General Assembly

I went to General Assembly when I realized that I was ready for a big career shift and I was going to need some help. I was beginning the process of switching careers from an actor on Broadway to a role in the tech industry as a web developer. I am incredibly grateful to the entire team at GA for their help and support on my journey. First and foremost, GA's teaching staff are not just great educators, but also professionals currently working in the industry. Their knowledge stems from a deeper understanding of how you will actually use these technologies in an day to day working environment. As a result, I never felt like I was being taught something that wouldn't be relevant. They were all passionate about the material and had clearly taken time to prepare before the class. I am forever grateful for the teachers I had during my time at GA. 

The second thing about my experience at GA that I cannot praise enough is their outcomes team. One of the biggest problems I had with my undergraduate experience was that I felt like I was educated on what to do once I had the job I was seeking but there was no help or real hands-on training or support for how to get the job. GENERAL ASSEMBLY DOES THIS SO WELL! Their team worked with us very early on in the course and for months after I had graduated. Having people actively sharing your resume, supporting you, submitting your work, and working on your behalf who know you personally is so valuable. And they aren't just helping you find the job but educating you on how to improve your resume, interview techniques, cover letters and more. This is what puts General Assembly ahead of so many other schools that offer web development courses. 

I've worked in the digital industry for 15 years but was feeling a bit flat. I finally had the headspace (after having 2 kids) to start thinking about my career again and wanted to fill in the gaps and get up to speed.

That was my intention... but what happened exceeded expectations.

I had used the 'tools of the trade' before, and had even freelanced as a UX designer. But this course gave me a better understanding of the WHY, and HOW to turn all the bits of information into actionable insights and using that to inform the design process.

It was challenging and empowering to break old habits and to focus so much energy on making sure you are solving the 'right' problem before allowing yourself to move into solution mode. Seeing classmates go through their own 'aha' moments was really interesting, as was the breadth of final presentations and hearing all the challenges and pivot moments. We had an extremely supportive group of teachers, teaching aids and classmates.

Two months on, and I am loving my job. Applying the 'process' of UX to my current work has been immensely satisfying and achieving much better results. Instead of using the 'tools' in an ad hoc manner, I have the confidence to communicate the entire process as part of risk management and get more engagement from stakeholders. Instead of being reactive when somebody tells me they need a solution that does XYZ, I can use the UX language to find out more about the 'suspected problem' so we can move through the various stages to make sure we are solving the right problem before we even start thinking about the solution.

I could go on and on. Suffice to say I loved the course and completely recommend it.

A well run course, pitched primarily at the entry level for Digital Product Managers.  The presenter did a great job of presenting the key principles in a fresh and lively manner and illustrated many key points with some real world examples.  The class members were energetic, fun and made solid contributions to learning for everyone.  Final, group project added an extra dimension to learning and it was practical and fun.  A great way for me to get a refresh on some key Product Management principles and upskill on more digitally focussed areas. 

I took WDI from March to June of 2015. I previously had a job in community relations, but felt uninspired by my day-to-day (I just hated it). I tried out some free resources on Codecademy and applied to several bootcamps. After checking a few out, I liked the campus and curriculum at General Assembly the best.

About two years later - no regrets. I love programming, and GA gave me what I needed to do this as a career! My teachers were fantastic, passionate, and gifted with coding and educational chops. It was VERY stressful at times, but I loved working together with my classmates to get to "the next level," so to speak.

My only note is that I had a job lined up before graduation, so I don't have experience with the career coaching so much.

I took the Data Analytics part-time course in London. The program consists of learning the process of data analysis and practical skills to perform data analysis.

 

Nowadays for online business, marketing & data analysis tend to become a one-person job as campaigns can be optimised in real time based on their performances. This program gives you a set of skills that aren't taught at the university if you studied broad subjects like marketing or business.

The theoretical part was very useful for me to understand what is the best approach before to do a specific analysis. How to prepare the business questions and choose a data set.

Then we did many exercises using Excel, SQL, Tableau to learn how to leverage those tools to make the analysis and provide great data insights.

What makes me satisfied is that I could use at work the next day what I had learned at night. 

I also met interesting, passionate and motivated people. In my group there was people from many industries (Finance, online business, offline business ...).

 

The Data Science course at GA was excellent!

As anyone who has any prior knowlege of the field would expect, the curriculium is quite broad, and as a result the part-time course does not go in depth in any areas, but rather takes you through the basics in as many areas as it can in 10 weeks. I imagine the full-time course would provide a more conclusive education, but i can't really comment on that.

Even though I would not recommend the part-time course to people looking for a conclusive education, it was invaluable to me and will be to people looking to explore the options available in the Data Science profession. The part-time course does not pretend to give you all the tools you need to succeed in the industry. Instead, GA has clearly realised that would be cramming too much into too little time, and have structured the course to give you a good introduction to each area of Data Science and provide you with enough information to get you started on your own educational journey.

This course will provide you with the basic knowlege of tools, concepts and processes needed to get started with your own exploration and an excellent environment to ask questions and network with like-minded professionals.

I would recommend this course to anyone who is interested in getting started in Data Science, but doesn't know where to start and what's involved.

Choosing GANowadays there are many ways to learn coding and break into tech. There are numerous bootcamps out there, you can always go to college, and there are a plethora of online resources to learn from. However, for me personally, college is very expensive and learning on your own is hard because you need to stay accountable and motivated. So I decided to go the bootcamp route.  I wanted a bootcamp with an online, class-like environment that would keep me accountable, a flexible class schedule while I was still working a full time job, a curriculum that covers a wide range of topics and gave me the tools that would help me in my first software engineering job. After doing research, I decided to join a Part-Time Flex Software Engineering bootcamp with General Assembly. Additionally, General Assembly has a wide alumni network with many graduates, many of whom work at some of the top tech companies in the world. Instructors One of the factors that will make or break your experience is how good your instructors are. I was very lucky to have had some of the best instructors I've ever had - Paul Chapman, Gore Auluck, Deja Yang, and Bee Johnson. Going through classes that are several hours long can be very demanding especially if you are working a full time job as well. However every class, my instructors brought their amazing enthusiasm and liveliness which really motivated me and everyone in the class. Additionally, their intelligence and knowledge of the software engineering industry is literally out of this world. They were able to really break down complex concepts in a clear and understandable way. Additionally, one of the things I always appreciated about my instructors was that they coded from scratch in the lectures and explained alongside it rather than just copying code from somewhere. With the wealth of experience they have from working as software engineers, they always provided amazing feedback, advice, motivation, and explained how the concepts we use in the classroom can be applied on the job. Lastly, their kindness and willingness to always help us is something that I will always value. Flexibility and Time Commitment For the Part-time (Flex) software engineering program you will need to commit around 15 - 20 hours of classes each week and this is not including the career services sessions you will also have. Additionally, you need to spend time outside of class to review concepts, homework assignments, etc.  I highly recommend the flex program for anyone who wants to still work while attending the bootcamp, however, be aware that you really need to put in the effort and the time commitment if you want to be successful. Curriculum Overall I felt that GA gave me the foundational tools I needed to be successful, whether that was being able to use documentation, how to create a full stack application from scratch, or how to work on a team project using GitHub. While the curriculum is up to the instructor, there are of course topics that all cohorts will learn. You will learn JavaScript, HTML, CSS and front end development. You will learn React. You will learn about backend development and how databases work and much more. Things that could be ImprovedOne area in my cohort that I think we could have spent more time on was data structures and algorithms and preparing for technical interviewing, since these are very important topics as you begin interviewing with companies. We touched upon these topics, however not as in-depth as I hoped for. Projects GA definitely gave me the tools I needed to build several projects, which will be a part of your own portfolio for potential employers to see. The projects also give you a chance to go beyond what you learned in class. For me, I was very interested in cloud computing, cloud storage, and Microsoft Azure that I decided to teach myself these topics and implement them with my 2 of my later projects. One of the things that will help set yourself apart in the job search will be your projects and the effort you put in them.  After the end of each unit you will have a project in which you will have anywhere from one to several weeks to work on them. Project weeks can definitely be stressful but you always have the support of your instructors and peers when something goes wrong. Career Coaching I have an amazing Career Coach, Jason Schoch, who has many years of experience in helping students land jobs and negotiate salaries, as well as tons of insights about recruiting and the hiring process as he was a former recruiter. Whenever I had a question or needed some advice when applying for a job, I was always able to schedule a one-on-one with him and he was always able to give great and informative responses.  Additionally, I was able to join a GA Linkedin activity group run by another career coach Mick Mize who puts on amazing presentations on how to network with potential employers and how to increase your chances in landing a job. The great thing about career coaching at GA is that it continues after you graduate and even after you land your first job in tech, as the career coaches are always there to support you.  Job Searching Like anything, there's no guarantee that the job search will be easy after graduation. I knew people in my cohort that were able to transfer into a more technical role right after graduation while others took a couple months to land a new software engineering role including me, while most others are still searching. However, GA definitely gave me the tools I needed to launch a successful job search. As mentioned before, you are able to take advantage of the huge alumni network GA has to offer. After you graduate, you are able to join a slack channel where someone posts job openings with companies who have a partnership with GA. If you are willing to stay committed, use all the resources GA has to offer, and do what it takes, you will succeed.  Overall ConclusionOverall I enjoyed my time at GA and I absolutely have no regrets at all, and I would give GA a 9.5/10. With the help of GA, I was so grateful to land my first software engineering role 2 months after graduating.  The switch into tech is definitely not easy and it's going to take a lot of time, commitment, effort, and motivation, but GA provides great support in your journey so it's definitely a top choice for a bootcamp without a doubt.