Command Shift

After 5 years working in Civil Engineering I decided it was time for a career change. I did some research on Software Engineering bootcamps in the North West area and ultimately landed on Manchester Codes. The course was structured very intuitively from start to finish and their online learning platform made it a very enjoyable experience. The sessions run by the Manchester Codes tutors were very informative and allowed an opportunity to raise any problems you were facing with your progress. 

I got out of the course exactly what I wanted and was offered and accepted a Junior Engineer role before the course had finished!

I jumped on the bootcamp as a way to learn software development for my current role, but by the end of the bootcamp I had got a job working for an Agency in Manchester. Since then I've moved on and havent looked back. The in-class support through to the career advice was great.

The bootcamp content was awesome, it started off with a great foundation everything explained fully with examples. Then when moving onto more advanced topics our cohort would mob, or pair on problems to further reinforce the learnings. This is massively helpful in teaching how to communicate and has transferred into my current role (especially with COVID and remote work life!)

It was the best decision to join Manchester Codes, literally has changed my and my family's life (sorry for the cringey cliche!)

My experience with Manchester Codes was nothing but positive.

The bootcamp provided a great overview of web development fundamentals that led into covering backend and database concepts and frontend frameworks (React) which ended with a final team project that pulled it all together.

In my experience, the instructors were fantastic and always willing to help. Additionally, there were course tutors that could also be called upon for those needing any extra assistance.

Like most extra curricular courses, what you ultimately get out of it is up to the individual and their ability to put in the work (it can be a lot for some, but very manageable), but the school provides you everything you could need.

The after course completion is fantastic, there are lunch and learns that previous students can join, and there are always good new jobs being posted.

I had a job straight-way and I wouldn't have been able to get it without the skills I picked up from the bootcamp.

I decided to study with Manchester Codes as I was looking to return to a developer role after a career break. I’d lost a lot of confidence and was looking to update my skills.

My 6 months at Manchester Codes have been intense – although there are only 6 hours of scheduled lessons per week, the bulk of the assignments and learning is carried out outside of the classroom. It’s demanding and I’d recommend putting any social life/hobbies/parenting(!) on hold as much as possible for the duration of the course!

Although intense, I found it to be massively rewarding and a fun and supportive environment in which to learn current coding practices. The instructors are dedicated and are always on hand to offer support remotely.

There’s also post-course job seeking guidance that helped me feel confident applying for jobs. I would not have landed my first Software Engineer role at the BBC if I had not taken this course.

I took the Software Engineering bootcamp course at Manchester Codes, graduating in March 2021. I loved the hands-on, practical nature of the course. I felt like we were taught how to code using the most up-to-date, industry-recognised languages and technologies such as NodeJs. The projects and coding exercises were great for getting hands on keyboards and building actual things that could then be added to a portfolio and shown to potential employers. 

The remote nature of the course suited me perfectly. As a mum of two young kids, I appreciated the flexibility to fit the work in around my childcare responsibilities. The workload is a lot - I did around 25 hours extra studying per week and some of the course material is very challenging but the support from tutors, mentors and fellow students via Slack was really good. I never stayed stuck for long. 

The online platform that the course uses isn’t the most inspiring in the world compared to others like Codecademy but the content is sound and it does the job. The quality of the evening lectures was high and the tutors were always very willing to answer questions and give any help needed. I loved the fact that the tutors were all professional Software Engineers who were teaching on top of their ‘day job’.

Before the end of the course, I got a job as a Software Engineer, through Manchester Codes’ connections with companies in the region. I was relieved to find that the course gave me a great foundation to start the role. A year on, I am still absolutely loving it. Doing the course with Manchester Codes was the best decision I’ve ever made. It allowed me to change careers and find an interesting and fulfilling job that works for me and my family. Thank you Manchester Codes!

After spending 12 years as a general manager in hospitality I wanted to pursue a career in tech, something I had wanted to do since leaving school. I had completed the free course they offer a few times over the years, but hadn’t taken the plunge until now, and so glad that I did.

I was completely new to coding, other than a brief into to C++ in college (about 2 weeks worth) and had reservations about how quickly I could learn the skills to change career.

The course starts at an easy pace, guides you through setting up your machine, a look at some of the common developing languages (HTML, JavaScript) and builds upwards from there.

You study twice a week in the evenings for 3 hours, where tutors give detailed lectures, provide support, and just generally create an environment where your class can ask questions and share ideas. You’ll build small projects on the side which you can work on in your free time, and all the team at Manchester codes are readily available to you via Slack if you want to reach out to them, even if just for a general chat. There’s Saturday drop in sessions which are optional but a good way to meet people in your cohort and to get one to one help from a tutor if you need it.

One of the main benefits of choosing Manchester Codes is that you are entering into a supportive community of past and present students / tutors / external hiring managers, who genuinely want to see you succeed. Past students/tutors pass back job opportunities from the companies they work for, hiring managers look to employ students from Manchester Codes specifically and advertise their roles directly, and there is a dedicated careers advisor with great connections who will help you get your foot in the door.

Like any learning, you get out what you put in.. I only needed to spend a couple hours of my free time to begin with, and by the end of the course It was about 15-20… but I quickly learned to love what I was doing and further my knowledge, and gained the confidence I needed to not only apply, but be successful in getting my first tech job, before I’d even finished the course, and I’m so happy I took that first step 6 months ago.

For anyone wanting to get into this industry and is unsure of how.. this is the perfect place to start. 

I would gladly recommend Manchester Codes to anyone considering a career change into software engineering.

Completing a boot camp was a decision I considered and weighed for a long time before finally pulling the trigger. I was concerned about the viability of switching careers with no prior experience and whether a boot camp could realistically prepare you/ultimately help get you a job in the industry. I can safely say that my experience with Manchester Codes was everything I could have hoped for and more.

I considered a number of boot camps initially, but settled on Manchester Codes due to the comparatively lower cost and positive online reviews. I wondered whether more expensive boot camps would be worth the difference and whether that difference would ultimately count towards preparing me for a successful entry into the industry. I can safely say that this was the best value for money move I've ever made.

The tutors were reassuring, patient and understanding throughout. As someone who went into the course somewhat anxious about whether it was possible, this was key in helping me maintain a positive approach on the course. There is a good mix of tutors/mentors who have gone through the boot camp route themselves and also those that took a more traditional route. Everyone was always willing to help in any way you could want, but it's important to remember that you have to be willing to identify when you need help and to seek it. There is a high concentration of really awesome people in the Manchester Codes community and you will be part of that throughout and following the course.

The course content itself was nice and practical with a good variety of challenges and resources. The projects you build track well with your learning progress and maintain an ideal level of difficulty all the way through.

The post-course assistance was really helpful and the role I ultimately landed came through a referral from the course recruiter. I was assisted with CV reviews and general advice on interviewing all the way through.

If you've spent some time looking into development as a career and practised on your own to be sure that this is something you want to commit to, then you will not go wrong with Manchester Codes. It's important to ensure you can commit 14-21(ish) hours a week consistently throughout. Don't be afraid to ask questions and seek help, everyone is happy to assist and have been there before.

Good luck and don't stress!

The instructors are very knowledgeable and are always available for support or feedback. The course material is excellent and you learn real world skills with the projects you do.The pace of the course is intense but very satisfying to see how much you learn in such a short period of time.The careers advice during the course is priceless and if you put the effort in you will have no problems getting an interview / job offer.Not only do you learn new skills but you become part of an amazing community that continues after the course.

It's been a few months since I finished Manchester Codes and it's safe to say I would not be securing a Front End Engineer role now, when I didn't even know the basics less than a year ago without Manchester Codes.
I was looking for a bootcamp that I would be able to manage along side my busy full time job and MC stood out for me more than other schools due to all their success stories, as well as them making a conscious effort to make the course more accessible for under-represented people. The price of the course is reasonable compared with other coding schools, however it is a lot of money to have to commit to, so having the diversity grant available definitely made it more accessible for me.

The course itself was probably one of the toughest things I've done to date - very fast paced it does require a lot of commitment (20 hours a week is recommended) however I did find myself spending every spare minute I had working on projects! The tutors are really helpful, approachable and have the very up to date knowledge on development so no questions went unanswered. In terms of the content delivery - I did find it a bit powerpoint heavy and wordy when it came to projects and I found myself looking for more video content that would aid my learning. I think adding more of this in would make MC even better. 

If you are looking for a coding school, I would highly recommend Manchester Codes. Even after finishing the bootcamp I still feel part of the community and the team have been more than happy to give me advice and support as I begin my new career. One piece of advice I would give is before jumping straight in, do some self learning beforehand and familiarise yourself with terminology and basic concepts; I think this would have made my experience a bit easier as I would have been able to pick up new concepts faster than I did, and probably would have spent fewer evening shouting at my computer!