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Before enrolling for Coding Dojo in San Jose, it's probably good to mention where I was coming from. I graduated from SJSU in Dec 2015 with a degree in Computer Engineering. Typically you can get a full time job 3-6 months after school, but I unfortunately did not take advantage of school career fairs or apply for internships so I was already at a disadvantage. I did however receive a short 2-month contracting role working as an IT Consultant for Rogers Benefit Group where I got a bit too...
Before enrolling for Coding Dojo in San Jose, it's probably good to mention where I was coming from. I graduated from SJSU in Dec 2015 with a degree in Computer Engineering. Typically you can get a full time job 3-6 months after school, but I unfortunately did not take advantage of school career fairs or apply for internships so I was already at a disadvantage. I did however receive a short 2-month contracting role working as an IT Consultant for Rogers Benefit Group where I got a bit too comfortable with an extended contract and stayed for the entire year. By the beginning of 2017, I had to make a decision whether to become a full time employee as a service rep for an employee benefit service company or go back to my coding roots and actually make use of my degree. Ultimately I stuck with my gut and decided to return to coding. However, my coding was rusty.
I needed a quick and efficient way to improve my coding skills as I had trouble teaching myself on my own without getting distracted. One of my close friends and almost mentor, Bryant Luu, was from the mid 2015 cohort and knew I wasn't in the best situation. He highly suggested applying for Coding Dojo as he was able to land a web developer position at a startup within 2 months of graduating. I knew myself that I wasn't going to get anywhere being indeceisive so with enough convincing from Bryant, I decided to enroll for Coding Dojo in San Jose since it was the closest option. From what I've heard about most bootcamps, they're fast-paced and difficult. However I had experience coding back in school so I knew I could pick up syntax and concepts much quicker compared to a first time learner. Mentally, I knew I was well prepared.
Those 3 months flew in a blink of an eye, and my expectations were pretty well met. The curriculum covered just enough of the fundamentals and depth (save for the Full MEAN section, some code snippets were outdated and there wasn't any mention of importing FormsModule in app.module) to move at a moderate pace. The instructors were also able to break down complicated concepts way better compared to some of the school professors I had prior. The difficulty felt perfect for me, but I can't say that for some of the cohort.
The #1 biggest complaint I heard from many of the cohort were instructors losing patience while trying to help debug and would speak in a much more condescending tone, up to the point where some students were demotivated and actually left the venue for the day to cool off. They were unlikely to ask some instructors for help again and would rather only ask cohortmates. Some instructors did have enough complaints where they would publicly apologize to the cohort about their impatience, yet I keep hearing the same complaints even afterwards. Perhaps during the instructor interview process, try testing the interviewees' patience by throwing them in a pretend situation where they have to teach someone who doesn't know how to code and see how they handle it.
For my job search, it's been 2 months since my graduation and I've only been getting about 1 response (typically rejection) per week. I could complain how difficult it is after the bootcamp, but I could also easily identify my main problem. I'm not applying or networking enough, which is the same situation I was in back when I graduated from school. However, my toolbox is much larger than when I started the bootcamp, and I'm definitely in a much better position than I was prior to the bootcamp. Even my friend/mentor Bryant says it should be easier for me since I'm coming from an engineering degree. Bryant's first time coding was when he started the bootcamp and he came from accounting, yet he got a job within 2 months. Why is that? He was aggressive. He applied to at least 30 applications per day and put himself in uncomfortable situations where he'd fail, but everytime he failed, he also got a little better. If Bryant could do it, I can do it, too.
I feel like those who come out of the bootcamp with a negative perspective perhaps came into the program with the wrong mindset. It is kind of like learning how to swim. Here are the different strokes. Here is how you do each stroke. Then by the time students finish their 3-month lessons, they expect to compete in the Olympics. Well, you still have to do a lot more swimming after that, and I feel some students don't see this perspective when enrolling. Why is that? Perhaps we are so focused on success stories like 94% job placement rate and 1000+ graduated students in 2016 that we forget that it takes a lot of failure to succeed in something. The hardest part of the bootcamp is not the bootcamp, but afterwards where no one is holding your hand. There's no daily goals written on the board for you, and you have to pick yourself up after every rejection. In a way, I think it would be nice to remind newcomers that they will encounter hundreds of failures and missed opportunities, but also remind them that they're doing great. It is completely normal to fail, and I feel like that is a good indicator that life is moving in the right direction.
The takeaway from all of this is before enrolling in the bootcamp, actually spend an hour doing some self-reflection. Not just whether you can put in the 10+ hours everyday to code, but how much you really know yourself. How much failure can you really endure? How do you handle rejection? What are things you do to motivate yourself? Are you willing to put pride away to ask for help? If you have answers to these questions, I feel like you know yourself well enough to decide whether the bootcamp is for you.
Sarah of Coding Dojo
Alumni Relations
Sep 06, 2023
Description | Percentage |
Full Time, In-Field Employee | N/A |
Full-time apprenticeship, internship or contract position | N/A |
Short-term contract, part-time position, freelance | N/A |
Employed out-of-field | N/A |
How much does Coding Dojo cost?
Coding Dojo costs around $16,995. On the lower end, some Coding Dojo courses like Software Development Online Part-Time Accelerated cost $9,995.
What courses does Coding Dojo teach?
Coding Dojo offers courses like Cybersecurity Online Part-Time Bootcamp, Data Science & Machine Learning Online Part-Time Bootcamp, Data Science & Visualization Part-Time Online Bootcamp, Software Development Online Full-Time and 2 more.
Where does Coding Dojo have campuses?
Coding Dojo teaches students Online in a remote classroom.
Is Coding Dojo worth it?
The data says yes! In 2019, Coding Dojo reported a 80% graduation rate, a median salary of $72,048, and N/A of Coding Dojo alumni are employed.
Is Coding Dojo legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 628 Coding Dojo alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Coding Dojo and rate their overall experience a 4.39 out of 5.
Does Coding Dojo offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like Coding Dojo offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read Coding Dojo reviews?
You can read 628 reviews of Coding Dojo on Course Report! Coding Dojo alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Coding Dojo and rate their overall experience a 4.39 out of 5.
Is Coding Dojo accredited?
No
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