Concordia Bootcamps Reviews
Page 3
-
Jeremy Cohen
The best decision I have made!
Read more Read less of Jeremy Cohen's review
Going to Concordia Bootcamps was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made! Before attending the bootcamp, I was a graduate from Concordia with a Bachelors in Political Science not knowing what I wanted to do after University had ended. Programming peaked my interest and it was something I had previously dabbled with but had never been willing to take the full leap into the world of coding. After doing some basic HTML and CSS courses online I knew that this is what I wanted to do and began researching different options to see how I could enter the field. After looking through my options I stumbled upon coding bootcamps and started researching what they were and whether it was the right move for me or not to enroll in one. After reading many online reviews about different bootcamps, I decided to enroll at Concordia Bootcamps as it was the one that peaked my interest the most. The school is constantly updating its curriculum to try and incorporate the latest technologies in the world of programming and it was something I felt would be best suited for a completely new programmer like myself. After going through the 3 step admissions program, I was admitted for the June 2019 cohort. Going in to the Cohort I still had a bit of skepticism as I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to go from nothing to ready to be employed in 4 months. However, as time kept going on and with Jacques as the teacher as well as the help of the TC’s I began to gain more and more confidence in myself and my programming abilities. It got to the point where I was not only able to work in a group to make a full working website, but I was also able to work on a solo website as the final project and was able to do so better than I could have imagined before starting this course.
After graduating, there’s the worrisome feeling of will you be able to get a job or not. However, with the help of Natasha and my Career Coach Quinn I was able to secure a job 6 weeks after graduation which I couldn’t have been happier with. Enrolling at Concordia Bootcamps was the best decision I have made and am excited to see what the future holds for me as a new programmer!
-
Jesse
Full Stack Program
Read more Read less of Jesse's review
Prior to joining Decode, I had tried my hand at University and College and felt like I was not cut out for academic work. Slowly but surely I started to get interested in Web Development, and I ended up taking this program in January. Much to my surprise, the hands-on nature of the program, made my negative feelings of studying in the past, melt away. Instead of being conventionally graded, I was instead forced to judge my own work, on my own terms. And in all honesty, that in specific, allowed me to excel. I felt like the public school system had failed me, as I started to get better at coding. As I left this program, I was met with a fantastic assistance in not only code and theory, but also the job search. This program changed my life, and every single penny put into it was well worth it. It also took some time (a couple months), but I have now found a pretty fantastic position as a front-end dev :)
Special shout-out to Richard and Natasha for being so god damn helpful.
-
Bobby Connolly
Got me on track and moving fast in my professional life
Read more Read less of Bobby Connolly's review
Before I started this immersive full-stack Javascript program, I was feeling anxious about my professional future. By the end of the first week, all my anxiety was blasted away thanks to the best teacher named Jacques. Yup, he's the best!
If you want to become a modern software developer, then look no further because I believe that this is the most direct path out there. Yes, it costs a lot of time, money, and effort but this is all peanuts in the grand scheme of things.
Make sure you are ready before jumping into this course. You cannot afford distractions. Drop your phone down a sewer if you have to. Every day you must awaken with the fullest intention to be a student of software development.
I start my new Software Developer job next Monday.
Thank you, Jacques and Kevin, for creating this pathway.
-
Anthony
Actually doing what I love again!
Read more Read less of Anthony's review
I enrolled in DecodeMTL while having a 12 years old but never used degree in computer sciences about which I felt very insecure. In the past, I had often been looking into going back to programming, but all I could find were lengthy university programs.
In only 2 months, I gained most of the up to date knowledge needed to land a job in this effervescent industry.Everything, from the instructor, curriculum and teaching assistants, to the post-bootcamp support in finding a job and practicing for interviews was flawless! I always felt strongly supported through the whole process.
Learning with 14 other super motivated students was also a wonderful experience. At the end of the bootcamp, even those who had no prior experience in IT were able to deliver awesome projects.
I'd recommend DecodeMTL to anyone who is interested in programming and is tempted by a career in the field.
-
Ramata Soumounou
Really worth the time and the money
Read more Read less of Ramata Soumounou's review
I've heard about this boot camp long ago, and only did it this summer, and I have absolutely no regret. Throughout the eight weeks, students are taught JavaScript technologies such as the React, Express, and Node. During the first weeks, there are daily lectures where each student is expected to complete a set of related exercises that follow. The teacher and his assistants are always available to answer any question. During the last two weeks, each team works on a project of their choice, where they are encouraged to use technologies that were taught during the previous weeks. The day of the final presentation, students have the chance to talk to recruiters, which was an amazing opportunity for networking, and hear about different companies. After the completion of the boot camp, each student is given assistance on how to effectively seek a developer position. In summary, this boot camp is definitely worth the time and the money. Everybody has the chance to become successful programmers, regardless of their coding background prior to this course.
-
Lisa
Well worth it!
The program was very intense, and provided me with a great foundation for the world of web development. The teacher and TA's were super helpful - I never had to wait to have my questions answered. It felt very relevant to the real world.
-
Yazid
Don't be intimidated
Read more Read less of Yazid's review
I was very concerned before going into this that it would be too much to absorb in 2 months time, that I wouldn't be able to keep up or that it would be too stressful.
Do not be intimidated by this. You will be surrounded by a cohort who is going through the exact same thing as you and the comraderie you will develop will get you through it. DeCode provides supportive T.A's every step of the way to get you over humps and over all the fun of problem solving and the reward of success proves to be a fantastic driver expecially in a group environement.You will stay late and you will work hard, don't get me wrong. Other reviewers saying you only get out what you put in are 100% on the money. But putting in the work and the long days is much easier than you think it will be.
As for absorbing all of the material in 2 months it's certainly a lot but the course pacing is very good. Be sure to stay on it after you're done and the knowledge will become concrete.
Finally Decode sets you up with an amazing networking opportunity at the end. Within a week of the course I had a number of interviews and several job offers and ended up with excatly the job I wanted.In short. If you're on the fence, don't be. Go for it.
-
Daniyar
Best decision ever made
Read more Read less of Daniyar's review
When I was searching for a bootcamp, I wanted to find something that would match my goals which were to learn the industry standard technologies and find a job as a web developer. That's why I chose Decode and I have no regrets. In only 2 months, I have a solid understanding of JavaScript, React, Node, and Express! Less than 2 weeks after graduation I found a job as a Junior Software Developer! The teaching staff are very professional and helpful. They know the material very well. The admin staff really helped us with the job hunting process and prepaired us for interviews while providing us with local contacs.
-
Nelson
Learn to code, code to live
Read more Read less of Nelson's review
If you've found your way here while prospecting your application to DecodeMTL - you've likely got that in common with every graduating student from the program.
Know this; you'll have an awesome supporting cast. The class I was apart of was the very first cohort with their new instructor, Jacques, who has a decorated academic and professional background in computer science. He is extremely patient throughout his lectures and isn't afraid to stop at any point to make sure no student is stuck before moving on. Jacques is most interested in drilling home the fundamentals of how you write code and the best way to approach a new project. You'll have tons of assignments to get your hands dirty and my suggestion is you practice each one of them more than once. Try writing them up in different languages, implementing different features. Unfortunately, just showing up to class won't be enough to get your money's worth with this type of endeavor. You'll need to stay late, work from home and even come in on weekends to take full of advantage of the material given to you. Luckily the TA’s are also, in my opinion, professionals within their own niche. Luke, Jordan and Nadim are all super guys who will go the extra step in helping you anyway they can. None of my questions were left unanswered and they each complemented the lectures in their own way. I found a lot of value was given from the TA's and that's something you can't get by learning online.
The space at WeWork is great, not only students surround you but small businesses as well - there is no shortage of motivation to stay late and catch up on some work. Kevin's interview process to get into the program is improving each cohort, funneling down the students most motivated to succeed. You'll be surrounded by people who want to be there and that will push you to do better. The post-camp job assistance is what I think sets this course apart. Kevin messaged me almost every day after graduating, checking in on my job hunt, giving advise on ways to go about changing my approach and offering his insight all the way up until I accepted an offer. His job isn't done once you graduate - that alone speaks volumes on his commitment to you.
If you're on the fence about the material, don't worry about it. You'll learn how to learn to code. Do some research on Montreal’s job market before applying and really convince yourself this is right for you. I landed a job using a language we weren't taught - but because my fundamental foundation was solid, it's much easier to pick up new languages once you know how to think like a programmer. With that being said, I would 100% recommend taking this course. It isn’t for everyone but if you use your resources wisely, there shouldn’t be any surprises. Don’t be afraid to message any past students on LinkedIn, or even schedule a meeting with Kevin prior to discussing your concerns, anyone would be happy to help. Good luck!
-
Michael
Intense and rewarding
Read more Read less of Michael's review
tl;dr: Decode is great. Do it.
Want to learn to code useful things? Decode is for you. Want to understand how web technologies work? Decode guides you quite far down that path. Want to specialize an a particular field or technology, well, you'll need to go beyond what Decode offers, and don't expect to come away a senior programmer. But you will come away with all of the fundamentals you'll need, a solid understanding of web technologies in general (and a deeper understanding of a several mainstream tools), and the confidence and know-how to jump in and start building anything any app you have in mind.
Decode offers excellent instruction and lots of access to resources and TA's. The classroom format offers plenty of information and theory, but also opportunities to test and challenge what you think you know, and lots of discussion so you can learn with and through your classmates. It's intense and will keep you busy, but if you put in the work, you'll definitely be able to stay on top of the fast-paced structure. The curriculm is in-depth and relevant, focusing on the trends in tech as well as some staple-tools of the industry.
I came to Decode with a prior high-level understanding of programming. I left Decode with a solid grasp of how to put that knowledge into practice. (I also found a job within a month!)
If you're on the fence about this program, my advice to you is to stop thinking about it and just do it. You won't be disappointed.
-
Diana
Worth Every Penny
Read more Read less of Diana's review
About Staff:
- Very caring staff: The owner, the instructor (Jacques), TAs (Luke, Nadim, Jordan) are all very attentive and helpful. They always make time for you when you're asking a question, or trying to solve a problem. They are never impatient and will sit down with you as long as they can, to make you understand the concept/problem/solution.
-very competent TAs and Instructor: They know their subjects very very well. Each all have their own specialties, be it in HTML, CSS or Javascript, so if you have any questions regarding a very specific problem, you have your own expert at any time.
-good communication. decodemtl uses slack to have staff and students all communicate with each other. So even if the TA or Instructor is not present physically, you can always still reach out to them.
About the course:
-course material. Very in line with what's hot in the market. This past cohort (10), we were learning mostly React.js for front-end, but also learned Node.js and express for backend, with firebase database. We also touched on jQuery a little bit, HTML and CSS. What I would add, is perhaps learning mongoDB, since it seems to be very popular.
-level of difficulty. This depends on an individual basis. For people with prior experience in coding (even just a little), it was not at all difficult. For people with less experience, it might take some time to get used to, however, after spending the first week getting the basics down, it gets easier.
-process of learning. With 2 hour lectures, a lunch break and 4-7 hours of coursework, there's a lot of time commitment. However, spending this time to solve and work through projects with TAs on hand, has helped me a whole lot, and other students alike. When you're stuck for 30 minutes on a problem, you can just go see a TA to solve it, instead of going through hours of errors and bugs. It's very efficient in helping you learn.
projects. 3 weeks of projects. After learning the tools for the first 5 weeks, you are ready to make your own application. Time goes by really fast, and you have a lot of fun building your own application. This is great for not only your learning experience, but also lets you figure out what you like doing -front end? back end? or maybe even both. At the end, your project is showcased to an audience of employers, who want to see what you are capable of, and possibly hire you.
Job Prospects:
demo day is a great way to meet future employers and network. With the projects that you demonstrate, the employers can see your potential. I happened to get an on-site interview right there and then, which is pretty cool. Happened to get an offer the next week. For me, it moved pretty fast.
decodemtl's job prep process. Kevin is very keen on getting his students a job, and will spend time with you to fix your resume, look over your linkedin profile and cover letter. He has used his network to get us connections, which is fantastic. Also, if there are classmates who have been in the tech field, they can also help you network with the companies they know too.
This co-hort, Kevin hired professional tech interviewers to do mock interviews, which is great, as it helps people who get nervous, some practice.
The fact that they have a job guarantee within a 6 month period tells us a lot about how they are confident about the students job prospects.
-
Atmosphere:
DecodeMTL is situated at wework place-ville marie. Great location, as you have access to Montreal's infamous underground mall with shopping and food all around. Not only that, but wework is a great place to study, as it offers free beer and coffee, as well as fresh fruit water everyday. The environment helps students feel comfortable, with the optimal setting for success.
-
Students:
The people whom you will be working alongside are probably going to be likeminded, as they are spending the time, money and effort to do something out of the norm. They will be curious, and hard-working, which will motivate you as well. This isn't university, so the quality of people you will meet are the people who WANT to be there, and are making the most of their effort.
-
Ben
Lot's of work but worth it!
Read more Read less of Ben's review
I graduated in late August 2017 and found a paid internship as a software developer in November 2017. I only started learning JavaScript 2 months prior to joining, placing me at a very beginner level. The course is difficult, you won't have time for anything else really for 8 weeks. Significant information is thrown your way and you will feel frustration and confusion. You just have to put in the time and things will eventually fall into place. I would dedicate at least 11 hours a day during the week and work on material on the weekends too (there are no days off). Their job assistance was amazing. You could tell Kevin and the rest of the staff really want you to find work after finishing the boot-camp. They helped with our resumes, cover letter and set up a mock interview for practice. They also put together a speed interview session with actual employers looking for new talent, nothing came from it but I really appreciated the effort DecodeMTL put into helping all of us out. I would recommend this course to anyone who has a decent foundation of JavaScript and an intense drive to learn code. -
Rachel
The whole experience is worth it
The curriculum of the bootcamp is well structured and everything falls into place on time for the demo day if you gave your 110% throughout the course!
-
Quinn
Great Class
Awesome course - it's defintely stressfull and a TON of work, but it was an awesome experience. Highly reccommend to anyone looking to jump into tech world.
-
Vin
Most bang-for-buck educational experience I've ever had
Read more Read less of Vin's review
I have attended university, grad school, community night classes, and community college yet none of these 'formal' institutions have offered the level of education I received at decodeMTL. Now my whole conception of formal education and learning has been invalidated and I'll have to think about what I want to do with my future kids' education...
Note that I have approximately one year of coding experience before coming to decodeMTL (SQL, HTML/CSS, frontend JS, Java. Perl).
Let me comfort you in that I was extremely skeptical of these bootcamps as 'scams' (charging hopeless university grads in hopes of a job). I even took small workshops at other bootcamps here in Toronto to get a feel for them. Yet I eventually moved from Toronto to Montreal to attend as I felt the instructor knew his material best and the founders were invested in the long term success of their business.
Firstly, you are immersed with web development. The immersion allows one to more efficiently develop good coding habits and work habits ('being in flow').
Secondly, you learn from a professional. A real professional who could (from my estimates) easily make >$150K in the tech field. I was astounded to have him answer my questions one-on-one and teach us. What a professional mentor instills in a newbie like me are helpful tips and hints that he likely faced when he was growing as a developer. Even 2 of the TAs were fully-fledged devs that knew their stuff.
Thirdly, decodeMTL teaches up-to-date technologies so you have a competitive advantage overly formally taught CS students (who usually would know C, Java, Python) when applying to web dev jobs.
Fourth, the founders of the school spend time answering any lingering questions or concerns. For example, the cofounders spent two hours speaking with me before joining the bootcamp to see if it was a good fit (as I already had some programming experience). Another example is Kevin Khoury (the cofounder) taking advice midway through the bootcamp and implementing it the NEXT WEEK!
Fifth, they told me what I was going to learn and delivered. Sure, we didn't learn algorithm time complexity analysis or array searching (traditional CS topics). However, the adminstrators did not promise me that we would learn such things. Instead, the focus was on creating a fully-fledged web application. If you finished early, you could always ask for more material from the lead instructor.
To be fair, there are some things I still think should be improved:
- Be more punctual/professional. For instance, sometimes the class schedule would schedule a TA slot, yet he did not show up. Ironically, they would tell us to show up on time but oftentimes the TAs and instructors were late (10-15 mins).
- Don't have 'empty' days. For example, there was a Friday scheduled to teach jQuery yet the instructor simply let us on own devices to learn jQuery from the documentation. From a customer perspective, I absolutely receive no 'value-add' from this type of instruction other than having a TA-handy. There was mutual agreement amongst the students that this simply is not fair for 'bootcamp'. I am expecting professional-developer instruction when coming to a bootcamp.
- 2 of the 3 TAs were new to the bootcamp (one even strictly mentioned s/he would not TA the next term). Therefore it took sometime for them to learn how to mentor and teach newbies. I felt I couldn't get the most value from them in the early weeks.
Overall, I really miss the bootcamp hence why I chose to write this review. I probably sped my learning rate by a factor of 3 compared to when I am learning off documentation/youtube videos. Note I stated a 'factor of 3'. Namely, I want to point out that the engine for learning is mostly the student's effort. I would see students leave at 4 and others fight to be the last one out of the office. Needless-to-say, there was a clear correlation between the above students' diligence/effort and their learning (IMO). Don't expect to put in zero effort and learn enough to land a decent job (3 multiplied by zero is still zero).
NB: The bootcamp is now $8000 (as of Sept 27 2017) which may decrease the 'bang-for-buck' ratio.
Cheers to the founders for making this bootcamp! Let me know if you ever release an advanced web development bootcamp or data science course!
-
Chris
If you absolutely need a career change immediately, do it. If not, save your money and learn yourself.
Read more Read less of Chris's review
As the title says, truly think hard about this decision before you make it. I would only recomend this bootcamp to those who are in desperate need of a career change. It will give you the tools to get the bare minimum done and it will teach you how to learn on your own once you're out. However, if you are not desperate, do NOT go through with it. Also, remember that this is just my exerience for the most part. I have gotten feedback, before writting this, from two other attendies so keep that in mind as well.
To start, the screening process is pretty much nonexistent. This is not an exaggeration. They will pretty much take anyone so be mindful of this if you're considering it. The learning curve is decently high from just the technical to the 2nd and 3rd days of class, so study more than what is expected of you. Learn any and everything you can about JavaScript before hand for the best experience.
Thougout the bootcamp, the gap between the stronger and weaker students will just get wider and wider as the course is so fast-paced. There is no sort of assesment on the students whatsoever. I spoke to a guy from the bootcamp who put in a tremendous amount of effort each and every day, all to no avail. He was at the building till at lest 7:30 - 8pm every day. I won't say any names but we had spoked over lunch and he told me that he was considering quitting. I convinced him not to, but I personally feel that this situation was caused by the lack of support from the teachers. He had spoken to Ziad, the head teacher, about how he was having trouble and Ziad's responce was that he would interview students one on one for about 15-30 minutes (not sure exactly how long) to see where everone was at. Needless to say, that did not happen. That left the impression to me that he didn't really care where everyone was at. Finally, as you've probably read on some of the other reviews, Ziad does indeed tend to favorite the stronger students over the less strong ones. It's extremely evident.
I, and a good amount of the camp, learnt the most during the last two weeks of the bootcamp when we were seperated in groups to create a big project to present at demo day. Though highly stressful, I would say that was definitely the highlight of the whole bootcamp experience. I believe that this was the case because, as students, were all able to bounce off of each other. By doing that, not only were we learning our selves, but by explaning to the others, we had to have a better understanding of what we were talking about which I really appreciated.
As for the job process, I chose to skip out on it. I had attended only about 3 classes after the bootcamp and for that reason, take this with a grain of salt. I don't belive that the job process is all that good. Essentially, I was given a resume to copy and was told to continue coding and hustle to get job offers. Obviously I didn't stick around to long so I maybe missed out on a few things, but I don't regret that. One thing I will say is that they offer mock interviews which is neat. At the end of the day though, most of these are all just little things that you can do yourself.
Overall, the bootcamp is not something that I regret and my experience wasn't horrible, but it could have been something much greater. You're pretty much on your own, but you have the comfort in working in a room with like-minded people. The bottom line is: are you someone who is either in need of a new career badly or needs guidance to learn? If so consider it. If not, don't bother. Start your own projects at home and you'll get to the same place. I am not trying to speaking badly of them, I just wanted to be as brutally honest as possible to help the individuals who are still deciding.
-
Guillaume
Incredible experience
Read more Read less of Guillaume's review
The instructors and admin staff at decode are really great. They offer support from start to the end on every aspect of learning, job search and even more. They have an approach based on learning by doing and if you put the effort into it, it will pay off. Ziad the lead instructor is a great teacher capable of diving in details but also explaining from a high level perspective. Kevin the admin has an incredible networking experience and will make you employable in a couple of meetings! Overall great experience!
-
Drew
Commercial
Read more Read less of Drew's review
I would not recommend DecodeMTL bootcamp to just anyone. Their approach is not for an absolute beginner or for just anyone. Coding is generally not that easy. You need to at least have some experience in coding before you attend thier bootcamp. Moreover, It is a lot of money to pay for a bootcamp. So it is best to spend your money on a really good bootcamp.
I understand that we need to code and complete the workshops during the bootcamp by ourselves. The teacher, Ziad, is smart but I doubt if he really wants to share all his knowledge with us. We asked him to share with us suggested solutions to only one workshop (not even every workshop) so that we could do it in our own times, because during the bootcamp he only asked us to do only one project in that specific workshop. Plus it would also be good to learn how he would code, approach or do it. He did not give us the suggested solutions. Instead in that workshop you will see some pieces of information about other courses of DecodeMTL related to that workshop.
I felt that DecodeMTL would only spend more time on certain students who have potential. Not all students received the same treatment. I felt that Ziad does not care much if a few or some students may be left behind during the bootcamp.
-
Joy
Great bootcamp!
Read more Read less of Joy's review
My experience at decodemtl was extremely great! I would strongly recommend it to anyone who would like to pursuit their career as a web developer. Please don't worry if you are non-tech background, as long as you are determined and desciplined, you will benefit a lot from this course. I'm really happy that I made a perfect choice to attend this bootcamp. Here are the reasons that I love this bootcamp:
1. Class size - Small class size allows the instructor to give intructions to each student as well as answer almost all the questions from every student.
2. Reachable resources - The structure of the bootcamp is that in the morning is the lecture and afternoon is the workshop, which is an excellent opportunity for you to practice. There are 2 TAs there for you to ask questions whenever you need until 9pm. I really love the way they answer questions, they won't give you an answer directly, they actually guide you step by step and lead you to the right track. It is a great way of teaching cause they teach you how to think as a developer. And the TA is always there for everyone in the class.
3. Nice environment and atmosphere - Although it seems to be a very intensive course, the atmosphere and study environment is really relaxed and great. The main instructor Ziad is super helpful and he really knows his stuff very well. Kevin and Zoe are super helpful as well, they are always there to help whenever you need. It really feels like a family.
4. Final demo - Final demo is one of the amazing parts of the bootcamp. By the end of the bootcamp, you will get a final project, it'll be done as group. On the last day of the bootcamp, each group will present their project in the lobby. By then, decodemtl really makes a lot of effort inviting tech recruiters and companies coming to see our demo. It is a great opportunity for all the students to present themselves and talk with those who are interested in hiring developers.
5. Resume & Linkedin session - At around the 5th week of the bootcamp, Kevin will come to every student one by one and spend time with each student to go through their Linkedin profile, What's more, by the end of the bootcamp, Kevin helps every student to optimize their resume line by line, his great patience impresses me a lot, and this is a huge asset of this bootcamp.
6. Mockup interview - This is another great part of the bootcamp. Before you start your job searching process, decodemtl organizes mockup interviews, which allow you to get a general idea of how tech interviews will look like and be more confident and less nervous during the real interview.
So if you decide to join the bootcamp, I also have following advises:
1. Study the prep course decodemtl prepares for you carefully. The prep course is great and it allows you to have a basic knowledge of what you are going to learn during the bootcamp.
2. Personally, I would recommend going into the bootcamp with as much JavaScript knowledge as possible, this will help a lot with the learning curve and will allow you to understand the concepts more deeply and faster.
3. Please make sure to put 200% energy into the course. Especially the workshop, please make sure to finish each workshop, it doesn't matter if you finish slower than others, it's not a competition, and it's never a waste of time to do it the 2nd, 3rd or 4th time just for a review.
The 8 weeks was such a great experience and I've learned a lot more than I expected and I'm a lot more better than I was 8 weeks ago. But for sure, I'll keep learning :)
Wish you all the best and good luck :)
Joy
-
Josh
dedecode
Read more Read less of Josh's review
The screening process to recruit students for the bootcamp was pretty simple; nothing to ensure that you would be able to follow the lessons and understand them during the bootcamp. DecodeMTL has prep course for you to do before the bootcamp starts. However, there is no requirement that you need to finish it. I felt that DecodeMTL needs to have enough students for each bootcamp in order to cover costs. I only did about half of the prep course and had never done any coding before in the past. Therefore I checked with both Kevin and Ziad to make sure if it was still ok to join or if I should wait. I was confirmed that there should not be any problem. However, during the bootcamp Ziad would not explain the basics much but would rather go very quickly. So I tried to ask, but when I asked, he seemed to be annoyed by my simple questions sometimes.
At the end of the bootcamp on the demo day, there were some tech companies who came to see our presentations. Ziad would only introduce to them the students who did well during the bootcamp, but not those who were not up to his standard.
-
Jared
DecodeMTL
Read more Read less of Jared's review
My experience at decodeMTL was excellent.
With their help and guidance I was able to land a junior position after working ten years in construction. It was not a golden ticket to a new job though. I worked really hard, and under their coaching everything worked out well. Even 9 months after taking the course, they have been able to assist me further. Ziad and his assistants have a knack for teaching and Kevin is great with his carreer related help. They are all good honest people and make an amazing team.
As for others complaining about 'not being given the answers', that's not the goal of the course. I always felt that Ziad wants us to understand the principles and core concepts first, and the results of specific exercises are not the most important. Our long-term success depends on our fundemental understanding of whats going on in the code. I definatly left the course feeling that I had a great foundation of knowledge and networking to make my career change work out well. Mission accomplished!
Doing interviews again 9 months after the bootcamp, I've had interviewers comment that even university graduates weren't able to pass their technical challenges but I was able to!
-
Matty
It made an awesome start of my programming career
Read more Read less of Matty's review
Be advised that these comments are based on my personal experience so please apply accordingly.
In one sentence, I really enjoyed my experience at DecodeMTL and it was wonderful to be taught by Ziad and the teaching assistants there. It gave me exactly what i wanted: to find a job as web developer.
My background: MSc degree in Business strategic consultancy from France with few years of business development experience with tech startups; Immigrated to Montreal Canada one year ago; started a biz dev job here but very unhappy about it; coded about 6 months inconsistenly before joining DecodeMTL.
What I like about DecodeMTL:
1) The craziness of it: You are surrounded by like-minded people who were equally determined to get into the industry. That created a very motivating ambiance which drove me (naturally a person easy to be distracted) to focus and give my 100%;
2) and also 1) Good teacher. Ziad is amazing and he continued helping me patiently after I graduated. He has his way of leading me to think in problem solving process. The other teaching assistants - Mathieu, Harris, etc. are also important part of my learning journey and they still help me now too!
3) It was a lot to learn and not very easy to digest everything I went through everyday. But I expeceted myself to learn anyways so that did not bother me. DecodeMTL connected the dots I had when I was learning coding on my own and gave me a solid base to start with in order to become a competent responsable developer.
My personal friendly advice in general :) : Be sure with what you are getting into as a career! It's a lot of continuous effort and constant battle with unknown! After doing enough thinking and you still want to get into the field, DecodeMTL would be a good choice!
-
Kash
Great course. Even better post-bootcamp support.
Read more Read less of Kash's review
This course exceeded all my expectations. Ziad is amazing, the mentors are fantastic, and the TA's are very helpful.
I really like that even though I am a graduate, I can still reach out to Ziad and Kevin, or anyone really, about any concerns and questions about jobs, or tech problems and bugs that I come across. The DecodeMTL Slack community is popping! Everyone helps each other, even if we we're not all in the same cohort. I think this is the best part, the post-bootcamp support. You're not thrown into the deep end alone, someone will always be there to help you out.
That goes without saying that, they don't call it a bootcamp for nothing. Be prepared to arrive early and stay late. You'll be spending most of your time at the school, which isn't a bad thing as WeWork is an awesome place to learn, very comfortable, great location, and awesome decor. I actually much preferred working there, then at home. Being in a great atmosphere and surrounded by hard-working people and tech companies, is very motivating.
If you cannot give 100% of your time to the course, don't do it. Clear your schedule for those 8 weeks, or else you will not benefit from this course. If you miss 1 day or even a half a day, thats the equivalent of missing a couple weeks in any regular school which spread their course to a couple hours a week over a few months.
Yes, you will have a lot of prep work to do, but it's so worth it. You need to have a passion for this job. It's a lot of problem-solving, logic, creativity, and patience.
The more energy you will put into this course, the better outcome you will have. The more work you put in, the easier it will be to find a job.
I got a job and started working for a start-up one week post-bootcamp. There is a huge demand for web developers out there, so if you have the passion and drive to learn more, finding a job will be a breeze.
Don't expect to be a genius like Ziad when it's all said and done, that will take millions of years to get to his level. But once you graduate and find a job, you will then be paid to learn, and it's all up hill from there!
I highly recommend this course for everyone. It's a tech world out there after all. Every company needs some sort of web presence, or web app, which means they need us!
P.S. The cupcakes are pretty great too.
-
Seb
Not awesome but just okay
Read more Read less of Seb's review
I have a degree related to computer science. I think the course curriculum of this bootcamp is good, but still needs some improvements to also emphasize on certain important things that students will need to use at work. The main instructor is very smart however he still needs to learn how to explain stuff to those who don't have background in the field. When already in the bootcamp, sometimes it was hard to reach him in the afternoon to ask questions about the workshops as he would not respond to your messages at times.
The main instructor helped me get a job after graduation. However I have a degree related to this from a good university, so it would not be that difficult for DecodeMTL to present me to the employers. DecodeMTL will help you in term of job assistance if you are good enough. Some of my classmates at the same cohort, who are just average, did not get the same help. The job assistance here is not that great. About half of the people in my cohort still could not find a job yet.
DecodeMTL is not bad if you have background, experiences or are well-prepared for the bootcamp. DecodeMTL CANNOT get you job ready in 8 weeks like what they said. It requires a lot of prep work before the bootcamp. For people in my cohort who had no background in the field and wanted to change their career who were successful and found jobs after the bootcamp, they did the prep course for several months prior to joining the bootcamp, or took another course with Decode before. So you can imagine if DecodeMTL can really get you ready as web developer in 8 weeks or not.
Kevin of Concordia Bootcamps
Co-founder
Apr 19, 2017
We're happy to see you did well in our course and we were able to help you get a job so quickly, and appreciate your feedback.
We are constantly taking feedback to improve our course, including our job assistance. It seems like you received a positive outcome.
However, the majority of our students come in without computer science backgrounds and still do very well. We have also now made it mandatory to pass a technical interview (based on the prep-course) before being admitted into the bootcamp.
Lastly, we do our best to help all of our graduates with the job search. But we are very clear on what's expected of our grads. Finding a job is hard work, and needs to be treated like a full-time job. For those that finish the program, and follow our advice / continually work with us, they will find work in the field. For those that disengage and/or decide to do the bare minimum, finding work is a much larger challenge.
At the end of the day, the course is what you make of it. At any point, our alumni can contact us for job assistance or advice, and we will do whatever we can to help them. The job search process can take some time, and patience is definitely required. While most alumni are employed within 3 months, on rare occasions, it can take upwards of 5-6 months.
We invite you to contact us if you want to discuss further :) -
Anthony
GREAT BOOTCAMP!
Read more Read less of Anthony's review
When searching for a bootcamp I was given advice to find one that focused on JavaScript. DecodeMTL immediately jumped out as being a great option since they are a JavaScript bootcamp while many others on focused on ruby on rails. After speaking to over 10 previous students who all had positive things to say I knew this was the right option for me.
After completing the bootcamp I have absolutely to no regrets about joining. The main instructor Ziad is a god. He is everything you want in a teacher. Even though his knowledge is so advanced, he always finds a way to deliver the information to you in a way that makes sense even for a beginner. He is a someone who really feels joy from seeing his students succeed which makes him fun to be around. If I had to give him a rating it would be a solid 10/10.
If you are looking for a bootcamp to join I strongly suggest that you checkout DecodeMTL. If you don't believe me just contact any of their Alumni and I am positive that they will give you the same advice.
If you do decide the join my advice is to make sure you do as much prep work as possible. When you are at the bootcamp things move fast and everyone learns at different speeds. Going in with a solid understanding of JavaScript will help you to better understand the more complicated parts of the bootcamp.
Good luck!
-
Coco
Would take it again 100%
What a great and challenging program! I would recommend it to anyone who's looking to learn a practical approach to web development and who doesn't want to spend years doing a degree in University. I was hesitant to join at first because I've never been good at math or science, but the instructors make it so easy to learn, and now I love to code!
-
Mark Conn
Is this the right move?
Read more Read less of Mark Conn's review
Before I launch into a spirited review of DecodeMTL, a bit of context on myself will help reveal some important variables. First off, I come from by no means a CS background. Far from it, I have a Bachelors in Urban Planning and worked for several years as an infantry soldier.
Why this bears mention is that one of the most common fears about this industry is that it will be utterly beyond those without some sort of pre-existing CS experience. That is absolutely not true. Web development is far more accessible than you might think, but there are certainly things to ponder before you take the leap at a bootcamp...
I think the biggest question someone reading this wants answered: is DecodeMTL a legit bootcamp and will it get me an entry position as a Dev? Yes and yes; its a kickass bootcamp and I landed a job within two weeks. But there's more to it than that.
In my opinion, there is a way to experience this bootcamp to get the most out of it. These are your checks in the box to complete before day 1...
1. You've decided to do this for a reason. Its 6k. Its only 2 months. Do a soul search and make sure that this is what you want and you are ready to work your ass. The days are long and the info is fast and furious. You will need to dedicate 200% of your attention to this course in order to succeed, which brings me to my next point..
2. Prepare yourself. Yes there is a prep course and it does a good job of getting you ready, but if you want my advice, do as much damn Javascript as you can beforehand. If you are like me and you have 0 programming experience, I highly recommend https://www.udemy.com/understand-javascript/. If you get through even the first third of this course before you start, you will be arriving in a great place and everything will make way more sense. You will be far less likely to fall behind as you will have a better grasp on the critical fundamentals of programming in JS.
3. Don't expect the moon. DecodeMTL does what it claims to do and it does it well, but they cannot snap their fingers and turn you into Dan Abramov. This is merely the beginning of a career-long journey. It will be hard and frustrating but extremely rewarding. Dig deep and prepare yourself for this grind, only time and practice can make you a great coder. Have the patience to make mistakes and get lost. The right attitude will do wonders.
Everyone that attends this course will have the opportunity to emerge as competent, entry-level developers. The cirriculum is constantly updated to stay relevant (big emphasis on React here) and by the end you will have written some code that you probably couldn't imagine before hand. Some will squander this course by not abiding by the aforementioned points, but that doesn't have to be you.
The final day - demo day - will be the real shocker if you're someone like me. What surprised me is the sheer interest and attention (and propositions) you will receive from recruiters, employers and investors who will actually line up to speak with you. If you've done your research you'll know that the industry is always hungry for devs, and now I've seen it first hand. You will not want for job opportunities, its just up to you to pursue them.
-
Vincent
Excellent Course
Read more Read less of Vincent's review
Great course.
Well paced with lots of instruction, helpful tips and guides to keep you up to speed. To get the most out of the course you will need to be able to put aside a sizeable chunk of hours each week to complete the exercises and projects.
Lucas is a great instructor and is very knowlegable. He clearly loves what he does and puts great effort in to answering everyones questions whether during class time or on the group chat.
If you take this course you will be able start with no knowledge and go and build responsive well written websites by the end.
-
Hugo Luzuriaga
Great Course!
Read more Read less of Hugo Luzuriaga's review
I started the course without any idea about HTML or CSS. The pace of the course is quite good. The course starts explaining the basic concepts and builds into more complicated ideas by exercises, code-alongs, and homework.
Lucas was a great instructor and was available to answer our questions. The class room and lounge are very nice!
I recommend for someone looking to have an introduction to Web Design; to take this course, especially if you need to interact directly with an instructor!
-
Jess
Great Experience
Read more Read less of Jess's review
I was initally skeptical that I would be able to get hired with only 8 weeks of training and I wondered how much I could actually learn in such little time before I decided to attend the full-time bootcamp. I was especially skeptical because programming was a big career change for me, having previously worked in social services, which required years of formal training. I ended up finding work within a week of finishing Decode and am extremely happy with the job I landed. Our demo day provided an amazing opportunity to present our final projects to a room full of people looking to hire, which led to several interviews for me and a job offer.
Overall, I would say that Decode is what you make of it. I would definitely recommend Decode to anyone who can really commit to clearing their schedule for the course period to ensure they don't fall behind in class. The pace is fast and they pack a lot into the course so, again, it's what you make it. But Ziad is an amazing instructor and was able to explain concepts in a way that even us newbs could understand. The cost was worth it to have a strict schedule that I had to stay on track with, to have the TAs help whenever I got completely stuck on a workshop, and to have the opportunity to present to a room of hiring managers.
-
Marie Godon
Amazing experience
Read more Read less of Marie Godon's review
I would definitely recommend taking the full-time course at DecodeMTL. Obviously it is impossible to learn everything about web development in two months, however the course gives you a solid foundation and teaches relevant technologies. You graduate with the skills to enter the work field as a Junior Dev.
Ziad, the instructor, is passionate about what he does and is great at explaining the material in a clear, understandable way. Codrin, the TA, is amazing. He is always available, 7 days a week, well past course hours to mentor the students and ensure that everyone fully grasps all the concepts.
Being located in WeWork is a bonus: close to the metro and downtown, unlimited coffee/tea/beer, networking events all the time, etc.
I found a job just a few weeks after the program with a competitive salary (close to $60,000) and nice benefits. I have also recieved quite a few offers just from recruiters viewing my LinkedIn or GitHub profiles.
Overall, DecodeMTL was an amazing experience and I highly recommend taking the full-time immersive course.
-
Guylène Lefort
No regrets!
Great course! Has given me a good understanding of what's behind web pages. The course description was exactly what was presented – and more. Lucas Lemonnier did a terrific job. I would not hesitate to recommend this course.
-
Emma
Highly recommend!
Read more Read less of Emma's review
Decode MTL is an amazing place.
1. TEACHING
Do not underestimate it because it is not on campus. Our teacher(Lucas) taught at Concordia before. He is not only an professional programmer but a inspiring teacher!! I do respect his passion for teaching and coding.This special learning experience is very influential to me.
2. ENVIRONMENT FOR ENTREPRENEUR
I am a student in Concordia and my major is more related to business. I find DecodeMTL can give me an awesome opportunity to meet different people. Many of my classmates already worked in the IT industry, having work experience in coding. It is a very impressive experience to talk and learn from them too. -
Rachel Pariente
Wonderful experience!!
Read more Read less of Rachel Pariente's review
I would highly recommend taking a web development course at DecodeMTL.
The prof communicates the material in a clear and articulate manner despite the complexity of the subject at hand. The notes are extremely well formatted (I am old school and need notes to be able to digest material efficiently).
The teacher (Lucas) and TA (Codrin) are accessible and super patient as well as generous with their time and knowledge!
The space at WeWork is rather pleasant too. I must say, it gave me the yearning to become an entrepreneur!
Originally I thought that should I ever really love coding (which is precisely what ended up happening.....to the point where its all I dream about anymore!!!), the plan was to use the completion of this course as a stepping stone before applying to get into the Computer Science program at University however I learned that the that the curriculum in most colleges (certainly here in Montreal) are many years behind and therefore wouldn't allow for one to graduate with enough practical knowledge hence I look forward to taking another course at DecodeMTL in the future. -
Mark Crisp
Great teacher
This is a great course condensed into an arduous 2 months. You won't learn everything that an employer could possibly ask for, but what you do get is a well rounded foundation that will give you a start in the business. The teacher is fantastic and takes a great interest in the progress of all his students. -
Guillaume
DecodeMTL full-time
Read more Read less of Guillaume's review
I've been part of the first Full-time cohort, and I'm still amazed at how much I learned and became employable in only 8 weeks. I've been learning Web Development on my own three or four monthes prior to the Bootcamp , and did not even cover half of all the content we saw.
They have a solid experience from working in the industry and know the standarts and the skills that must be learned. I've been hired 2 weeks ago, and I am using a lot of what they showed us on a daily basis.
If you're looking for a career mave as I was, I definitely recommend it, as long as you're not afraid (and more important, that you love) to code, code, and then code overnight.
-
Scott
Don't wait!
The eight weeks I spent at DecodeMTL were by far the best! I learned to think and code like a developer. What I learned proved to be invaluable in my career shift. I was a teacher by day and a web designer by night. Now I am a full-stack web developer by day and by night! ;-)
-
Kayla
Web Developer
Read more Read less of Kayla's review
DecodeMTL's full-time bootcamp gave me the skills and confidence to make a successful career change into the Web Development industry. Prior to taking the course, I had little web design and programming experience. After DecodeMTL's 8 week bootcamp, I had the experience and resources to get hired as a Web Developer. The small class size allows Ziad, the lead instructor at DecodeMTL, to customize his lectures and examples to best meet the different learning styles of his students. The structure of the bootcamp allows each student to learn at their own pace. For those students who want an additional challenge, there are always extra exercises to complete. I would absolutely recommend DecodeMTL to anyone who is interested and committed to starting a new career as a Web Developer! -
Nathaniel
DecodeMTL SUCCESS story.
Read more Read less of Nathaniel's review
DecodeMTL has enabled me to quickly pick up the basic modern tools of the web-development trade. It alleviated the burden of trying to figure out where to start and delivered a perfect baseline understanding of industry standards. After only two months, it allowed me to feel confident in approaching potential employers knowing that I could say "yes" to most of their questions. Whether you are looking to brush up on your coding skills, or a complete novice with the analytical chops to start down this wonderfully liberating career path, DecodeMTL is perfect for you. But be prepared to work, the classes are fun, stimulating and everything is setup to help you learn FAST. DecodeMTL helped me find a job after I completed their program. Kevin and Ziad are very well connected in the Montreal tech sphere and they followed up with me and encouraged me every day after graduation even though they already had another class going. Great guys!
I now work as a junior web-app design/implementer for Research On Investment and I recommend DecodeMTL to anyone that bridges the topic of web-development with me. -
Nora
Web Development Full-Stack Coding Bootcamp
Read more Read less of Nora's review
I am one of the first cohort's graduates (September-October 2015).
I had an amazing experience with DecodeMTL. The course is well designed and even if my brain had some hard time here and there, everything went pretty smoothly. The lead instructor Ziad Saab has a genuine sense for teaching.
The course is really intensive but this is what makes the environment so dynamic. As we were only twelve students, the atmosphere was somehow like a family and we are actually all sad the course is over now. This went really too fast!I am still struck by how much I was able to learn in 8 weeks. Being at the right place, with the right people, make a huge difference. And DecodeMTL was exactly what I needed to succeed my career change.
DecodeMTL’s program has exceeded all my expectations. And in the end, I am very grateful to Ziad and Kevin for leading me where I am now. I had close to zero web knowledge, 8 weeks later, I feel like everything is possible.