Code Platoon

I am currently a student at Code Platoon in my 13th week of the program.  The program is fully immersive, and takes someone with no coding experience to employable within 4 months.  I personally had no prior coding experience besides the prework for the course.  Throughout the course, I have learned a tremendous amount, and now feel comfortable interviewing for Junior Web Developer Jobs (which usually start at $60,000).  Jon, the lead instructor, does a great job explaining the material. Addittionally, there are multiple TAs in the classroom at all times, helping students with the material.  

If you are willing to put in the hard work, with very long days, they will do everything they can to help you learn the material and become employable.  Rod, the owner of Code Platoon has a personal relationship with every student, and commits to help all current and former students.  Overall, this is the absolute best program for any veteran looking to be a computer programmer. 

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I'm an Army Reserve on active duty and I just graduated the course a week ago.

1. Unlimited support and resources. 

People here are ready to dedicate themselves to help you success. Rod(founder) will help you to provide any help you need and Jon(instructor) always welcome students to come to him with whatever. Plus, there are countless mentors and assistant teachers for more help! (both in person and in remote)

2. Scholarships

I was covered roughly 80% of the $13,000 tuition and Code Platoon offered the second scholarship for women in tech. 

3. Curriculum

I loved how it was well-mixed with the programming knowledge and soft skills such as resume building and interview practice.

4. People and Community

A class is consist of 7-12 students. Each individuals get to know everyone via pair-programing and group projects. Whenever I was in a panic zone, my classmates were the ones who told me that I can do it. I can’t explain how meaningful they were to me (still are lol) to break through each struggles just like battle buddies.

And if by any chance I get stuck while chasing my passion and success as I knew it, I already have a community to go for advise!

I’m very proud of myself as an ALUMNI and I’ve learned so much in less than a half of a year. 

Good luck to everyone! 

 

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As I write this, I am trying to answer two questions: What do I wish I knew 14 weeks ago? What do I need to tell another veteran to set them up for success?

First I can not say this more clearly. THIS PROGRAM IS NOT A SCAM. I know you already googled it, we all did. It is the real deal. Rod Levy and CP are the only veteran organization I have ever worked with that delivered 100% on their promise. "If you come everyday and work hard, we will make you into a dev[eloper].”

Rod's lead instructor Jon Young, is a great guy with a ton of character. He isn't just knowledgeable, he genuinely cares that you learn the material, and ultimately about your success; his commitment to this is as clear at week 1 as is it in your final projects.

My own thoughts to set you up for success:

1. Buy into the program. There will be changes. Uncertainty. A ton of sleep deprivation. More than healthy doses of stress. Internship opportunities may disappear and others will pop up to replace them weeks later. You may not know what’s going on behind the scenes, your job is to focus on learning. Stay the course. Trust in Rod. Keep your head down. And put in work.
    
2. Learn as much as you can before coming to the course. The pre-work is great, and for some people its enough. Personally, I had no prior coding experience what-so-ever. There are limitless resources on-line. Simply put, you cannot spend enough time sitting at your computer, doing and re-doing algorithms in both Javascript and Ruby. If you have the time, putting in the work early will pay dividends later. There are no short cuts here.
    
3. You’ll hear this phrase again, but “expose your ignorance.” Despite what others may project with the words like “It’s logical, easy, makes sense” this is not an easy subject matter. Developers do not get paid so well because of how easy this is to understand. When you are lost - which will happen frequently - let it be known immediately. Falling behind and making it up after class is not an option due to simple time constraints and the need for sleep.
    
4. Financial planning is essential during the course. Finances are one of the main stressors for most people. You simply don’t need that in your life while trying to take on this task. Plan thoroughly.
    
5. This course is a marathon, not a sprint. Treat it as such. Eat healthy. get in some exercise, and sleep. It will make you a better student and sustain you till the end.
    
6. If you have any questions - engage Rod. He’s a highly intelligent, and resourceful businessman, turned NFP leader. He will help you, and he’s exactly the kind of person you want on your team.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on linkedin.

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I currently serving Army National Guard. I can't thank enough to the program. I didn't know any coding before I join the program. It is intense but I got more than I paid for and expected it. I got a job offer before I graduate it because of Code Platoon. If you are a vet, currently serving or a spouse and interested in coding please consider this program! 

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I'm an Air Force vet who had no coding experience when I satrted Code Platoon. I dedicated myself 100% to the process and worked very hard. Now, I am able to code and create software. 

The curriculm is very well thought out and you will learn languages and frameworks that employers are seeking.

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As somebody who is studying computer science and attended the first cohort of CodePlatoon, I found the bootcamp to be a great way to break into the industry.  The 8 of us that graduated the 16 week program gained a deeper understanding of many of the in demand skills employers want and we were all placed in internships that gave us some crucial developer experience.  Highly recommend to any veteran seriously interested in a career as a developer.

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Code Platoon's Coding Bootcamp was an incredible experience. I went from knowing next-to-nothing about code, to creating a full-stack application without the use or assistance of A.I., which was incredibly confidence boosting. Code Platoon not only teach the fundamentals of coding, but also teaches students how they can code and create applications without the use of A.I., as well as how one can ethically and efficiently use A.I. when coding. Learning both sides of how one can code has been a great experience. Read less

I am currently an electrical engineer and wanted to make a career change and found this program as a veteran. I wanted to be able to work remote from anywhere in the world. From what I hear/heard, the fulltime in person-onsite program is amazing, the instructors are awesome and you get the real experience in addition to the world class career services program and personnel. 

DO NOT GET ME WRONG, their career services constantly posts jobs and WILL get you the interviews, they will help you practice and get the resume squared away. However, I took the evening and weekend course.... which did not teach us much apart from what you can currently already google, ie. github pulls/push, simple database setups, which is ok I guess. 

I had hoped and read the website and really thought they were going to teach us how to code, how to build things and walk us through some algorithms and explain what was going on. This was not the case at all, they had 1 solid instructor, 2 that were super nice and cool but super tired and disorganized due to balancing their careers/home lives which led to us not getting the help I thought we would, and they have 1 instructor who will go out of his way to not teach you, but will insult/demean you and make you feel bad for not knowing anything... In fact this problem instructor was reported many times and is still working there, he was a former teacher, but I could not tell because he is very unprofessional and it seems like he hates his job. 

The course was very messy, teachers showed up unprepared and you will basically get a walk through of a readme page and get put into a zoom group to "figure it out" on your own. You pretty much will be told not to use AI, but will have to use AI because they dont really explain much. I don't mean that they walked through some code, explained an algo, and then left you to figure the rest... no, they just straight up leave you to a challenge, google/AI, then expect you to already know what is going on.

The problem/unprofessional instructor loved dressing down people and insulting us and pretty much told us he wanted to teach people who already knew how to code to show up and was very vocal about his disappointment with us..., the only successful people in the course who were tracking that I saw through the E&W cohort were those that were already somehow in the industry (sysadmin, software QA, or program managers in tech)....

I can honestly say I did not learn much aside from how to push/ pull repos, copy past code, and how to use AI to teach me to code. The instructors also made it very clear that the job market is not good at all and that we were entering a very harsh environment, they said they werent here to get us a job... this isnt some jobs skill mill - their words... and they said, hey man take what you can get, entry level help desk... whatever... its rough out here. 

I dont know if its job security for them to not teach us and "flood" the market with more talent making their jobs insecure... but it sure felt like they did not want to teach us, with the exception of the 1 solid instructor. 

I would highly recommend the full time version in person/online if they offer it, everyday with those instructors is supposed to be solid. I also will not take away anything from their career services, those folks are amazing, the students you'll meet will be solid and cool. I would NOT recommend the evening and weekend course in the least bit. That is coming from an already successful electrical engineer with 2 masters and in a Doctoral program... They need to remove that instructor, dont waste your time on the evening and weekend course if he's there because he wont be teaching you, save your 500 dollar deposit and gi bill/VR&E

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Code Platoon obviously focuses on Software Engineering for fullstack development, but with the growing rate of AI Code Platoon has done a great job of balancing the fundamentals of software engineering while incorporating and layering on AI as an enabler to be more effective both in learning and in development. Additionally, they provide resources I didn't even expect for soft skills related to things like individual resume mentors, interview (both technical and behavioral) prep, project management, product managers as well as agile methodology and team collaboration. Couldn't recommend more.  Read less

I took the time to research coding boot camps and consistently I kept hearing great things about Code Platoon. Especially at a time when there have been so many horrendous things coming out about coding boot camps taking money from students and not delivering on what they promised. This boot camp is different. There is camaraderie just like in the military. And as a military spouse, we are treated with the same respect as veterans and those that are using Skillbridge to learn. This boot camp is intense and not for the faint of heart. I would recommend everyone to check out Code Platoon. I have grown so much in my confidence, my knowledge about coding and my abilities. You will not be disappointed, these people truly care about teaching you the right things and they care about you getting a job afterwards! Read less

Code Platoon is a tremendous opportunity for veterans and veteran spouses to learn full-stack software development.  The instructors are world-class and will train you to become proficient in full-stack software development with javascript, python, postgresql, html, css, django, react, and  more.  The instructors and student body are supportive and focused on your success in the program.  You won't find a better experience than Code Platoon. Read less

This was an amazing experience. Staff including TA's were extremely supportive and have helped me grow into a full stack developer. I could not have learned full stack dev in such a short period of time on my own. The curriculum, instructors, and TA's played a major role in my success. Read less

I attended the Evening and Weekend program (fully remote) from January 2022 - July 2022. I had been coding pretty basic projects in sort of an IT help desk role for a couple years leading up to the program; I had no experience with modern frameworks or web applications.

This program was exactly what I needed to connect the dots between my fairly basic experience and the frameworks/principles/buzzwords that you see in so many job postings. An organized curriculum and time spent with instructors turned out to be what was missing in my self-paced journey prior to CP.
I also have to mention that working on projects with peers was huge upside to the program. Employers are curious how you work/code with others. CP emphasized pair programming sessions for that reason. This helped provide some context to reflect on during interviews.
After graduation, the crew that helped with the job search was incredibly helpful as well. They always touched base with me and encouraged me to refine my process and keep pushing.
I received an offer about 8 weeks into my job search. I wish I had joined an earlier cohort, it was a life-changing program. I'd recommend this program to anyone. Read less

Code Platoon was an overall great experience. I learned so much, and talking with senior software engineers out in the field about the curriculum, they were also impressed with the stuff we were being taught. This is a great option for veterans, active duty, or spouses.  Read less

My experience at Code Platoon was challenging as well as one of the most rewarding things that I've ever done. I started the 14 week course with no prior college, or coding/tech experience. I graduated from the full-time full stack software engineering course on May 14th, 2021. It was a very fast-paced, immersive program. I started with pre-work after being accepted into the program and that's where I learned JavaScript and algorithmic programming, so take the pre-work seriously and really focus on learning the syntax/basics, because we took of at a sprint on the first day. I am confident in saying that I feel nervous, but prepared to enter the workforce as an entry-level full stack software engineer. I'm confident in my newfound skills, but still have a lot to learn. The instructors are amazing and will do everything they can to help you succeed as long as you put in the time and effort. Your success really does depend on you and how hard you're willing to work for it. Along with the instructors, Code Platoon has some amazing TA's and mentors available for both moral support and help with technical skills. One of the things I really appreciate about Code Platoon is that they aren't just focused on teaching you to code, but they also want to help you thrive in your new career. They have what are called "Beyond Tech Lectures" that I have personally benefited from greatly, to talk about and offer resources for a host of helpful topics ranging from mental health to negotiating your salary at that first job. One of the things I think I beenfitted from the most was the interview prep and networking help that includes: mock interviews with volunteers from companies like Google, creating and building a professional LinkedIn account and resume coaches to help create and improve your resume. Code Platoon also offers career services to help you find a job even after you graduate and I've found these services extremely helpful. It wasn't easy and sometimes I felt like I couldn't keep up with everything we were learning, but I put in the extra hours and used the support provided to me through TA's, instructors, my mentor and other students to succeed and I did it. If I can do it with no prior skills or knowledge in this field, I genuinely believe anyone can.  Read less

Coding bootcamps are designed to be extremely challenging, fast paced, and rewarding.  If you prefer watching YouTube tutorials and working on coding challenges at a leisurely pace, the full-time program probably isn’t for you.  The instructors will explain a concept, demonstrate how to implement the concept with code, and then give you coding challenges to further ingrain the concept into your brain.                                    Code Platoon does an excellent job preparing you for a career in software development.  You’ll have access to career coaches, weekly “soft skills” briefings, and meetings with potential employers.  Additionally, there have TA that will assist you with any challenges you may face.             Though it’s a long and challenging program, the results are undeniable.  You’ll have the knowledge, skill, and ability to create full-stack applications.  If you’re on-the-fence about whether or not to enroll in the full-time program – just do it!  This program is definitely worth it. Read less