Codesmith Reviews
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Alexandria Verified via LinkedIn
Great course for beginners!
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Prior to this course I had just starting coding a few days earlier. This course was a special course that was from Saturday to Sunday, instead of Saturday to Saturday. The information provided was very helpful. It is an interactive course which is necessary for learning tech. One thing I really appreciate about Codesmith is that they strongly encourage us to work with others and provide several opportunities for us to do that in this course. It can be daunting at first but being able to work through problems with other students added to the experience. Sophie was our instructor and I so appreciated hearing her journey into tech as well as her knowledge of JavaScript and more. It was a learning curve for me since my background is NOT in tech but I embraced the challenges. Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this course for anyone considering going into tech. -
Greg Verified via LinkedIn
Perfect Introductory Course for Anyone Starting from Scratch
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I started this course knowing next to nothing about coding besides a few small lessons (ie what a variable is). This class goes over all of that and more, providing a foundation for more advanced courses. More importantly, this course gives a great taste of what coding is like and whether it may be the right path for you. The final assignment is a fun group project where you create a text-based game. I got really into it and along with my partner ended up creating one that was pretty advanced for my level, which encouraged me to keep going forward with my journey. If you're just starting out and not sure where you should start, this is the course for you! -
Garrett Verified via GitHub
JavaScript for Beginners (JSB)
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I was part of the first JSB cohort that ran over one weekend. The schedule was Saturday and Sunday (9 AM/PST-3 PM/PST) and Monday(6 PM/PST: Group Presentations).
The Curriculum was great I feel it prepared me to tackle the problems presented during and after class, and even if I didn't get it right on my first attempt I had the tools to take a different approach. The pair programming really helps to alleviate the imposter syndrome that I was facing trying to learn in isolation.
Curriculum: 10/10
My Instructor was Sophie Nye. I have nothing but superlatives to describe Sophie. She was knowledgeable, extremely thoughtful and, patient. She had an infectious energy that radiated over the entire course. Spend six hours in class is an uphill battle even for the highly motivated(which the cohort was), but Sophie made us feel safe, and serious but not too serious. The depth with which she answered each question was thoughtful, and without spoon-feeding. She constantly challenged us over the three days and we are all better because of it. I know I am.
Instructors: 10/10
This course will help you to solidify the foundational concepts of Javascript, but takes it further. This course pushes you to be able to upgrade your technical communication. Most of us could answer questions, but when asked to not only answer but explain your full understanding of what is happening is where we all grew. You can easily find courses that can teach you the basics of Javascript, but I was unable to find one that really pushed me to understand what was going on with every line of code I executed. The best part of my CodeSmith experience (so far, more on this later) is the people I was able to meet and form fast friendships with. You get the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, who are highly motivated and very welcoming. These are bonds that I hope to keep throughout my CodeSmith journey and well after.
Overall Experience: 10/10
If you are on the fence let me share some more information that may help:
After completing JSB, if you are accepted into CS Prep, & later into one of the Software Engineering Immersive programs, your JavaScript for Beginners tuition will be applied to the next program you take. (This was huge in my initial decision making)
If costs is a deterrent like it is for me. CodeSmith has very good scholarship programs (fingers crossed)
I was extremely satisfied with the JSB experience, and I highly recommend this course for anyone who wants to really learn on a higher level. I believe so much in every word I just wrote that based on my experience in JavaScript for Beginners, I have applied for the CSPrep and then will apply for the Full-time software engineering immersive. -
Francesca Norelli Verified via LinkedIn
CS Prep
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It was such an excellent experience going through the course. They cover fundamentals & advanced Javascript topics, CS fundamentals(recursion, closures, asynchronous javascript, callbacks & higher-order functions, algorithms, etc.), CS fundamentals, pair-programming, coding challenges, video recordings, slides of all lectures so you can review, helpful recourses, the slack community where someone is always there to answer questions. The Codesmith community is so supportive and respectful. Their teaching style is the best I've seen so far and you gain a much deeper/in-depth understanding of the under-the-hood/inner workings of Javascript. The instructor, David, explained everything in such an easy to understand way so as to be able to grasp advanced concepts and was also very respectful and patient.
I can't say enough good things about Codesmith-they rock!!!!! -
Ashley Austin Verified via GitHub
Trust The Process
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Overall I can truly say that I enjoyed my experience at Codesmith. I attended every easy/hard parts workshops, JSB, CS Prep, and the Immersive. The supportive community within Codesmith is what kept me coming back for me. In the famous words of Schno, "Research, Parse, Implement". These are the words that you will live by everyday. I love that Codesmith implemented the "hard learning" technique because it encourage me to dive deeper into the docs. On the other hand, If I had to constructively criticize the program it would probably be towards the curriculum needing a bit of updating. Because GraphQL is a hot topic right now I think it might be a great time for it to be additional unit. Additionally I feel like CI/CD and Testing units should be larger and more emphasized units, and maybe placed a little earlier.
The hiring portion of the program was definitely a huge help in my job search. Outside of the hard learning through back to back projects, the hiring portion is the bread and butter of the entire program. Although the program does not hold your hand during the resume iterations and job board profile creation, they provide a lot of details on how they should look.
In the end your success within the program is completely up to you. Some of the keys to success: take advantage of every Hack-Hour, do not be afraid to be the only person asking a question during lectures, abuse help desk, be a collaborative/empathetic pair programming partner, and last but not least, make sure you choose a production project with technologies that you want to be apart of your narrative. The narrative part will definitely come in handy during interviews! -
Robb Eastman Verified via LinkedIn
No regrets
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I was skeptical that Codesmith could deliver what it promised—the software engineering job I wanted—after only three months. And yet two months out from graduation, I received an offer to join the front-end web team at a great company as a software engineer (where I remain happily employed). I had practiced law for eight years prior to deciding to become a software engineer, and had never coded prior to 2019 - my background was very “non-technical”. Codesmith distinguishes itself from coding bootcamps by its commitment to its residents—they believe that no matter your background, you can succeed in tech by learning to view the inevitable mental blocks that arise while coding as opportunities for growth and pushing through them—instead of viewing them as indications that you’re “just not a tech person”. By pushing through those mental blocks, I gained a confidence in my own abilities as an engineer that is as valuable (or more) as the knowledge of various technologies I came away with. If you love solving problems and are drawn to making a difference in technology, but unsure how to break into the industry, look no further than Codesmith. -
Edwin Lin Verified via LinkedIn
More than doubled my expectation
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If all you're looking to do is learn how to code, Codesmith teaches that for free with their Hard Parts workshop and CSX community. I can attest to that, since I attended the free programs for almost 3 months before entering the immersive program. And in fact, that was all I needed to get the job I have now.
But without going through the program, there's no way I would have even gotten to the interview, let alone ask for the ridiculous salary I'm earning now.
The value prospect of Codesmith's immersive program is tailoring a context for students to showcase their skills and interests. For me, the greatest aspect of the program was ingraining in us a confidence and sense of worth by caring enough to push the pause button every now and again to relax and reflect on what we accomplished.Annie of Codesmith
Hiring Support Program Manager
Aug 12, 2020
Hey Edwin - it's such a pleasure having you as part of the alumni community and serving advice to future Codesmith grads in their job search! Hope you're enjoying your role at Mastercard! -
yena Verified via LinkedIn
CodeSmith JSB(JavaScript for Beginners) Review from a Student with no background in Computer Science
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(Personal Back Ground Information - if you just want the review, then you can skip this part :D)
To start off, my background was actually in Business and Marketing. However, I was interested in coding when I started my own business during my senior year in college. It was a professor evaluation website. Of course, I made the website by hiring an engineer, but it was a very good opportunity for me even though I was just giving them directions. I very much wanted to learn about coding at the time, but I didn't have many opportunities or time to learn it because I was already in my senior year of business management. When I could, I would watch coding tutorials on YouTube or blogs in my spare time, but it was hard to stay consistent due to my schoolwork After I graduated I worked for a fashion company, and it was difficult to study in the evening because the fashion industry demanded a lot of commitment with a lot of overtime.
But my engineer friend, who knew that I was interested in coding, told me he would be willing to help me learn about HTML. After I learned the basic elements of HTML and how HTML works on webs, I found it very interesting and fun and I wanted to learn more. Then I studied CSS and decided that I wanted to become a software engineer. The most attractive thing to me about coding is that what I do is visual and produces immediate results. It is the same reason I liked math since I was young. They both produce immediate answers and I'm able to check if the answer is right or not when I put the formula in. Although I've just started learning to code, even if it becomes too difficult or frustrating I am confident that I can solve those difficult problems and hopefully feel a sense of accomplishment when I solve them.
(CodeSmith Experience)
Overall Experience: 10/10
I think the most important thing is the basics. This class will help you to solidify the foundation of Javascript. You can easily find courses of basic Javascript, but they don't talk about every detail of concepts. Not only it explains concepts and terms more specifically, but also it gives you endless example problems and challenges. If you want, challenges are endless. Also, you can ask a question whenever you want!! This is the best part of CodeSmith. Through CSX or JSB Slack, you can get help from many other students or instructors.
Instructors: 10/10
My Instructor was MICHELLE HERRERA!! First of all, she's full of energy. She makes our class energetic. As you know 6 hours class is not easy, but she makes me feel like 'I can study more than 6 hours!!'. Also, she's always very welcome if we have questions. She helps me until I really understand the concept or question. I can feel like she really loves to teach us and it certainly motivated me to work more hard.
Curriculum: 9/10
I had 2 weeks and a day class. 1st, 2nd Saturday(9 AM/PST-3 PM/PST) and Monday(9 AM/PST: Assessment&6 PM/PST:Group Challenge Presentation). Curriculum wise it's great but I would say I needed more time to solve the challenges or problems. I understand the concepts 100% but it doesn't mean that I can solve the challenge. I hope I could learn how to apply the concepts that I learned in the class in challenges. I really hope CodeSmith have workshops that solve CSX challenges together from an overview of CSX to Chrome Extension!!! or please upload the videos! That would help A LOT!!!
(+ Tip)
If you are accepted into CS Prep, & later into one of our Software Engineering Immersive programs, your JavaScript for Beginners tuition will be applied to the next program you take.
CodeSmith have very good scholarship programs!!
Since I passed the assessment, I receive automatic acceptance into CS Prep.
I'm very satisfied with the JSB experience, and I highly recommend this course if you don't have a computer science background! I'm sure that I would apply for CSPrep and Full-time software engineering immersive!!! -
Frank Verified via LinkedIn
CS Prep
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I had been doing a lot of work on my own and felt like I was cutting through frozen butter. I was making progress but every step took a lot of work and I had some bruises on my forehead from my desk. CS Prep gave me a glowing hot knife. I have a much better foundation and toolset for moving forward. It's hard to know what you don't know but CS Prep and my cohort helped shine a light on the foundations.
The pair-programming we did was also fantastic. I learned the most from these sessions. Whether it was with someone more advanced than myself or someone struggling to understand the concepts, I walked away miles ahead of where I started. The pedagogy of the assignments was also great at creating those lasting "aha!" moments.
I definitely recommend the program, especially if you are aiming to get into a bootcamp (especially Codesmith). -
Timothy Mai Verified via LinkedIn
Excellent, challenging, life-changing
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First off, the immersive program at Codesmith is not for beginners - you should already have a strong understanding of JavaScript fundamentals before starting. Codesmith then builds on that foundation with an intense and extremely rigorous curriculum - you will learn a ton of industry-relevant technologies and skills (Codesmith continually updates its education based on what's most relevant in the field). In particular, Codesmith is selective with its students, so you end up surrounded by smart, driven residents who strive to do well, which helps motivate you to do your best, too.
In particular, I want to highlight the hiring support program at Codesmith. People often say that the hiring support is worth the cost of tuition alone. Codesmith has a dedicated team of individuals to help coach you through your job search process (that you also have lifetime access to). The negotiation lessons and coaching also helped me get an extra $10k on my starting salary. The program is definitely worth the tuition.
Before you decide whether or not to do the Codesmith program, you should ask yourself if you're willing to put in 60+ hours every week in a grueling program - how bad do you want to become a software engineer? If your answer is yes, then Codesmith will definitely deliver on its quality of education and value. -
K. Ahluwalia Verified via LinkedIn
Codesmith Graduate
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Going to Codesmith has been the best decision of my entire life. I have only graduated 1 month ago and have already landed a dream job that normally requires 5 years of experience. It gives you all the necessary skills and confidence to completely change your field to software engineering regardless of what your were originally doing in life. The knowledge and overall approaches gained by attending Codesmiths 3 month immersive is, in my opinion, as good as 3 years of of experience in the field.Annie of Codesmith
Hiring Support Program Manager
Aug 12, 2020
Hey Deep - it was such an amazing journey to see you grow as a software engineer throughout your time at Codesmith, and it's no surprise that you're working in a senior role at Bloomberg these days. We're so lucky to have you as part of our alumni community to share your story! -
Just Noah. Verified via GitHub
On why Codesmith.
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Hi.
The simplest way to convey the distance I’ve had to travel to get to where I am now would be to describe my onboarding process. After filling out the highest level of education I’ve completed with “middle school”, I finished it with my new title: Software Engineer III. Now, half a year in, I’m drowning at work under the endless influx of topics to learn and explore, I go to sleep with the last vestiges of code still lingering in my head, and I love every moment of it.
But you’re reading this review to decide if Codesmith is the right choice for you, not to pat me on the back. While that’s impossible for me to ascertain, I can share why it was the best choice for me, and hopefully that will aid your decision one way or another.
Prior to attending Codesmith, I spent two years as a technical recruiter, looking for strong technical talent. As a layman, it was hubris to think I could adequately gauge technical aptitude. So I relied on other companies to do it for me. I started to collate a list of reputable engineering teams in the area, reasoning that if a candidate had survived a year or more on one of those teams, I could expect that they were more than capable of fulfilling the needs of my clients. What I noticed during my search is that there were a fair amount of Codesmith graduates employed at the companies on my list. That told me that Codesmith produced strong results, and those alumni would be people in my network that I could reach out to when I eventually found myself on the job market. Being accepted into the program itself proved to be no small endeavor either, which meant that I would be struggling alongside individuals with a certain caliber of competency and conviction. I also appreciated Codesmith’s emphasis on technical communication, something I frequently witnessed cropping up as an obstacle in my role as a recruiter. Finding a solution shows you know an answer, but articulating the leaps of intuition you make while under pressure in a technical interview, shows that you understand it. I needed every advantage I could get as a high school dropout with no technical experience, so for the reasons listed above, I went with Codesmith.
My time in the program is a distinct chapter that altered the trajectory of my life in more ways than just my career. The staff who run it behind the scenes are amazing people who are constantly looking for ways to iterate and improve the student experience while welcoming any feedback that will inform their efforts. The instructors are so passionate about the topics they teach that it's contagious (perhaps a poor choice of words in the current clime, but maybe it'll age well). As for my peers, following the adage, I usually strive to be the dumbest one in the room, but my cohort made that too easy. Suffice it to say, I had a lot of people to learn from and with, and I couldn’t imagine my time at Codesmith sans a single one of them.
The caveat here is that Codesmith is not a panacea; it can only amplify what you bring to the table. If you lack the drive, disposition, and discipline, well, you're not going to find it there. But if you have those prerequisites, Codesmith is the crucible you're looking for. -
Tim J Verified via GitHub
Offer from Microsoft, thanks to Codesmith
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As a person who already had a technical background, I was hesitant to join the program in the beginning. However, after finishing everything and going through the curriculum, I never regret my decision! The skills that you learn at Codesmith are what market is actually looking for, which will place you at a position where you are actually getting a lot of interview requests. They also update the curriculum every cohort to follow the fast-changing tech industry standard. What makes the Codesmith stands out from other boot camps, however, is people. You will have a wonderful time working with excellent instructors, staff, and cohort mates who are energetic, passionate and willing to help each other. I have met so many new people who have the same passion as I do and doing projects with those people is absolutely amazing experience. Having that network and being part of Codesmith Alumni is very valuable. If you are hesitating like I was last year, I highly recommend that you don't and go for it! -
Kevin Nam Verified via LinkedIn
My Experience
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Codesmith is the best coding immersive program available. Third party (CIRR) reports show that Codesmith graduates have the highest median annual base salary compared to all other coding immersive programs. The instructors, staff, and curriculum are all amazing. However, the rich career development program and hiring support are what allows Codesmith to stand out. Prior to Codesmith, I was in the United States Marine Corps with zero experience in programming. As I was getting ready to transition out of the Marines, I started to learn JavaScript on my own in order to pass a technical interview at a “top tiered bootcamp”. I chose Codesmith because of the outcomes report and the Codesmith teaching style I experienced at the free “Hard Parts” classes they offered. The first half of the immersive program was difficult. I remember telling my family and friends that asked me how the program was going that I felt like “I was trying to drink water from a fire hose”. Even though it felt like I was drowning and not absorbing a lot of information, the second half (the project phase) of the program is where “the magic happens”. When I started applying the knowledge I learned by building applications and projects, I was shocked at how much knowledge I obtained but also realized all that time “drowning” was actually developing my skills in tacking challenging problems, diving deep in technologies, and learning to become comfortable with the unknown. I like to joke that there is a third part to Codesmith that isn’t officially part of their program: the “application stage”. Learning never stops and it should definitely not stop after Codesmith. Codesmith taught me many things and I loved my time there but three months is a short time. Even after I finished the program, I spent many hours/days/weeks/months learning on my own and honing my interviewing skills: white boarding and algorithms, take home projects, and fundamental computer science knowledge. I am thankful to Codesmith not for allowing me to work full time as an engineer getting paid over six figures but because Codesmith is where I found my love for coding, learning, and struggling. -
Steve Verified via GitHub
Challenging, rewarding, and fun!
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Currently enrolled in their Part Time Remote Immersive (PTRI) course, so I can give my impressions so far for those interested in this new course.
Overall Experience:
Challenging, rewarding, and fun! The coursework can be difficult and you will run into blocks (many times), but you get a ton of support when needed, even outside of class hours. You will be trying to learn a ton of material in a short amount of time, and at times you may feel overwhelmed. That said, even with personally setting aside an additional 1-2 hours each day for review or doing bonus exercises, it largely hasn't affected my other activities and schedule outside of class hours. And the class has become its own little online community, where we learn from and support each other. It's been both a highly rewarding and fun experience so far.
Curriculum:
Exactly what I was looking for to get into full stack development, not just in terms of course material but emphasis on engineering, problem solving, technical communication and pair programming. You learn a new topic each week and dive deep under the hood with lectures and weekly exercises that can be really challenging. There are some bonus exercises, hack hours, and hackathons that you will work on outside of class hours, but that has not impacted my other activities so far. As I'm still only part way through the curriculum, I can't speak to the later sections of the course, including the solo and group projects. But it seems the weekly learning and exercises is building us up to that point and will likely really test what we've learned and can apply in actual big projects.
The weekly skill builders and unit exercises can be tough to get through, but you also pair up with another student (different each week) to work through them together and this has been a great experience, as you learn from each other and also work on fine-tuning your technical communication. I find that learning from other students through this process has been just as invaluable as learning the actual course material from the instructors.
Instructors:
Enthusiastic, supportive and friendly! The PTRI course is setup with a Lead Instructor, a Lead Technical Mentor, and two Fellows. They have been great to interact with and learn from and are always available to help. The amount of support you get is great.
Job Assistance: n/a (haven't gotten to this portion of the class yet)
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Matt Verified via GitHub
So Far So Good!
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I’m currently enrolled in the new Part Time Remote Immersive and even though it’s a new program, it delivers. It’s tough to give a full 360 degree picture because I’m still in the first leg of the journey, but so far, it’s exactly what I expected. I chose Codesmith because I didn’t want to be spoon-fed information and spit out the other side of an assembly line as a cookie cutter coder. I wanted to learn about being an engineer. That means working through blocks, learning how to learn, and applying concepts to new and unfamiliar problems. That’s what I do here.
I almost always feel behind, but I should. Who wouldn’t when you’re on boarding this much information this quickly. I think what constantly surprises me is how much more efficient, knowledgeable, and capable I’m becoming without even realizing it. I constantly have to remind myself that I’m doing things seemingly impossible to me a month ago. And I don’t feel like I’m missing anything doing it all remotely. They make sure you have iPads for virtual whiteboarding, GitHub and Slack are seamlessly integrated for sharing code and resources, and the team is smooth in its virtual classroom execution. I’ve even applied some of Codesmith’s virtual etiquette and teaching techniques to the meetings and trainings I conduct for work while we’re all stuck in quarantine.
A typical week so far looks something like this:
Mon - Thurs - 3 hours of remote class which include introductory lectures on the week’s unit mixed with programming challenges that you’ll tackle both alone and with a partner via video conferencing, reinforcing and expanding on the topics presented. You’ll develop real problem solving knowledge in the subject matter with which you’re wrestling.
Saturdays - 6 hours of class reviewing the week’s material looking at an expert’s approach and the approaches of your classmates to learn from each other and implement other approaches to the challenges you faced.
That’s phase one. There’s a project phase and a hiring phase which I can’t speak to yet, but the order of operations here makes sense. Learn core material -> Exercise core material in real world settings -> Package all that knowledge and experience to get high paying jobs. The outcomes speak for themselves.
Everyone in my cohort is smart, knowledgeable, hardworking, and friendly, and while it’s easy to look at that and count myself so lucky to be working with such a great group of people, my hunch is that something about Codesmith’s interview process ensures that most cohorts have a similar makeup. And the instructors are the same. As much as they emphasize “work through the blocks” learning, I’ve never felt on my own. If I hit an unscalable wall trying to conquer a problem, the instructors are always right around the virtual corner to ask just the right questions to get me to start climbing on my own. That’s really all I have in terms of a review, this next bit is more personally important to me.
Because I remember how I felt when I was scraping the internet for reviews and wondering what to believe before hopping on this wild train, here’s my full disclosure statement. I was asked to throw a few words into a review because Codesmith doesn’t do a lot of advertising other than virtual word of mouth. In no way was the content of my review discussed or influenced by anything other than my experience. I wouldn’t have agreed to write it if it had been. So these words are mine and I’m not really someone who can say a thing I don’t believe. With that said, what I’m about to write next should be the biggest takeaway for anybody looking.
If was having a negative experience (which I’m not), and I did load this review with criticisms, I don’t think there’d be backlash from Codesmith. Even though I’m still in the program, I don’t think they’d reach out in anger or retaliation. I think they’d want to know how they could do better. The team at Codesmith is always looking for ways to better serve their residents even though it seems they already have it pretty much down to a science. That’s true on the curriculum level, the execution level, and the human level. I think that’s why they have the outcomes that they do. It’s a healthy, hardworking environment and, coming out of the program, it’s my bet that people carry that with them into their careers. -
Veronica Verified via GitHub
Part Time Remote Intensive
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I stumbled upon the PTRI program while looking for a bootcamp and almost immediately fell in love with their block-driven approach and supportive community. I considered going to the on-site program in NYC, but like many people was not able to quit my job for months to do that.
The PTRI program is not easy, but the 3 hours a night are doable even if you work full-time. The instructors and other staff are top-notch - super supportive, responsive, and they make you feel like you belong.
The community is awesome, and Codesmith has been very successful at creating a tight-knit group, even though we're geographically far away from one another. So kudos to them!
I haven't gotten to the hiring portion yet, so I can't speak to the efficacy of it personally, but they have great outcomes, so I'm not too worried about my prospects.
Overall, if you are dedicated and hard working and want a challenge, I definitely recommend this program! -
Kwadwo Asamoah Verified via LinkedIn
I am proud of where I am today and am grateful for Codesmith.
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I graduated with a degree in Graphic Design but I felt unprepared for actually finding work/ furthering a career in Design in a meaningful and stable way. For that and several other reasons I decided give programming a go. I enrolled into two other programming schools before attending Codesmith (Call me nuts). Here are somethings I have to say...
1- Codesmith is one of a kind. I don't think there are any other programs out there that can help an individual improve themselves and their careers at such a high caliber. In terms of Codesmith as an educational entity, I learned more valuable and practical things here than I did in most of my undergrad. In comparison to the programming schools I attended prior, Codesmith felt more like a Graduate/Masters Program. Which leads to the next point....
2- It's not easy (Seriously... its not).When I initially saw the active hours of Mon-Sat 9am-8pm I thought about the commitment I was getting into. In total you may spend +1300 hours at Codesmith. You have to be serious about this. You will be introduced to CS/ Full-Stack concepts at an unnatural rate that will be juuust uncomfortable enough that you will feel challenged throughout the program. But you aren't expected to know everything. The thing to understand is your peers are there to learn too. No one is perfect. You just need to make sure that if you do decide to enroll into Codesmith, you go in with an open mind and are serious about learning. The Codesmith community will only cultivate you and let you grow as an engineer. This is something that Codesmith does quite well.
3- The Codesmith Bag of GoodiesCodesmith equips its students with things that I noticed others schools didn't. Some examples:- a) Being a student at the New York Campus has a likeness to working at a start up company. Both classes (Juniors and Seniors) share the same space. There is no "Classroom code along" and only a small portion of your day is devoted to lecture. Most of your time will be spent pair programming/ working at engineering problems. On top of that, your senior portion will have you working in close proximity with other engineers where you can practice things such as working in an AGILE environment, GitHub workflow, Brainstorming/Building an application from the ground up as a team. These start up elements can help grads both form opinions about these concepts AND adjust to environments of the start up companies that want to hire them.
- b) Codesmith's hiring portion is on point. Your credibility as an engineer will be boosted by Codesmith's teaching style regarding your resume writing, self advocacy, proper salary negotiation and job searching techniques. I learned a great deal in this phase of the program.
- c) The curriculum is well thought out. You are given things that will help you build a strong resume. Aside from the great amount of technologies you touch and your smaller projects, the production project you build over the course of several weeks is great experience. This larger scale project will get you though enough engineering challenges to allow you to formulate a mature engineering narrative that will help you when on the job search. And don't even get me started on the tech talk.
4- I am thankfulI'm someone who has struggled quite a bit with programming. But after devoting less than a year to focus on studies I am now working as an engineer with a salary that is 4x greater than I've ever earned before. So for that I am thankful. -
David Neuhaus Verified via LinkedIn
Changed my Life
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Five years ago, I quit my job to go to a (different) web dev bootcamp. It got me my first developer job, but that experience doesn't compare to what I got out of Codesmith. Several years and two jobs later I found myself unable to find my next opportunity. I was over-qualified for Jr roles and under-qualified for Sr ones because even after my on the job experience, my actual core programming knowledge base was sorely lacking.
Codesmith changed that and I couldn't be more grateful. After three VERY difficult months I found myself in a VERY different place - I was more confident, had recent cutting edge projects under my belt, and finally felt deserving of a Senior title. Newly empowered I ventured back into the job market that just months earlier had been rejecting me repeatedly.
Codesmith kept supporting me with constant advice, and encouragement and now I have the job I've always wanted. To top it off, my salary is 81% higher than it was at my last job. I can't recommend this program highly enough. -
Rudo Hengst Verified via GitHub
CS Prep
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If you are looking at Codesmith's Software Engineering Immersive Program, but feel that you are not quite ready yet, CS Prep might be exactly what you are looking for. I was in that position a few weeks ago, in which I was familiar with some Javascript fundamentals but did not feel that I could pass the entrance interviews due to a complete lack of technical communication. I had done coding challenges by myself, but never really had the chance to communicate this to anyone else.
I recently finished my CS Prep cohort at Codesmith after having dabbled in Javascript for a couple of months before starting. I worked through all of CSX - CodeSmith's own online free learning environment - to prepare myself for the concepts that would be covered in CS Prep. The focus within CS Prep lies heavily on technical communication. Examples of this are found in the daily opportunities to pair program, to pseudocode well during the problems, to share a video where you walk the viewer through a problem and when you work with your group on your final project. Those could sound like daunting tasks, but you get used to it quicker than you would think.
The lectures themselves followed a similar format each day. Typically we started with a problem of the day, then the instructor would walk through the problem of the previous day. After that, a new topic would be introduced and explained in-depth. Lastly, we would be assigned a pair programming partner, which allowed us to work through the problem sets related to that day's topic together. The use of technology (mostly done with Zoom and their own CSBin to write code) made for a seamless experience. The lectures require a lot of diagramming so that you get a deeper understanding of why the code is doing what it's doing. Students are called upon (students join with microphone and camera) to analyze the lines of code and to technically communicate what is happening. The instructors are extremely engaging and approachable.
My cohort consisted of about 30-35 students and we had an active slack channel going with the instructors actively participating as well. This way, there was always someone to answer your questions as you were working through your problems. A sidenote here is that I was unemployed, so I was able to spend a lot of hours daily to practice and to get the most out of the experience. However, there were many people that were doing this next to their studies/full-time work, and they still performed very well.
I am also happy to say that I got into the Software Engineering Immersive Program and will be starting in the NY March Cohort. I practised by myself before CS Prep and I probably would have gotten there in the end, but CS Prep helped accelerate the process and made everything much more enjoyable as well. If you are near either of the two Codesmith locations, you are also likely to run into other people from your CS Prep program if you visit the JavaScript the Hard Parts workshops, which is an additional benefit.
Overall - Nothing but good words for CS Prep and the instructors: David, Chris and JinSung. I came out with a much better understanding of JavaScript, am now able to communicate my thought process much more clearly, made some friends, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
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Winford Verified via LinkedIn
CS Prep @ CodeSmith
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I have to admit, I’m usually skeptical about online bootcamps. When I decided I wanted to learn Javascript, I did everything I could to learn for free and in a self-paced manner. I took online courses, some live classes, meetups, study guides, and bootcamp prep exercises from Full Stack Academy, Hack Reactor, the whole 9 yards. I did this for about 3 months part time. I will admit that these resources were a great introduction into learning Javascript, but up to a certain point I hit a plateau. The new surface level knowledge I gained from these courses were not contributing to my overall fundamental understanding of Javascript. In other words, I was spinning my wheels with these courses.
I didn't realize this until I was sick and didn't code for two weeks and then tried to jump back into coding and realized I forgot half the things I “learned”. It was clear I had deep holes in my fundamentals that I needed to address before advancing.
I enrolled in CSPrep after I took a FrontEnd Master’s course called “Javascript the Hard Parts”. The first thing I noticed about both instructors were that they had a very distinct way of teaching.
They always diagrammed everything, especially how the Javascript engine processes the code ‘under the hood’. They would speak in a very precise manner and have students weave this vocabulary into their understanding of the subject. This specific emphasis on technical communication and deep understanding is what I think makes CS Prep a worthwhile investment.
My CSPrep instructor, David, flowed seamlessly through the course making sure everyone was on the same page and that we continuously hit a deeper understanding of the topic at hand. I believe this “training style” is what led to me to pass the interview for the full time Software Immersive Program at Codesmith. After all, the interview topics (Closures, Higher-Order Functions) were not necessarily the easiest resources to find online.
I would highly recommend checking out CSPrep and Javascript the Hard Parts. If I had to do it over again, I’d go to their free in-person Javascript the Hard Parts workshops held every week before jumping into CSPrep, that way the new knowledge is built on strong fundamentals.
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Ben Ray Verified via LinkedIn
Big 4 CPA to Software Engineer
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Hey, so most of the other 300 reviews here are going to give you a great overview and tell you what it's all about. I want this review to help tell you that it's all true. I'm just a more skeptical person by nature so even taking this plunge into software engineering boot camps was a crazy idea but I felt that it was the right path for my life.
I originally got into Hack Reactor SF but in final review I wanted to look over my options one last time. I came across Codesmith and I'll admit, the first thing I noticed were how amazing the outcomes were compares to everyone else. But, getting me to move across the country required a little more. I watched the free online JavaScript the Hard Parts taught by Phil and Will - who are not just figureheads and truly a major part of your codesmith experience - and I felt the passion and the energy that no other place had. I realize that may sound a little ridiculous but join one of the weekly classes and give it a shot. There is no better way to no if codesmith is right for you.
Lastly, yes the curriculum is solid and if you put in the effort you will come out with everything you need and the culture really is that amazing - you'll make great friends along the way. So yeah, all those reviews under me are telling the truth.
I was lucky to get an offer so fast after graduation but the stats don't lie and it does work.
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Kendall Verified via LinkedIn
Codesmith Review from a Student with no background in Computer Science
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To start off, my background was actually in Finance. I went to college down in southern california and really didn't see myself pursueing the tech field; due to some personal circumstances, I made the abrupt decision to pursue the software engineering industry. The choice of going to Codesmith actually stemmed from a friend referring me to this bootcamp, he had only good things to say about this bootcamp.
With that, I begain studying for Codesmith about 1.5 months before the application deadline, studied for about 8-10 hours a day. Throughout the application process, the staff was extremely friendly and supportive - I didn't pass my first technical and received feedback and was able to pass the second time around.
When I first started, I had no expectation of the codesmith community or who I would be working with. That being said, I was blown away by the amount of passion and support shown by not only the staff members but my own cohort mates. I believe that for such a strenuous and stressful environment to succeed, everyone must contribute and collectively support each other - codesmith was nothing shy of supporting students through 'the crucible'. Not only were the staff members constantly available to support you through stressful situations but they also provided emotional and any other support you needed. Oh and the lead technical mentor, Augustine, is phenomenal - he has an answer for just about everything, and if he doesn't he will do his absolute best to push you in the right direction.
One thing to point out is that Codesmith prides themselves in letting you struggle. That means that there is little to no hand holding, everything should be figured out on your own or with others. I think this is the core of what software engineering is, being able to problem solve on your own feet.
Thank you codesmith, I couldn't have been more happy with my own outcome and would never forget this experience!
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Will R. Verified via LinkedIn
Career-Changing and Life-Changing (Truly)
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Enrolling in Codesmith last summer was a risk I was nervous about, but it has already paid off in so many ways. I received a job abroad with a competitive salary, and was actively interviewing in NYC for jobs over $130,000. I was in a career in which I felt stagnant and not mentally stimulated. I was always good at math and science growing up, but in college I found media/journalism and decided to give that a shot for 10 years. I loved it for a period but needed a change.
After doing tons of research, I had two finalists lined up. I'm sure I would have done well at the runner-up, but Codesmith stood out to me for a few reasons. The community is above all else. First, all the online reviews for Codesmith read differently than others, and I was very curious why -- there had to be something to it. Secondly: Just seeing people attend free Hard Parts lectures and seeing the bond beginning to form there was a big difference from other residencies. To that end, the personal touch goes from all levels. Something as small as receiving a handwritten card upon acceptance is something so easy that my other choice didn't do, but it's a great touch.
As for the curriculum: It can definitely kick your ass. It's a hard 13 weeks, but I went from 3 months of somewhat regular self-taught coding (along with a full-time job) to getting a full-time mid-level job in less than 2 months. While everyone will have their hard, frustrating days, yes. But your cohort will support you, and people learn way more than they think they are capable of. Similarly, the Codesmith staff does a great job at teaching and making sure everyone is doing OK. I do wish that some of the topics could be more refined, but I know firsthand that those discussions are always ongoing and that the staff is very conscious of staying in-tune to the dev community.
I couldn't have asked for more than a program. I'm fortunate my cohort was filled with great people and staff that I continue to speak to. It's a big financial investment, yes. But if you know you want to dive into software engineering, do yourself a favor and look into Codesmith.
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Rachel Kim Verified via LinkedIn
Software Engineer
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I just got an offer that I will be accepting as my first Software Engineer role outside of Codesmith and I'm still in shock at how things worked out the way it did! I was a student in the Software Engineering Immersive Program back in May-August and had the privilege of becoming a fellow from August-November.
Many people were sharing how the job search will be difficult around the time I end fellowship but I am here to say that if you put in the hard work, you can get a job regardless of the “best hiring” season. I am super thankful for the Codesmith community as I have made so many amazing life-long friends/engineers who are here to support me in my new journey, every step of the way. I can’t thank the staff enough for believing in me and giving me all the resources I need to succeed. Thank you Codesmith!
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Daniel Nagano-Gerace Verified via LinkedIn
Dead End Job to Codesmith to Backend Engineer of $100 Million Company
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TLDR: Started researching how to improve my career in March and April 2019. Attended Codesmith from June to August. Currently writing/managing code in distributed systems handling over 20,000 concurrent requests a second, contributing server code for data worth millions. And I've made lifelong friends along the way.
Why Codesmith?: No other program puts so much emphasis on cultural fit. To attend Codesmith, you must show extreme empathy, willingness to dive deep into the unknown, and a compulsion for great technical communication with your partners, mentors, and teams. In every way, being surrounded by so many hand-picked, brilliant, empathetic, and driven engineers — many with absolutely no prior experience — will fundamentally change you for the better. And residents come from all walks of life. And every resident must not only excel in pair-programming formats and team settings, but they also must mentor others.
I will quote someone I personally mentored in the program, who handed me a note the night before graduation — “Just wanted to leave a little note of gratitude instead of word vomiting a bunch of stuff at you the night before you ‘left’ CS. I truly appreciated the energy you depicted. I felt as if you were cheering me on even before I got there. To be honest at first I was super intimidated by you but in the end that environment of challenge was exactly what I needed to push through for you showed me that no task was too daunting for me to accomplish. Thank you for your words of wisdom and for sharing your worldview. Thank you for being there for me & for telling me over and over (and over) again that the underdog can and will prevail.”
Hiring Support: Self-advocacy. We teach people how to push themselves for bigger and better things. In total, I never once applied for a single company in my entire job search — I took 56 interview requests from external and internal recruiters. The primary reason was that the projects and codebases I had worked on in CS had such bleeding edge tech stacks — gRPCs, Protobufs, Docker, Node, Webpack, RxJS, Concurrent React, Redux, Next.js, SQL, Mongo, AWS, etc., — that I fulfilled nearly every mark on req sheets for huge numbers of companies. As I took more interviews and phone screens, tech screens, take homes, and on-sites, there was always a tight knit community of alumni and staff that supported me through every rejection and hard knock. So that by the time I hit multiple offers, I had gained so much perspective and self-confidence that I was able to negotiate my salary to above $170k.
Community: I still hang out regularly with dozens of people I met through the program. It’s an amazing thing to have so many friends that all have six-figure salaries in the same field who I can lean on and who can lean on me for the rest of my life. I will forever be grateful for this place. -
Camera Walrond Verified via LinkedIn
One of the best decisions I've ever made
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My time at Codesmith was an invaluable experience in my journey to becoming a software engineer. When I initially decided to switch careers, I knew I wanted to attend an immersive program in order to accelerate my progress. I did tons of research on the full time programs available to me in my area (NYC). Many seemed promising, but as I learned more about each program and attended their public events it became clear to me that Codesmith was one a different level. When I attended my first Hard Parts I was so impressed by the teaching style and the energy in the room. I felt like Codesmith was really a place where people went to hustle hard and change their lives. I applied to the immersive program and met more members of the Codesmith team and they were all supportive of me throughout the interview process. I was accepted to the immersive program and dived right into the curriculum with 23 other lovely humans as cohort mates. The curriculum is formatted such that residents are constantly learning and building with new technologies at a rapid pace and are always coding with a pair programming partner. I found pair programming to be highly beneficial to my learning process because not only did it help me refine my own technical communication but it also made me more effective at interpreting and deploying my partner’s technical ideas, which is an essential skill for any engineer in a production environment. Beyond the curriculum, Codesmith also stands out in terms of community. All of my cohort mates were people who went out of their way to help one another all the time. The warmth of the staff, teaching fellows, and my cohort mates throughout my time as a resident made working through long days for three months truly enjoyable and these relationships have persisted for me even after graduation. For anyone considering applying to a Codesmith program, my best advice is to attend an event on campus and talk to the people you meet there. The rest will speak for itself.
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Andy Verified via GitHub
Laid off to CodeSmith to Senior Engineer in 6 months
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This review is for working professionals considering the pivot into Software Engineering
My Background:
Located in NYC - Previously working in a Fortune 50 company as a tech-adjacent manager for over 4 years in the Financial Risk industry. In May I was notified that my role was being outsourced and was given a choice of relocating to another state with a pay cut or get laid off. My dream was to someday be in command of my own career and have skills that employers sought after instead being a budget item that needed to undergo annual cost-reduction.
CodeSmith Experience:
I started off by attending free meetups and found myself at CodeSmith to attend JavaScript the Hard Parts. I am the first person to go through the trifecta, (JS for Beginners, CS Prep, and the Immersive program) It wasn’t easy. CodeSmith was one of the most challenging endeavors I signed up for in my career. There are plenty of reviews online that will go into detail on the curriculum but the main take away is that there is no real secret. There are hundreds of learning material available online for free. What I’ve gotten out of CodeSmith as an experienced professional is a room full of people from multiple industries leveraging their prior work experiences to constantly push each other to consider multiple perspectives and solve problems in ways I could not have done via tutorials or coding on my own. This is why CodeSmith is able to grow residents into mature senior engineers.
CodeSmith isn’t a place to pay money to sit down and coast to a high paying career. I relate CodeSmith to giving me a map, but I still had to manually drive down the road and figure out where to turn along the way.
Afterwards/Summary:
From being laid off back in May, to learning JavaScript and going through Hard Parts, JSB, and CS Prep in June-July, to the Immersive program from July-October, I’ve put in over 80 hours of work per week to improve myself. This wasn’t easy for me nor for my loved ones whom would only see me for a few hours on a good week. (The community was caring and ensured I got enough sleep)
5 weeks after graduation and two offers later, I will be starting my first job as a Senior Software Engineer next week with an above average 6-figure salary. My most valuable asset is my software engineering knowledge which I’ve sharpened and grown throughout CodeSmith. I am confident now in my job security and the ability to find more work in the future when the time comes. The tech and skill set I’ve learned are highly sought after in the job market. A major selling point for CodeSmith - If certain frameworks or libraries are no longer in demand, CodeSmith tends to remove older content in favor of newer content that is more competitive in the job market.
I came from zero JavaScript knowledge working at an unfulfilling job to taking my first step into Software Engineering. I truly believe that it doesn’t matter how you learn or what program you take if you put in the hard work, but CodeSmith definitely expedited the process and made me never give up.
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Dan Verified via GitHub
Truly life changing — if you’re ready to put in the hard work
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I remember reading these Course Report reviews for Codesmith several months ago when I was planning for a big career change in life. Needless to say, I was convinced to start Codesmith’s Software Engineering Immersive from the reviews — and indeed, it was life-changing as some here have echoed. I personally ~4x’d my salary (well past $150K+ a year) , so it was well worth it for me, not to mention the life-long friends and confidence in technical problem solving I’ve gained along the way. I’ve had the privilege of going to an Ivy League school and I would say, without a doubt, that my Codesmith experience was on par with it for my career and personal growth — if not even better.
A little bit about me: I’ve worked in tech doing a variety of roles from marketing to operations, but I had never really touched coding directly. I took a couple of programming classes, but never went much deeper than that. After I began learning some basic web design for my job, I become more interested in it. I had a great time learning on my own, but I knew in the back of my mind that it would be an uphill battle for me to become a “real” software engineer without more structured learning. I learned about Codesmith and JavaScript the Hard Parts and I was impressed by the core fundamentals they taught — things that even senior engineers have brushed over. I quit my job and then took a few months to prepare for the technical interview.
When I got there, I knew I had made the right choice. The curriculum is well-designed, covering the fundamentals of front-end and back-end development, and the staff is adding new subjects like AWS and machine learning frequently. In my cohort, we usually spent 9AM - 8PM taking lectures and doing the coding assignments. I recall many times where I stayed past 11PM, as many others have, but that was something that I enjoyed — going deep or freshening on some topics after the normal hours didn’t feel like work at all. Some subjects like databases could use an update, but Codesmith is working on addressing those issues and keeping the curriculum as up-to-date to reflect the technology that’s actually being used in the industry. I think the best part of the program is the production project that happens at the second half of the immersive. It’s an opportunity where you and a team of other residents create and launch a developer tool into the world. It’s 6 weeks of hard work, going from 0 to 100 on an exciting area of software engineering that interests you where you will gain real maturity as an engineer, something that I reckon other programs don’t offer (I heard that the capstone projects of other programs are what we at Codesmith do at the end of our 6-week junior portion — meaning we had another 6 weeks dedicated to create something meaningful in terms of software engineering.)
Overall, the curriculum and production project definitely makes you job-ready by the end of the immersive. Although you may have to supplement on some topics that you didn’t get quite the first time, it’s only a matter of time before offers come in, especially in the relatively good job market in 2019 (so seize the chance now!) So you’re intellectually ready, but the job hunt is more than the knowledge you have. Another core skill is how to present your skills and other soft skills to signal that you are a hire-able dev, and indeed, Codesmith has a solid series of workshops just on hiring. There’s also hiring day, where companies come in to do speed-dating type interviews with Codesmith residents. It’s a good opportunity to get your feet wet with interviewing, and some people have gotten offers from hiring day. There’s usually a good number of companies attending hiring day, but most of my cohort mates found jobs through their own job applications or technical recruiters. Again, Codesmith does everything to set you up for success on the job market, but it’s up to you to hustle and double-down on the job hunt.
The best part of the immersive hands-down is the people you will meet, fellow engineers that you’ll be coding with. The instructors are great, but I would say I’ve done the most learning with my cohort mates. If I ever have a question, I’ll go up to someone and usually we’ll buckle down and Google our way into understanding a concept. Such a network of learning and support from your peers for a difficult technical subject is hard to replicate anywhere. Underrated as it may seem, this self-directed learning with others is a really great way to learn, and it’s something that you’ll have to continue doing on the job. It’s the people that make it vastly better than learning it all on your own — your cohort mates are a diverse set of people that Codesmith has vetted to create a tight-knit of students who are hungry to learn like you are. The people and the environment of support are really what sets Codesmith apart from other programs, if I’m able to compare. The community manager plans great events where you can take a break from coding and recover, from kickball on Venice Beach to the weekly Thursday night drinks. Plus, you also join a wide network of software engineers on the alumni Slack, some of whom work at places from Google to Tinder to exciting startups around the US. I’ve very grateful for the strong network of folks that I’ve gained throughout my Codesmith journey, and I still keep in touch with them today.
In terms of what I didn’t like about the program, I think Codesmith can do a bit better to refresh their curriculum as I’ve mentioned. But the industry is always changing and the most important skill is the meta skill of learning how to learn, which you can gain from the immersive.
After the program, I was able to find a senior level frontend role through the Codesmith network. I’m happy with my job and my accomplishments, and I don’t think I could have leveled up this rapidly without my experience at Codesmith. The best part is that I know that Codesmith and the Codesmith network will continue to provide support (in the form of new opportunities or technical interview prep, for example) for my next role, and the next one.
If you’re still deciding on pulling the trigger but you’re certain you want a challenging career in software development and have the grit to go through the peaks and valleys of learning the ropes of a whole new industry, then I recommend you get the ball rolling and begin the application process soon, whether that’s submitting your application, enrolling in CS Prep, or attending your very first JavaScript the Hard Parts workshop. Fast-forward 3-6 months, your life won’t be the same, not only because of a high-paying and rewarding software job, but also because of the network of equally dedicated engineers you’ll gain and the tools to continue learning and challenging yourself.
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Sam Verified via GitHub
Phenomenal - the best decision of my life. I would recommend no other program.
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Before Codesmith I couldn't land an 80k salary junior level job, after finishing I was turning down multiple job offers to work for my dream job at Google. My offers’ base salaries were all 125k-150k, not to mention generous stocks and signing bonuses.
Codesmith stands apart from other programs - it uniquely is the only program out there that trains students to become mid-senior level engineers, not junior level engineers. I have chatted with many grads from other bootcamps at coffee shops, libraries, meetups, linkedin... and they struggle to land interviews for junior level positions and get next to no messages from recruiters. Contrast that to Codesmith students who land many interviews and get flooded by recruiters - for mid-senior level positions at that with (at the time of writing) median 117k salary.
I had no software job prior to Codesmith and no Computer Science degree - the vast majority of students in the program did not either. And for the students that did in fact have software job experience - let's just say they landed some pretty amazing positions ;) I feel extremely fortunate and lucky to have found Codesmith and it completely changed my career prospects. Not only is the program content brilliant, but the community and friends I have found through working hard 12 hour days and fixing bugs late at night has been life-changing. The staff, instructors, and fellows are some of the warmest and most diverse and memorable set of people you'll meet.
It takes courage and care for a program to train students with no prior software job with the goal of becoming a mid-senior level engineer rather than a junior level engineer. And this is in the same amount of time as other programs, that is, 3 months. The program is much better crafted than what I have learned other programs do. The projects you do at Codesmith that you showcase to future employers are better - you make developer tools solving original problems in web development performance, frameworks, scalability, and tooling. The resumes you make at Codesmith are better - the guidance is more complete and more nuanced. I have checked the linkedin profiles/resumes of some students of other bootcamps, and they are far weaker. The general knowledge you gain at Codesmith is better, and the students are more passionate too. They simply know more.
The outcomes I've seen at Codesmith are of course wonderful - everyone would like to start their software engineering career with a more stimulating job with greater responsibility and greater compensation, but how is it possible to land a mid-senior position straight out of a bootcamp? After all, most bootcamp grads struggle to find junior level positions, and online you can read many articles and watch many youtube videos where people talk about their post-bootcamp job struggles. I would suggest you do your research and look them up. You might think that sure, Codesmith might have a better curriculum, a better set of projects, and stronger post-program guidance, but it seems unlikely that merely some better things here and there would catapult students to confidently landing mid-senior positions. What is the secret sauce that makes this happen?
The answer is - paradoxically, it is easier to land a mid-senior role over a junior role!
Basically, it's tough to enter the job market as a junior developer because those positions are insanely oversaturated with applicants. Not only are you competing against recent grads in the U.S., you're competing with developers overseas who'd happily take a relatively low U.S. salary because they are earning much less. Junior jobs tend to provide you with much less responsibility and challenge, and potential for upward mobility.
Because Codesmith prepares you for a mid-senior level position, you are able to skip the hell of the junior dev job market. And for me, skipping that junior dev job market was a godsend. But to actually make it past recruiters and hiring managers and convince people that you are ready for a mid-senior level position, you need a dedicated set of projects (and the right projects, not weak versions of social media or dating apps as in most coding bootcamps), resume bullet points, a good prepared and rehearsed narrative/life story, and strong domain experience (knowledge of React and Node at a deep level informed through experience making apps). Because recruiters and hiring managers will look at your numerical number of years of experience and already be biased against you, you need everything you can get to overcome them perceiving you as inexperienced. Codesmith is excellent for preparing you for overcoming this hurdle.
You may very well save around 3 years of your life in your career progression by bypassing the junior level job market and entering a mid-senior position straight away.
However, it takes a lot to succeed in this program, and not everyone in this program succeeds. When most people I talk to ask me whether they would be capable enough to succeed in the program, they often ask whether they would be “smart” enough for the program. They are concerned that they don’t have the fast-thinking clever-manipulating genius-hacking brain speed to manage what’s going on. And this is a mistake. Everyone who passes the technical interview to get into the program has the raw smarts.
More important is your willingness to work hard and not check out at any stage of the program. You can’t check out during the first month of the program learning the precise fundamentals of JavaScript, React, Node, and full-stack web development. You have to bravely dive in when the going gets tough and tackle the above with enthusiasm and develop a genuine passion for how e.g. promises work and offer expressive power over traditional callbacks, or what’s the best way to structure a React-Redux application. You can’t check out when you are making the group projects - these are what you bring to prospective employers. You can’t check out when you are crafting your resume and practicing mock interviews, and you have to learn to present yourself confidently. You can’t check out when the program is over - apply to as many jobs as possible, go on interviews and confidently shake the interviewer’s hand, and study to fill in as much of your knowledge holes and gaps as you can (provided that study is not an excuse to not apply to jobs - you can’t just study before you apply). I sometimes feel that people use the “not smart” thing as an excuse to check out - you simply cannot check out.
Equally important is your resourcefulness. This is your ability and eagerness to look up information. When you get stuck, you need to be able to find a way through. You have to be good at looking up documentation online. You have to be good at reading Stack Overflow and understanding the core idea of the question/answer without mindlessly copy-pasting or hastily dismissing the content as irrelevant. You have to have the social courage to ask your classmates for help. You can’t afford to be afraid of “bothering them” and looking stupid. Often I have saved many precious hours by asking the right person a question that I would not have been able to figure out on my own. And yet conversely, you can’t be overly dependent on asking people for help. You need to be able to figure out the core of your day-to-day work on your own through your own problem-solving and resourcefulness. A good software engineer knows when to ask for help, and when to buckle down and carefully think through and research things.
The support for students is phenomenal. The staff offers so much personalized help during the program, and has a post-program job search support program. They directly email students one-on-one to schedule meetings to practice interviews and polish resumes. Your lead instructors will directly work with teams to decide on the best and most compelling senior project. Fellows do one-on-one tutoring sessions for students struggling with assessments, and give high-level guidance on senior projects. The staff is so passionate and puts so much time in. They genuinely care and love what they do.
At Codesmith, people regularly get offers from household name companies: Google, Amazon, Netflix,Ticketmaster, IBM, Hulu, Paypal, LInkedin, Snap, and others, not to mention a wide swath of early and late stage startups. I feel confident at my job at Google and am working at a great pace, and have come so far from being unable to land even a junior level position. Codesmith has made me more than prepared for a fulfilling software engineering career, and it wouldn’t be without the brilliant design of the program, the ingenious insight that it’s better to shoot for a mid-senior level position, and the dedication of the staff to helping students reach their goals.
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Abby Verified via LinkedIn
Amazing program!
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In short, Codesmith will change your career and life. They have extraordinarily high-quality teaching, a curriculum that pushes you to truly become an engineer (and get hired as one!), and an incredibly warm and supportive culture. Personally, I came to Codesmith NY in the summer of 2019. I’m a technology entrepreneur, but I had long since forgotten the web development I learned in college, so I decided to double-down with a bootcamp. After 3 months with Codesmith, I’m confident that I can build my first version of my next product, and that I have a strong foundation from which I can learn anything moving forward. Stepping back, here are just a few of the stellar things about Codesmith that stand out: 1) Extraordinary teachers. From the first time I stepped into Javascript: The Hard Parts, I was blown away by Codesmith’s teachers. They have an amazing ability to break down complex concepts and make them simple and easy to understand. Even more importantly, they are incredibly encouraging and teach you how to approach a problem, which empowers you with the skills to figure things out yourself. 2) Very thoughtful curriculum. Codesmith has done an amazing job of putting together lectures, exercises, projects, and hiring support (e.g., coaching, resume reviews, follow-ups) to push you at every step of the way. They certainly aren’t holding your hand, but that’s deliberate – you struggle and push through to improve your own learning, and there’s always support around the corner. I loved the challenge and variety. 3) Culture! I think Codesmith has the most positive, inclusive culture that I’ve ever experienced in my life. They really build an amazing community where everyone is insanely supportive of each other and you can really lean on and have fun with everyone. The community really makes it possible to have a blast while you’re working hard every day. If you’re considering Codesmith, go for it! Codesmith has been a formative experience for me, and I can’t recommend it more highly. -
Khalid Umar Verified via LinkedIn
A Good Summer Indeed
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Statistics show that people are more likely to leave a review if the review is negative. This is not one of those cases. I recently graduated from Codesmith’s software engineering immersive program in NY. I can confidently say, it was one of the best experiences of my life. You get an unmatched curriculum and brilliant instructors.
What sets Codesmith apart from other coding schools is the community. It is uncommon to see people leave at 8:00 PM. People stick around to work on algorithms, improve a project, pick up a new skill or just hang out and exchange jargon on new technologies.
Your job outcome is only the amount of effort you put in. My peers at Codesmith were hardworking people. They put in the hours (long hours) and helped one another in projects, interview prep and the job search. They are landing high $100k+ job offers because of their hard work and the supportive community.
If you would like to know if Codesmith is right for you, attend Javascript The Hard Parts sessions hosted by Codesmith online or in person. It’ll give you an idea of their teaching style and what the community is all about.
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Sophie N Verified via LinkedIn
Great experience
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Codesmith is an exemplary program for a number of reasons - its curriculum is current and constantly refreshed, for instance, and its instructors are stellar. However the two things that I think really set this program apart for me are its community and its hiring program. Codesmith is one of the strongest, most supportive communities I've ever been a part of, and the staff go to every effort to make sure that those admitted to the program are going to contribute positively to that community. They are fiercely protective of it, and their efforts ensure that you don't mind that you're there 12+ hours per day working with the same people, because you're enjoying the company of those around you as much as the work itself. I would go home at the end of a long day, exhausted but excited to go back and do it again tomorrow. They always welcome alumni and provided a space for me to work when applying to jobs. That brings me to the hiring program, which is exhaustive and well thought out. I had no idea what the hiring process was going to be like, and it seemed daunting, but Codesmith broke it down and made it manageable. Their approach to applying for jobs is different than anything I'd encountered in the past, even at times it was counter-intuitive, but it works. Within a few weeks, I had two six figure offers, and there were others in my cohort with more than that. I'm very grateful to this program, its founders, instructors and staff for enabling me to change my life.
If you're looking at bootcamps, I highly recommend checking out Codesmith. You can experience the teaching style and the community by going on Thursday nights to their Javascript the Hard Parts lectures. It's free and gives you a good tase of what to expect. If there's any room for improvement, it's only that they're growing a little too quickly. The space they're in is beautiful, but they've expanded so fast that it's a tight fit. -
Andrew Verified via LinkedIn
Amazing Experience
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I had an unblievable experience at this software engineering immersive. The staff, the people, and the community are what really separates codesmith from other traditional bootcamps. I would recommend being pretty solid on CS fundamentals before joining, as the curriculum is challenging and fast-paced. The first half of the program is geared towards the core technologies/curriculum while the second half is mainly project building and hiring workshop. Absolutely would recommend this to anybody looking to turn their lives around and get into SWE as a career!
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Jacob Verified via LinkedIn
Life Changing
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I attended the Bootcamp in 2019 and I cannot speak highly enough of my experience. The training I received was high quality and approachable. If I ever struggled with a subject my mentors or peers were always there to help me out. The projects you work on successfully enforce the core tech stack taught by Codesmith. Additionally, Codesmith's blend of projects and pair programming seamlessly work together to not only teach you the technology, but also teach you how to solve problems for your self. This bootbcamp does not spoon-feed you solutions. It forces you to struggle and meet your breaking point day in and day out. Beyond the technical instruction, the support staff are top-notch professionals. They make the sacrifice you make for enrolling in a bootcamp worth it. They are always there to answer any questions regarding tuition, scheduling, etc. But they also are instrumental in organizing the networking days, which were vital in my job-search process. I cannot speak highly enough of them. Finally, the best thing about Codesmith is the community. They work hard to make sure their students fit the culture of the program, which makes working with the people wonderful. I made life-long friends during this program and always looked forward to coming in every day. At the end of the day, the Codesmith program works. It gets results. Codesmith's unique blend of community, technical training, and hiring support make it far superior to any other boot camp.
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Chris J Verified via LinkedIn
A Transformational Experience
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Codesmith is one of the pivotal moments of my life.
Prior to attending, I was struggling to find meaningful work. I knew I wanted to get into software engineering, but I didn't have the knowledge nor background, but I had immense desire to break into the field. I heard about bootcamps when they first popped up 7 years ago and always thought about attending.
I decided to take the leap after realizing this was the most direct route to an engineering job.
I wanted the most rigorous and intense program and narrowed down the choices amongst Fullstack Academy, Hack Reactor SF, and Codesmith. These were all schools with classes Mon-Sat 9am-7pm+. I chose Codesmith after attending their Javascript the Hard Parts and speaking with multiple alumni about their experience. For many of them, it was a transformational experience that launched them into a dream career, granted they put in an enormous amount of work. I could relate to them and felt that I too could make the transition.
The experience itself is one the best periods of my life. It was a totally immersive and I got very close with my cohort. I slept in my car, was in the classroom from 9am to 1am+, and made life-long friends. I'm very thankful that such intensity was not only encouraged but cultivated as there were a couple others that would stay up and grind well into the night. And frankly I wouldn't have it any other way.
I learned a ton from my peers and worked on projects that interviewers were intrigued and impressed with. My classmates were outstanding and many of us went on to earn offers $100,000+. The promise is real, but you have to earn it. Many of us went to top schools yet some didn't even go to college at all. One of my classmates came from an animation background with no college degree and struggled to grasp many of the concepts, yet he never gave up and hustled harder than anyone and nabbed a 6 figure offer after applying to hundreds of positions and going through nearly a hundred phone interviews. You meet hardcore committed people here, people that will inspire you to elevate yourself and get to the next level.
Job support is great. There are alumni that hang around and will help you out and the staff are committed. I called a year after graduating to negotiate an offer and a 5-minute call with Uncle Eric, who advises on neogtiations, helped me get an additional $15k in salary and $5k in bonus. I followed his instructions and everything happened exactly as he described. The people here are real Pros, they know what they're doing, and they're not messing around.
Shoutout to Will, Schno, Shanda, the fellows, and staff for making such a fun and intense atmosphere. It really is one of the best experiences of my life and I'm very grateful for having gone through the program. I too got that 6 figure offer, and I'm working at a job that not only is using the exact stack that was taught (React, Node, Mongo) but is also very fun! I continue to work hard and the future is very bright.
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Chloe Verified via GitHub
JSB Aug 2019
My cohorts teacher was Sean -- Super helpful and explained everything really well.
This course is great for beginners who are just starting out with Java Script. It goes into great detail of the basics of Java Script and pair programming. This paired with the first few chapters of the online csx are great tools to help you start programming.
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Juan Espinoza Verified via LinkedIn
Graduate
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I had a phenomenal three months at Codesmith. The amount of support I received by all my peers and the staff was outstanding. I had a much different experience studying Computer Science in college. While I was in college, I was not passionate about a majority of the subjects I was studying and I received very little support heading into the job search. One of the aspects that I really enjoyed about Codesmith was the modern curriculum. At Codesmith you learn React, Redux, Node, and many in-demand skills. Another great aspecet of Codesmith is the amazing hiring program. The staff will work with you on your resume, cover letter, and many other key components of the job search. Many of my cohort mates have already had several interviews before graduating simply by following the tips given during the hiring portion of the program. Codesmith was definitely a life-changing experience.
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Jacob Ory Verified via LinkedIn
Life Changing 3 Months
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Deciding on a bootcamp wasn't easy, going through the application process was one of the first signs Codesmith was for me. Coming to Codesmith, you are expected to be at a higher level than all other bootcamps, this ensures you get the most out of the 3 month process and aren't paying a premium to learn the basics.
The dev tool I created with my team at Codesmith is an asset that will set me apart from other bootcamp grads (no crud apps or games for final projects), and diving deep into a technology while building this product certainly helps with the non junior/entry level narative all bootcamp grads will face.
Aside from the technical excellence the culture at Codesmith is incredible. They go above and beyond to ensure that people who join are not only a technical fit, but also a cultural one. This makes those 80+ hours weeks managable, working with a great group of cohort mates, instructors, and fellows who are all there to help you reach your goals.
Overal I'm incredibly lucky to have wound up at Codemsith and couldn't imagine having attended another program.
P.S check out their free programs on tuesday and thursday to get a taste of what curriculum is like
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Tanner Houghton Verified via LinkedIn
Absolutely Phenomenal
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Codesmith was a life-changing experience that exceeded my expectations in every way. While there are numerous things I appreciate about Codesmith, I would like to elaborate upon four.
First, the Codesmith staff is incredible. Schno, the Head of Curriculum at Codesmith, and Augustine, the Lead Technical Mentor, are two of the best teachers I have ever had. They are dedicated, considerate, and extremely knowledgeable. Specifically, I appreciate Schno's ability to break complicated concepts down into their component parts. This greatly aided in the on-boarding process. I also appreciate the dedication of Augustine, who would stay at Codesmith as late as he needed to help his students. Sometimes, this even meant staying at Codesmith until 4:00 AM, just to show up bright and early the next morning.
Second, the Codesmith culture is extraordinary. I have never seen a place (except for the home) where there is so much support and kindness. From the "Family Dinners" on Mondays to the kickball tournaments during lunch, Codesmith's culture is truly remarkable.
Third, the founder and CEO, Will Sentance, is an exceptional person who is active in the daily works. I find it remarkable how Will focuses on each student. He makes a concerted effort to know each student, their background, and their interests.
Fourth, the curriculum is continuously improving. No cohort has the experience because the curriculum continually evolves.
To any who might be reading, I encourage you to attend Codesmith. Gaining admittance is challenging, but worth it in every regard.
