Our latest on Coding Temple

• Episode 11: February 2017 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup Podcast

  Imogen Crispe3/1/2017

  University of Denver Coding Boot CampFlatiron SchoolCovalencei2 Labs AcademyDev BootcampMente ArgentinaSan Antonio Coding AcademyGeneral AssemblyLearners GuildHouston Coding AcademyGalvanizeWyncode42Dallas Coding AcademyBottegaCoding TempleFounders & CodersHack ReactorGrand CircusJRS Coding SchoolCoding DojoDevMountain

  Here’s what we found ourselves reading and discussing in the Course Report office in February 2017! We found out the three most in-demand programming languages, we read about how coding could be the new blue collar job, and looked at how new schools are tweaking the bootcamp model to fit their communities. Plus, we hear about a cool app for NBA fans built by coding bootcamp graduates! Read below or listen to our latest Coding Bootcamp News Roundup Podcast.

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• Your 2017 #LearnToCode New Year’s Resolution

  Lauren Stewart7/21/2017

  ThinkfulFlatiron SchoolDesignlabLevelLearningFuzeDev BootcampTurnToTechGeneral AssemblyThe App Academy NLCodesmithWyncodeWe Can Code ITClaim AcademyThe Grace Hopper ProgramStartup InstituteMetisCoding TempleHack ReactorRED AcademyBov AcademyDaVinci CodersV SchoolIronhackTech ElevatorFullstack AcademyGrowthX Academy

  

  It’s that time again! A time to reflect on the year that is coming to an end, and a time to plan for what the New Year has in store. While it may be easy to beat yourself up about certain unmet goals, one thing is for sure: you made it through another year! And we bet you accomplished more than you think. Maybe you finished your first Codecademy class, made a 30-day Github commit streak, or maybe you even took a bootcamp prep course – so let’s cheers to that! But if learning to code is still at the top of your Resolutions List, then taking the plunge into a coding bootcamp may be the best way to officially cross it off. We’ve compiled a list of stellar schools offering full-time, part-time, and online courses with start dates at the top of the year. Five of these bootcamps even have scholarship money ready to dish out to aspiring coders like you.

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• Am I the Right Candidate for a Coding Bootcamp?

  Imogen Crispe10/11/2016

  TurnToTechGeneral AssemblySabioTuringHolberton SchoolThe Iron YardSoftware GuildDecodeMTLThe Tech AcademyCoding TempleHack ReactorCode FellowsDevPoint LabsRefactorUHackbright AcademyFullstack Academy

  

  Should I do a coding bootcamp? This is a question we hear all the time, and for good reason. As more coding bootcamps launch (not to mention the rising media coverage), you’re probably wondering, “should I jump on the bandwagon and learn to code?” A recent TechCrunch article implored you not to learn to code unless you’re ready to put in the work to be great, whereas President Obama wants every student to learn computer science in high school. So what types of people are opting for coding bootcamps? And should you be one of them?

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• Alumni Spotlight: Raag Shah of Coding Temple

  Liz Eggleston6/27/2016

  Coding Temple

  

  Raag switched from  computer science to study criminal law at college, but after graduation realized his passion was in programming, and enrolled at Coding Temple coding bootcamp in Chicago. After the 10-week program, Raag found a job as an applications developer at ATI Physical Therapy in Bolingbrook, IL. We spoke to Raag about why he chose to study .NET, the great one-on-one time he got with his Coding Temple instructor, and how he balanced attending national dance competitions with learning to code!

  Q&A

  What were you doing before you went to Coding Temple? What was your educational or career background?

  I actually started school as a computer science major, but at some point, I decided to pursue law instead. So I switched to criminal law and justice for undergrad, and my post-graduation plan was to go to law school. But after graduation, I realized I really liked programming, and I felt having programming knowledge could be very useful for my future. There are so many different routes you can go, and there's always a demand for programmers. It felt like the perfect field for me.

  As soon as I graduated, I also got my license as a loan originator. This was a license that I had been wanting to have. As soon as I got that license, I reached out to Ripal at Coding Temple. I'd been researching for about two or three months, and I’d heard about other bootcamps like MakerSquare and Dev Bootcamp, and a bunch of others online. I realized that .NET was what I wanted to learn and to get a better insight, I reached out to Ripal.

  What stood out to you about .NET as a programming language?

  I was familiar with with it, and had heard a lot about .NET development in general around the Chicago area. When I was looking at job postings in my potential geographic area, a lot of them were for .NET developers. That’s what was in demand where I lived.

  Were you serious about staying in Chicago for a coding bootcamp?

  Yeah, I’d just graduated from school, moving elsewhere would have been difficult. I wouldn't be able to afford moving out, nor did I want to live too far from my family, or find a place to live for those few months. Coding Temple Chicago was more affordable for me than almost any other bootcamp I looked at.

  Tell us about the application and interview process for Coding Temple. Did you have to do a coding challenge?

  I think my favorite part about Coding Temple was when they said that they were going to teach us from the ground up, and they meant it. I had no experience in coding at all, and the few intro to engineering classes I took in college weren't useful at Coding Temple. Some of the other bootcamps I looked at had application quizzes on their websites before you register, so I assume you had to have some prior knowledge. But when I talked to the Coding Temple instructor Hitesh before classes started, he reassured me that I'd do just great regardless of how much I knew prior to the class.

  After I had made my decision about pursuing Coding Temple, I talked to Ripal about the program, and he was able to get me in touch with Hitesh again, and I spent some time with him 1-on-1 as part of my interview. Additionally, there was three weeks of pre-work before class started. We did the work completely on your own. You learn how to program and solve problems. Each week was more challenging than the week before. Those three weeks were to prepare us for the course coming up and get our minds to think like a programmer and get a feel of what it’s like before the class started in January. It was challenging because it was my first time working on anything that complex but it was awesome finally learning how to do it.

  So anyone could start Coding Temple without having any experience, but then you get weeded out through the pre-work?

  Yeah, the pre-work was for everyone. There was some time between the pre-work and when class started so that students had time to figure out whether or not this is actually for them. It had two purposes – actually giving students exposure to code before class, and also for people to find out if this is something they want to do.

  How many people were in your cohort? Were your classmates like you? Were they recent college graduates or did people come from different backgrounds?

  There was originally five; one ended up joining the cohort after mine. So I graduated in a group of four. I was the only recent college graduate. The other three, one of them has front end experience, so he took the bootcamp to learn backend. And another guy learned Python I believe, and also wanted to learn .NET instead.

  Who was your instructor? What was the teaching style?

  His name was Hitesh Patel. For the first few weeks, he started off teaching us the basics like HTML, CSS and everything you need to know to create and style a webpage. And then we got into interactivity with things like JavaScript. He created all the slides for lectures, and every few slides there would be a problem that would be correlated with what we're learning in class for us to attempt on our own.

  Over the course of the bootcamp we worked on about three projects. The first two were pretty basic in terms of how much of what we knew was actually applied. Then the big one was our capstone project which we did over the next five or six weeks, which included everything we learned including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C#, SQL, amongst others. Everything we learned in class each day, we could then apply to our project we were working on.

  Over the entire course our smaller class size was the one thing that helped the most – any time you had a question Hitesh had time to stop by all four of us individually and make sure we were all keeping up. We would get a lot of one-on-one time.  

  What did you end up building for your capstone project?

  The capstone project was an eCommerce website. The purpose of the website was for users to be able to choose a category of products they wanted to buy. Users navigate through the website, find the product to buy, add it to their cart. You can then edit or update your cart. Very similar to navigating through Amazon but obviously on a smaller scale.

  What did you do after you graduated from Coding Temple?

  While I was taking the course, I had put off a lot of things until our class ended. So I had to take about a week to get all that done, and I had a dance competition that weekend. I am a Fusion dancer in Chicago. I'm a part of an all-male team, and I had about six competitions while I was taking this class. It was very hectic.

  How much of a time commitment was your dancing? How did you balance that with Coding Temple?

  From January to April, when I was at Coding Temple, we were practicing almost every day. We had competitions, and we'd be out of town. I'd have class until 6pm and then I’d have practice 8pm to 1am or 2am. That was a crazy few months.

  Coding Temple was very accommodating. They made sure that while I was away at competitions, I wasn't falling behind. When I came back to class, if I had missed something, Hitesh would catch me up. He would tell me to come in earlier, or stay later, and I could ask him about what I was confused on, or didn't get time to look over because of practices.

  What are you up to now. What's your new job?

  As soon as I came back from the dance nationals in Ohio, I went on a crazy job hunt. I put my resume out everywhere, on Indeed, Dice, LinkedIn, Career Builder. From there I was getting a lot of calls, and actively researching. I would spend five to six hours a day searching for jobs. Ripal actually helped me out a lot too. He would regularly send me jobs that he felt I was a good candidate for, and he get me in touch with people who could help me as well. Then about a week and a half later, I’d had two interviews, and I got a job offer from ATI Physical Therapy. I work as an application developer in their IT department at the corporate office in Bolingbrook. I started a month ago.

  What has your first month been like as a developer? Is that what you expected? What does your day to day look like?

  Because Coding Temple is very hands on, it was pretty much as if I was working for a company already – you're assigned tests and assignments to finish each week. So it was pretty much just what I expected going into the job. But because I had never actually worked in the field , I wasn't sure what came with the job. For example, I had to learn the database this company uses. For my own projects, I’d worked with about four tables but at ATI they have hundreds of tables. I’ve been learning to navigate through those, and the entire application, then going back and reading what everything means. It’s a much bigger scale than I’m used to.

  What was your training like?

  So there are two applications that we use - Touchstone and Insync. I'm part of the Insync team. The Insync team has an amazing training program that they've created on their own within the IT department. They train you on SQL, then ASP, and C#. Those are the main three languages they use here. I'm still on the training process right now. And after they evaluate your understanding of those technologies, they have you create your own application in which you have to utilize things like grid views and search engines, use data sources and data binding to connect your server side to your page side. That’s why the transition wasn't that difficult for me, because it's so similar to what I had to do at Coding Temple. I’m on my last week of training and then next week I'm going to start at our help desk, which is a way for me to learn what the application is and get really familiar with it. We have over 500 clinics around the country, and when anyone has questions or issues, they email the ticket to the help desk. And we would then go through the database, make any changes that we need to, and make any adjustments to fix those issues. It's a way of making sure that everything I learn in this training is cemented in my mind and that I’ll be really familiar with the application.

  Was it an issue that you didn’t have a CS degree? Did you have to do a technical interview during your application?

  They were actually understanding in that I haven't been in this industry for years, and nor have I graduated with a CS degree. They were able to accommodate me in every way possible and that's was awesome about that entire training process.

  Originally they were a little concerned that I didn't have any professional experience or a technical degree because I come from a law background, so they had me take online assessments on C#, SQL, and ASP, as a way to test how much I had learned throughout these last few months at the bootcamp and on my own.

  What are your career goals in terms of your future as a developer?  

  Software development is one of those careers where you never stop learning. You constantly have to learn not only for yourself, but because of how quickly technology is growing and how often companies transition to other languages. In the future if I have to move to another state or find another job, if they're using a newer technology, I would need to know that too. My future goal is obviously to learn as much as possible, but at the same time, progress within my career and gain a higher position. Hopefully at ATI, but in general just to have a position where I'm able to lead a group of people and achieve something. I’d like to be the go-to person for any real coding issues.

  Is there anything you would have done differently at the bootcamp? What was your biggest challenge in doing a bootcamp or the biggest lesson that you learned?

  I guess it was bad timing for me with my hectic dance season because while I was putting in about 35 hours in class a week, I was putting in another 30 to 40 for dance practice. It was like any time I had outside of that, I was working on a project. So if I was to do it all again, I would make sure to have a completely free schedule outside of bootcamp, because you have to realize you're going to a bootcamp. While you’re in class for 35 or 40 hours a week, you have to make sure that you're also studying outside of it, strengthening your knowledge, making sure you understand everything you learn in class. Just understand the core concepts I would say and spend a lot of time outside of classes learning on your own because it's a bootcamp for a reason. You’re trying to learn in a few weeks what students learn in many semesters.

  Find out more and read Coding Temple reviews on Course Report. Check out the Coding Temple website.

• Alumni Spotlight: Larry Fang of Coding Temple

  Liz Eggleston4/21/2016

  Coding Temple

  

  Halfway through his college degree in management information systems, Larry realized he wasn’t going to get the technical knowledge he needed for the job he wanted, so he started researching coding bootcamps. So as soon as Larry graduated, he enrolled in Coding Temple coding bootcamp in Chicago to study .NET web development. Now Larry is a junior developer at real estate listings website Exceleras. Larry tells us about the difference between studying at college vs. a bootcamp, how he found his job, and his ongoing relationship with Coding Temple.

  Q&A

  What were you up to before you went to Coding Temple?

  I recently graduated with a degree in management information systems (MIS) from DePaul University in Chicago. I studied the whole business side of developing applications, rather than the technical side. It covered how to manage the software testing life cycle instead of how to develop applications. Right after I graduated, I attended a bootcamp.

  Had you tried to teach yourself to code at all?

  I had pretty minimal exposure to programming before I entered the coding bootcamp. I dabbled with Treehouse for a little bit, and did general Googling.

  Was your goal when you were thinking about a bootcamp to still go into management information systems, or was it to get a job as a software developer?

  To be honest, going into my degree, I thought it would cover the technical aspects of information systems. When I realized I wasn’t going to get the technical skills I needed, it was too late for me to go back and start all over again.

  Management comes from experience, so to manage a group of developers, it helps to be a developer. I think you can better manage someone if you’ve walked in their shoes before. Coming out of my degree, I didn’t get the technical skills that I wanted, which is why I looked into coding bootcamps to get those technical skills.

  Did you look at coding bootcamps in Chicago other than Coding Temple? What was your research process like?

  Course Report was a big part of my research process! I also considered Dev Bootcamp, but just the price and the amount of time required on campus was unrealistic for me. I narrowed it down to either Coding Temple or Anyone Can Learn to Code. Those were my final two options.

  So time commitment was really important. Was Coding Temple a part-time program?

  Time and cost were really important to me. My cohort was part-time but I believe the class that Coding Temple offers now is full-time and part-time javascript courses.

  Did you ever consider leaving Chicago to do a coding bootcamp?

  That would definitely escalate the expense of a bootcamp even more; we already lived in Chicago, so I didn’t want to worry about relocating expenses.

  What was the application process like for Coding Temple? Did you have to do a coding challenge during the application?

  I think they were pretty lenient on technical requirements for the first cohort. The application consisted of a Skype interview that quizzed me on basic HTML/CSS, and I knew most of the answers. Outside of that, there wasn’t a strict filtering process.

  Then you did the 3-week remote Pre-Work for Coding Temple. What did that look like? How deep did it go in terms of programming skills?

  It was object oriented fundamentals with C#. You learn loops, how to declare variables, how to create functions, what inheritance is, and other basic object oriented concepts. If you needed help, the instructors were able to Skype almost any time, and they took over your screen and explained everything. They were very accessible.

  Tell us about your in-class experience. How many people were in that first cohort?

  My class started out with 8 then 3 people dropped out for personal reasons, and joined Coding Temple winter course when I was a TA. So we had five people in our .NET course. When it comes to coding bootcamps like this, I think it’s a lot better to have a small class because you get to have a lot more one-on-one time with the teacher. He’s able to divide his attention more easily because there are so few students.

  Who was your instructor and what was his teaching style?

  His name was Hitesh Patel. He had a great style. He’s an absolute expert on all the topics being covered. No question was ever left unanswered. He went through the curriculum at a good pace, and helped us when we needed help. I couldn’t have asked for more. He has a CS degree and I think he’s been in the field for about nine years.

  How different was Coding Temple from learning in college? Do you think that you learned more at Coding Temple or more in one semester of college?

  It was different. It didn’t feel like it was an extension of college per se, but I was still learning. I would say I learned more in Coding Temple. Everything I learned there applies to my position that I’m currently in. In college you spend a lot of time on general education courses which you that don’t really apply in real life.

  What are you up to now? Do you have a job as a developer?

  In January 2016 I got a job as a junior developer at a real estate company called Exceleras.

  What types of projects are you working on specifically?

  Right now, I’m second-level support, so any technical issues that the help desk can’t handle, they take it over to my team of six people. I debug through the code and look for issues or make updates to the database to fix issues.

  I’m learning the application piece by piece because I’m still a junior developer. I can’t really jump into the development cycle and projects yet since I don’t have full knowledge of what the application is doing.

  Are you using the programming languages you learned at Coding Temple?

  Yes, the application is in C#. Parts of it are written in Visual Basic but they’re moving towards C#. They’re also using .NET, and I’ll be using the SQL server every day, both of which I learned at Coding Temple.

  Have you experienced a big learning curve after you graduated? How did Coding Temple prepare you for working as a developer?

  I guess it depends on what type of industry you’re in because there’s always going to be different business processes. In terms of the technical standpoint, I think Coding Temple gives you a solid foundation to where you can jump into any industry and make an impact after you’ve learned the business processes.

  How did you find that job?

  Insperity reached out to me, which is one of the hundreds of staffing agencies in Chicago. Actually, a lot of staffing agencies reached out to me. I graduated in December 2016 and found the job a month later.

  Amongst the other jobs that you were reached out to about, what stood out about Exceleras?

  Their salary was competitive, I like their startup type of environment, and the commute wasn’t too bad. I guess those three things were the biggest deciding factors.

  What were the interviews like? Did you have to do whiteboarding or technical challenges?

  None of the interviews I went to had whiteboarding. It was just technical questions. There was one interview where they sent me coding tests via email to complete and send them back.

  Was your interviewer ever concerned that you didn’t have a CS degree?

  They didn’t really care if I had a CS degree. All my interviews were based on my responses to the technical questions – that you have a pretty solid grasp of what you know. I guess if you do well on the technical questions, they couldn’t care less about the degree.

  How did Coding Temple facilitate the job placement and career process? Was there an emphasis on resumes, interview practice and networking?

  They had a whole week dedicated to creating our resumes and having mock interviews for us, as well as whiteboard interviewing, in case that ever came up. The career coach was very proactive in marketing our resumes. He was the one applying to jobs and getting hold of recruiters for me to contact. All that effort helped.

  Did you all do a hiring day where hiring partners came to see your final projects?

  No, it was mostly done after I graduated but I know that has changed for the current cohorts. I know they’ve been having a lot of meetup events and they have partnered up with Robert Half. They actually come and collect the resumes of people who are interested in getting hired.

  Have you stayed involved with Coding Temple at all as a mentor or anything like that?

  Yes, I’m a teaching assistant, and I keep in touch with the founders on Slack. Even now, when I have any questions at work, I can reach out to them and ask for help. I have Ripal and Hitesh’s personal numbers and I think I’m going to have those contacts for life.

  Is there anything that you would have liked to change about your experience? Were there things you suggested that they change for future cohorts?

  Being that is was their first time, I would say that my experience met the value of what I paid for.

  I know they are only going to get more organized with lessons and curriculum. In my class, some topics were just off the top of the instructor’s head. I didn’t mind that because he was just so smart, he was able to show us things along the way. In the beginning, he wanted to do a lot more than time allowed him to do. He didn’t realize that until we started and he had to make adjustments along the way.

  What advice do you have for people who are thinking about a coding bootcamp, making a career change or who were in your shoes, having just graduated from college?

  It’s a sector where the demand is really off the charts right now, at least in .NET. Since I did the bootcamp, I have had so many more calls back about jobs I’ve applied for, compared to when I applied for jobs straight out of college with just a degree.

  To be successful at a bootcamp, you really need to have the interest and the desire to do it. You can’t just go in saying, “I’m gonna graduate making X amount of money.” If that’s your thought process then it’s not going to be a good experience. It is something you have to want to do.

  You were saying that one of your big deciding factors in choosing a coding bootcamp was cost. Do you think that doing coding Temple was a good return on your investment?

  Absolutely, I’m starting to get my return on it right now, so yes, without a doubt.

  Find out more and read Coding Temple reviews on Course Report. Or check out the Coding Temple website.

  About The Author

  

  Liz is the cofounder of Course Report, the most complete resource for students considering a coding bootcamp. She loves breakfast tacos and spending time getting to know bootcamp alumni and founders all over the world. Check out Liz & Course Report on Twitter, Quora, and YouTube! 

• Alumni Spotlight: Hussain Muhammad of Coding Temple

  Liz Eggleston3/16/2016

  Coding Temple

  

  While most coding bootcampers are making career changes, Hussain Muhammad decided to postpone college to start his career as a developer after high school. He spent 15 weeks at Coding Temple in Chicago, collaborating with his cohort and instructor to learn the .NET stack. Now Hussain tells us all about his new job as a front-end developer at FifthEstate.

  Q&A

  What were you up to before you went to Coding Temple?

  Last June, I graduated from high school in Irving, Texas. I had been thinking about college but was wondering how it would work financially. College is not free!

  Did you take a CS class in High School?

  Nope! The first time I actually coded an application was on Codecademy during the Coding Temple interview. My Coding Temple interviewer sent me the Python track to complete in one week, and at the end of the week, we talked through what I had learned in the interview together.

  I started looking at schools in the Dallas area and Chicago (where I’m originally from). I came across Coding Temple and their curriculum was interesting and different. Coding Temple teaches .NET, as opposed to Ruby on Rails like a lot of coding bootcamps.

  I researched a handful of bootcamps, and while I considered other schools like Dev Bootcamp, I only applied to Coding Temple.

  Most coding bootcampers are changing careers, but you are starting your career. Did you consider doing a four-year degree? What held you back?

  Price is what really held me back. I would still like to continue my education and go to college and maybe get a degree in Computer Science. But for now, I’m progressing in my career development. I’m pushing college back by a year or two to get comfortable as a developer. Right now, I feel like I’m getting experience that could be useful during college as well.

  Was the Coding Temple application tough to complete as a beginner?

  I wouldn’t say the application was hard, but Coding Temple was trying to find the most diverse group of people who had the urge for learning. It was a typical application, asking about your background etc. My coding challenge was about Python.

  Was it ever an issue or concern that you had just graduated from high school?

  It wasn’t an issue for Coding Temple; actually, they thought it was pretty neat. They helped me get comfortable with the classroom environment and were really supportive.

  Was your class diverse in terms of age, gender, race etc?

  Definitely. Especially in terms of age – the oldest student in our class was in his 50s. We had a nice melting pot of students. Everyone was from different backgrounds; one of my classmates was a really talented pastry chef. The commonality was that we were all trying to make it in tech.

  When we began the class, everyone was at different coding levels. Some had previous technical backgrounds, while others were completely new to coding. If anything, I would say the biggest challenge was trying to even myself out with my peers so that we could collaborate well.

  Was your family supportive of the coding bootcamp route? Did they know what a bootcamp was?

  My mom is so proud, and my family sees these skills as really cutting-edge. The world is digital, so these are skills that will be relevant for years.

  The course was $8000 for 15 weeks. My family had some money saved; I think it was a good investment. It’s always good to have support from your family when you’re doing something like this.

  What was the learning experience like at Coding Temple (compared to your experience in high school classrooms)?

  It was different; we had afternoon classes and lectures from 5 pm to 9 pm, as well as 12 pm to 3 pm on weekends. Our classroom was in a WeWork at the time, but Coding Temple now has their own classroom space, which I hear is pretty neat.

  Our instructor, Hitesh Patel, was a really hands-on teacher. He wanted us to think through concepts on our own, which I’m really appreciative of now, because that’s what I have to do at work every day. That approach really improved my problem-solving skills. Hitesh was never a teacher who would spoon-feed us answers, but he didn’t mind helping or staying late after class. Anything we needed – books, website recommendations, help on the weekends – he was there.

  What were you expected to do during the day? Were you usually in the classroom all day?

  We could be in WeWork any time, learning on our own. We usually had an assigned project that we were working on during the day. We could also look over notes, catch up from the night before; anything to better our understanding.

  Did you do a lot of projects throughout the course?

  The projects we did weren’t huge, but they were all helpful and are things I can definitely apply to what I’m doing now.

  Tell us about your job today!

  Currently, I’m a full-time developer for a startup in Addison, Texas called FifthEstate which is a social media platform that aggregates smaller blogs. We want to be a platform for non-mainstream media; we’re pushing for local voices because those opinions shape the world around us.

  I’m working mostly on front-end work now. I use AngularJS mostly; I haven’t been using many of the tools I learned at Coding Temple yet, but our “middle-layer” will probably be C# or .NET, so I’ll be able to incorporate more of that stack.

  How have you learned a new language, like Angular?

  When I first started talking to my boss Larry, he told me I would be expected to figure things out on my own. I’m looking at this partly as an opportunity to be paid to learn. My first job as a developer is all about the experience.

  When I began, I didn’t know much about AngularJS, but once I started writing it and reading up on JS capabilities, that helped me get a grasp on the language. Our Head Developer has me test his Angular code, which has been particularly helpful.

  Tell us about the process of getting hired. Was it through Coding Temple’s hiring network?

  I found that in the Texas job market, hiring managers were a bit skeptical of junior developers. It’s hard for them to gauge what you’re capable of.

  I was sending out my resume and networking, and my now-boss Larry returned one of my calls. I was very clear that I was fresh out of school and looking to learn and grow as a developer. Some people in this industry are after the money, but I was clear that I was more interested in having a strong learning environment. That was about one month ago.

  Was your boss skeptical of hiring a junior developer from a coding bootcamp?

  No. He’s really involved in the development world, so he’s actually talking about hiring even more junior developers. He was mostly attracted to my enthusiasm, and we both have go-getter mentalities.

  Looking back, do you think that Coding Temple was worth the risk and the tuition?

  Of course! The education I received at Coding Temple will help me not only become a better developer, but also a more well-rounded individual. I believe in getting your hands in as many things as possible over your life, and going to Coding Temple exposed me to a really neat field. It was worth it, and then some.

  For other high schoolers who may be on the fence about going to a coding bootcamp or college, what’s your advice to them?

  Be prepared to be patient. There will be days (and I still have these days) when I’m totally confused and things aren’t coming to me right away. I would recommend going to a bootcamp if you can’t afford college immediately after high school, or even if you’re just curious about being a developer.

  My advice is to go for it, because everyone will get something out of it.

  Find out more and read reviews on the Coding Temple Course Report page. Or check out the Coding Temple website.

  About The Author

  

  Liz is the cofounder of Course Report, the most complete resource for students considering a coding bootcamp. She loves breakfast tacos and spending time getting to know bootcamp alumni and founders all over the world. Check out Liz & Course Report on Twitter, Quora, and YouTube! 

• Founder Spotlight: Coding Temple

  Liz Eggleston7/17/2015

  Coding Temple

  

  Coding Temple is a new .NET coding bootcamp in Chicago using immersive curriculum to prep students for a career in software development. We talk to the team behind Coding Temple- Frank, Ripal and Avi- about preparing for the first cohort in August, why they chose to teach .NET, and the Coding Temple application process. 

  Who is the team behind Coding Temple?

  Frank: Ripal and Avi reached out to me knowing that I had run two successful companies- I’m helping with everyday operations at Coding Temple.

  Ripal: Avi studied Computer Science and Engineering at Berkeley, and was teaching me how to build a website using JavaScript- it was clear that he could teach these skills and he had seen the rise of bootcamps in San Francisco. We did a lot of research before launching Coding Temple in Chicago.

  Avi:  I am the program director for Coding Temple. In other words, I analyze and manage the improvements on all curricula. I also manage our current team of instructors, analyzing the market needs of hiring partners, and stay up to date with the latest technologies.

  I am currently a software engineer at GT Nexus, a company that provides a cloud platform for global supply chains. I am currently part of a small team that focuses on solving a wide array of NP-hard problems such as TSP, VRP, and bin packing problems using metaheuristics. In other words I work with software that uses machine learning (artificial intelligence). I am a full stack developer and the stack that I work with is the following: C++/Python/AngularJS/Redis/J2EE/SQL.
  
  Why did you decide to start a coding bootcamp in Chicago?

  Mainly because there aren’t many big .NET and Java bootcamps in the market, but also because Chicago is where we live. We wanted to start a bootcamp in the city where we have the biggest network, instead of moving to the East Coast or something.

  What programming languages will students learn at Coding Temple?

  We’ll teach basic HTML/CSS, SQL, C#, ASP.NET, jQuery and the Entity Framework, We’re also going to introduce weekend and 1-4 week part time bootcamps in the following areas: Data Structures/Algorithms, iOS Swift, Django/Python, Hadoop, and machine learning.  

  How did you decide what to include in a 12-week program? For example, why is it important to touch on iOS?
  
  Read above. Our main camp’s goal is to train beginners into entry level .Net developers. The reason why we are teaching the .NET stack is because no other school in Chicago is teaching it. Also, the demand for .NET and Java developers is much higher than demand for RoR web developers in the Chicagoland and surrounding areas.

  Are there plans to expand with classes in Python and Hadoop?

  Our mini boot camps will launch Python and Swift within the next couple months. We hope to launch a class in Hadoop next year. We’ll probably wait at least 6 months before we add more to the curriculum or launch new classes.

  What type of student is Coding Temple designed for? Are you looking for beginners or applicants with a bit more experience?

  We’re anticipating that most of the applicants will have no experience at all. Our ideal applicant has at least basic knowledge of HTML and CSS or JavaScript. You should be able to do 10 to 15 hours worth of work each day. When you’re learning to code in 12 weeks, you should expect to learn quickly so students with a bit of experience will have a better experience.

  What does the Coding Temple application process look like?

  They first fill out the application and submit it. We then schedule a Skype interview with the applicant in order to see if they are a fit for the program. If not, we recommend them to other surrounding schools that would better fit for their needs. After the interview, we assign them sections from a Codeacademy course. Note that not all applicants will be doing the same course on Codeacademy. Their assigned work depends on how much experience they have and the languages they have worked with. One applicant might get assigned 4 sections from the Python course on Codeacademy, while another applicant might get 6 sections from the Ruby course. We then schedule a follow up interview where we gauge for their reasoning and problem solving skills than technical skills. After the follow up interview, we then give a response within 2-3 days that lets the applicant know whether they have been accepted to the program.

   

  How many students are you aiming for in that first cohort?

  Our first cohort is in August and we’re looking for anywhere from 6 to 10 students. We want to keep the first class small so that we can get an understanding of what the students need most.

   

  Who is the main instructor at Coding Temple?

  Avi is no longer the main instructor for the main course at Coding Temple. Our main instructor is Hitesh Patel.

  Hitesh has over seven years of experience in software development. Hitesh currently works as a .NET C# developer for Robert Half Technologies SPS team.
  His language skill set includes: HTML/CSS, C#, SQL, VB.Net, C++, LINQ, and Javascript.
  His web based experience includes: ASP.NET, MS-SQL Server, ADO.NET, KnockOut JS, jQuery, HTML 5.0, and Web Services.

  Have you made any efforts to get women and underrepresented minorities to apply to Coding Temple?

  Women have been reaching out to us regarding Coding Temple. We are actually talking to a potential female instructor who was actually one of my TAs in a computer science class. She’s still working on her PhD, but may be teaching part-time for Coding Temple.  Also, we are a minority-owned coding school.

  Will there be tests or assessments that students have to pass throughout the course?

  There will be two main assessments. The main purpose behind the assessments is to determine the individual student’s weak areas. Wherever we find a weakness, our instructors will address them individually, which depends from person to person.

  How often will tests or assessments be given throughout the class?

  The assessments will be given at the end of the first month and end of second month of in-class session.

  What happens if a student fails an assessment?

  We will try to address their weak areas and have them retake the assessment before the next main assessment occurs.

  What’s the teaching style at Coding Temple? Will you have lectures each day or will class be project-driven?

  The curriculum consists of half lecture and half hands-on experience. Everything you learn will be put into work. Students will get projects and assignments to do during class that that pertain to what they learn each day.

  So students are doing an assignment every single day of class and will also have two group projects and a capstone. We like group projects because students can teach each other different techniques to learning programming concepts.

  Does Coding Temple have formal hiring partners yet?

  We’re actually working on that right now. There’s an IT recruiting company nearby who we’re considering partnering with us. It’s called Axiom Technology Group, and we’re working with them right now to figure out what we can help each other with.

  Will you have a demo day at the end of the class or what’s the approach to job prep?

  Week 10 for the students will be spent prepping for interviews. Recruiters will come in answer any questions the students might have, prep them for interviews, and connect them to hiring companies.

  Where is the Coding Temple classroom?

  We’re going to be teaching at WeWork in downtown Chicago. WeWork is a co-working space that houses startups. We rent out a small classroom. They’ve been a huge resource- students have 24/7 access to the space and tons of other perks.

  Is there financing available for students?

  We want to offer as many financing options as possible for our students, so we have three different financing options. One is to pay in full with a $500 discount. Two, we offer an installment plan to pay in full by Week 10. The third option is long-term financing over 24 months. We’re going to do all these in-house.

  We’ll customize these options to each student and come up with our own payment schedule that works best for them.

  Have you all faced any issues with regulation or working with Chicago or Illinois regulatory agencies?

  No, nothing so far.

  To learn more about Coding Temple, check out their School Page on Course Report!

• June Coding Bootcamp News Roundup

  Harry Hantel7/1/2015

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  Welcome to the June News Roundup, your monthly news digest full of the most interesting articles and announcements in the bootcamp space. Do you want something considered for the next News Roundup? Submit announcements of new courses, scholarships, or open jobs at your school!

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