DevPoint Labs

I was once like you.

Trying to deicde how best to make the career change.

Skeptical and anxious looking at the various reviews and articles...

and of course, the toxic marketing from bootcamps promising: 'Job Guaranteed' and 'Our Grads Make 100k and work for Google!'

So let me preface this by saying I do not work for DevPoint Labs, and I was not paid, cajoled, threatened or bribed to make this review for DevPoint Labs.

First the bad news, no one is going to be able to determine whether you get a job coming out of your bootcamp experience, or what that job might be, except for you. Period. Any bootcamp you attend will require the overcoming of obstacles such as stress, burnout and uncertainty, unfamiliar teaching styles and apathetic students. All of these thing are possible and you're likely to experience almost all of them.

If any of those obstacles dissuade you from the idea of attending a bootcamp then I would encourage you to take a few days and really consider whether this is something you want to do. Self teaching? Online courses? All of these are valid options for pursuing a career change into software development. Are you really in need of the discipline and structure that a 3-4 month bootcamp imposes upon your life?

I was in need of that, and I am grateful I ended up at DevPoint Labs. I initially enrolled in another 'Dev' bootcamp in Utah that will remain nameless and I am so glad I switched to DPL. My reasons for choosing DevPoint Labs were:

A: Devpoint Labs accepts tuition funds from a variety of sources. If you are ex-military or if, like me, you have leftover funds in a 529 account then DevPoint can work with you to apply those funds towards tuition. A tuition, I might add, that is $1,000 to $5,000 less then comparable programs in the area. The reason they are able to offer this flexibility leads me to my next reason for attending.

B. DevPoint Labs full-time course is partnered with the University of Utah. This means that the course, curriculum, and academic policies are fully vetted by an accreddited public university. This may not mean a lot to you. But in a world where the same for-profit colleges that are being accused of false advertising and fueling a student loan debt crisis, are also buying up bootcamps left and right (*cough Mev *cough Dountain), I appreciate this oversight. In addition, being able to graduate with a certificate from a nationally recognizable institution has its own advantages.

C. While the program does have backing from 'the U', the actual academic experience at DevPoint is nothing like attending college and, for me, that was a very good thing. Mornings consisted of a brief lecture and code-along that was routinely interrupted by questions and discussion related to the material. Afternoons were reserved for group and/or solo work with multiple TA's and the instructor available to answer questions. Halfway through the course, the class pivots to working on actual commercial software products for customers. Being able to come out of the program already having this experience was absolutely essential to the success of my job search.

There's lots of other reasons that I am glad I chose DevPoint Labs. The hackathons, the bowling and movie nights. But above all, I'm glad because it accelerated my transition into a new career field faster than I ever really thought was possible.

If you are on the fence, or you have any other questions about my bootcamp experience, I encourage you to reach out to me on Linkedin. Thanks for reading.

The good: You'll want to read this.

I took DevPoint Lab's Full Stack Ruby on Rails course and was blown away by the rigour and thought put into their curriculum. I've taken lots of online programming courses. DevPoint's curriculum is superior in every way. 

Sidenote: I make a living teaching online. I always thought a bootcamp wasn't neccessary. Hellboy was I wrong. I learned more in one week at DevPoint than I have in two years of learning on my own. The instructors (Dave Jungst and Jake Sorce) are veteran and are actively creating world class products being paid for and used by real people. (Not those fake people you see on Glee. Although I love me some Glee.)

Now get this: Not only do they have real developers teaching this stuff, they have at least half a dozen TA's that are there Every. Single. Day. that helped me whenever the intstructors were with others. I'm not sure when or if they ever go home. But they're a fantastic resource that as far as I know no other school or bootcamp provides.

Hackathons. Oh, you thought 9:30 - 5:30 Monday - Friday for 12 weeks was plenty? No, they also have weekend hackathons where they provide breakfast and lunch that all the DevPoint Labs Alumni come to. Now that I'm done with the course I get to keep using those hackathons as a learning and networking resource. (Keep it on the DL in case they decide to start asking us to chip in on the meals.)

Now I know what you're wondering my dear reader. Did I get a job as a programmer after I finished the course? No. No I did not. I got a job as a programmer two weeks before I finished the course. I rocked my...  no, I Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnsoned every new hire test and whiteboard interview. I channeled my inner SQL and injected myself right into the workforce.

The bad:

The cereal dispenser. How many must we break before an industrial one is bought? I believe this is a game at this point. Someday someone will find a closet full of broken cereal dispensers and make a Franken-Dispenser out of them. You've brought this upon yourselves.

The coffee maker: It's like the coffeeshop owners accross the street sneak in at night and jack it up so it won't filter. "Yeah, you're gonna have to buy coffee from us now."  If it's not them it's the Mormon students. Trying to lead us down the path of rightousness.

Conclusion:
I recommend DevPoint Labs because I know you will too once you're done with their program. Just look at the other reviews. The data is clear. 

I did some extensive competetive analysis prior to applying at DevPointLabs. Their program appeared to offer the very best value in the market. We all hear how looking back in the rear view mirror is always 20/20. Well now I can say with absolute conviction, my analysis proved out in spades. My experience at DevPointLabs was beyond even my somewhat quixotic expectations. I experienced full engagement and support from the entire administration right on through the teaching staff. I sincerely appreciated the "up-front" authenticity and candor, as the administrators enumerated the level of rigor associated with this course. The full-stack rails course is suited for people commited to putting forth a level of focused effort beyond most other endeavors.

First let me say that I don’t really have a tech background. My bachelors was in Nutrition/Dietetics, then I worked in the insurance field for 4 years. During that time I started my own outdoor blog, www.GirlonaHike.com, and realized that becoming a Developer was what I really wanted to do. So I really only had about 1-2 year’s experience but only with HTML/CSS.

Instead of saying the same thing as everyone else, “the teachers were great, the community is awesome, you learn a lot” blah blah (and yes those things are true!), I figured I would break it down and give detail on everything from my perspective and what I thought of each area.

Lecture & Assignments

A typical day looks like this:

9:30-12:30pm – Lecture with a 10 min break each hour

12:30-1:30pm - Lunch 

1:30-5:30 – work on assignment for the day which is what you learned in lecture

I really liked this setup – I learn best in the morning hours, so for me, having lecture first thing was best. In the afternoon everyone typically works in the chapel so you also get to switch up work areas so you’re not always stuck in a class room.

Homework

There’s rarely “assigned” homework. Your homework is finishing the project you started in the afternoon, whether you worked solo or on a team. If you did finish the assignment on campus, then it’s up to you on how much more you want to work on. I will say this: there’s always something to work on. Some people would work on projects until 1am, some people never worked after class was done. This is the part that is up to you – obviously the more you practice the more you’ll learn and get ahead, but they also know people have families and other hobbies so that’s why you never haveto work on anything, Make it your own. You chose the amount you can handle and level of effort you want to put in to the class. 

Food

There’s always unlimited cereal, milk, coffee, hot chocolate, tea, fruit, and other random snacks for free. For Hackathon’s they provide pizza for lunch and bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. There’s a large refrigerator, and several microwaves. I always brought my lunch, but most people either go home if they are close by or go out to eat. They will also randomly have other snacks set out, like donuts or pie. There are also several coffee shops and restaurants nearby. This is not the place to start a diet LOL.

Hackathon’s

There are 2 hackathons, both on Saturdays, and are all day 9-6pm. Each one just tests everything you’ve learned up until that day before the hackathon. You are put into groups of 4-5 people, are given instructions, then you just work on that app all day. You have to take a mandatory lunch break for at least 30 minutes (I guess Utah law requires a break when you work an 8 hour day), and DPL provides breakfast and lunch. They really aren’t bad or scary, they can actually be fun, especially if you are with a good group. At the end of the day, you will present your app to the entire class. The TA’s then “grade” your project and they pick one team as the winner from both the full and part time cohort. One of the prizes was a Raspberry Pi. The week that you have a Hackathon end up being a 6-day week so you only get Sunday off. These weeks can make you feel exhausted.

Social Events

There are 2 social events, ours both ended up being bowling. They are both on a Saturday, typically mid-day. They aren’t required, but good to attend so you get to know your classmates and their families outside of school. They are free, and pizza and sodas are provided.

Career Services 

This is a huge area where DPL lacks – there are none. We had a 20 min lecture/presentation on resumes but was very general. It wasn’t until the very last week of class that they said we should turn in our resume for review. 

Here’s what I wished they would do:

- I wish they had a list of all the bootcamp-friendly companies that typically or are willing to hire new grads. 

- I also wished they did mock interviews so that we would feel more confident going into technical interviews. 

- I wish they did some kind of career day event, like have the alumni come back and help with resumes, give talks, help with mock interviews, etc.

They always talk about networking and going to meetups, and that’s great if you’ve lived in Utah forever and know a lot of people but for those of us out of state its really hard to connect with the tech community here. Most new grads in my cohort got a job through “a friend of a friend of a friend” and were handed jobs while the rest of us had to put in tons of effort to even get an interview. It really does make a difference of “who you know.” We did get to visit on local company and that was nice to able to ask real alums and employers what they are looking for.

Parking

Because DPL is downtown, parking is one of the most challenging things You can take the UTA bus/trax; as student through the U you can get half price tickets (just be sure to ask someone at DPL for the special paperwork to get that rate). The monthly rate for taking the bus was only $40. There are a ton of 2-hour parking spots, but there’s no way you can go out to move your car all the time. So most people suck it up and pay for daily parking ($15/day) or park a few blocks away then walk the rest of the way. Some people biked to class as well.

TIPS!

• There’s free all-day parking on 6th south, you just have to walk 2 blocks to DPL
• Push up any work you do to GitHub every day – employers like to see that you are active on there
• Start applying to jobs around week 2 or 3. You likely won’t get a job that quick but having the interview experience is key, as well as getting your name out there
• Let everyone know you are looking for a job 
• Always be working on side projects to fill your portfolio – Udemy.com is a great site
• Make sure you are on and know how to utilize LinkedIn
• The TAs can be hard to nail down, so if you have questions or don’t understand something keep bugging them until you get an answer. I didn’t ask enough questions and ended up not understanding some things, even with the help of YouTube and whatnot.

As far as getting a job, I’m still looking. I had a total of 10 interviews but it’s really tough if you don’t already know someone in the field. I’ll keep this updated on how long it takes for me to find work. Overall I did really enjoy the course and learned a LOT! I do feel like this will jump start my career, but only time will tell for how long it takes. Highly recommend it!

I really loved my time at dev point labs. I had tried to learn JS on my own and kept hitting roadblocks. My understanding is now far beyond where I would've have gotten to own my own. The course is hard and you will get out of it what you put into it. 

I was able to learn from (instructors) and with (students) some crazy smart taleneted people and build great projects. Dave was a great instructor, while the course and cirriculm moves fast he was always wililng to give insight on where to go to learn more and go over topics learned in class. In reality you find out that it's hard and frustrating to learn to code in such a short time you really have to practice, practice and practice more to pick it up. 

I gave five stars for experience, instructors and cirriculm and an NA for job assistance. I came into the course happily employed so I didn't participate in any of the job assistance activites. So I can't speak on the job assistance aspect.

I will say that going through the course has made me way better at my job as a SEO Product Owner. I've nerver found working with developers more rewarding. In that sense it has defintey helped my career. I also am working on my own application that I intend to complete all the front end and back end dev for, which is something I would have never been able to do before the course. I still gave NA for job assistance becuase I think my job feedback is probably not relevant to what most prospective students are looking for.

If you are thinking about dev point I highly reccomened and advise to make a time committment, to attend all the classes and do homework, do good prep work before cohort and don't get discouraged when it gets difficult. You will be successful if you work at it and you will be very glad you did!

Two months after I served a two year mission I started the Full Stack Dev course and it literally changed my life! I had always known I wanted to program but I didnt know what I wanted to do or where to start. Before, I had learned a little bit of coding from youtube and highschool classes but never retained anything I learned. When I took this course it was as they say, drinking from a fire hose. It was fast paced, it was hard and it was fun!

The classes are organized in a way that set you up for success, they are structured in a way not only to help you learn but also to retain what you learn and help you get ready to get out into an industry that is always changing! Everything they do is up to date and you dont have to worry about not knowing whats new getting out into real world, which is something you cant say with college!

Not only do they help you get ready to get out into the real world but they help get out into the real world. I got my current job less than a month later and have been here over a year and literally love it, and I wouldnt be here if I wouldnt have gone to DevPoint! Taking the course was literally the best thing for my life! Im not one that does well or learns in a college/school setting and this is what I needed to start my career! Its worth every minute and penny spent, Id recommend going here in a heart beat 10/5 start rating from me!

I never ended up attending Devpoint, but I thought I'd make others aware of what I experienced because I had only read positive reviews on Devpoint. My interview was rescheduled 3 separate times, all last minute. There was no technical interview when I finally did speak with one of the co-owners and I was accepted 2 weeks later, after being told I would hear back in a week. I do not live in Utah, but was ready to relocate to attend the cohort I was accepted into. All I needed was the smallest effort from the owners to send me a single document to obtain a loan from their partners, which they were not even aware of the conditions. One of the co-owners repetedly told me that I couldn't get a loan because I lived out of Utah, but my loan processor told me I certainly could. After finally being told I would be e-mailed the document, I never heard from anyone at Devpoint again. I gave up at that point, too stressful dealing with lack of communication and being left in the dark. Perhaps the program is great, I cannot say anything about that or the instructors, but I do feel this is worth noting for future applicants. I hate to be a downer and I am a very understanding person in most situations, but I was honestly offended by the lack of effort I experienced while working with Devpoint Labs.

After my Spring 2016 semester ended I was wondering what I can do over the summer. I decided to take the Ruby on Rails course and it was honestly one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Coming in to the course I thought it was going to simple web developement that can compliment my IS degree at the U. The instuctors teaching styles are very distinct from one another and its great to be able to learn from these different teaching styles. This course gave me a passion in web development, I was hungry to learn more after the course, so after the course I became a TA(Teaching Assistant) at DevPoint Labs and started taking the JavaScript course during the night time. The JavaScript course made me want to work towards front-end development. Currently I am a full-time student at the U, also I'm the TA for the Ruby on Rails and JavaScript course. I will graduate in the Spring of 2017 and hopefully I will be able to find a full time developing job after that.