UX Design, I was so nervous and really wasn't sure where to start. Even from the beginning, just asking about the program, the advisor I spoke was so helpful and answering all of my questions and was so open about the program. It didn't feel like a sales pitch and they genuinely seemed interested in what my goals were. I'm still working my way through the course but I am so happy that I chose CareerFoundry. The curriculum really pushes me to think creatively and I feel like it's organized well where I don't feel too overwhelmed with information. The tutors and mentors are so helpful and really lift up your spirits, providing feedback that will only help me to become a better UX Designer. They are prompt with their responses and give me great insight into this field. I'm excited to see what's still to come! Read less

When I was looking for a UX bootcamp in June 2020, I used Course Report myself. I decided to take the UX program of CareerFoundry. I turned out to be a great decision. My mentor is awseome, she helps me to develop as a UX designer a lot. We have weekly calls via Skype but we text regular about my project as well. She answers quickly and supports me finding solutions for design problems. I had some issues with my tutor but my mentor helped us to solve the problem - everything is fine by now. The job support is good as far as I can evaluate that (I just started with Job Preparation Course). The Job mentor is looking for individual advice and answer open questions. Really positive was that my mentor connected me with another person who had more job experience in my area. So far I am really happy with my decision and I can recommend CareerFoundry! Read less

The introduction to UX Design course offered by Career Foundry was a great fit for my busy schedule. The course being taught at my own pace was ideal since I am currently a full time student. I received a lot of helpful feedback for all of my assignments which made the effort I put into them worth it. I would recommend this course to anytime who is trying to learn the fundamentals of UX Design. Read less

The structure of the course itself is great! My tutor has been really helpful, she responds within minutes most of the time. However, my experience with my mentor isn't too good, I had to wait for 3-4 days for his response, which was slowing down my career growth. It was upsetting that I felt like my tutor was the only person supporting me during the UX program. It really depends on your luck if you get a good mentor, and to request for a change of mentor isn't as simple as we think. I am currently still waiting for the mentor team to respond to me about this matter and hopefully I get a new mentor to give me guidance and support.  Read less

I read many reviews before deciding to sign up for the CareerFoundry's UX Design Program. The reviews tend to be pretty good, so I had high hopes when I started the program. However, my experience was not was I was expecting, and I'll get into that.

Initially, I talked to the program advisor, and she told me there would be hundreds of mentor calls that would be available to me. That was one of the main reasons I picked CareerFoundry over DesignLab and Springboard. The program advisor was responsive and helpful. Everything sounded good to me, so I signed up shortly after that. What they don't tell you is that your mentor will only be available for limited hours per week. You will have to compete with your mentor's other students to schedule meeting times. I was in the program for two weeks, and my mentor was "available" for 4 hours per week, which split between students who schedule the fastest.

I messaged my mentor and tutor on the first day and started working my way through the program. A week had gone by, and my mentor still hadn't responded. All of the useful insight I had received had been from fellow students on Slack. My tutor was Indian, with English as a second language for him, I often found him difficult to understand at times. I had my girlfriend, who is a linguist, look over some of the messages that I wasn't understanding, and she told me they didn't make any sense.

I was on my second week at this point, and my mentor was still unresponsive, so I asked for a new mentor. They told me to keep messaging him, so I did, and I still didn't receive a response. I asked for a new mentor again (which I never got). 

I started asking if others were having issues with their mentors and tutors in the Slack channel, and it turns out I wasn't the only one. There was an active thread about people having issues (I took five screenshots of this). Other students had been asking for new mentors or tutors as well. I think there was a known issue with the notifications for the website's chat.

Towards the end of my second week, my tutor rejected one of my projects.  I looked over it a few times, and I couldn't figure out where the issue was because he was kind of vague. I asked him to clarify because I didn't understand. He told me, "It's not that hard. Keep trying. I'm sure you'll figure it out". And that was it for me. I sent a message to notify of my withdrawal from the program. And then my mentor responded. :)

Overall, despite my bad experience, the program isn't that bad, but it is heavily dependant on who you get for a mentor and tutor. I talked to a lot of my fellow students, and the majority of them were having good experiences and were happy with the program. The curriculum, although not very deep, provides a solid foundation for core concepts that you need to know, and it helps you practice them. But because they don't make getting a new mentor or tutor easy, I cannot recommend the program. If they did, I would probably still be in it. Read less

I've only completed the UX intro course, but the experience has been great. The course program is very well thought, you can track your progress through the website, the content is very complete and relevant and the staff, like mentors, tutors, and advisors, are all very helpful and nice. It's hard work, but you'll get everything you need to complete the course. Fully satisfied!! Read less

The CareerFoundry program has a very well structured learning program, it is very well explained, at the end of each session there is a task to complete, which helps to better understand the content. The task is then submitted and reviewed by your assigned tutor, whom will gives you feedback and real life industry's insights.
You will also have a mentor with whom you can schedule calls and review your portfolio exercises.
Once reaching 50% of the program, you will then have the option to work with a career advisor on your: goals, career strategy, LinkedIn profile, resume, interviews method etc.. I found this option really helpful and the earliest you start with it the better prepare you'll be.
Coming from the cruise ship industry, my background is hospitality, no previous knowledge about design, UX, programs or any technology field related existed. CareerFoundry guided me through the whole process, within few weeks I was already able to prototype and design an application.
I agree that the price to learn is not cheap and you can found cheaper options but in this case "You get what you paid for".

To summarise:

Pros

• Great content and program structure.
• 1-2 portfolio projects to show at the completion of your course.
• Tutor to review all your exercises and guide you through them.
• Mentor and Career Advisor to prepare you to the "real world".
• Slack channel where you can join a community, find  "study-buddies" or simply network.
• A lot of information available: blog, online office hours, reading material...
• CareerFoundry student's discount in programs. 
• Flexible program to learn at your own pace.

Cons

• Price.
• The program doesn't teach you how to use the tools, which can be time consuming if you're not familiar with similar's programs.
• A mentor is a pretty important figure in your career, it would have been great if you could choose and not get assigned to one.

If you have any doubts or questions you can always contact me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddevoto

I'll be happy to connect and assist!

Cheers
David Devoto

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