Devmountain

I went through a number of career changes in my life searching for something that suited me perfectly.  I started in law, finding the industry to be draining and largely unfulfilling for me.  From there I spent several years in copywriting, and though I loved the freedom of freelancing, I needed something a little more consistent.  It was at this juncture in my life that some friends of mine, who had graduated from DevMountain and found jobs shortly thereafter, advised me to check it out -- and it was one of the best decisions of my life.

The pace and curriculum at DevMountain are challenging, make no mistake. The intensive program is something you have to fully commit to.  It's more than a job -- it's a daily routine.  I worked my rear off while I was a student at DevMountain, pouring through the material, absorbing all of their resources and practice exercises like a sponge, and in the end it really paid off.

By 6 weeks I went from knowing nothing about code to independently developing my own full-stack web applications (front-end design and back end server functionality).  By 9 weeks I was leading a group of student developers on a team project, and by the end of the 12-week program I had two polished portfolio pieces to display to employers, and an impressive amount of coding knowledge.

I was asked to stay on as a Mentor, and spent another 3 months at DevMountain helping to instruct new students in the material I had just sought to master.  In the last month of my time as a mentor, I began the job search, and found a position as a web developer working in React/Node/SQL within three weeks.

I'm not saying my results are universal, but many, perhaps even most of the graduates I know of have found jobs within a month or two, and most of those with mentoring experience find jobs even faster. Employers love teaching experience.

But what about the material itself?  Well, coding is an act of creation.  Have you ever been using an app and thought "Boy, i really wish it did this thing, or did that other thing better", or just wished a program existed at all that could perform a function you needed at any given time?  Coding lets you do that.  You can sit down and just make a functional application that can do anything -- literally anything you need or can think of.  It's an incredibly empowering and gratifying feeling to know how to code.

If you are looking for a career change into a secure, exciting, and growing industry, DevMountain is the educational program for you.

 

DevMountain changed my life, before DevMountain, I used to work nightshift at Walmart (9$ per hour). I had no programing experience, I was given a scholarship that covers tuition fees by DevMountain, It was the best experience that I've ever had in my life, they have super smart teaching methods, they know how to modify their teaching strategies according to the particular students, subject matter, and learning environment.
I would highly recommend it, great environment, you won't regret this decision if you APPLY.

The only regret I have about DevMountain is not doing it sooner. I'm over thirty and just a few months ago I was thinking that I'd be stuck in sales forever. Thanks to some friends, I heard about DevMountain and the rest is history.

I had no prior coding experience before being exposed to their pre-course work but I was able to push through. It is hard. The first two weeks are especially tough. You've heard of drinking from a firehose? This was like drinking from a tsunami. I was so overwhelmed I thought I would have to drop out. But after talking to other students, I found out that they were in the exact same boat and I wasn't alone. At that point I chose not to give in to the overwhelming amount stuff to understand. Instead I chose to push forward, understanding and doing what I could while telling myself that all the stuff I didn't understand would make sense later. It wasn't until the last couple weeks of the course, but eventually everything did click together. I go back and look at the projects we did at the beginning of the class and everything falls into place. 

DevMountain really focuses on learning through building. You spend about 3 hours of your day in lecture and then about 5 hours building something using the principles you covered in lecture. Expect to put in an extra 4 hours on top of the 9 to 5 to finish the projects as well as do your readings for the next day's lecture. The instructors, for the most part, are awesome. My main instructor had more than 10 years of experience in development and he really had a gift for presenting the infomation in a digestable way. They also bring in DevMountain grads from companies around the valley who come in and lecture on technologies that they use in the industry. I learned more about WebDevelopment in these 3 months than I learned about advertising with my 4-year college degree. 

The social aspect is great as well. Going through a bootcamp forges bonds between students in a way that few other places can. I have met people that I will stay in touch with for a long time to come.

As far as employment goes, I graduated less than a month ago and I've already taken an offer from a local tech company here in Utah County. The curriculum at DevMountain really helped me learn the technologies this company works in so it was a perfect fit. 

I don't want to sound like I drank the kool-aid, but I credit DevMountain with changing my life. In three months I learned enough to start in an industry where I can eventually make 6 figures vs the mid-5 figures I would struggle to make using my degree. I can't recommend DevMountain enough.

This course is really challenging, but extremely fun! There wasn't a single day I didn't want to come to school because everyday was something new and continued to push my learning. Also, the comradery formed with other students and the instructors made it really fun and motivating to come to class everyday! I really can't believe how much I learned in such a short amount of time. This course is a no-brainer for anyone interested in web development. I would do it all over again if I had the time and money.

I attended DevMountain from July 2016 - November 2016, and must say, it was the best educational experience I've ever had.

This program is more about learning how to learn, than it is about learning how to code. The most successful people, as far as I've seen, are the ones who were disciplined, and put in as much time as possible to learning everything they could possibly take in each day. I basically had to tell my friends that I didn't exist for three months, ignoring my phone for sometimes days at a time, and spending on average 10-12 hours a day at school. 

If its sounds intense, and grueeling, and crazy unimaginably hard, it is. It is mind-blowingly difficult. The goal of DevMountain is to give you the skills to get a job when you graduate. And if you work as hard as you can, you will not be disappointed. Plan on a MINIMUM of 60 hours per week. If you can't do that, then a bootcamp probably isn't for you.

If you are going the bootcamp route, stop searching now and go with DevMountain. You can't beat the value you get for the money you pay. (Also, quit your job and do the immersive program, or save up until you can do that, it'll absolutely be worth it)

I think Devmoutain could be great for people who want to go into a programming-related field, but I want to go into Cybersecurity and their model does not fit that very well. Entry-level Cybersecurity jobs are looking for a lot of network/IT knowledge/experience. Foundations (the first 8-weeks) is focused on programming so it doesn't help much at all with entry-level jobs (Devmountain argues that knowledge will help with career advancement but I can't advance a career I don't have so I feel a bootcamp should be focused on helping get an entry-level job). Then when you get to specs (specializations) you're pretty much learning from online videos on Udemy. The video series I found most applicable to the knowledge needed for an entry-level job in my desired field is normally $300 which is far less than Devmountain fees. If you're wanting to go into Cybersecurity specifically, I don't think you should consider Devmountain.

My experience with the first half of the course was great.  The instructors were knowledgeable and they fostered a collaborative environment despite the fact that some students were remote and others attended the class in person.  However, if you decide to pursue a DevMountain Bootcamp education, please speak with multiple former students about their experience.  Many graduates have DevMountain on their LinkedIn profile and would be happy to chat with any prospective students (at least, i imagine they would).

Now, once you enroll in this program your mileage will vary depending on a number of factors including...

• Your previous software development background
• The quality of your instructors - his/her teaching style and experience
• Your chosen specialty - (specs as they are called)
• The quality of your SME, his/her teaching style and experience
• The experience of your classmates (both tech experience and non-tech experience)

In my opinion, this explains how the experience of students can come across as wildly different depending on which review you read about the DevMountain experience (i.e. "it was awesome" vs. "it sucked"). 

Is the class worth almost $10,000.00?  Absolutely not!!  But DevMountain is a business, first and foremost.  DevMountain will charge what they believe the market will bear.  That is an irrefutable fact. 

Can you learn this material on your own? Absolutely.  However, what DevMountain offers (in the first eight weeks) is an opportunity to learn in a collaborative environment along side other students with similar goals.  At least, that was my experience.  

The last eight weeks is a PluralSight license that will/will not be enhanced by the following factors.

• You have a great tech lead (e.g. experienced, smart, personable)  
• You have a great SME.  I imagine they exist at DevMountain, but this was not my experience.  As you can imagine these folks are VERY difficult to recruit.

OR

• Your tech lead is inexperienced.  He/she is a recent Dev-mountain graduate and inexperienced.  Perhaps he/she attended some training on the "DevMountain instruction philosophy.
• Your SME is marginal

Just note, that a significant portion of the DevMountain experience will be outside of your control.  What you will bring to the equation is a passion for learning about the tech AND your individual life experiences (do not discount them for they are important).  What DevMoutain will bring to the experience will vary.

And, to be perfectly honest, the tech field is very competitive.  It will be difficult to succeed unless you commit to a consistent amount of studying each day - whether you attend a boot camp or not.  Tech changes too fast to solely rely on what you learned a year ago and many tech companies have very unrealistic expectations of job-seekers.  So be ready!!

Fair warning - I'm going to address the DevMoutain "marketing" spin (response) to this review in advance, based on other feedback I have read in prior reviews.

1. Videos are not "over a decade old"- most have been created in the last 1-2 years."   Please do not respond to any further feedback about the out-of-date PluralSight videos until you take some time and do the research. The assertion you make is ridiculous.  Two-year-old videos ARE decades old in the tech world and one-year-old videos are questionable.  Please learn more about our industry and the speed at which it moves if you want to be a player in the Tech Boot-camp business.
2. "Our Specializations tracks are more than a subscription to Pluralsight. While there are videos that are accessible within Pluralsight as part of each specialization, there are also lab exercises, presented tutorial-style (created for Specializations by Devmountain curriculum authors)".  Again, another statement which misses the mark.  The quality of these lab exercises is directly proportional to the experience of the person creating the exercises.  In my experience (in specs), the same tech lead that "taught the material" was the one who created to content.  Good tech lead -> Good content.  Mediocre tech lead -> mediocre content.  
3. Please re-read (and I'm making an assumption that you critically read them at all) Jake Peralta's, Katie DeMet's Latina in Tech's and all the anonymous reviews about their collective negative DevMountain experience.  These aren't one-off examples of how the program could improve.

In summary, there are some positive aspects of DevMountain but the glaring weakness specs.  The value proposition simply isn't there.  Don't get defensive about it. Critically read the review feedback, avoid the bulls@@# spin and fix it.