Chegg Skills Reviews
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Stephanie Gomez Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics
Thinkful is a great way to jumpstart your career in the tech world. It opens you up to opportunities and the modules are easy to understand. I received the help I needed when I got stuck and learned the skills needed to be valuable to employers. I was able to get out of my dead end job and am excited for what the future holds. -
Anthony Verified via LinkedIn
Would recommend if you're starting at basics
If you're starting out and you don't know anything about Vlookups, Match Index, or Joins, this is perfect. If you're slightly familiar this will give you a formalized training. The mentors are super professional and -
Armend Pashtriku Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analyst
Overall, a great course to get the base understanding of data analyst skills you'll need to use on the job. -
Tiarah K. Verified via LinkedIn
I would recommend!
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A little over a week ago, I completed the Immersive UX/UI program at Thinkful. The program is intensive; there was a lot of information to take in in five months; nevertheless, they were willing to work with me based on my situation. Thinkful's support and the academic team are fantastic; they understand that life is full of unpredictable events, and they were willing to support me based on my situation. My family and I are deeply affected by COVID-19, my ASM, mentor, and the academic team were able to help me and give me options to remain enrolled to complete the program. Thinkful offers a wide range of tuition options; my family and I benefited much from the ISA + stipend. Overall, I believe the curriculum adequately equipped me for my new career in user experience and interface design. Each week we got a deeper understanding of each phase in the design process. All of the instructors and ASM's are professional and knowledgeable, and so are most mentors. Upon graduating, I've been working closely with a careers specialist who has been assisting me in finding work with my new profound knowledge. -
Melissa D. Verified via LinkedIn
UX Design Grad
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I recently completed the UX Design Immersion program. I'm really glad I did it, though I am still looking for a job (I just graduated 2 weeks ago - why I left the job Assistance as N/A, though they do seem to have a great assistance program from what I can tell.) Some other students in my cohort were already interviewing/landed roles before graduation but they tended to have some background in design already. I think this program is a great way to get into UX and really teaches you everything you need to know. It moves fast though and we didn't often revisit topics once we had moved on (so take good notes and look at them again later.) My only critiques would be that student should receive more hands on training in the design software (Figma) and the web building platform (Webflow for building our portfolio). Just because I am able to pass a design assignment doesn't necessarily mean I did it in the most efficient way possible, ya know? YouTube and forums help and further self study with the software is recommended if you want to get the most out of it. That should be exciting not daunting - this is our careers we are talking about so hit it hard because this is all for you! -
Daniel Renfro Verified via GitHub
Engineering Immersion Program Gratduate
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I recently graduated from Thinkful in March of 2021. My experience with Thinkful was for sure a mixed bag of some amazing experiences and then several regrettable situations. I had heard about Thinkful from a friend who had been through their program 3 years before. He raved about the mentorship and the pair-programming that happened through the program to help you learn software development. The mentor assigned to me was AMAZING. He went above and beyond to serve and help me survive a very rocky cohort. However, by the time I started the program they had switched models from pair-programming to working in online remote teams of 4 to 5 people. These teams were loosely structured and didn't provide enough accountability or support through the program to really help. The reason I signed up for the Engineering Immersion program was that I knew accountability, camaraderie, and going through this tough program with others would be crucial to my success. However, two months into the program I found myself working alone for the last 3 months. This made finishing the program much harder and more grueling. Although I have heard that they have since restructured their team structures to be more involved and structured, my experience with this was very negative.
Another unfortunate situation in my cohort was that they removed Office Hours as something that was offered to students at the beginning of my program. I signed up for this program thinking that was something that would be included in my support structure only to have it taken away a couple of weeks into the program. This was disappointing and frustrating to have the program changed on you once you had already begun.
To discuss other aspects of the program. The curriculum was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed learning from it! My Academic Success Manager was PHENOMENAL and was wholeheartedly dedicated to my success! If it had not been for her, I do not think I would have survived this program. The majority of the teachers were excellent and very helpful. I only had one instructor who I found to be subpar during my REACT section of the program. The TAs were very mixed for me. For some of them, it didn't feel like they knew what in the world they were doing and consistently wasted my time trying to help me solve a problem. However, there were some amazing TAs who were repeatedly helpful and amazing! As I mentioned above, my mentor was phenomenal, though I definitely heard from other students that their mentors were subpar. My advice would be not to hesitate to ask for a new mentor if you find yourself in the latter situation. The career coaches have been exemplary. Every single one of them I've had contact with has been exceptional. Some say they are the highest value part of this program.
The reason that I believe that I can still leave a good review for Thinkful is the team that surrounded me on my journey. They supported me and helped me every step of the way and without them, there would be no way that I would ever have graduated from this program. Bootcamps are unmistakably hard and difficult programs and Thinkful isn't perfect. But if you are committed to learning Software Development and want a jumpstart to getting into the industry, I believe it is an excellent route to go. -
Anya Verified via GitHub
Changed my career track
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I graduated from the Immersion Software Engineering program a month ago. Overall, the course was paced very quickly and, unless you have prior experience with code, prepare to spend the majority of your free time trying to dissect the material. The coursework is broken down into modules and, within each module, there is a checkpoint with an assessment (this is autograded for the most part) that will need to be completed. There are a few capstone projects which make good portfolio features and there are several technical assessments in the form of a live interview that you have to pass in order to graduate.
This autograding system, I learned, was a new addition to the course and my cohort was the first the experience it. That being said, there were quite a few bugs that posed significant challenges in getting the material completed; however, the academic success team is quite flexible and, so long as you are forthcoming and an active communicator, you will not be penalized for missing a deadline for a valid reason. I'd also like to shout out the team who handles bug reports and any curriculum-specific concerns -- they were highly responsive and invested in fixing and improving upon what was already there. They were also quite eager to receive feedback and actively sought it out.
The quality of the instructors varied and while none of them were "bad" in any capacity, some definitely outshone the rest in terms of enthusiasm, general knowledge, and control of the flow of the class. A lot of the work throughout the day is done in groups which are randomly reassigned on a weekly basis. The expectation is that you'll have your webcam on the entire time and are present and interacting with your group members.
Overall, I had to use a lot of outside resources to get my work done but as a dev this is pretty typical. Referencing official documentation is relied on and heavily encouraged! I didn't find the workload to be more than I could handle but I also spent pretty much every waking moment doing something related to the course.
The careers team blew me away. As soon as I graduated, they contacted me and sent me dozens of job listings daily, and made connections for me. They checked in often and were so quick to respond. I genuinely felt that they had my best interests at heart and, thanks entirely to them, I was referred to a company and accepted a position within three weeks of graduation. -
Todd Martin Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics Flex
Excellent course, helped me get hired amidst a flattened economy. -
Jackie Ferrazzi Verified via GitHub
Data Science Flex Review
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I enrolled in the program July 2020, completed curriculum (with a full time remote job) in December 2020, officially graduated January 2021, and accepted a position in the field in May 2021.
Pros
The curriculum was written and paced well enough for someone with no coding experience to complete. That's not to say it was easy. I spent a lot of time reading, re-reading, and annotating notebooks to grasp concepts. But it's for sure do-able. I have a match background which helped some. Plus, if you do get stuck, you can ask your mentor, utilize a chat feature, or post in the Slack community (after Googling & checking Stack Overflow of course).
The mentorship received from your one on one mentor is amazing! Having someone to ask questions to, get feedback or different ideas from, or even ask for resources on topics was extremely helpful throughout the process.
The careers counseling after graduation is top notch! The resources of a personal careers counselor, with "curriculum," around networking, LinkedIn, resume/cover letter, applying, and negotiating were beyond my expectations. Definitely utilize these recourses as much as possible.
Thinkful's Data Science Flex program was more affordable than other similar boot camps. I heard others complain about the financing but I don't have experience with that aspect.
Cons
The grading thoroughness was inconsistent, depending on who graded your work.
I had a great experience with my mentor at first but that changed about halfway through the program as they took on 15 additional students when enrollment in the Data Analyst program got an unexpected boost, started missing scheduled meetings, showed up delirious once, and wouldn't communicate scheduling issues ahead of time. They tried to make up for it by continuing to meet after graduation, but issues persisted. I am totally aware this could be a one off experience and would reiterate this mentor was great at first and still very much value this mentor's feedback as we keep in touch.
There were featured added to the program that enrollees right after me got that I didn't and couldn't get access to. For example, the Python Skills Assessments, maybe modules too, are on the Qualified platform. Because I had already finished that module by the time Thinkful implemented it, I couldn't get access to it. I thought the experience on Qualified's platform could've prepared me better for take home assignments/challenges that companies give through similar platforms. -
Michael Oldacre Verified via LinkedIn
PERN Full-stack
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Overall I found the course to be quite engaging and comprehensive when learning full-stack web development. Having taken several programming classes in college years prior to Thinkful, I never fully grasped creating a completely functional program until I took the boot camp.
Pros:- The PERN Stack is what is being taught
- It is taught in a logical, ordered manner from front-end, back-end, then database
- Many different technologies and frameworks are introduced
- You'll have a completed portfolio by the end
- You have mentoring sessions to supplement the class time
Cons:- Some tools are outdated
- The pace can be quite fast
- Some material, in my opinion, needs to be expounded upon
- The data structures and algorithms section really needs to be taught more thoroughly
If you're thinking about taking the web development immersion course, you can succeed as long as you treat it like a real job and dedicate as much as possible to completing the assignments and doing the readings. In the end, you'll be impressed with how much you've learned and can start as a junior developer confidently. -
Christina Verified via LinkedIn
UX Design - Robust Curriculum w/ Tons of Relevant Value
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I had been working as a graphic designer for 8 years and came to a point where I was bored, feeling like my skills were becoming increasingly irrelevant, and wanting more out of my career. After doing some searching online for ways to build my skills/make a career move, I came across Thinkful's UX/UI Design Flex bootcamp. Everything about it sounded exactly like the career move I was looking for, and it worked great with my schedule.
After completing the program, I can't say enough how grateful I am for the mentorship and coaching, as well as the relevant coursework. 6 months after graduating, I've landed my dream job making more money that I ever thought possible for myself. What I will say is that you get out of it what you put in. If you go into it with a hunger to learn and the humility to receive constructive feedback, you will succeed. My advice to anyone who takes the program is to gain as much relevant experience during and after the program i.e. volunteer work, internships, etc. -
Sabrina Verified via LinkedIn
Great course to kickstart your career
The curriculum is easily digestible and the instructors genuinely care about our success. Thinkful definitely made me passionate about design and helped me kickstart my career quickly. That being said, I wish the curriculum included more in-depth information about front and back-end work as well as how to use portfolio building sites. My overall experience with Thinkful has been excellent. -
Alex Whitmore Verified via GitHub
Software Engineering Immersion
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Overall I had a great experience with Thinkful and I would sign up again in a heartbeat. You will truly get back whatever you put in to it. Most people I knew put in a significant amount of EXTRA time to either catch up on assignments that they were behind on or just to learn the material better. The curriculum is definitely fast paced but it's all very relevant to the job market in which you will be entering upon graduation which makes getting a job that much easier. My cohort in general was the first iteration of a new variation of the curriculum which meant there we some typos and a few bugs but they were never of any significance.
The instructors were all great and had a TON of experience so no matter the questions you had for them, they were almost always able to answer them for you. A lot of my fellow graduates have already obtained jobs and it's been less than a month since graduating.
My biggest pieces of advice: sign up for the next cohort, put as much time in as you possibly can (seriously), and apply to jobs very early (our cohort started in December, I started applying in January, received an offer in March). -
E Verified via LinkedIn
You’re better off with free resources
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You can learn more for free and end up with no debt. I recently graduated from the UX/UI immersion program and I don't feel equipped for the workforce and I need to pay ~ 30k (I was a living stipend student). Save yourself and go with coursera or Google and read Sprint by Jake Knapp. I'm really disappointed with the curriculum. On top of that, my current career coach has not helped me in any valuable way and never responds to me. Let's see if I am even able to land a decent job to pay off this insane debt. -
Bridget Verified via LinkedIn
Remote Education to Transition in a Tech-Related Career
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It was in the midst of the anguished-filled 2020 pandemic where I realized that I did NOT want to work (cranky) customer-facing retail for the rest of my increasingly uncertain days!
I already had a STEM background. Years ago, I had obtained a Bachelor's of Science in Environmental Studies from a large state university. In retrospect, one of my greatest regrets was not properly seeking out internships or training for job seeking itself while I was still an undergraduate. Hence me now languishing, working underemployed in retail during a pandemic despite having an undergraduate degree. I had no proper guidance or motivation to effectively job search, network, or practice interviews post-graduation long ago!
Because I already had a STEM background, learning some data analytics concepts wasn't too difficult or foreign to me. While obtaining my B.S. degree, I already learned how to implement basic Excel spreadsheet functions, create effective PowerPoint presentations, calculate basic statistical functions, and think scientifically and critically. Online Thinkful coursework can begin easily enough while motivation is high, but unfortunately the coursework can become more challenging while motivation diminishes! This is why I really appreciated weekly mentor online meetings. These regular mentor meetings and email communications kept me accountable, on track, helped me solve coursework roadblocks, and reassured my occasional Imposter Syndrome away.
The benefits of education online is that it's very flexible to students' personal schedules (especially the "flex" programs, as per their names). Additionally, online school during a pandemic has no risk of contagion spread, unlike traditional in-person education. With that said, one must be DISCIPLINED and create a determined weekly schedule to effectively succeed in such a flexible education! This same learning flexibility can make it very tempting for a student to slack off and not learn or complete work as effectively! Always remember why you originally started this program when the motivation gets very low...
Additionally, the Thinkful data analytics flex program coursework is only a starting point to learn certain technologies and programming languages- it is not the end all, be all! Luckily, there are countless different resources out there to supplement the learning of Excel, PowerPoint, SQL, Tableau, and Python 3. There are books, ebooks, YouTube videos, LinkedIn further education videos, blogs, Slack groups, online coding practice websites, Stack Overflow, and even TikTok videos to practice and reinforce data analytics and data science technologies and concepts. Choose the best learning medium(s) for oneself! How else was I supposed to practice coding proper syntax in SQL and Python 3 outside of the Thinkful course content?
The most valuable resource to me personally was the career-related coursework in Thinkful. This was the critical jobsearching information that I never learned back when I was an undergraduate that could have theoretically help start my environmental science career with my newly minted skillset back then...if I could have just learned this as an undergraduate! Thinkful coursework includes how to effectively write resumes and cover letters; craft an eye-catching LinkedIn profile; network and conduct informational interviews; and excel in behavoral and culture fit interviews. After all, what use is one's new job skillset if one cannot effectively advertise oneself in the jobmarket to get hired in the new prospective field in the first place?
Very helpfully, post-graduation I have a career couch who, similar to my mentors during my main coursework, give me effective job-hunting advice and motivation via weekly video meetings and regular email correspondence. This is crucial for me to actually land my first data analytics role post-graduation with my new skillset! As of this review writing, within the first month of me job hunting using the career couching, I have not yet received any job offers. However, I have received two job interview screening requests! I am very hopeful, despite how mentally and emotionally grueling job searching activities can typically be!
Overall, I would definitely recommend Thinkful courses, especially to STEM-minded individuals needing a quick career reboot in the very prospective and rapidly growing tech industries!
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John Gonzalez Verified via LinkedIn
UX/UI Design Immersion
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Thinkful was a great bootcamp that helped me understand the in's and out's of the UX/UI design process. They have great financing options for any type of situation which made the decision a no-brainer for me. The instructors were great and knowledgeable and my mentor was amazing. My mentor helped me a lot during the course and kept it real with me throughout the whole process. He made learning a lot easier and progressing in my skills much smoother. I feel really confident coming out of the bootcamp and I'm excited to start working in the field as a certified UX/UI designer. -
Carmen Verified via LinkedIn
Data Science Immersion
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Thinkfuls Data Science Immersion program is amazing. My instructor, mentor, ASM were friendly and always willing to help me beyond what I expected. There are many ways to reach out for help when the instructor isn't available like the TA's and Thinkchat (you can chat with technical experts and were live almost all day!).
Although this is a fast paced program, there are many materials to learn from. For example, the modules, instructor lectures, and team assignments so it was easy to get practice. You will go over how to use git and github, postgreSQL, A/b testing, supervised and unsupervised learning, time series analysis/forcasting, natural language processing (nlp), neural networks, big data, and more. The modules go along with the lectures well so if you don't understand the reading, you can discuss it with yout instructor the next day in your meetings. There are 4 projects (capstones) that I did and had the freedom to pick a dataset or even collect it there were no constraints. They give you about a week to finish your projects but for the final it's about 2 weeks. You will have to present some capstones like the final with an assesor ( All the assessors have been very friendly and spend extra time giving you advice in detail afterwards for both interviews and projects). For projects that dont require an assesor my cohort and I had to present to one another and get feedback.
The best part of Thinkful is that they integrate Careers into the learning. For example, they teach you how to make an effective resume/cover letter, go over different types of interviews (and towards the end have an assessor grade you live). They then grade this work and always give an explanation on how to improve.
I only had positive experiences with Thinkful. The staff are great and want you to succeed after graduating which is so motivating! -
Yuri L. Verified via LinkedIn
Software Engineering Flex
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I did my extensive research and interview before I decided to enroll in Thinkful. They have the best value.
1. You can learn the first few checkpoints to decide if this is a good fit for you, both the career path and curriculum
2. You can switch out your mentor and ASM if they are not compatible with you, we all have different personality, as long as we keep it professional
3. You will have somebody to reach out to should you have questions at any humanly possible hour, you are not alone, there is an entire community backing you up
You will be learning web development through Javascript, HTML, CSS, jQuery, React, Node.js, Express.js, Java (after you graduate), and an intro on algorithm. I can't tell you if any of these would be 100% useful for you, but Thinkful gave me a chance, gave me a head start on my new career.
Yes, you may struggle and question yourself. But all you need to do is ask for help, and Thinkful will provide within their best ability. -
Khandaker Sultana Verified via GitHub
Course filled in the gaps for what I didn't learn in undergrad school.
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It has been a real pleasure to be part of the Thinkful software engineering program. Attending Thinkful gave me guidance and direction when I was trying to resume my career after a gap. I had been looking at online boot camps for some time and came across Thinkful. After researching each of the different curriculums I decided that Software Engineering is the one I was most interested in. Before the course, they offer Prep-coursework to prepare for applying for the full course which was not only free but also I had a mentor who helps me twice a week. Each week, there was a pair programming which I enjoyed a lot. This is a great program! I have been challenged with every project. Each week we go through quite a charming learning process in the platform. Then there is a project where you can imply the knowledge from the lessons and are being reviewed by the grading team. The best part of the program is your dedicated mentor who assists you with learning the concepts, while even providing additional resources to help you work through the problems. From my experience, all the questions I had were answered by the really wonderful staff members through email or Slack. Whether it's the technical support team who will answer challenging tasks questions or the community managers and mentors in the interacting platform. There's always someone to answer my question and it seems like they really care about the students' progress and they are eager to see them finish the course successfully.
During the course, they offer coursework to prepare for applying for jobs however I found it hard to balance that with my main coursework. But you can wait until after graduation and they are still there to help you prepare. We will have your dedicated career coach who will show you a great way to contact the employer yourself. The amount of job support you get is good for the price of the course and they do also have various payment options available according to your need. With the growing number of boot camps out there, I think it can be difficult to take the leap and jump in, and I recognize that there was a bit of luck that went into my success, but if you are curious about software Development and able to work hard to develop your portfolio, I think Thinkful is worth looking into. -
Emma Verified via LinkedIn
UX/UI Immersion Program
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This is a great remote UX/UI design program focused on learning design thinking, user research/testing, wireframing, prototyping, visual design, content strategy, information architecture, and branding. I learned industry-based practices and design process standards focused on UX research, visual design, and front-end development.
The program is not everyone's style; expect to work very hard, but to have the support. It's very much about what you put into the program, and then you will get it back.
I felt very supported by my mentor, instructors, and everyone involved within the program. -
Lexi Green Verified via LinkedIn
So Much More Than A Bootcamp/Immersive
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Thinkful's staff, curriculum, resources, and interface are all so thoughtful, informative, reasonable, and designed to be complimentary to its students and the changing needs of a technology based society. I was blown away by how often our instructors and staff members took the time to check in with us during our day. I always felt supported, listened to, and cared about. Although the program was challenging and isn't everyone's learning style, whenever I felt stuck, unsure, or needing additional resources Thinkful always had them at the ready with multiple options.
Handling Excel, SQL, Tableau, and Python as our main units I feel like we were prepare for the real world though I do wish we had been able to put them into play with our capstone projects a bit more. No program is perfect and I love that Thinkful gave me the tools to be able to know that these tools are the ones I'd like to practice on my own moving forward. For me personally- the curriculum and staff made all the difference in this program. Those factors were pinnacle for me and as I just graduated last month a job assistance has been overwhelmingly wonderful as well.
I would and have highly recommend this program and Thinkful in general to others! -
Liron Verified via GitHub
Software Engineering Immersion Program
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Signing up for Thinkful has been the best decision I've made in my life. I did their Software Engineering Immersion Program from November 2020 to April 2021 where I gained all the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful career in dev and it opened a lot of doors for me that I didn't even know existed. Thanks to Thinkful, my mentor, TAs, instructors, and their post-graduation career assistance, I am now a contributor to an emerging organization's website and a full time software engineer at a highly respected company in Los Angeles.
I have to say, though, that this isn't for everyone and you really have to be dedicated and passionate in order to succeed. -
Esau Verified via LinkedIn
Feeling skeptical? READ THIS.
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Not going to lie I was at a crossroads. Asking myself What is my life? Where am I going? What does school and employment even look like anymore? I did a lot of research and Thinkful was on the pricey side, but ultimately I think I made the best decision.
New grads find themselves knowledgable and still unemployed. So, education is hardly a way to find yourself gainfully employed.
I do believe that a lot of capable and smart individuals find themselves unable to breakthrough into new careers. This was definitely the case for me. I do not think.
The coursework was good and clear to understand. Do you learn everything you will ever need to participate in the ever changing world of tech through these courses alone? No! And if anyone is selling that to you, they are lying. Learning never stops, in any career.
Thinkful, is innovative in the way that it decides to approach education plus prep work. The fact that my assignments were also projects that let me speak in the language and practice digital marketing skills were easy add-on to my portfolio and definitely helped get freelance clients and interviews.
After completing the course, which took me about 12 weeks ( my life definitely had some turns, everyone was really understanding) I moved on to the job search.
There was a moment during the search ( actually multiple moments), where I felt that I would never get a job! My Career Coach, who is amazing (shout out to Tori), was very real about this. Gave me stats like- most people apply to 200 jobs and only get one job offer.
Finally, one day after so many rejection emails for about 2 months, I found myself moving to Austin with one great job offer at a HUGE tech company.
My Mentor, Jill was amazing we still chat today. It is great to hear from someone who also has a lot of real insight on how the DM world is and how it moves.
I loved the brief interactions we had with students. They were not plentiful for me, but they were nice. I saw many ages, experiences and cultural/ethnic backgrounds represented. This was super important to me.
I would reach out to some of them to ask for help and ideas and most were super nice in helping me out.
Not going to lie, Thinkful will not solve all your problems. But, if you see it as a viable opportunity and try everything with the best intent, then you can find yourself in a new career, job, life etc.
Ok enough of my rant. I will conclude with letting you know that:
- I am glad I did not use another course provider
- I did get the help in the job search I was looking for
- I got the job I wanted
- My pay did go up compared to my other job
- I needed a little me time after working on the course and going through life, Covid, work etc.
Thankful for all of the staff that helped me,
Esau -
Geraldine D. Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics Immersion Program
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I enjoyed my time at Thinkful, and had a great career coach that helped me land a job soon after. The only frustrating part of Thinkful is their antiquated career coach module - they need to not only update what will be necessary for resumes and interviewing, but the attitude of the reviewers are too calloused and unhelpful, and led to some of my peers to experience burn out even before the intensive program was finished. -
Mehmet Ozkemah Verified via GitHub
Data Science Flex Program
The program was intensive and sometimes challenging. However, worth it. Success depends on how hard you work. They lead you to move in the right direction, and you push yourself to learn. End of the course, I got my dream job, and all my hard work paid off! -
Mel F Verified via GitHub
Data Analytics Flex
Greatfoundational base for learning the tools. Up to you to keep applying the skills in independent projects and master the skills. -
Samuel James Balaoro Verified via LinkedIn
Digital Marketing Immersion
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There are not enough words for me to describe my experience at Thinkful.
Before joining, I was very hesitant because I wasn't sure if this was right for me. I'm glad I took the leap of faith and did it. Every part of it was amazing. They told us that many students would quit after the first few weeks because it is an immersion class, but with great teachers, helpful mentors, and supportive classmates, how can you leave? Even the career coaches were amazing on their part. The community was probably what helped me believe that anyone can change the path they're in for the better, no matter what life situation you're in.
I'd highly recommend people who want to learn Digital Marketing or wants a touch-up on their skills to join Thinkful. They teach the fundamentals of Digital Marketing, but the teachers and mentors can also share tips from their personal experiences as they've been in the industry for many years. They do have an online option, but I'd suggest taking the class because there'll be other students and a community to help you in reaching your goals. It's encouraging and fun as well. Now that I work as a Web Designer and Digital Marketing Specialist, I have Thinkful there to be thankful about and will continue to master my craft for myself and for the people I'm blessed to work with. -
Aleks Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics Immersion
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Hello! My story is a little different but I think it’s still very helpful to give some advice to people like me. I am an immigrant who moved during the COVID-19 quarantine. I wanted to start a new life and I didn’t know what issues I would face, nor where to begin. I’d already had experience as a professional data analyst. But, I needed to understand the formal culture and how to behave during interviews; communicating with new people; boosting my technical skills; and many other aspects. I picked Thinkful after comparing it to other boot camps.My experience with Thinkful was mostly positive! I liked my instructors and the ability to ask them questions. I liked my mentor Jade a lot. It was very helpful to ask a professional different questions about job searching, the work industry, and the workspace. I appreciated that they were giving feedback about our projects, interviews, and ideas. Having my Career Coach, Carly, was also a very helpful option for me. I was getting a lot of advice about networking, looking for group projects, and how to be better at interviews. I think this was a good idea for me to choose a bootcamp. Because, I needed this type of help where I could get experience in communicating with people from The US and understanding the culture. Which is really important for a future employee. I think that the Curriculum could be stronger and deeper. SQL, Python and Tableau can be used more during the course. This is one thing that I was really concerned about. I found a job in the beginning of May after five months of searching. It was a lot of hard work and a big process for changing myself. My path was a very hard and you also will need to put a lot of effort into your final goals. Bootcamp can help to change your life but you need to want it. -
Spenser Vaughn Verified via LinkedIn
Great experience, full package - just don't treat it like you're guaranteed a job at the end!
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This is a review for the Data Analytics Immersion program that I went through.
Overview of their Data Analytics program: This program is roughly divided into 3 parts that each finish with a capstone project, and those parts have multiple modules within them. There is a large section of Excel in the beginning (ends with 1st capstone project), two shorter sections of SQL and Tableau in the middle, a quick refresher on statistics and statistical testing in Excel (2nd capstone project), then a finishing section of introductory Python (3rd capstone project). Every module in the curriculum has an accompanying assignment to review what you learned and most of them have supplemental videos with additional examples of what was covered. The capstone projects are based on business case situations that you do data analysis for, create deliverables from start-to-finish, and then present your findings to graders who work in the industry; you are given feedback and the opportunity to redo your work if it doesn't meet project specifications (e.g. "are your findings clearly explained to stakeholders, does it have all the needed components outlined in the business case, etc."). They also have mandatory "career checkpoints" where you do practice interviews, improve your linkedin profile, and learn about job search strategies. They also have additional resources you can review on your own about interviewing, etc.
The support structure for learning is as follows: a chat-based answer service (great for quick questions), TAs/instructors available for meetings on demand, and shared working space in breakout rooms (collaboration on learning is encouraged). You also have weekly mentor meetings with someone currently working as a data analyst or data scientist where you can discuss your progress through the curriculum, ask about their industry experiences, etc. They have a diverse mentor pool and there is a decent chance that your mentor will have a similar background to you! (I am a former teacher, and my mentor was another person who switched careers from teaching)
Overall experience: I am very satisfied with my experience overall. Their support structure is very good. There are little things here and there that I would like to change (that I'll talk about in each section), but the overall experience from start to finish was great. I had good experiences talking to enrollment staff and they were very transparent about what to expect from the program. Payment options are simple and easily accessible but I do not know much about their loan repayment options beyond that repayment happens after you are hired.
Curriculum: All of the written material and recorded video content is very clear and descriptive. The depth of the curriculum is not overwhelming and builds up gradually, but it's still very compressed because the program is about 4 months long. However, if you don't have any prior experience with Python, you will probably struggle learning during that section. Instructional material is great, but some activities need to be double-checked (didn't use correct databases, answers didn't quite match, etc.) and some of the assessments they used on Qualified had some minor bugs that we needed to hash out with the TAs, and that's the only reason it isn't 5 stars.
Instructors: All of our instructors were great at explaining things, answering questions, and going deeper if/when we had the time to do it. They were also great about being available to answer questions after lessons and providing additional content/answers for students who wanted to go above and beyond what was being taught in the curriculum. The TAs who supplemented the instructors in answering questions we had were also excellent resources who we could turn to whenever we needed to. The instructors are the star of the show; they are fantastic resources within the program and outside of it as well.
Job Assistance: The career support staff I have worked with have been wonderful. They have lots of helpful advice for interviewing, direct outreach and networking, and resume/cover letter writing. Even so, you can't ignore the reality that a lot of people are turning to programs like this one to try and start a new career, and job assistance =/= job guarantee. If Thinkful could establish partnerships with companies to try and give new bootcamp grads the opportunity to get project experience in a real-world setting (something like an apprenticeship track with a client consortium after completion of the bootcamp), it would be a wonderful finish to a strong program with good support for students. It would go a long way because even with the skills and projects on your resume, a lot of jobs are looking for work experience as well.
Keep in mind that a bootcamp is not an immediate pathway to a job (you'll have to be able to sell your skills after you've finished), and I think you'll be very satisfied with this program. -
Jason Verified via LinkedIn
A challenging, but rewarding experience.
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In 2020, in the midst of COVID-19 lockdowns, I decided it was time for a career change. Having spent the past 9 years as a truck driver, I wanted a chance to learn and grow in a new field, and after some research through CareerKarma, CourseReport, and various other resources, I decided that Thinkful offered me the best chance to make a real change in my life. For my situation, the Income Sharing Agreement with Living Stipend was my best opportunity - the extra monthly income would help make sure my expenses were covered and I could dedicate myself to the program! It will ultimately be more expensive for me, but it was a trade-off I was willing to make to launch a new career. If you can afford to pay up front, that's the best way to do it, but know that there are plenty of financing options available.
Thinkful offers a free Prep Course for Engineering Immersion students, and I highly encourage anyone interested in the program to work through it on their own with as little outside help as possible. Use Google or other resources to do your own research and hold off on asking for help in Slack as much as you can. Slack is a great resource and there are plenty of people who want to help you understand things, but I have seen people run in to real problems when they ask for help and a person attempting to be helpful simply gives them the answer without helping the student understand it. Don't fall in to that trap and never take an answer and move on without understanding it!
During the course, you will be paired with an Academic Success Manager (ASM) and a Mentor. When I was enrolled, we had two weekly meetings with our mentors, though I have heard that has since been changed to once weekly, which I think is a good move - I did fairly well in the program and relied more on my fellow students than my mentor, so often times, twice a week was a bit too much and we didn't have anything to talk about. Still, your mentor will be available via e-mail, and I'd encourage students to interact with them as much as you need, as they're usually pretty motivated to help. Your ASM is there to help with broader issues, such as finances, keeping on schedule, problems with the course or other people, etc., and you should hopefully not need to speak to them much, but they are available when you need them and check in on you throughout the course.
The course its self is not easy. You're going from the foundations of the prep course, to building full-stack web apps within just a few weeks, and the pace can be very tough for those who aren't dedicating their full attention to their success with Thinkful! Don't make the mistake of going in to the program, especially if you opt for an Immersion program, thinking that you're going to learn everything you need to know by only making the minimum commitment to the course! The 7-8 hours you're officially committing to the course every day will teach you important skills, but to really solidify those skills, exceptional students will spend at least a couple hours after the end of Thinkful's day working to understand things better. It's incredibly easy to fall behind. A day here or there adds up quickly when the pace is this quick.
Be friendly and communicative with your fellow students early and often. Find friends, form study groups both for working on the course and blowing off steam (with conversation and even gaming) in your downtime. I made important, lasting friendships by doing this when I went through the course, and I couldn't have done it without their help and support - and they couldn't have done it without mine. We all uplifted each other and when one of us fell behind, the rest of us rallied to get them up to speed. But more importantly, your fellow students will probably be the first members of your professional network! A direct reference from one of my fellow students is what got me the job I have today.
The careers team will work with you essentially to your own preferences, whether you prefer to do things in a more freeform and unscheduled manner like myself, or stick to a long-term plan for job seeking, but it's hard to argue with the results: I was employed inside of 90 days after completing the program. Looking for that first job can be hard, but if you utilize all of your resources, don't lose hope, and work as hard to find that job as you did to complete the course, and you will succeed! You will get rejected and ignored countless times, but start each day fresh and keep looking. You will find the right place to work if you persist.
Overall, while I feel like things could have been smoother in some spots, I feel like Thinkful did a good job of preparing me to be employed as a developer. What you get out of Thinkful is directly proportional to the effort you put in to the program and the job search, so approach it prepared to work hard and truly understand the material. It is easy to fall behind, but building a network of support amongst your fellow students can help you overcome that. The most important thing you'll gain out of Thinkful isn't necessarily how to code, but how to learn to code. Take that from the experience, be ready and eager to learn on your first job, and you will be successful. -
Terefe Gebremicheal Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics
Thank You Thinkful. I see this as the first step in my journey to becoming a data analyst and I can be. Thank you very much my mentor and instructor. I recommend it to those who need a carrier change or upscale yourself. Thinkful is a good place to land on. -
Rachel Vita-Nirschl Verified via LinkedIn
Room for Improvement
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Overall, I give my experience at Thinkful three stars. I am a recent graduate and just now exploring career options, so I can't speak too much about career services. I do want to say that currently there are loads of bootcamp graduates, so you really need a passion in the topic you are studying in order to push past the competitive market and imposter syndrome. I was attending Thinkful during the Covid-19 pandemic, so I had lots of personal life strain that made things difficult at times. However, my three star rating is not factoring in my personal struggles during the program. Instead, I am focusing on my experiences with instructors, grading, curriculum, and career preparation.
Instructors:
My immersion program included instructors who were qualified to talk on the subject. However, we had instructor changes at random times, sometimes even in the middle of a project. The reasoning behind this was to incorporate a real-world experience of if you had a project lead change in a career setting. Just be mindful that if you do not do well learning with revolving instructors, that this bootcamp is not for you. I do want to speak that I am a diagnosed autistic woman, so if you are neurodivergent, please seriously think about what you need to flourish. I struggled with my final instructor because her teaching style incorporated Zoom meetings outside of our designated syllabus meetings. Her meetings were at random times and for random lengths. It dug into our time to work on our projects and resulted in much of our day being meetings. She did not allow us to talk about other projects we were working on that she was not the instructor for, so most of us fell behind on deadlines and received little guidance on our true stressors.
Grading:
You cannot speak to or contact graders, so this makes it difficult to understand grading revision requests. Also, you don't get the same grader for each assignment, so you have to make sure to be explicit on what a previous grader said each time you submit a revision. I don't think the graders can see previous grading from other graders. This becomes an issue when you have a deadline to complete an assignment, but you keep getting grading revisions that run you in a circle due to the graders not communicating with each other or to you directly.
Curriculum:
During my program, we had to complete a project that is no longer within the curriculum. It was honestly a confusing project. I realize now that they have completely re-vamped the curriculum for my program, which is a bit upsetting that my cohort had to experience a version of the curriculum that was not kept. The curriculum we had completed was changing right before our eyes even while we were still in the program. UX/UI is still sort of new in terms of being taught, so I can understand that curriculum will change. It was disheartening to see it happen after we were required to complete a project that has been trashed within the curriculum.
Career Preparation:
As for feeling prepared to compete for a job in the industry, I don't feel very secure. The portfolio creation process was distressing and felt almost like we had to fit into a box instead of being able to explore structuring our portfolios in our own ways. Yes, you could use any platform or template you wanted, but the content required was strictly enforced. Couple that with graders who do not know me and cannot talk to me directly, I felt I was constantly giving in to making my portfolio what the rubric wanted and not what really reflected me. When I graduated, I was advised by my career coach to re-do my portfolio to reduce content that was required on the portfolio grading rubric. There is a huge disconnect between what is required to pass the portfolio assignments and what is actually wanted to have a competitive portfolio for job hunting.
I think I lost my passion for UX/UI about midway into the program while we were completing the project that has since been eliminated from the curriculum. I kept pushing forward because I had a great mentor and my academic advisor kept encouraging me to stay with it. On my day of graduation, I was waiting on grading revisions for my cover letter assignment. I spent the whole day revising my cover letter and had about four revision requests. It was sort of ridiculous. I thought I was not going to graduate because of the cover letter. I had till 5PM that day to complete the assignment or I would not graduate. It was 5:03PM, I was waiting for my grading, I had been frantically messaging my academic advisor as she was helping request grading expedition. Finally, I received a new grader for the cover letter assignment who passed me on the assignment and thus, I graduated Thinkful. It was not a great way to get released into the job hunting process.
Some may read this and think, "Maybe she is just not good at UX/UI, maybe she has horrible work ethic, maybe she is not following the rubrics...," so I say to you, take my experience as you wish. I invested loads of sleepless nights and long days on this program and I graduated. I just hope if you are reading this, that you understand it is not easy to take on a bootcamp program and the industry is not easy to break into right now. Many people I follow on LinkedIn who are UX/UI bootcamp graduates are having to spend at minimum 3 months job hunting and at most a year job hunting, the average I see is 7 months to find a job. So, if you are going into this thinking you will get a job right after, you might not, but you could. It is all about connections and luck because of how saturated the market is currently. Also, don't go into a bootcamp if you feel you cannot handle an environment that is revolving and not very communicative in certain aspects. If none of that bothers you and you have a super strong passion for the topic you want to study, go for it. -
Matthew C. Verified via LinkedIn
A Fantastic Foundation
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Thinkfulbwas absolutely pinnacle in allowing me to Jumpstart my career. Without spending years and years getting a Bachelors degree, within 6 months Thinkful has given me incredible skills and knowledge that have set me up to start job searching for my dream career. In the Data Analytics Flex program, you get ample time to work on assignments that help you develop skills in excel, Python, sql, Tableau, and more! Even after completion, the network of career advisors work hand in hand to make sure you can get started in a new career ASAP. ALL ONLINE! -
Jonny D Verified via GitHub
Engineering Immersion Program
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Honestly, way better than I thought it would be. The course itself taught me alot about what it was like to be in an enterpise enviroment, and best practices with an agile style. They helped me apply to alot of jobs, although I didn't really get anywhere for about a year or so. I dont really blame them, because they gave me the tools, and resources, and even set me up with a career coach. I think covid, and my lack of discipline held me back. Anyway very grateful to go through this course. -
Jason Westfall Verified via LinkedIn
If you want to be a data analyst...
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Before I got into Thinkful, I was doing some research on courses on how to become a data analyst. I looked at Thinkful as one possibility and Udacity as another. To get my feet wet, I decided to enroll in Udacity first as that was a cheaper option to see if I had the "chops" to do this as a career. After passing two different courses, I enrolled in Thinkful as I wanted to gain some skills in Excel and Tableau. I picked up doing SQL and Python from Udacity. The other reason I decided to enroll in Thinkful's Data Analytics course was for the career assistance to help graduates for up to six months after they graduate to land their first job in the field.
Needless to say, because I live in a fairly rural area of the U.S, and I don't qualify for the tuition guarantee. It is something to keep in mind if you don't live near a big city. Nevertheless, despite that, I decided to go forward with it and do the program anyway.
I thought they did a good job with the structure of the program and set deadlines or goal dates that one should complete a certain assignment. While the course is outlined to be six months in duration, I was able to finish it in 3.5 months from January to April. For me, it ran smoothly and I rarely got stuck on anything. They do a good job explaining most modules and give a decent walkthrough on how to tackle certain things. Granted you have to take some time to think on how to proceed with certain projects and assignments, but one can employ the slack channel as well as getting coaching help if needed.
However, I felt they should have had a capstone project where a student uses SQL and Tableau to demonstrate their skills outside of the assignments in the curriculum. Another issue I had was the beginning module of Python. I feel that they should revise that and have student practice more coding exercises on their own outside of Qualified.IO (the assessment website that tests students' ability on coding). I was thinking to myself while going through that first module, "Thank goodness I took Udacity and got exposed to Python!" The latter Python modules were great, and I picked up a few things doing those.
I just started with the career portion of Thinkful, and I'm seeing that if one applies the tips and lessons that a career coach gives as well as the general career modules that Thinkful shares with students, they should be able to pick up an entry-level job within six months. While this process streamlines the way to get a job, a student still needs to put in the work to network, apply, and keep practicing their skills that they have learned from Thinkful.
TL;DR Course is good; Career support is Wonderful; Learn basic Python before enrolling in this course.
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Terrick Terry Verified via LinkedIn
Do it!
I was nervous at first about going to thinkful, but the program the instructors and my cohort were all wonderful. After graduating my advisor helped me tremendously with the job hunt process and I am positive the skills I have gained will be of use in Analytics and in other areas of my life. -
Gio P. Verified via LinkedIn
Digital Marketing Immersion
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I dabbled in digital marketing for a few years before I stumbled upon Thinkful's course. The reason I took it was because I wanted a professional certification proving I knew digital marketing AND to help me fine tune things I didn't know as a marketer. I really enjoyed the learning style, the class room environment, and working with my classmates. Thinkful provided me MORE than enough support, regardless of my experience level. I was referred to Thinkful by a friend and I don't regret it. I will definitely recommend Thinkful to other people searching for a career change/advancement. It's truly one of the best decision I've made in several years. I also started a new job about 30-45 days after class completion. -
Matthew Chisholm Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics Flex Program at Thinkful
I absolutely loved my experience in the Data Analytics Flex Program with Thinkful. The content was engaging but was not overload, my mentor was incredibly professional and encouraging, and I really felt like I received the sort of training I need to be a relevant candidate on the job from day 1. I recommend this program as highly as I possibly can. -
Cody Brandli Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics Immersion
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One of the most intense learning experiences of my life and loved the curriculum. If you are looking to get true real time application of analytics this is the curriculum for you, maybe never thought you would be able to go back to school this school is life changing. The immersion course I took was so mind fulfilling, I never expected to be tested so mentally and truly enjoy it. All around amazing experience from instructors, mentors, advisors, curriculum. -
Daniel Verified via LinkedIn
Data Analytics Flex recommend
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Through Thinkful Data Analytics Flex program, I was able to get a job offer, Senior Analyst at a Healthcare industry. There are so many good things about this program, which is called Job Gureentee. For some reason, if you are not hired after 6 months you graduated, then you will get refunded. This was the main reason why I chose this program over others. I thought that I have nothing to lose.
Through this program, I learned Exel, SQL, Tableau and Python. The quality of the contents is pretty good. I wish they would spend more time on SQL but you will get plenty of materials that you can use at work.
The most important thing that I want to share with you is that you will get a mentor and meet with him/her once every week. They are expert. The mentor who I had was the vice president at Bank of America. I learned a lot from him.
After you graduated, you will get a career coach who will guide you to succeed to get a job. As long as you follow their plan, you will get hired.
If you are looking for a boot camp or looking for another opportunity to move to Data driven company but don't have any background, this is the best starting point. I strongly recommend it.
