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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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! 

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.  

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.

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. 

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. 

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

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.

I'm a LA Cohort 30 graduate. Prior to Codesmith, I graduated UCLA with a degree in physics. I didn't have much programming experience but had a lot of experience grinding. That's what codesmith is; a hardcore grind. We learn everything from vanillaJS, to React/Redux in the frontend, NodeJS/Express in the backend, MongoDB/Postgres for DB, and your very own niche topic that you'll spend 4 weeks on. Honestly, what other boot camp helps you make your own developer tool. The hiring process itself (how codesmith approaches finding interviews/etc) is worth the 18k honestly. I'm blown away at how strong the hiring process is and how they go about reaching out to companies. You will not regret your experience at codesmith. Cohort 30 best cohort :)

I just finished the JSB prep course and can't recommend it, or Codesmith, enough. I started looking into bootcamps as my next step in a career change out of social services. JSB was perfect for a beginner like myself; succinct but robust enough to provide a great jumping-off point for a future engineer. As a female and LGBTQIA+ person, it was important to me to choose a program that not only acknowledges marginalized communities in tech but actively works to reduce barriers and support their success. Codesmith does both. Their scholarship opportunities and proven course outcomes made my decision a no-brainer. I plan to continue my journey with CS Prep and later the immersive. While I'm in the very early stages of my coding journey, I'm so happy to have Codesmith on my side already!

This place literally changed my life.

I just finished the program on 08/30/19 and I just signed my offer letter yesterday for an engineering position well within the 6 figure salary range.

I just want to start by saying that you are not guaranteed a 6 figure salary by just attending. Codesmith gives you the perfect environment and resources necessary to succeed and grow at a rapid pace, but it is ultimately up to the individual to get the most out of their experience.

My Background: I graduated with my B.S. in a tech related major (not CS) last year in 2018 and I have been trying to break into the industry ever since. I took a few CS classes in Java and taught myself Python; I would say I was at a junior level after graduating, but I had no software engineering internships. After trying for so long with no luck, I realized I was doing something wrong. My application was rarely ever seen; having the required technical skills won't matter if you are never able to get into an interview room with engineers and show them.

I was very hesitant to go to a bootcamp, I already had some coding experience so I felt as though paying 17k for something I could teach myself was a waste of money. After a fair amount of research, a friend of mine recommended Codesmith. He went through the program after being in a similar situation as me and ended up at a successful startup making over 6 figures a month after finishing the program. I decided to attend the free workshops every Thursday night and I was sold after 2 weeks.

How to join: You definitely need to have a solid understanding of JavaScript fundamentals to truly get the most out of CodeSmith, if you are completely brand new to JavaScript or coding, you definitely need to study before attending. The technical interviews required for admission do a good job at gauging this, if you are able to get accepted after the technicals, you should be at a good enough level to start.

Luckily, Codesmith provides a lot of free resources that can help you get to the level needed for entry. CSX, their online learning platform, and JavaScript the Hard Parts meetups every Thursday are 2 fantastic free resources Codesmith provides to the community.

What sets it apart from other programs?

I won't try too hard to sell it, the results and positive experience students have speak for itself.

I will say that the way I was thinking about it before joining was wrong. I did not pay 17k for the material they teach here; I could have learned that on my own, anyone could. I paid 17k for a lot more than just the material taught.

The 4 things that make Codesmith worth it: 

1) Learning how to problem solve

Codesmith believes in hard learning. For your own benefit, there is no spoon feeding at Codesmith. The units are designed in a way that you and your partner are bound to hit blocks. This is 100% intentional. The lectures give you a high level overview of the topic so that you are not completely lost in the unit, but you will have to dig deeper into specific parts of the technology with your partner in order to push through those blocks. You might think this is stupid, why are you paying so much money to end up teaching yourself ? This is a fair concern to have. To be clear, you have access to your partner, other cohort mates, your seniors, your fellows, and instructors as resources to help you break through those blocks. Still, no one here will flat out tell you the answer. It is absolutely essential for you to bridge that gap and have that moment of realization on your own, having someone simply tell you what to do robs you of that learning opportunity. You are bound to struggle, but I guarantee that you will have a deeper understanding of the topic after struggling with that block for so long. On the other hand, if someone just gave you the answer you might take it for granted and not fully understand what you did. Hard learning a topic is more likely to stick with you.

2) Building soft skills

Something that is often overlooked are the soft skills that you develop during your time at Codesmith. This is something that you absolutely cannot develop while studying on your own at home. Soft skills play a huge role during the hiring process and an even bigger role within the workplace. Soft skills become increasingly more important as you climb the software engineer ladder at work. The difference between a junior engineer and a mid-level engineer is that the junior needs to be told what to do while the mid-level is autonomous. A senior engineer has all that and can also teach/guide other engineers to make sure the team is on the same page. This requires a good mix of technical skills and soft skills.

Codesmith teaches you how to write your resume, present yourself, whiteboard effectively and technically communicate. Even pair programming every day helps build these soft skills while communicating with a partner. This is invaluable stuff.

3) Hiring support

The hiring support has been amazing. The job hunt is definitely a rough road, no one said it was going to be easy. I have been finished with codesmith for about 4 weeks now and the staff has kept in touch with me throughout these 4 weeks to make sure I am going about the job hunting process as efficiently as possible. It might be annoying at first, but it really forces you to self reflect and be real with yourself; if you are not getting any results then it means you must change what you are doing and try something else. I honeslty believe the only reason someone would not get hired after is if they don't put in the work required; its a really hard grind but you just have to make it to the light at the end of the tunnel. That being said, Codesmith does an amazing job at keeping morale high and making sure everyone is putting in the work necessary to get their dream job. You can also schedule mock interviews/resume reviews/ anything else you need with staff whenever you need help.

The negotiation advice given by a specialist at Codesmith alone was worth the 17k i paid; I was able to get an extra 10k a year on my base salary because of it.

4) Amazing community

I have met SO many amazing people since joining the Codesmith community around 5 months ago when I started going to the free workshops. This is something that might sound corny but its nice to be reminded that you are not alone in this process. After job hunting for so long on my own with no luck, I was starting to feel really down. Being in it together with a group of like minded individuals has helped me tremendously. They believed in me at times when I wasn't able to believe in myself. The staff does an amazing job at fostering a supportive community. Breaking into this industry will be scary and rough, but you don't have to do it alone.

When you are signing up for this immersive course, you must realize a few things.

- This is not for the weak.

- This is for people who are ready for change, and that can be daunting.

- Must be ready to temporarily put aside your social life.

CodeSmith's pedagogy is precise when it comes to evolving a Student into a well-spoken Software Engineer professional. 

Tip: Do not think that "just getting into CodeSmith" will qualify you to be worth 100k+ right away. You become worth that much after you put in the necessary work in CodeSmith. 

What I loved about CodeSmith: As you can imagine, trying to prove yourself to someone else (to get hired) can be very intimidating. CodeSmith has professional software engineer veterans who help students with the imposter monster (imposter syndrome) they may be facing by giving them the right honest advice. It all may sound unbelievable and what not (trust me, I am hard-headed myself to start believing things). But you can trust CodeSmith to give you the right kind of support you need to be successful. 

There is so much more I can say about CodeSmith.

If you are interested in joining a Bootcamp, visit CodeSmith first. 

P.S. One of the greatest things about CodeSmith is that I also made new life long friends who I became very close with.

I graduated from Codesmith LA back in May and have been working for a few months as a Frontend Developer. I got my first job from their hiring day, which is actually one of the things that set Codesmith apart from other bootcamps. Towards the end of your bootcamp, Codesmith invites a handful of tech companies around the area to do a round robin / speed dating event with the cohort. Casual, not a lot of pressure and great experience to practice interviewing with real companies. Two people from my cohort actually got jobs from the hiring day with a bunch of others getting take home assignments and onsite interviews. So if you come to Codesmith, take hiring day seriously, you could get a job out of it. 

I graduated from Codesmith in July, but my journey here isn't over yet. I was asked to stay on for another 3 months as an engineering fellow. I'm going to update this review once I move on to my next job outside of Codesmith, but I figured I'd mark this spot in time with my current thoughts and feelings on what I've done so far here.

Unfortunately it's hard to talk objectively about something when you've become so personally invested in it, and when its community has become your second family, but I'll try.

Codesmith has warm and fuzzies aplenty, but these exist solely to better serve the development of the students here. Codesmith demands a lot from you - "immersive" doesn't begin to convey it. The small cohort sizes mean that every single person is an integral part of the bigger team.

The program is established enough to have thoroughly iterated its curriculum and pedagogy, but young and agile enough to still be continually iterating and adapting (e.g. recently including units on Docker/AWS and ML). All of the technologies you'd expect from a fullstack JavaScript program are here, of course, but way they're instilled is (I think) unusual - lectures are given to provide a general overview of a particular subject (say, Redux), but then you are forced to work together to fight through the code implementation and do a lot of active, hard learning. While support is *always* available on multiple levels, there is zero hand-holding. Every bit of knowledge is hard-fought, and that's the kind of knowledge that sticks.

The curriculum is only a small percentage of the program, though - after the first several weeks, all of your time is spent working on projects of various sizes with varying objectives, with the free reign (if not outright pressure) to push well beyond the confines of the standard MERN stack into technologies like gRPC, GraphQL, Kafka, and whatever else you can imagine. In additional to expanding the scope of your tech fluency, it forces you to practice real-world practices like Scrum methodology, Kanban boards, Git workflows, and just general empathetic team engineering.

The hiring portion is also intense. You might not realize it initially while your brain is struggling to digest new and disparate technologies every 2 days, but every step of the program is designed with the ultimate goal (the job search) in mind. The reason why Codesmith outcomes are so impressive is that students are constantly being pushed to think not just in terms of how to use a certain technology, but *how* that technology fits into the larger tech landscape, and why certain choices are better than others when it comes to architecting software. Projects have to be approved by the team - to make sure that what they're working on will grow them as engineers that will be very soon sitting in the interview chair. Resumes are repeatedly iterated upon and also must be approved before the end of the program. Mock interviews and systems design whiteboarding sessions pepper the last several weeks.

I imagine all "bootcamps" (for lack of a better word) are crucibles of growth to a degree, but it's very hard to imagine one that has the precision and intensity that Codesmith does. It's hard to imagine other environements where people can willingly, joyfully, engagedly spend 13-16 hours of their day productively engaged in growth.

I'm a bit uncomfortable with how evangelize-y and preachey this review is, because it goes against my general skeptical, jaded nature, but Codesmith really is an unusually special place. I'm a person from a non-technical background (I first pondered the idea of learning to code in January) and generally lacking in self-assuredness, but Codesmith has in a short period of time gotten me to a place where I feel genuinely confident to enter the coding workforce, and not just at an entry level (not that there's anything wrong with that). I'm already seeing it happening in my cohortmates that have secured amazing jobs, and I see the growth in myself.

Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but Codesmith is very explicitly welcoming of people from all backgrounds (speaking as a person who is trans, at least). Again, I'm sure other programs are fine in this regard as well, but from the team down to the fellows to the residents, the amount of representation from all walks of life is really inspiring.

Okay, this is already way too long, and I honestly don't know why you're still reading. If you're on the fence, go to the free weekly workshops (JavaScript The Easy Parts or Hard Parts) and say hi. There are no gimmicks or nonsense. What you see is what you get, and what you put in here is what you get out.

A great and accurate descriptor for the experience I've had and the people I've met on this journey!

There are three things that I think set Codesmith apart, and are things that I would like to highlight for people wondering why they should choose Codesmith over other programs.

Curriculum integration:

There is no shortage of options out there for fullstack engineering programs, and a lot follow a similar or identical tech stack to the one you will receive here, but Codesmith's execution in this respect is what sets them apart. Here, Codesmith focuses on two key elements to progress you through the program’s completion. These are pair programming and collaboration. The core curriculum is divided into units, and each unit covering a web technology is followed by a pair programming session with another resident to complete a related challenge. This strengthens your technical communication; you are challenged not only in putting into practice what you just covered, but also navigating the communication required to effectively present the concepts of the technology and your thought process to another engineer. Once you move into the projects phase, you are placed groups with other residents in order to prepare you for the collaboration that will be required of you at a job, when you’re working as part of a team. It’s also important to note that the projects aren’t given to you, like assignments would be, but instead are ideas and tools that you and your group come up with and decide to work on.

Hiring program:

When considering what you’ll learn from an engineering program, usually the focus is on the tech stack and the technical skills you’ll pick up, but Codesmith has a period of time set aside for something just as important for people who will be entering the job market. Navigating this market, and standing out in it requires a different kind of preparation, and a professional presence that not many take the time to craft. Codesmith educates its residents in everything from crafting distinguished resumes, to increasing conversion rates through strategically composed applications, to tightening communication and confidence throughout the interview process. The best part of it is that the support doesn’t stop once you graduate. Codesmith continues to follow up as you go through the application process, and give you feedback, and offers help through things like mock interview practices and emotional support.

Community:

I’ve saved community for last because I believe it’s all-encompassing, and is probably the best descriptor of what really glues all the best parts of Codesmith together to create the best engineering program experience. It is not an exaggeration for me to call Codesmith a family. If you’ve ever had the chance to come to a few of the meetups hosted by them, you can get a glimpse of the strong sense of community between everyone involved at Codesmith, residents, staff, alumni, and visitors alike. This is something that is nurtured every step of the way during your time as a resident in the program. The pair programming, the group projects, the support encouraged between not just the staff and residents, but also between the residents as well. This sense of community carries on way after graduation, with a strong network of alumni and staff that are always happy to help in any way they can.

Above and beyond is really the only way I can describe my Codesmith experience. My time there has marked a clear distinction in my life as far as the person and engineer I was before, and the person and engineer I've grown into by having gone through it. It has been the most challenging and most rewarding investment I've made in my education and professional development. It requires a great level of grit and perseverance, for sure, but when you emerge on the other end, you do it with a family of peers and supporting staff that provide you with a sense of community, and with the technical knowledge and experience to know that any engineering challenge you face is just another obstacle like the many ones you've just surpassed.

There are so many more things I could say about Codesmith, but I hope this review helps anyone condering taking this next step in their career.

Super cool place. 10/10

I only had minor experience with Python (and no JS experience) before starting CS prep Dec 2018. Spent ~2 months after that studying alone (with the occasional JS – The Hard Parts lecture visits) and then started at Codesmith NY in Feb 2019. ~5 months later had software engineer job offers from Microsoft and Google.

CS prep is good, but I'll write about the Immersive program here. Ultimately, I think Codesmith works well because it's very careful during its admissions process to find people that are a fun combination of prepared, curious, and comfortable with not knowing things.

Some thoughts for prospective students:

-Not a program where you "learn to code" from zero. You definitely DON'T need to be an expert, but to pass the entrance interview you'll need to be pretty familiar with JavaScript (closure and how to use it, recursion, array methods, call stack. Do CSX exercises for a good idea of what to expect).

-More important than knowing a bit of JS is being a reasonable person that is okay with the discomfort of "not knowing" or being wrong. I was asked to come back for a second interview to see how I would react when given a problem I didn't know how to even begin solving (was asked to write a function that, given a string, outputs an array of all unique permutations of the characters in that string. Way beyond what I was comfortable with at that time, did not get a working solution but had a fun conversation with the interviewer about different parts of the problem). What’s great about this is that you can be confident your fellow students are going to be the type of people that are happy to work through lots of difficult problems together.

-The curriculum includes the fairly standard array of webdev technologies(JS/HTML → React/Node → Mongo/Redis/SQL), but it covers them in only ~4 weeks while also including sections on testing, and deployment (with AWS and Docker). I had never used anything past JS/HTML before starting, keep in mind.

-That said, the program is about projects, not lectures. If you want to build things and are looking for people to work with or ideas to get started, this is a great place. You’ll spend many weeks building things (mostly developer tools) that you’ll be initially convinced you’re not capable of building.

-Besides the crazy ambitious projects and the cool people, the hiring portion (including interview prep) is the other great thing about CS. Non-obvious (and apparently super effective) strategies on how to prepare for all aspects of the job hunt from resumes to phone screens to onsites and salary negotiations.

Summary:

If you’re looking to become a solid software engineer as quickly as possible, Codesmith is probably the best way to do it. If you're not sure, go to a JS - Hard Parts meetup and talk to the people there. Good luck!

Codesmith is a very fast-paced agile environment, In order to make the most out the curriculum you better be prepared and have some experience with the technologies covered 

Dear Prospective Software Engineer,

I was in your shoes for the first half of 2018, looking for a Bootcamp to fast track myself towards a career in software development.

I finally decided on Codesmith (for reasons I will describe below), and got admitted into the program in November. Six life-changing months later, I accepted an offer as a mid-level Software Engineer in July 2019.

A little context first: I have spent my time at Codesmith as a Resident (3 months) and a Teaching Fellow (3 months), experiencing the program both as a participant and a facilitator. This has given me the unique privilege of seeing 5 separate cohorts (over 60 residents) with little to no software engineering experience come into the program and go on to earn 6-figure salaries as Mid-Senior level Software Engineers (check out the CIRR report on Codesmith- https://cirr.org/data, and https://www.codesmith.io/graduate-outcomes). I think there are 4 specific parts of the Codesmith program that leads to these accomplishments:

First, Codesmith sets you up for success before you even join the program. For evidence of this, look no further than the free advanced JavaScript workshops (check out https://codesmith.io/coding-events), free exercises on CSX (https://csx.codesmith.io/) and Bootcamp prep course, CS Prep (https://www.codesmith.io/bootcamp-prep). All of these serve as community-building (you will meet many of your future cohort -mates), and to prepare you for the technical interview to gain acceptance into the program.

The interview itself is quite challenging and might even require more than 1 attempt, but you will be gauged on qualities that are markers for success in the program and in your career as a software engineer (technical communication, problem-solving ability, and approach to tackling unfamiliar concepts). I urge you to attend any of these free JavaScript workshops for an insight into the excellent pedagogy and supportive culture at Codesmith (make sure to stay for drinks afterward on Thursday night! =D).

Second: Pair Programming and working in groups. Almost the entirety of your residency at Codesmith will be spent working with a partner or in a group. There’s been a deliberate decision to make almost every part of the program collaborative, as this reinforces the qualities needed to succeed as a software engineer. How do you prove your expertise when doing interviews for software engineering roles? By technically communicating software engineering and web application concepts, much as you did in your first 6 weeks at Codesmith. When you get hired as a Software Engineer, you will almost definitely be working as a part of a team in an agile environment- much like you will in your last 6 weeks at Codesmith. Your experiences at Codesmith will translate directly to real-world benefits in both applying for engineering jobs, and excelling at them.

Third, the creation of Open Source Developer Tools. In the last half of your program at Codesmith, you will be tasked with creating an Open Source developer tool, going from conception to working product in less than 4 weeks. It is absolutely a difficult endeavor, but the rewards are well worth it.

While most Bootcamps have simple CRUD applications as their capstone projects, building developer tools gives you deep, specific knowledge on key web application concepts. This will also help you gain real-world engineering experience while working in an Agile environment, and is a huge reason why Codesmith grads get placed in Mid-Senior developer roles out of the gate.

Finally, the hiring program and post-program support. I feel like this is Codesmith’s best-kept secret, and is worth the cost of admission alone. Applying for engineering roles requires a different set of skills than being able to carry out the job itself. Most of the program takes care of the latter, and the hiring program tackles the former. You will learn everything from crafting incredibly effective resumes and structuring your applications and outreach messages to acing your interviews, eloquently discussing your software engineering narrative, and the all-important salary negotiations. These are all invaluable skills that will carry you from your first mid-senior engineering gig through the rest of your software engineering career. After the program, you will have bi-weekly check-ins to gauge your job application process leading up to your first job placement.

If you are driven and intrinsically motivated to progress as a Software Engineer, Codesmith will give you all the necessary tools and resources to succeed. But keep in mind, this drive and motivation is essential. The program is undoubtedly tough from admission to graduation, and expecting to be spoon-fed information will only lead to disappointment.

Being persistent and working hard to improve yourself and your peers, however, will lead to success both during your time at Codesmith, and in your career as a Software Engineer- I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

Note: If you’re interested, I highly recommend visiting https://codesmith.io/coding-events for the next Hard Parts. The in-depth JavaScript knowledge you’ll gain from these workshops is invaluable, regardless of whether you choose to attend Codesmith.