Hack Reactor Reviews
Page 2
-
Diego Verified via LinkedIn
Great mid-career transition experience
Read more Read less of Diego's review
I finished HR in San Francisco in April 2019. I had heard about it through reading reviews and hearing about other graduates' experiences online, and understood it to be one of the best bootcamps on the market. I chose HR based after speaking with a former colleague who had gone through HR a year before. What they said about the program and how it enabled them to make a transition from finance to software was the most important factor in my choice.
After over ten years in another industry, I was eager to make a career change. I had a lot of concerns about making a mid-career shift--the sacrifice in earnings, time, and stability required to do it successfully. But I'm so glad I did! There's no other way I would've learned so much in such a short time.
The whole process took nearly six months for me. I spent almost 3 months preparing for the bootcamp. About 1.5 doing the Structured Study Program, which is basically a pre-bootcamp bootcamp, and then another 1.5 months doing the prerequisite course for the bootcamp itself.
I'm very glad I did the SSP. Not only did it prepare me for the bootcamp, but it was also nice to see what I was capable of before joining the bootcamp full-time. It helped validate my decision to keep moving forward with it.
The bootcamp itself is intense. 6 days a week. 11 hours a day. But I'm not sure there's a better way to do it. I met some amazing people, and learned way more than I expected. I do think that the program would be improved by making its small group meetings and one-on-ones more productive by making the topics of those meetings be focused on technical as well as non-technical aspects of the program.
Getting a job afterwards is the hardest part. While HR provides some resources--mock interviews and resume workshops were helpful to me--they are mainly there for support. I would encourage anyone considering this to evaluate the strength of their network: do you know enough people working in engineering or high enough up at tech companies to get a referral? If not, it's going to be tough competing against all the other bootcamp grads and CS majors and people with <1yr engineering experience.
Companies are understandably not so eager to hire fresh bootcamp grads. A bootcamp is great preparation, but I can say my first few months in an actual role was at least as intense as the bootcamp in terms of everything I've had to learn and work on.
My former experience and network was invaluable in terms of getting my first job out of the bootcamp. So if you're also in mid-career, know that you have a lot of valuable skills and knowledge coming into the program that make you a strong candidate when you graduate.
And now that I'm working with other bootcamp grads, I know that I did a lot more at HR than what they did. My bootcamp experience was closer to what it's like to be an engineer and work on an engineering team.
-
Jarrod M. Verified via LinkedIn
Great Culture - You Get What You Pay For
Read more Read less of Jarrod M.'s review
I’m a software engineer who graduated from Hack Reactor, and then stayed a few extra months to help teach and assist before getting hired as a full-time software developer. My salary as a Software Engineer is average for the town I work in (Austin, TX), and yet it is still twice as much as anything I ever earned while working in hospitality.
Should you consider this program? Do you really need a program at all? It is a difficult question, especially because Hack Reactor isn’t cheap. I hope my review helps you answer these questions.
First, should you consider Hack Reactor over other programs? This one is a resounding yes! Hack Reactor has a fantastic entrance exam that only lets in students who are strong in their programming basics, and are also decent people. Hack Reactor will have you studying with your classmates for 70 hours a week, for three months. They try to not let in anyone who isn’t aimiable or who doesn’t have a strong programming foundation. While the price tag is staggering, it also means that every student you meet will be 100% committed. As a result, the large majority of Hack Reactor students I met were fantastic people, and I have personally seen them get great jobs at companies such as IBM, Apple, Google and more. Sure, there are other great Boot Camps, but I have no doubt that Hack Reactor is one of the best.
Helping teach after my graduation further convinced me of this - I worked with the staff for three extra months, and I got to sit in on their many weekly meetings. They discussed each student’s progress, strategies on how to get each person to excel, and ways they could improve as a team. Their success rides on the success rate of their students, and so they truly care about their student’s success.
Second, should you consider a boot camp at all? It is a much harder question. Hack Reactor’s mission is to provide three things: Curriculum, Capital, and Community. Curriculum is what most people already have access to, with 80% of the things taught at Hack Reactor being available online. They do have some fantastic group-based milestone projects, which would be impossible to do by yourself. Lastly, the group workflow foundation they give you (working with Git, ticketing systems) shouldn’t be underestimated. Still, I get it. FreeCodeCamp is awesome.
Capital and Community - these are the two things I’d reckon most people are lacking. If you have a strong connections to the tech industry, or if you have the capacity to go back to a good university, this program may not be for you. As for me, I loved programming, but I was overworked and underpaid at the hotel I worked at. I didn’t know any other programmers, and I was too busy being an adult to consistently self study. On top of all that, I had no freaking clue how to sell myself for a tech job! Hack Reactor’s grueling course allowed me to devote 100% of my time to becoming a better programmer, an opportunity I am truly grateful for. I made a ton of awesome connections along the way... I even competed in a Hackathon with three new friends after the program, and our team won first place!
Should you consider a boot camp? It really is a tough question, but I’m glad I did it. You may hear online that you can do it by yourself, and some people definitely can. However, it is within six months of my graduation, and at least 90% of my class are now employed as software engineers. We all met for pizza this last week. I’m not fluffing these numbers up - check out Hack Reactor’s website for real success rates. I bet their success rates are some of the strongest, and I am 100% certain their success rates trounce the self-taught crowd’s success rate.
If you are still on the fence, try taking the entrance exam. You won’t regret it
-
Adam Gipril Verified via GitHub
Well-polished preparation for a new career
Read more Read less of Adam Gipril's review
When I enrolled in Hack Reactor, I had been working as a professional bicycle mechanic full-time for about seven years following a loss of interest in pursuing a career in my electrical engineering degree. Despite being reasonably well-paid for the bike industry, living in a relatively expensive area and making payments toward student loans meant I was still living paycheck-to-paycheck. Hack Reactor's accelerated program was just what I needed to take a minimal loan while pursuing a change in passion from bikes to software. The organization and pace of the program allowed me to learn the best and most-relevant skills at a much more rapid rate than I ever could have alone.
Pros:
- Well-polished program
- Rapidly learn software engineering beyond just the basics — learn some best practices while mimicking a real work environment
- Excellent technical and emotional support when it's needed
- Learn alongside fellow excellent people
- Great balance of autonomy (super-valuable) and direction
Cons:
- I loved the pace personally, but it can be a struggle at times
-
Louis Verified via LinkedIn
Alumni benefits
The Hack Reactor community and alumni team provided many resources that made my job search much easier. Connecting with others who went through the program and are at different stages of their careers is a great deal of fun.
-
David Verified via GitHub
better than other boot camps as of Q4 2018 - some weaknesses
Read more Read less of David's review
TL, DR: Pretty decent curriculum. Could be better, but I would recommend it as it still has solid curriculum that makes you a good candidate during tech interviews. A lot of other boot camps don't put emphasis on group projects - which is critical in technical behavioral interviews at bigger companies.
I graduated in October 2018 right before Hack Reactor was bought out by Galvanize. Nowadays there are a lot of resources online to teach yourself, and many would be debating if $18k is worth it.
If you are serious about the career change - it is.
Pros:
- Project-Based Curriculum: Hack Reactor dedicates almost half of the time to group projects. I believe this experience is critical for technical behavioral interviews, which is much harder to get if you take the self-teach route. Granted, you can self-teach, work as a free-lancer for couple months, then leverage that experience.
- Network: you will make some good friends, and they will help you keep sane during the job search.
- Resume and cover-letter critique: my career coach was really available to perefect my resume and cover letters. A lot of my softwar engineering friends said my resume looked solid.Cons:
- Stupid rules: I hated their check-in rules. They can kick you out after 9 tardies or 3 no-shows. I was always on time, but forgot to check-in couple of times. Almost got kicked out cuz of this.
- Over-emphasis on applying over studying: after the Hack Reactor management change, the career service is not the same. They over-emphasized applying for jobs over studying after graduation. Hack Reactor tells you are interview ready on week 1 and tells you to "GO GET 'EM!" I was definitely not ready. See why below.
- Need more leetcode: I think you need to do at least 100 leetcode problems (50 easy/ 50 medium) for you get comfortable with technical challenges. You do about 30-ish leetcode-ish problems over 3 months at HR. 30 is not enough and you will for a lot of them by the time you graduate. I recommend grinding leetcode for a month after graduation before tech screens. I personally used interviewcake.com and algoexpert.io in conjunction with leetcode. -
TL Verified via LinkedIn
Investment that continues to pay back
Read more Read less of TL's review
Hack Reactor was the best investment I ever made in myself. Excellent all around. Great curriculum focused on the skills you need most to become a Frontend developer, a problem solver, and a JavaScript connoisseur. Prodigious instructors who believed in their students, had high expectations of them, and were very approachable. It was easy to find the motivation to put in the work with the culture of this program.
Job assistance is outstanding. Yes, is. They don't stop. Ever. You will find out what Marlene is all about when applying for your first job. No nonsense, all business, let's get you hired soldier! Already have a job and feeling like you can conquer the world on your own? Go for it... but what if you need a shoulder to cry on... don't look for Marlene, she is all about getting you what you need to succeed as a job applicant--just kidding! She is there for you. Need to vent about that company who is wasting candidates with their silly recruiting games? Marlene is there. Need to shake off the interviewing rust before jumping back into the job market? Yes Marlene is there.
Hack Reactor will give back as much as you put into it. And on top of that, job assistance is the gift that keeps on giving.
-
Amogh Verified via LinkedIn
Alumni Services / Job Search Review
Read more Read less of Amogh's review
This review is specifically about the alumni services/job search support. I graduated in August 2018 from the part-time-program. I entered in my second job search in April 2019 feeling uncertain because my first job out of Hack Reactor was not pure software engineering.
The alumni team was really helpful in ensuring my resume and experience would be enough to interest recruiters, and they connected me with a number of companies off the bat which was hugely helpful in building my job search pipeline.
The alumni team checked in with me regularly on my progress, always offering helpful advice and guidance. Negotiation help at the end was hugely helpful in not getting myself stuck with low offers and bad deals. Overall, the biggest thing that helped me was just having someone who understood the industry and job market really well. Quite a bit was different with my preferences from the first job search to the second. I can say with confidence that the Hack Reactor alumni team can and will adequately prepare you for both and beyond. -
Christian Verified via GitHub
So worth it, in every way
Read more Read less of Christian's review
Years later now, I still look back very fondly on my time in Hack Reactor (now Galvanize). The instructors were great, my cohort was fantastic, and I learned more in a short period than I ever have before in my life (this from someone with a PhD!). They chose the curriculum based on what gave the best fundamentals and what were the most popular frameworks and libraries in jobs, combining the practicality and thoroughness you need to be a great developer. And they were always updating it (I even got to help update it as a Hacker in Residence) to keep it current.
It's scary to apply, scary to interview to get in, and scary during the bootcamp not knowing whether you can cut it. Don't sell yourself short by doing one of the easier bootcamps with no entrance exam or a slower pace. Let me tell you, it's so absolutely worth the money and the worry once you're on the other side with a great job and a start in a huge new career. And as an investment, it's immeasurable. I am now making more than would ever have been thinkable in my previous line of work, and honestly enjoying it much more.
Speaking of good investments, one thing I did not consider at all when looking at bootcamps but has honestly been the best ROI of the whole process has been the Alumni job search support. You know they'll help you with your first job search when you're done with the bootcamp, but I somehow missed that they'll support you in all your job searches for the rest of your career! Specifically I have to praise Marlene Tang, their alumni director. Literally her advice alone, pushing me to get multiple offers, always negotiate, and know what to say to negotiate in a way that's not going to alienate anyone, has literally more than paid for the entire cost of the bootcamp in salary raises.
I can't recommend the Hack Reactor program enough, and as I've been given to understand it, they've continued all the best parts of that under the new banner as Galvanize. I actually figured they would kind of let all the old alumni drop once the name/company changed, but they haven't at all! So one more nice perk: in this shifting bootcamp landscape, where companies get bought out and change hands all the time, these guys have provided a consistency that's hard to find elsewhere! I saw it first hand as it was just shifting from MakerSquare to Hack Reactor during my time at the bootcamp, and it's clearly continued since then.
-
Richard Verified via LinkedIn
Fantastic alumni support!
Read more Read less of Richard's review
I graduated from Hack Reactor in 2015 and have worked with the alumni team there -- most prominently Marlene -- for all of my job searches. They've been incredibly helpful with introducing me to partner companeis and helping coach me through the negotiation process.
Thanks to their guidance, I've been fortunate enough to negotiate up an extra ~50k during the four years that I've been working and know that I can always count on them to help out for my future job searches.
-
Merary Verified via LinkedIn
Great!
Read more Read less of Merary's review
I cannot thank Hack Reactor Remote enough. At every stage, HRR provided the support I needed while keeping things very transparent about where I could improve.
My journey with Hack Reactor was an extensive one, all the way from the prep course till now, after landing my ideal job as a software engineer. HRR is tough...but well worth it. If you're ready to go "all in" then HRR is for you. The community is close-knit and emphasizes both great soft skills and great technical skills. I admire that HRR stays up to date with the curriculum, always updating and curating fearlessly. The entire instruction team (Hailey, Annah, Robin, and Cody) does a stellar job of communicating with the students to make sure they're progressing on pace. After graduation, the job support counselors also guide you through the job search process, and they're very attentive about finding opportunities that are tailored for your interests. My counselor was Nicole and she was such a key part of the process. Overall, amazing!
-
Stephen Verified via LinkedIn
Hack Reactor and its Alumni Program are the best!
Read more Read less of Stephen's review
Hack reactor was an amazing program, and I can attribute my success in the field to it. It was fun, and intense, and I distinctly remember it being a work hard, get rewarded type of scenario. The instructors were fantastic, and the curriculum really taught you what you needed to know to succeed as an engineer in the valley. As grateful to the program as I am for what I learned there, what really amazes me is the support I continue to get from its Alumni Director, Marlene Tang.
Marlene is truly a lighthouse in the dark when it comes to actually functioning as a software engineer in the industry. Sure, Hack Reactor had gotten me in the door, but Marlene not only keeps me in the building, she pushes me to climb to the top. She gives support in working, learning, growing, promoting... you name it, she's there. Recently, I left my previous company and started looking for my next home. I brought it up, and as usual, without hesitation, she dove right in, set up meetings with companies, reviewed resumes, emails, and made sure I stayed on track. I just signed my offer, and she was a huge part of it. All I had to do was study! I honestly don't know how she does it all with an ever growing network of Alumni.
In addition to being a tremendous resource when you reach out to her, Marlene actively reaches out to the Alumni network to collect feedback and make it even better. She is ever present and if for some reason a HR graduate forgot about the immense support system available to them, it won't be long before Marlene is there to offer her precious time and energy.
All in all, Hack Reactor was an amazing experience and I'll never forget it. The real start of the show, and the one thing that continues to provide immense value on a consistent basis is it's extremely dedicated Alumni Director, Marlene, and her superhuman program. I can't emphasize enough that this is the one thing that puts Hack Reactor leaps and bounds ahead competition. Whether you're thinking about which boot camp to go to, or are currently a student, or have graduated long ago, you can rest assured that Marlene will take care of you.
-
Drew Lockliear Verified via LinkedIn
Hack Reactor vs. App Academy && San Francisco vs. Austin
Read more Read less of Drew Lockliear's review
var TLDR = ‘Hack Reactor > App Academy && Austin > San Francisco’;
My journey to becoming a Software Engineer began almost a year ago. It started with choosing which program to attend... that can be overwhelming. After a lot of research; I literally read every review I could find on App Academy and Hack Reactor. I decided to attend App Academy’s bootcamp prep course in San Francisco. The prep course wasn’t terrible, but I definitely don’t think it’s worth $3K I paid for it.
App Academy does offer a deferred payment option where you only pay for your tuition after you graduate and get a job. That seems pretty cool initially. Then I found out that if you fail two of their assessments you get kicked out of the program forever. For me that meant I would have to start all over at a different bootcamp (don’t quote me on this, but I heard anything under 90% on a test is a failing score). I just didn’t like that methodology.
After completing App Academy's bootcamp prep program I went to an info session for Hack Reactor in SF. I immediately felt like it was a better environment. I also liked the fact that the program was split into two phases with a technical assessment taken at the end of the first phase. If you don’t pass then you just repeat the first phase again. I decided to sign up for HR’s bootcamp prep course which is called SSP. It was a MUCH better experience for me overall and it’s only $250! It’s 100% remote, but that was actually one of the best things about it. You learn how to teach yourself and when you get stuck there’s always an instructor available to get on zoom with you and walk through your cod. After completing SSP I scheduled a technical interview and was accepted, but only to the extended program. I scheduled a retake for next week and was accepted into the HRATX40 cohort.
The great thing about Hack Reactor is that they are a part of https://cirr.org (App Academy is not as transparent about their data). CIRR is a non profit organization which provides a standardized system for measuring and reporting student outcomes for multiple bootcamps. I was surprised to find out that SF grads didn’t get jobs that fast. SF is the center of the world for tech, but this also makes it EXTREMELY competitive. This data played a significant role in my decision to attend the Austin campus. Fortunately for me I had a friend in Austin who decided to go through the program with me. So in February I packed up my bags and moved to Austin and start the program.
Hack Reactor is an intense program. Expect to spend at least seventy hours a week there. That being said I genuinely enjoyed being their every day. I can’t possibly descibe to you in words how incredible the staff at the Austin campus are. They go above and beyond to empower you to succeed. I can’t say enough great things about Linden, Zubair, Justin, and Nick.
Now let's talk numbers. There are twelve of us in my cohort. Three of them accepted Software Engineering Immersive Resident positions at HR before they finished the program. It’s been a little over a month since we graduated and only one person hasn’t received an offer yet. Offers for full time positions have ranged from $70k to $120k with the average being somewhere around $80k. That goes a long way living in Austin though. I’m currently writing this upon completing my first week as an Associate Software Engineer at a well funded startup in ATX. This program changed my life and it will change yours too.
-
Jonathan B Verified via GitHub
The Best Choice I Ever Made
Read more Read less of Jonathan B's review
Hack Reactor will change your life! I can't recommend this program enough, every single member of the staff is an amazing person that I'd be more than happy to maintain a connection with.
BE WARNED: This course is intense! You're going to be going about 70 hours a week for nearly 3 months straight. You'll probably constantly feel like you're behind, but making it all the way through is amazing! I'll never look back to my old life, attending Hack Reactor was the best decision I ever made.
-
Brock Verified via LinkedIn
Excellence - from prep all the way through a job offer
Read more Read less of Brock's review
TL;DR: Hack Reactor deserves its reputation as the best software engineering program on the market.
I'll talk briefly about three aspects of my experience: instructors/staff, curriculum, and career support.
From the paid prep course I took, all the way through the career support post-graduation, my instructors and coaches were absolutely top-notch. In any interaction with Robin (tech mentor), his respect for the students' investment is deeply evident: He is always extremely prepared. His skills and his ability to articulate them are razor sharp, and always current. And his teaching approach displays a keen instinct--he knows what you have within you, and he won't let you get away with anything less. He also won't let you drown. Annah (lead counselor) similarly does an excellent job balancing encouragement with accountability. She is meticulous about tracking your progress and your setbacks and being proactive to resolve them with you. Very early in the program, she makes it clear that you don't need to worry about your progress; she's taking care of that, and will keep you abreast of any pitfalls to watch for--you can save your mental energy for wrestling the immensely challenging material. Together, they make a stellar pair, and I cannot recommend them highly enough.
As for the curriculum: it is indeed immensely challenging. You will ride an emotional roller coaster, in whose plunging valleys you'll question your life choices, and on whose soaring peaks you will bask in the exhilaration of rapid, explosive personal growth. Hack Reactor is as much a bootcamp in time management, morale management, self-care, asking for help, and sheer grit as it is a bootcamp in software engineering. Over and over through those 12 weeks, you will look backward in abject shock at the heights to which you've grown in 2 weeks, then a month, then 6 weeks, then 12. What felt infuriatingly arcane and out-of-reach only days ago is suddenly crystal clear. Suddenly, you can make a full-stack app from scratch. Suddenly, new technologies aren't the least bit intimidating; you're totally assured of your own ability to learn them, quickly. And on the subject of the difficulty, I should mention: it's a level playing field. Everyone in my cohort came from diverse backgrounds, including computer science, music, mathematics, theater, law, painting, and medicine. Though our individual strengths and weaknesses matched up differently with different parts of the material, every last one of us had to struggle and wrestle and fight our way through--a shared experience which forged deep bonds amongst all of us.
Finally, career support. Put simply, it's outstanding. My career counselor was truly passionate about her job, and so, so good at it. Like a true coach, she pushed me to overcome the (sometimes excruciating) social anxiety of negotiation, she helped me reframe my perspective about self-marketing, she knew where to offer a pep talk and where to call me out on BS. The offer she helped me secure is honestly beyond my wildest dreams. I could not be more thankful for both the technical excellence Hack Reactor gave me, and the coaching she gave me to leverage that excellence in the real world.
I hope my glowing review doesn't read as improbable--Hack Reactor is not perfect. I ran into frustrations with curriculum organization, as well as some of the staff, including some frustrations which were non-trivial. However, my feedback was openly requested and graciously accepted, and I've seen the staff prove that meaningful changes are made to the program based upon student feedback. That's as much as you could ask of any program--especially one which prides itself on being ever-growing, ever-iterating, ever-improving.
If you're considering a career change into software engineering, Hack Reactor is the best investment you can make in yourself. Their outcomes stats paint a clear picture of excellence, and I'm ecstatic to be a new brushstroke of that picture. If you have questions about any part of the experience--prep, price, difficulty, job hunt experience, etc--I'd love to talk! Send me a message.
-
Nathan Vang Verified via LinkedIn
You Get What You Give
Read more Read less of Nathan Vang's review
Let me state this ahead of time, if you are not capable of giving Hack Reactor 100% then do yourself a favor and save your money. Otherwise, if you are willing to devote 13 weeks to the program without any distractions and possibly another 6 months for the job search, then feel free to read about my experience with the Remote program at Hack Reactor.
Hack Reactor does its best job to express that the program itself is not for an absolute greenhorn. They will be expecting you to be at 20% once the program begins. They will then assist you from 20% to 90%.
THEY WILL NOT HOLD YOUR HAND.
They will lead you and assist you when you need help, but they will never just hand you the answer. They will make sure you've exhausted all of your resources before pointing you in the right direction. This is for your best interest, as it teaches you how to learn at an advanced pace and to appreciate the field.YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF WHAT YOU GET OUT OF THIS PROGRAM.
From the moment you begin to the end of your job hunt, you have to be 100% dedicated. There are people who can complete the program by just doing the bare minimum, but that is not doing the program or you any justice. You have to be willing to isolate yourself from the world to focus solely on the program. Ask questions, read articles, explore related topics, break things, and find the multiple ways to fix what you broke. Jump into the many rabbit holes that they may present to you, and especially the ones that you find yourself. By the end of it you will be thanking yourself for fully committing to the program.Again, I can't express how important it is for you to give it 100%. If you can make that promise then I highly recommend Hack Reactor, specifically the Remote program. You get a similar experience as those on campus, but with an added opportunity of working with people from all over the world, and not just those from the U.S. The program itself is grueling, but I can promise you that in the end it will all be worth it as long as you give it you all. You owe it to yourself to not skip out on any of the many tools Hack Reactor offers you.
-
Nicolas Turner Verified via LinkedIn
I took the leap of faith, best decision of my life!
Read more Read less of Nicolas Turner's review
I did Hack Reactor Remote from July-October, 2018. This was by far the most intensive training program I have ever been through and this is coming from a guy who worked on 2 master's degrees simultaneously in grad school (seriously don't do 2 degrees at once). After graduating from Hack Reactor I spent 5 months job searching before landing multiple offers and ultimately accepting a role with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in their Technical Apprentice program. Without a doubt Hack Reactor accelerated my programming skills, but more importantly it required me to build things as a team or during pair programming. This may come as a surprise to some, but software engineering is all about team work. The image of a lone wolf programmer hacking away in a dimly lit cave surrounded by empty cans of monster energy is just a myth. Real-world software requires you to work well with others, communicate, resolve conflicts, and learn how to use version control effectively (hint: learn how to use git).
Life at Hack Reactor
The actual program is intense and you will absolutely need to put everything else in your life on hold. The schedule is 6 days a week and many of us would also spend Sunday reviewing material in preparation for the next week. The day officially ends at 8pm, but I would usually continue working til about 10pm or 11pm on average. This program is not like sitting through a semester in college, you will be required to eat, breathe, and dream about code. I won't sugar coat things, I felt burned out about halfway through the program (in hindsight I should have forced myself to take Sundays off), but thanks to the incredible staff they really lifted my spirits and encouraged me to keep pushing forward. I'm incredibly grateful for their moral support during the program. The good news is, while it's a lot of work, it's also incredibly fun and you'll hopefully make some great friends along the way. My cohort still meets up once a month informally and we regularly chat with each other over slack along with thousands of other alumni. It's a very strong alumni network to be a part of and it's very common for alumni to refer others at their company.Job Search
I won't sugar coat this part either, the job search is incredibly hard. Everyone, and I mean everyone experiences rejection along the way. You will get discouraged after sending out application after application only to get an automated rejection or to never hear anything at all. Don't get me wrong, there is extremely high demand for software engineers, the problem is most companies want experienced developers with a few years under their belt. Hack Reactor provides you with a career coach during your job search. I personally think the career coach brings 50% of the total value to the program. Her advice and help with negotiations was incredibly important. You also form job search groups with your peers so that you can study together and share advice/experiences with coding interviews.Final Tips/Advice
I have three things that you should do prior to Hack Reactor.
1) Get your finances in order. You will need to expect to be jobless for at least 6 - 9 months (I'm counting the 3 months of training here). While some of my peers landed jobs immediately, the bulk of us took around 4 - 5 months to land jobs, and some took even longer than that. The more time you have for the job search the better otherwise you may have to take a position less desirable or worse- drop out of the job search all together. Don't do this to yourself, you worked too hard to get to this point, so make sure you have the savings/loans to get you through 6 - 9 months of unemployment. The interview process at tech companies (especially big ones like Google/Amazon) are slow and have multiple stages (recruiter screens, technical phone screens, on-sites, leadership interviews etc.).
2) Study hard prior to starting Hack Reactor. I would recommend going through the Free Code Camp curriculum (https://www.freecodecamp.org/) and doing practice problems on Code Wars and maybe LeetCode. Because Hack Reactor covers a lot of ground in such a short time period, I find that I grasp the material much better the second time that I am exposed to it. In short, build yourself a solid programming foundation before you start the program and you will fare much better. It also probably wouldn't hurt to start learning about common Data Structures, Algorithms, and Big O notation (important stuff for coding interviews later on).
3) Relocate to a tech hub. I moved from Hawaii to Seattle and I firmly believe that if I had stayed in Hawaii I would not have successfully broken into the tech industry. Tech jobs are concentrated around key cities such as Seattle, Bay Area (SF + Palo Alto), L.A., Austin, New York, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and Denver. If you do not currently live near a tech hub, I would highly recommend that you consider moving to one either before or after you go through Hack Reactor.Final Verdict
Hack Reactor is absolutely worth it. As someone who decided to do both a CS degree and Hack Reactor they both have their merits, but in terms of learning practical programming skills that you will be able to apply immediately, Hack Reactor wins hands down. To use a workout analogy, think of a coding bootcamp as akin to doing intense HIIT training. You spend less time doing it, but due to the intensity of the program you accelerate your learning rate. Or here's another one, say you wanted to learn a foreign language, what is more statistically successful- taking a Spanish class 3 days a week at your local university for an hour or saying to hell with it and moving to Spain for 3 months and speaking only Spanish? The immersion option is always much more optimal for the amount of time invested. -
Sarah Silva Verified via LinkedIn
If you're going to do a bootcamp, do this one.
Read more Read less of Sarah Silva's review
The TLDR version is that I attended Hack Reactor Remote (July - Oct 2018), and 5 months after graduating I started my new job as a Google Software Engineer. I highly recommend Hack Reactor.
PREP: I didn’t know any Javascript. I didn’t even know what terms like full stack meant. I did Hack Reactor's full time Structured Study Program for about a month prior to getting into Hack Reactor. I had to learn quite a bit to even be ready to apply to the program, and SSP gave me the structure, support, and resources I needed to make it into Hack Reactor.
HACK REACTOR: This program is not for the weak, but it works! I studied 9am-10pm 6 days a week for 3 months. The staff is really knowledgeable and compassionate. I fully expected the intense program to feel torturous, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually quite fun and pleasant. Although it was incredibly challenging and some days I felt discouraged, overall I really enjoyed the program and the people. I learned so much through lectures, Q&A sessions, videos, pair programming, team projects, reading documentation, and just googling stuff. The second half is less structured than the first and more like a real world work experience. After 3 months, I could build full stack web applications, I had learned how to teach myself new technologies, I learned how to debug and find answers, I had a pretty good understanding of data structures and algorithms, I knew a bit about system design, and I had gotten some practice for technical interviews under my belt.
REMOTE: I live in the Bay Area, but I decided to do the remote program rather than commute to San Francisco every day. I loved it! I studied from the comfort of my own home but got to collaborate with my cohort around the world through video calls and other tools. We got to know one another and work together in many of the same ways that you would in a physical classroom. During the last week several of us met up IRL in San Francisco.
JOB SEARCH: My career coach was amazing! Hack Reactor helped me with my resume, behavioral interview questions, technical interviews, and even negotiation. It was nice to have a career coach (as well as my cohort mates and other alumni) to ask questions and get encouragement even after graduating. The job search is hard and frustrating because you get rejected, and some companies aren’t even willing to give you a technical challenge because you don’t have X years of experience. I continued studying after graduation in order to do better in interviews. I mostly studied data structures and algorithms and practice interview problems. In the end I got a job and pay better than I could have imagined.
Hack Reactor changed my life, and I’m really enjoying my new career.
-
Devin James Elder Verified via GitHub
Graduate
It's not easy, but if you're up to a challenge you WILL get a job as an engineer. -
Danny Lu Verified via LinkedIn
If you are determined to go to a boot camp, this is a good one
Read more Read less of Danny Lu's review
BEFORE YOU READ: If you are not a diligent, self-motivated person, or if you think you can just easily get 100k+ salary right after you finish the bootcamp, then don’t even bother go to ANY bootcamps. But if you think you have the determination to take the challenges, read my SUPER HONEST review below. If you do read, please read it all. I know it’s long but they are useful information
Q1: Can I get a job after the bootcamp? Will I waste all my money and time going to bootcamp? This is the most frequently asked question and I will answer this first.
A: I graduated from Hack Reactor (Los Angeles) in September 2018 and landed a job in Downtown L.A on November 2018. There are people saying L.A has few openings for new developers. Yes, that is true but there are still tons of opportunities, you just don’t touch the opportunities that easily. And that also means you have less competition.
If the way you are looking for jobs is just sending resume on Indeed, you will have a super HARD time looking for a job. You need to connect with people! Go on linkedin, connect developers and recruiter, keep sending greetings (Hack Reactor will teach you all the career stuff in the last week entire week), go to meetups, go to tech events.
Another thing is don’t always look for Junior Devs, start as an Intern (even unpaid), put your self-ego down a little bit even you finish one of the best bootcamps in the country. I am pretty sure an intern’s skill level in a tech company can easily beat the top students in your cohort. Many companies are looking for Interns to do the easy but annoying tasks! I can 100% ensure you will learn a lot more doing those ‘easy but annoying tasks’ than learning from Udemy at your place!
Q2: How is Hack Reactor? Is the material good? Is it a good bootcamp?
A: It’s 100% a good bootcamp and the people who get in the boot camp are smart (you have to pass the interview and finish pre-course to get in). You have junior phase to give you foundation about Javascript and Node.js (database, React, Express server, async operations,data structure, etc). You have to pass an exam to continue the 2nd half of the course (you will pass if you study hard).
The 2nd half the course is project-base, one frontend and one backend. You will learn database optimization, AWS, Docker, Load Balancer, Agile Methodology, etc. THIS IS THE TIME YOU NEED TO WORK EXTRA HARD! Remember to take notes and get through as many possible tasks as you can! EMPLOYERS LOVE TO HEAR YOUR WAR STORIES IN THE PROJECTS! NOT JUST YOU LEARNED HOW TO BUILD A FULL STACK APP!
Q3: I heard some people say there is not much supervising, especially during the project phase, is that a bad sign?
A: NOT AT ALL! Tech Mentors will check all your work and there will be exams. Additionally, in your real developer job, YOU ARE MOSTLY ON YOUR OWN! Your supervisor will just give you a task and not much information to guide you through. Even you may work on group projects, NO ONE WILL WORK ON THE SAME TASK! People will work on different pieces and merge them together. Many real developers spend almost 50% of their time researching. Hack Reactor will train you to do that by only giving few instructions.
When I was in the boot camp, I was desperate for help and kinda think Hack Reactor is doing a bad job teaching without telling me the answer. However, when I got into the industry, I finally understand why they do this -- to train you to be independent, figuring out stuff on your own. I can also 100% ensure if you always ask for help after you get a job, you will be fired because people will see you as not independent.
SOME OTHER INFO ABOUT HACK REACTOR
They are always changing their course material to suit the most updated technology. They do a townhall every week to gather comments / criticism / advice from all students and they will try their best to change the operation based on people’s opinion.
Overall, I will 100% recommend Hack Reactor if you really prepare to work hard. If you can work super hard in Hack Reactor and reaching out to people in the industry after graduation, I am sure you can get your foot in the developer industry!
-
Justin Bui Verified via LinkedIn
Review for HR Los Angeles - Personally a great experience!
Read more Read less of Justin Bui's review
Before attending Hack Reactor, I had anxiety and imposter syndrome. I wasn't sure if I was able to succeed in computer science. However, after the first day of the program I was immediately supported by the HR faculty and my cohort mates. Every Hacker in Residence (HiR) who had gone through the program before had a similar story and experience to what we were going through and assisted us with understanding and kindness. The instructors were always encouraging and extremely knowledgable. By the end of the program, many of my peers had become some of my best friends.
THE COURSE
The program consisted of two halves. The first half consisted of JavaScript and computer science fundamentals such as Big O Notation, JS 'this' binding, and functional patterns. Some concepts were picked up faster by certain people, which caused a positive feedback loop of assistance between peers. An extremely important skill that was hammered into us was autonomous learning. Even though HiRs were readily available to assist us, they supported us attempting to search for answers on our own because this is an extremely valuable skill to have as a software engineer. And unlike many other fields of study, computer science and web development resources are bountiful and easily searchable.
The second half of the course consisted of two projects where we were split into groups of 3-5. During this time, we gradually increased the amount of interview practice along with learning some industry practices and technologies. Some valuable technologies/concepts they had taught us were that of Docker containerization, system design, AWS tools, and Agile Methodologies. This portion of the course was essentially a ramp up to let us out into the real world. Autonomy and time management was a key portion because of the freedom gained in the second half of the course, so self discipline and motivation is definitely key. If you did not have the motivation and self discipline to apply yourself in this part of the course, you were more likely to not absorb the material. Since it is largely self-motivated, several people who were not as focused struggled in this aspect.
The last week of the course consisted of job coaching from resume/cover letter writing to behavioral interview practice and even as far as negotiating a job offer. This instilled an extremely high level of confidence in my job search process and helped me interview.
I would also like to state that not all of the technologies and format may be correct if you were to attend now. Hack Reactor rapidly iterates their curriculum to keep up with the changing demand of skills in the web development field. One such change is the implementation of Docker. When we had an alumni panel, one of the alumni had stated that Docker was not incorporated into the curriculum when he attended the program a year before I had attended. With this, you can confidently be reassured that Hack Reactor are constantly on the lookout to make you the most desirable software engineer possible.
OVERALL
Why did I remove a star? Unfortunately, not many of my cohort mates were as lucky as me - someone else mentioned it already, but Los Angeles is not a great market for junior devs. If you are considering HR, I highly recommend you expand your job search to be outside of LA. I found a job because I moved to Seattle which had more junior dev openings than LA. Another cohort mate was able to find one in Boston.
The 2nd half of the program, since it was largely self driven, felt like we were all headless chickens trying to program. I sincerely wish they could have taught us more in the time since a lot of time was wasted. Upper management for the LA HR group was also lackluster and felt disconnected from the group as a result.
Overall, I would highly recommend Hack Reactor as a coding bootcamp. I gained so much confidence in myself both technically and socially because of this software engineering immersive, and have even obtained a job as a software engineer within the average time expected of a Hack Reactor grad (3 months).
WHO IS HR FOR?
Attend HR if you are able to be self-driven, motivated, and have a strong work ethic and passion for coding. I do not recommend this course if you are coming in half-assed and are expecting a fat paycheck to be handed to you at the end of the course. Many of my cohort mates and I have had to slave away for months applying, interviewing, and coding to be successful. Although HR does try its best to help you get a job, at the end of the day, that will be up to you on how much you want to apply yourself and how much you're willing to sacrifice sleep to succeed. There is only so much HR can do for you. They can teach you the skills, but the rest is up to you.
-
Alexander Berman Verified via GitHub
Good education but dont believe the hype
Read more Read less of Alexander Berman's review
I attended Hack Reactor Los Angeles in summer of 18 and I had a very mixed and eye-opening experience. First off, id like to say that the educational portion of the corriculum is only done in the first half of the program. I dropped out after the first half, receieved half my money back (almost 9k), and finished the second half at home. I even managed to finish it faster than if I had stayed in the program thanks to most of the material being availabe on websites like Udemy for $10 (my cohort-mates filled me in on every topic I needed to cover to finish my front-end and back-end capstones).
Many of my ex-cohort mates complained that the majority of their time was wasted in the second half, and because it was mostly unsupervised, some even played LAN video games all day instead of coding because they were "stuck" and were just waiting for the smartest kids in the cohort to figure it out for everyone else (which is usually what happened).
What I believe is most important to say, is that the numbers they adverties are completely false. It is not as exclusive as you might think, and the number of students who get jobs afterwards is far fewer than they say. During my time there, the head of oporations told us that 25%, not 3% of applicants are accepted, demeaning the exclusivity of the entire experience. Next, Id like to say that at the time that I had been accepted (around early May 2018), Hack Reactor LA official stats stated that 53% of graduates got jobs in the first 3 months, and that number went up to the mid-70's at 6 months. It has been 5 months since my cohort (LA23, about 17 ppl) graduated (not including me obv) and only 2 have secured jobs so far. The cohort after me (LA24, about 19 ppl) graduated in Oct 2018 and as of writing this, only about 4 people have found jobs. I actually met a graduate from LA20 at a job interview in October and he still hadnt found a job yet, meaning he had been looking for somewhere around a year.
This is mostly due to what appears to be a severe lack in junior level and mid-level jobs in the LA area, but it also proves that now-a-days, going to an expensive coding bootcamp will not increase your chances of getting a job. They do well to tell you that when you sign up -- "dont think you're guatenteed a job", and in fact, sometimes they tell you not to even mention that you ever attended a coding bootcamp. Employers are weary of bootcampers now, and with another 20 engineers being pumped out every 3 months, the market for fresh engineers seems to be pretty much at capacity in LA. It seems to be more about who you already know that what your skillset is. Most of the smartest kids still dont have jobs.
I will say that, if you have the money to spend, that attending Hack Reactor will be the fastest way to get a broad range of skills and a general understanding of how to work with a basic MEAN/MERN stack. Before I attended Hack Reactor, my main problem was simply managing to code through projects autonomaously. meaning, If i ran into a big enough problem, I had no idea where to turn to solve it. After hack reactor, I can say that I was mostly autonomous and could finally start to figure out tough issues by myself. Hack Reactor gave me confidence, but unfortunately, it seems like the resume is what counts in this game. No job experience means no job. For this reason, many people in the cohorts I was familiar with are now turning to searching for unpaid internships...
-
Feng Verified via LinkedIn
Amazing learning environment with great surprises.
Read more Read less of Feng's review
I attended the remote program of Hack Reactor back in this year's spring. I went in with a solid understanding of programming in general, specifically back-end in JAVA and spring framework. My previous job was a software engineer position where I felt like my contributions and works were just a small drop in the ocean for the company. I wasn't satisfied with what I was doing and decided to leave the company. Alot of things happened between then til I eventually decided to join Hack Reactor but thats not important for this review.
Despite my prior experience, the Hack Reactor cirriculum wasn't a cake walk for me. Especially in week 3 where we had to learn 3 frameworks (backbone, react, and angularjs) in one week. I was spending extra hours after class on sites like egghead and medium reading and watching related videos to fully understand these frameworks, es6, and bunch of others stuff. This is also the week I realize how much I can learn in a such a short period of time, I didn't know I was capable of doing this. A life changing moment for sure and that would be an understatement. Since that week I started to develop a habit of buying one udemy course every few weeks, and I think I have learned more in past 8 months than the 10 years prior to that.
Robin was our tech mentor, a javascript ninja, but more than that he was a really personable teacher who was as engaging as he was knowledgeable. I regret not booking more office hour with him but part of Hack Reactor is learning how to learn. We also had Kyle and Annah as our shepherds (Teaching assistant). Kyle introduced me to this new world of graphQL, I'm a huge fans of graphQL now because of him. Annah is someone who would stay beyond her hours to help students. We're both from east coast and we would see her on helpdesk helping students after 12AM quite often. Annah is like a sister to me now and we talk all the time. Aside from this teaching trio, we also have Hailey, who was our counselor and possibly the most positive person you'll ever meet. And last but most important aspect of Hack Reactor in term of personnel, my classmate. Who would have thought, when you put a bunch of brilliant people who share the same goal together, good things happen. Now, its not all fine and dandy, espeically during our last 4 weeks (The last 4 weeks of hack reactor is what we call the thesis weeks. Hack Reactor would put us in a group of 4 or 5 and work on a fullstack application) where our group would run into some conflicts due to disagreements, and for a few times our group couldn't get anything done because of that. I really hope we could work in a smaller group where people would agree better (maybe a pair or even solo). That was easily the most unproductive time during hack reactor for me.
In term of job assistance there isnt much I can speak of. You can talk to your outcome coach or outcome HiR to review your resume, do mock interview with you, and for interview advices. And as far as I understand, this will continue throughout your jobsearch. There is also this huge network you will get through Hack Reactor and Galvanize which could be very benefitial. Thats pretty much it for job assistance. 4 months in and I still have quite a few classmate who are still job searching.
Overall I thoroughly enjoy my time in Hack Reactor. Was it perfect? No. Was it the best decision I made in recent years? Considering that my only other major decision in recent years is to heavily invest on ethereum when they were at 800? Easily. Would I join Hack Reactor again and do it all over from sratch? Absolutely.
-
Ralph Plumley Verified via LinkedIn
Fantastic experience!
Great staff and curriculum. The community is incredible.
I also learned a lot from my peers - everyone admitted at Hack Reactor is extremely sharp.
For anyone interested in leveling up their web dev / software engineering skills, this program is great.
I highly recommend! -
Justin Scribner Verified via GitHub
One of the best experiences of my life
Read more Read less of Justin Scribner's review
One could not be happier with a decision than I am with mine to attend the Austin Immersive at Hack Reactor.
Like a lot of people my age, I have always been infatuated with technology and began messing around with computers and code at a young age. Over the years I have taken countless online courses but nothing ever seemed to stick. That being said I never really understood any of the deeper concepts needed to actually write meaningful code until I started the prep program for Hack Reactor.
I had never heard of coding schools like this before a few years ago and never did my research until my brother in law went to a coding bootcamp in Cleveland in 2017. I was very curious about his experience and started doing my research. He had mixed reviews and was definitely overwhelmed with the pace but I was intrigued nonetheless. After a couple weeks of research and talking to admissions with multiple schools I finally decided to get started with the paid Structured Study Program provided by Hack Reactor. It was the most in-depth and fast-paced training I had ever been through. Even if you decide to go to a different school this prep program is amazing. Once I was about halfway through the SSP program I decided to take the technical interview to get into Hack Reactor and passed!
After a lot of research and family discussion, I decided on the in-person immersive in Austin and it was incredible in so many ways. I was thoroughly impressed with how much the staff cared about our success and about us as people. The team was led by Linden Kueck who turned out to be as loving and helpful a teacher/leader one could ever have. I learned an unbelievable amount about computer science, data structures, algorithms and Javascript in a very, very short time but I am also very grateful for the unexpected lessons in team dynamics and soft skills like how to effectively work and communicate with other developers in the real world.
Aside from the unexpected, I can't express in words how much I learned in such a short time. The pace was nothing short of insane and I was not sure I was going to remember anything that was being taught or if I was even going to finish the program. Then all of a sudden things just started to click and I was instinctively writing clean, readable code and building applications all on my own. These guys know what they are doing.
After graduation, the team continued to help immensely and the career coaches were amazing as well. I interviewed for just over a month and landed a full stack engineering position in my hometown making 6 figures. The job hunt in this industry is difficult but Hack Reactor was there to help the whole way.
If you are serious about coding as a career move and are looking to do it quickly, I don't see how anyone could make a better choice than the Austin campus at Hack Reactor.
-
Kevin Maitski Verified via LinkedIn
Teaches what you need to know to get a job
Read more Read less of Kevin Maitski's review
This program is great for people who want to get a job in the web dev industry. The program is jam-packed but there is a lot of information needed to be proficient in web development. You will be working hard and you will learn a ton. The staff is top notch and very knowledgeable. The curriculum is good and teaches what you need to know to land an entry-level job. The job support is really good, but don't expect them to find you a job. They will help you in your search with stuff like resumes, interviews, and keeping you on track. Everything I needed to do well in my interview I learned through Hack Reactor. If you are interested in a programming boot camp I could not recommend Hack Reactor more.
-
Chris Wohlers Verified via GitHubHighly recommend.
Read more Read less of Chris Wohlers's review
I just graduated from the remote, part-time program and had a great experience. The course is very challenging and you want to be sure you are prepared before you take the entrance exam. That's a good thing! It means that the people in your cohort deserve to be there. You will be working with them all the time, so you will learn from them and they will learn from you. The quality of the student body is one of the major reasons that I would recommend HR.
The program does a good job of taking your through the basics and making sure that you cover all the important bases (databases, authentication, frontend frameworks). As it progresses you get less and less hand-holding. There's always help desk, and the tech mentors are readily available, but the idea is that by the time you graduate, you need to feel like an engineer. That means knowing how to read documentation yourself and debug like a pro.
I'm graduating now with an strong sense of accomplishment and the confidence that I can pickup any framework or web technology and make it work and I couldn't ask for more. I've worked with seasoned engineers from Google during a hackathon and been a valuable asset already. Five stars, no reservations.
** Also, the part-time, remote program was perfect for me, as a full-time dad. Having 9 months to absorb all the material that folks cover in 3 months during the immersive is a serious advantage. It's also no joke. Be ready to commit all your Saturdays for 9 months straight to studying!
-
Andrew Dibble Verified via LinkedIn
Easily one of the best decisions I've made
Read more Read less of Andrew Dibble's review
Think of software engineering as a trade and of Hack Reactor as a trade school. Sure, everything you learn at a trade school you could teach yourself, but you'll end up spending a lot more time and effort, probably go down the wrong path more than once and pick up quite a few bad habits along the way. Hack Reactor teaches you the tools of the trade, i.e the front- and back-end frameworks and libraries that are in demand in the job market now. They will also teach you some CS fundamentals, offer excellent tutorship during the 12 week program, and prepare you for the job search afterwards as well.
But what you get out of Hack Reactor will largely be what you put into it. You can put in the bare minimum effort and make it through, but you would only be doing yourself a disservice. Your 12 weeks at Hack Reactor offer you a chance to put everything you have into learning this new trade and starting your new career. If you give it everything you've got, at the other end of it all, you will probably be very well prepared to find a job and to perform well in that role. You will at times feel like you've made the wrong decision, you won't understand what you're supposed to be teaching yourself, you will feel like you're spinning your tires. Those are the times when you struggle your way through, then you go back for more in order to solidify the concepts in your head. It will be at times very stressful, but at the same time very enjoyable, because you are challenging yourself and overcoming.
I attended Hack Reactor Austin from January to April 2018, during which time I applied myself more to one end than I ever had before in my life. Within a month of graduation, I had gotten two job offers for three times as much money as I was making at my previous job. It was easily one of the best decisions I've made in my life up until this point, and I am not infinitely happier at my new job than I ever was at my old one. I want to go back and shake my old boss's hand for having laid me off, because he set a chain of events in motion that put me where I am now, at an excellent company with a great culture and fun co-workers who also genuinely enjoy what they're doing.
-
Viktor garba Verified via LinkedIn
The best!
Read more Read less of Viktor garba's review
10/5. The Hack Reactor experience can’t really be put into word. I dropped out of college my sophomore year because it was super boring. I moved to San Francisco to attend Hack Reactor not really knowing what to expect. The first couple of weeks were really quite intense, the work load and the pace were something I defiantly wasn’t used to. After a couple of weeks you kinda start to settle in though. Nothing changes, the work load is the same and the pace is the same (if not more and faster) but you learn to adapt and get comfortable. When thinking about the qualities you hope to gain from a software bootcamp you might not think of a level of comfort with heavy work loads and long hours, but in this industry it is critical to your success. And I know that doesn’t sound great, but its a big part of why the average starting salary for a software engineer is 125,000$. Hack Reactor doesn’t necessarily teach you how to be a software engineer, they teach you how to make yourself a software engineer. You might not understand the importance of this, but it is the crucial difference that makes Hack Reactor grads successful. New technologies and verisons of techs come out almost every week, if not everyday, if you only learn how to be a software engineer today with todays tech you won’t last 2 months. Hack Reactor gives you the skills necessary to constantly and efficiently teach yourself new tools to continuously make yourself a great engineer, even after you graduate. Today Im proud to say I’m a Full-Stack Software engineer working in the Bay Area.
-
David Inoa Verified via LinkedIn
If you want to become a software engineer, Hack Reactor is your best bet.
Read more Read less of David Inoa's review
Attending Hack Reactor has been one of the best decisions I've made in my career. You could argue that you could teach yourself or maybe even try to go back to traditional school, but I believe nothing is as cost or time-efficient as attending the best bootcamp in the industry. There is plenty of free knowledge and alternatives out there to learn the skills of a software engineer, but for most people starting out it is incredibly difficult to know what to focus on. Hack Reactor will offer you a well thought out roadmap that has been proven to work for thousands of students. You're guaranteed to learn the most in-demand technologies and skills in the industry thanks to its rapid-iteration teaching approach, which provides frequent experimentation and rapid re-investment of findings back into the class. One of my favorite thing about the program is that is practical in nature, so be prepared to experience a non-traditional yet more efficient approach to education in which you'll learn by doing and collaborating with others. By the end of the program, you'll have an amazing portfolio of projects that will impress any hiring manager. And even after you are done as a student, you'll still benefit from the amazing career support Hack Reactor provides and you'll have access to the incredible network of Hack Reactor alumni. Be aware that attending this immersive program will be challenging, but I promise it'll be a fun and rewarding experience.
-
Norbie Magno Verified via LinkedIn
An amazing experience if you're prepared to take it on!
Read more Read less of Norbie Magno's review
I attended the Hack Reactor Remote Immersive program and I personally thought it was an amazing experience. One caveat I do want to make clear though is that you NEED to be prepared to take on the commitment if you're going to go through the bootcamp. You'll likely end up spending 10+ hours/day for 6 days a week working on stuff for the bootcamp so you need to make sure that you're able to commit to that. If you do ensure that you're able to commit to it, then you'll be able maximize the benefit you get from the program and learn a ton while you're there. If not, then you'll likely fall behind and feel like you're wasting your time/money. Hack Reactor does offer a part-time remote program that may be suitable for those that can't commit to a 10+ hour/day for 6 days a week commitment. I personally did not attend that so I can't speak for it, but I hear many good things about it.
Hack Reactor does a great job of structuring the curriculum in a way that gives you a lot of guidance on what exactly you need to do at first, then slowly removes the scaffolding as you work through the program. This is because the Hack Reactor curriculum highly emphasizes autonomy which is an extremely important skill to have as an engineer. Although it's an uncomfortable experience as the scaffolding is slowly removed, it is necessary for one's growth as an engineer. In the real world, you often have minimal direction and are just given a problem to solve. You must go and figure out how to solve that problem on your own.
Another thing that Hack Reactor does great is teaching you how to learn things quickly and efficiently by having you to dive into various different subjects and learn them in a span of a few days. In the software engineering world, tools are quick to change so it's important to be able to adapt to the situation. As of right now, React is the "hot" framework at the moment, but prior to this there were frameworks like Angular and Backbone that were the "hot" frameworks. As an engineer, you need to learn how to pick up these tools quickly and efficiently because the software engineering world is constantly evolving and being able to quickly pick up these tools is an invaluable skill to have.
Outside of the curriculum, the support you get from the staff and community is amazing. I really enjoyed the cohort I was in and everyone was more than happy to help each other out. I never felt afraid to ping a staff member/classmate if there was something I was struggling with. They're always available help with both emotional and technical support which I really appreciated.
Hack Reactor also gives great support for the job search once you're done with the program. They mentor you on strategies to employ while applying in order to get a good response rate from companies and tailor the coaching you receive based on your strengths/weaknesses. I even got great advice for my personal career growth within my job once I had accepted a job offer. Another great resource for the job search is the alumni network. The alumni network is massive and people are constantly posting about things like job listings within their company, interview tips, development tips, etc.
For cons, I don't have much to say because I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. As I said earlier, you NEED to be prepared to take on this commitment. I fully believe that I had the experience that I had because I made sure to give the program my all and 100% commit to it. The program gives you all the tools you need to succeed, it is on the student to use those tools properly and receive the maximum benefit from it.
-
Placid Rodrigues Verified via LinkedIn
Hack Reactor changed my life
Read more Read less of Placid Rodrigues's review
I was a self learned web developer working in a meager job. I love coding and I really loved my job. But the pay was very low.
Hack Reactor changed it. Now I am a full fledged software engineer working in a wonderful company with good salary in New Zealand.
I studied commerce all my life. But I hated my job. Somehow, I got into coding and I loved it. But I was quite late. When I enrolled into Hack Reactor, I was already 38 years old.
But it didn't matter. I was fully dedicated and was determined to make it happen. And it did.
First thing you have to keep in mind is that software engineering is hard. With that, I can tell you the following:
Hack Reactor has created a program that works.
First, It teaches you things you need to know to become an efficient software engineer. I was a self learned developer before and I lacked in many concepts that are crucial for a software engineer that Hack Reactor taught me.
Second, I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I did it remotely from half the world away and I had to completely reverse my sleep schedule. I attended the classes the whole night. It would not be possible if the course was not really enjoyable. I got the most helpful counseling and guidance during the course.
Third, it provides its students incredible support to get an outstanding job.
I am very thankful to everyone at Hack Reactor for creating such an awesome program and would undoubtedly recommend anyone who would love to become a software engineer and change their lives. -
Zack Biernat Verified via LinkedIn
They know how to make you a successful engineer
Read more Read less of Zack Biernat's review
Everyone comes in to Hack Reactor with a different background. I met a wide variety of people at Hack Reactor Remote. There are students who had already had years of experience in Software Development. There are students who had recently graduated with Computer Science degree, but not yet started a professional career. There are students who have never taken a formal programming course and never worked for a tech company. There are students signing on from every part of the world (in the remote program).
As for me, I was working a blue collar factory job when I learned about Hack Reactor. Now I have a much more rewarding career that I love more each day.
The instructors and staff are great. There is surprisingly little 1-on-1 interaction that is timeboxed in the curriculum, but the staff members are great at making themselves available and are very good at identifying gaps in understanding. They are also very sensitive to student's struggling with the emotional/physical challenges of the experience.
The outcomes team is great and very supportive and available after graduation.
The overall experience is challenging! If you are already a skilled developer there are plenty of opportunities to push your boundaries. Almost none of the students are bored or otherwise unchallenged. If you are accepted (to the full time program) you must commit to it unconditionally. Some students drop out each cohort because of family or medical emergencies, but I observed a good number of these students re-enroll at a later start date. Very few students are removed for technical struggles or behavioral problems. The staff is pretty good about keeping people on track and recognizing when they need to intervene.
If you want to be a software engineer in the near future I totally recommend that you check out Hack Reactor. They know what skills and behaviors are valuable and they will help you grow very quickly. They also know that learning never stops for a software engineer, and they will make you thirst for more knowledge after graduation.
-
Patrick Tang Verified via LinkedIn
5 Stars
Read more Read less of Patrick Tang's review
I'll admit that I turned to Hack Reactor as a last resort when my job search in my degreed profession was not yielding results. After talking to a friend who had gone through the remote program, I decided to pursue software engineering and began teaching myself Javascript and found I really enjoyed it!
It wasn't long before I was enrolled in Hack Reactor's Structured Study Program (SSP), which is a GREAT primer for the immersive experience, especially if you're considering the remote campus. SSP leveled up my Javascript game and I was ready to start the immersive program. The first thing everyone says is that the immersive program is hard, and they were right, I found myself often over my head. But Hack Reactor's great support network - Tech mentors, Hackers in Residence, Counselor, and each other! - helped me wrap my head around difficult concepts and provided emotional support when needed.
After graduation, I felt prepared for the job search, in terms of technical skills as well as helpful job search advice from HR's great outcomes team. I was getting a lot more traction in my new job search and now find myself at a great company doing what I enjoy - which is probably more than I can say had I stayed in my previous field! -
Ashley Woodall Verified via GitHubHack Reactor
Read more Read less of Ashley Woodall's review
I put off the Hack Reactor interview for a long time - about a year or so. I kept thinking the success stories were too good to be true, was nervous about the price tag, and already had a professional career that I was settled into (although I was powering through free online coding resources in my spare time and knew I was heading toward a career in development). Finally I bit the bullet and decided to go for it, and I am SO glad I did. It really is a life changing experience. It's not so much that Hack Reactor teaches you how to code in 3 months (the bar for passing the entrance interview is surprisingly high - they already expect relative comfort with javascript concepts when you arrive), but they teach you how to survive and be valuable in industry. The most valuable things I walked away from Hack Reactor were 1) ability to work on an engineering team, 2) data structures/algorithms foundational concepts, and 3) ability to quickly parse through documentation and use unfamiliar technology in a project on the fly. Beyond all of the incredible things I learned (and learned about myself) during Hack Reactor, I want to point out that the staff is amazing. The immersive nature of Hack Reactor is extremely intense, but all of the staff facilitate a really positive learning environment and really care about each student. Career services after graduation is also exactly as effective as advertised, and I ended up accepting a job offer found through a Hack Reactor partnership just a few weeks after I finished the program. I'm so glad I went for it, and 100% would do it again.
-
Eric Fanning Verified via LinkedIn
Hack Reactor gave me the skills to switch careers successfully. Totally worth it!
Read more Read less of Eric Fanning's review
I was a self taught very basic programmer if you could call me that. Learning programming part-time on my own was proving to be difficult if I wanted to learn enough to switch careers. Traditional school would take too long so I looked at bootcamps. I researched several coding bootcamps/immersive programs before committing to Hack Reactor. What made me decide on Hack Reactor was a few things. 1) From all the reviews and testimonies I could find, Hack Reactor shined through that they cared about everyone going through the program and that the quality and amount of material was great. After completing the bootcamp myself in Austin, TX, I can now verify this opinion. 2) The hours are 11 hours a day 6 days a week (Sat. is a little shorter). I knew this would help me focus on code and immerse myself in it. I didn't want to have a personal life outside coding, and this helped me do that. I feel that I got a lot more out of the program because it was structured like this. 4) The partnerships Hack Reactor has with other companies that help Hack Reactor achieve their 80% or so hire/placement rate (depends on the city, see their site for current %). 5) I went to a intro course on JavaScript before committing and was talking to a staff member (a higher up staff member who I'm sure normally has a tight schedule). They offered to meet with me beforehand a few times before my application assessment in order to make sure I can get into the program. (I know they want applicants because it generates revenue, but this person went out of their way from their normal duties in the company, for free, to help because of the risk I was taking to switch careers). 6) The fact that you have to qualify to get in was a big plus for me. This meant to me that they took their curriculum and reputation serious. Unlike taking someone with zero knowledge in coding, they take people with 20% knowledge and they finish with 120% knowledge to be a software engineer. This is what helps with the job placement as well. Also, you'll end up going through it with other people who are more serious about programming as well.
Overall, the staff was super awesome and extremely friendly and helpful the entire time in every way. It's hard to think of even something small I would change about the program. I loved the people I went through it with and I am very grateful for my time there. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I left a stable career to pursue software engineering and thanks to Hack Reactor (and my own hard work), I am starting my new career next week. -
Lina Yang Verified via LinkedIn
Best decision I've ever made.
Read more Read less of Lina Yang's review
Hack Reactor definitely helped me to make the biggest and most successful transition in my life.
Hack Reactor distinguished itself from most of the other boot camps from the very beginning. Prospective students had to go through a code challenge and interviews to exam their basic JavaScript skills which ensures that we have the capability to keep up with the curriculum. A great thing about that is the staff is willing to provide as much help as they can to get candidates ready for the immersive course.
I also want to recommend the SSP program for anyone that's interested in attending Hack Reactor. The tuition for SSP program is deducted from the tuition of the Immersive program, and it had great mentors and help-desk resources that help students build up very solid JavaScript foundation before the program starts.
The program itself is quite intense, but the outcomes are truly amazing. The curriculums were designed to expose students to most of the popular frameworks and skill sets that prepare us well to meet the demand of the current tech’s job market. Moreover, the curriculum not only provides practical hands-on experiences which definitely help students succeed on the job, but also some great amounts of algorithms, data structures and JavaScript concepts practices that very much guarantee students’ success during a technical interview.
Another great thing about Hack Reactor is that it not only trains students to possess decent skill sets to get a tech job, but it also train students on how to think, approach and solve problems effectively like a successful software engineer(which is really a soft skill that’s applicable to any other field as well). A framework or even a popular language like JavaScript can possibly be out-of-date anytime in the future, but the ability to know how to pick up a language quickly and approach a problem in a most efficient manner is what Hack Reactor trains their students to do.
And the staff. Absolutely amazing people with very strong technical skills and experiences that provide great mentorships. One best thing about them is that they recognize every student with our uniqueness and provide helps that tailored to individual’s needs during the program, and they all truly care about every one of us and our success after the program.
The career support is also amazing. More than half of my interview opportunities were derived from Hack Reactor’s amazing network. The current offer I’ve landed was also through an alumni’s referral. Hack Reactor’s career assistance team diligently works with all students until we land an offer. And the alumni network itself is huge and is a wonderful resource for job searching phase.
Overall, I would recommend Hack Reactor to anyone who wants to explore tech field and work with software!
-
Jonathan Yi Verified via LinkedIn
Life-changing Experience
Read more Read less of Jonathan Yi's review
Attending Hack Reactor was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. Initially, I was pretty skeptical about coding boot camps because they were fairly new and the results they claim were pretty unbelievable. However, after completing Hack Reactor's curriculum, I can confidently say that the education you receive in 3 months is aligned with the current job market and the staff works tirelessly to ensure you leave with the necessary tools to thrive in the tech industry. The curriculum goes by extremely fast, but if you make an effort to fully understand all of the material/content they provide, I can guarantee that you will have the high-level knowledge of a senior software engineer. I have to agree that software engineer is an extremely broad subject and it takes many years to become an expert, but companies aren’t hiring based on how many different languages you know. Companies are looking for autonomous problems solvers and quick learners. As long as you make sure to do a lot of research in the field you want to get into whether its front-end engineering or back-end engineering you will have the same chance of getting the job as any other applicant. As long as you have a passion for software engineering and are making an effort to stay up to date with new technologies there will always be a market for software engineers. Aside from the amazing curriculum that Hack Reactor has to offer, they also provide you with a vast network of other software engineers that share the same passion as you. The connections you meet at Hack Reactor can help facilitate the job search and you will form strong bonds with people who were once strangers 3 months ago. Lastly, Hack Reactor provides you with a career coach that will offer almost 24/7 support throughout your job search. Having a career coach is the icing on the cake to the complete experience Hack Reactor has to offer. The career coach teaches you how to present yourself as a professional, teaches you how to negotiate to get an offer you are happy with, and gives you the confidence/tips to tackle interviews. I believe the support of the career coach is at least 50% of what determines if you get a job or not. Overall, Hack Reactor is probably one of the best coding boot camps out there because they provide you with the whole experience (curriculum/network/career support) and are teaching a language that will stay relevant as long as the web exists. But my advice before pursuing a career in software engineer is to really question if you are passionate about the subject, make sure that you are willing to become an autonomous problem solver, you are self-motivated, and must accept the fact that you will always be learning/studying while in the field of a software engineer. If you have these traits then you will have no problem being successful in the world of software engineering. Whoever is reading my review, I wish you the best of luck with your journey and I hope this review helps you make the right decision!
-
Max Berger Verified via LinkedIn
If you want to become a software engineer, go to Hack Reactor
Read more Read less of Max Berger's review
I went to Hack Reactor because I was ready for a radical change in my life. Hack Reactor helped me to leave my previous field and become a competent software engineer in about 3 months.
From the very beginning, it's clear that Hack Reactor is a great school. When I applied, I was initially rejected because my coding skills weren't up to par; I wasn't yet ready for as intense of a program as Hack Reactor. The amazing thing is that they told me what I needed to learn and helped me to get to where I needed to be. You can tell the staff truly care about your success before you even begin.
During the program, I began learning programming fundamentals while applying them right away. I worked hands-on with other students, learning not only to become an effective coder but an effective communicator and team player as well.
I was absolutely amazed by the Outcomes and Careers teams. I knew that Hack Reactor was going to prepare me for the job search, but I didn't realize just how much. They help with resumes, interviews, negotiations, and beyond. I've always been someone who gets extremely nervous when interviewing, but after graduating I was able to go into the most intense interviews of my life feeling confident, and eventually landed the job of my dreams!
Yes, Hack Reactor is difficult. You will learn materials in two days what might have taken weeks or months to learn on your own. But you will leave with the most satisfying knowledge that you overcame it and that you're ready for any challenge that comes your way in the future. If you want to change your life and become a software engineer in just 3 months, you owe it to yourself to attend. -
Mariano Okpalefe Verified via LinkedIn
Great program but expect to work hard
Read more Read less of Mariano Okpalefe's review
You get 100% of what you put into this program. It's an extremely challenging program but if you're an individual who is willing to put 100% effort into learning and really trying to build the fundamentals of a software engineer like the curriculum is set up to do than you'll be in good shape. The curriculum is set up in such a way that the instructors will give you enough material then it's up to you and your partner to engineer your way out of a sprint. Hack Reactor's culture and mission is to develop self-driven autonomous engineers, so the teaching fellow's here will do a good job of giving you enough and steering you in a direction without giving you the answer. If you're used to a traditional educational setting, where the teacher spoon feeds you everything and tells you exactly what you need to do to get an A in a class, it will take some adjusting, but once you do adjust and truly value what hack reactor is trying to teach you'll be appreciative that you did, because it's one of the skills that's going to set you apart from engineers with computer science degrees on the job search. Along with the curriculum, the culture at Hack Reactor is very inviting and warm and just epitomizes productivity in a nutshell. It's very fun to be here and if I had a chance to do it over again, I absolutely would.
-
Rodolfo Rodriguez Verified via LinkedIn
I beat my friends with college degrees
Read more Read less of Rodolfo Rodriguez's review
When I was in college, I knew I wanted to do software engineering, and I had a feeling that the best route for me involved dropping out and enrolling in an elite coding bootcamp. It was a tough decision, since I was doing Computer Science, had some good connections in Houston, and would be leaving my scholarship and financial aid on the table. Having scored an awesome job with good perks (flexible hours, can work from home), and a salary that is more than both my parent's combined, I can say I have made a good decision.
The curriculum at Hack Reactor is pretty good, given that technology moves pretty fast. I wouldn't say it's bleeding edge; it depicts what the job market is like, which is what's important. I was always impressed at the balance of algorithms and data structures, lecture vs practice time, pair programming, and creating your portfolio. The hardest thing in learning on your own is knowing what you don't know, and knowing how much to focus on what.
If you want to learn to code, Hack Reactor is a solid choice. You will learn the fundamentals of full stack development; but more importantly, you will develop confidence in what you know, and what you don't know; which will ultimately be what gets you that job you want.
