Juno College of Technology

I took the Web development course (fundamentals and advanced).

As a beginner in Coding, it was the perfect place to start my learning.I recommend to go for the advanced class as well if you can, you ll learn about responsive website and add some jquery and javascript!

Teachers and mentors make it easy to learn with them and they are always happy to help. The projects you will work on during the class will definitely help you to assimilate all the information from the class.

I am looking forward to continue my journey in web development maybe with part-time class for JavaScript or Web design or why not the full time bootcamp to make a career change as Web developper one day!

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AMAZING!

This is going to be a bit lengthy. But if you're researching which bootcamp to attend, this will 100% be worth the read. I've sectioned my review into different paragraphs for easier reading.

Interview Process

There is an interview process before being accepted into the bootcamp, but that process has changed as of now. Hopefully you can get a general feel by reading this though. I applied online and was contacted very soon afterwards to set up a meeting with Heather Payne, CEO of HackerYou. When I met with Heather, she was incredibly nice and knew exactly the right questions to ask to ensure I would be successful in the bootcamp. This was not an 'interview' type of feel, but rather a way for Heather to really gauge what I was looking for and what my current skills were. It felt more like this meeting was simply to make sure that I would be a good fit for the pace, the curriculum, and the overall experience of being in a 9 week intensive bootcamp environment - and trust me, you need to know the answers to these if you want to be successful in the bootcamp! Heather was amazing at answering all of my questions. Make sure to come with prepared questions, as it's important to understand the ins and outs of the bootcamp while deciding what is right for you. Some questions you might have are in regards to support finding temporary accommodations while being at HackerYou (answer: they will try to help as much as possible!), educational and emotional support (answer: you are in VERY good hands in both regards. The entire staff will 100% help you in any way they can to make sure you're feeling good about the class content, and making sure you're emotionally okay), etc. Don't be afraid to ask questions, to voice your concerns, and to just share your excitement for this new journey you're about to take.

Pace of the Program

This was a very intense program, starting off a little slower so the students can get their feet wet, get accustomed to their new surroundings, and have fun getting to know each other. The first two weeks focused on HTML and CSS. There were more class lectures throughout the day at first, in order to get everyone at the pace needed to really dive in once it got more intense. There will be lots of projects, and of course, project work time. The instructors are seriously AMAZING at helping you through your projects, so don’t be worried about having a lack of work time and/or guidance throughout.

The pace and intensity will of course, begin to pick up as the bootcamp continues. There will be challenges, but it is simply a part of learning so much content in a short period. It in no way should deter you from being in the bootcamp - everyone in the class goes through down points at some point or another, and everyone is there to support each other the whole way through. In fact, this is a great example of why it is so important to ask questions, and seek support from fellow students. There will be content that you may find more challenging, and you may feel like you’re the only one who doesn’t get something, and that in turn makes you afraid to ask a question about it. I can guarantee you, someone else is having that exact same challenge. Talk to your instructors, and your fellow students, and you will feel so much better. I guarantee you - bring your passion. excitement, and an open mind, and you will succeed!

Curriculum

The curriculum may change, depending on what’s going on in the tech industry. HackerYou is incredible at keeping up with the pace of what’s going on in the development field, and catering and altering their curriculum to that. For my cohort, React and Firebase were added to the curriculum. I believe for the cohort that followed my own, CSS Grid was added as well. It was awesome content, and the instructors know their stuff! Go here to find out what’s in the current curriculum at HackerYou: http://hackeryou.com/web-development-immersive.

Environment

The environment is awesome - you will have plenty of space to collaborate with other students, or if you’re wanting some independent work time, there is no shortage of tables, chairs, or couches to go hang out on. There is a small kitchen where you can make coffee, put your lunch in the fridge, or just hangout and chat with people. Side note: every Wednesday is salad club, and sometimes even taco club :)

Instructors / Staff

Here is the most amazing aspect of HackerYou. The instructors, the CEO, and every single person working on that team, were incredible. To say I was blown away by the HackerYou team and how amazing they were and continue to be, would be a vast understatement. The educational and emotional support you will receive from the HY team is truly something amazing. My cohort’s instructors were Simon, Ryan, and Sylvia. Not only were they total geniuses with the class content, but they were all so down-to-earth, caring, and so much fun to learn from. They had our class laughing like crazy, just as much as they were teaching us. For that reason, I highly doubt you will ever wake up and not want to go to class. The support does not stop there though - each and every member of the HY team is there for you, in every way they possibly can be. There will often be mornings when the whole team comes into the classroom, whether to give a talk on not giving up, how proud they are of you, or sometimes to play fun games to get our minds going in the morning. What you can take from this, is the moment you become a student at HackerYou, you can be sure that there will never be a shortage of support from the HackerYou team, and from the community. Of course, I couldn’t end this paragraph without talking about Heather Payne - the whole reason HackerYou exists! She is awesome and supportive, and really believes in the outcome of this bootcamp - and she won’t stop until every student is successful! I will be going more into exactly how amazing Heather is in the post-job hunting support section.

HackerYou Community

The HackerYou community is truly something incredible. The alumni are this group of amazing, very supportive, very helpful people. They will be there to help current students the whole way through your journey. Alumni help out by being bootcamp buddies, mentoring in fishbowl sessions, being available on Slack to answer questions, and more. I was blown away by this strong knit community, and am truly so thankful to belong to such an amazing group of people - and you can too!

Post-Job Hunting Support

The job hunting process is not necessarily a ‘fun’ process, and you will feel your ups and downs. However, stick to the instructions Heather will give you on how to succeed in this process, and good things will come, 100%. The support you will get post-bootcamp is one of a kind. Every Friday there will be a meeting where students will come meet with Heather, and discuss where you currently are in the job process. These meetings really help to get a sense of where you are at, where your fellow students are at, and really just continue to be there for each other for support. Heather will always have really great advice, and will make sure you are doing everything you can to be successful in finding a job. Heather will also be available by email, Slack, or by phone, on a regular basis to help you with any questions, concerns, or even just helping to format an awesome cover letter. I don’t believe there is a single other bootcamp that will have as much support in this process, as HackerYou has. The goal is typically to get a job within 3 months of graduating. I got my first job as a developer literally 3 months to the day I graduated! Listen to Heather’s advice, continue to be excited and passionate about this awesome new adventure you’re embarking on, and you will get that first job!

This was a long review, but it’s good to know exactly what you’re getting into when you are deciding on spending a lot of money on an intense program. What I can say overall is that as challenging and stressful as this experience was, I have zero regrets, and honestly, wish I could take the bootcamp again because it was so much fun. Believe in the process, and you will succeed :)

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I took the part-time web dev course this summer while working full-time during the day at my regular job. As an instructor, Sarah did an awesome job keeping the classes upbeat, fun and relevant, especially for a technical heavy course. The class took place from 6:30 pm- 9 pm during on Tuesday and Thursday but not once felt like a drag after a long day at work. Was also really impressed by eh effort and quality of the 30-minute long video project review that she made for each of our individual projects in a class of 35 students. The feedback was constructive, detailed and personalized. Very much appreciated!

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I really enjoyed my time as a student at HackerYou and wished that I could have been there longer! The instructors, mentors, and staff are all reallly great as they are not only knowledgeable, but really reach out to you to ensure that you get the best support and experience while at HackerYou.

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I took the Intro/Advanced Web Development course this past summer just to get a feel of what basic coding was like. One of the best experiences of my life - the things that make this different from other crash coding schools and technical colleges are the mentors and the resources HackerYou gives. I'm hoping to take a few other part-time courses in the future and highly recommend this specific web dev course to people who are interested in coding!

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I signed up for the class just looking to learn a new skillset, but the experience was so great that I've enrolled in the upcoming bootcamp session. The instructors did an amazing job at making the classes engaging yet challenging, and they aslo managed to keep the learning environment relaxed and fun. 

While the amount of content and project deadlines may have felt daunting at times, it is definately rewarding as I was amazed at how much I actually know now that I've completed the course compared to when I first started. Not to mention the instructors are always willing to answer questions whether it be before or after class, or even during breaks, which is always helpful regardless of your coding level.

For anyone considering adding a new skillset I would highly recommend this course as I went from knowing next to nothing to feeling very confident in my web development abilites. and I can't wait to get started with the bootcamp where I'm confident I'll have a similar experience. 

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I just finished HackerYou's part-time web development course and I truly thought it was great. I went into it with little to no coding experience, with the intention of just wanting to have the skill to add to my resume. I ended up getting hooked and enrolling in the school's full time bootcamp which is coming up this fall.

The teachers were very good and engaging, they made sure to explain everything with a lot of detail/analogies, and coded along with us as they taught. They were very knowledgable about the material as well as information about the industry, and were always there to help and answer any questions.

I found the teaching methods and course material to be easy enough to follow along yet still somewhat challenging, making me want to learn more and more. The only thing I would suggest for them to improve is to allow for more time in between project deadlines, and for some order of the materials to be switched around (for example learning Sass earlier on so we can get more comfortable with it). All in all, I would highly reccomend HackerYou to anyone wanting to learn more coding skills whether they are total beginners or more advanced. 

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I had a wonderful time learning all about JS and jQuery during this spring course! The instructor and mentors were all incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. I loved that when we ran into issues, they challenged us to think about what might be going on with our code instead of just telling us how to fix it. They were also very approachable and not at all condescending, which is also what I value in an instructor or a mentor! The course is structured in a very logical way, and I definitely think that the exercises we did and the multiple projects that we worked on helped to solidify concepts and test our skills. With this new set of skills under my belt, I will finally be applying for a Junior Web Dev role at my existing company, and I can't wait!

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I studied intro and advanced JavaScript in spring 2017, taught by Drew Minns and assisted by Jordan, Trudy, and Garrett.

Starting with just a HTML/CSS background, I learned how functions can enable users to interact with your pages. The course focuses on teaching you a lot of fundamental knowledge and basics.   Combined together, this knowledge can be used to build some really build some really interesting programs on the browser.

I'm now able to send requests to API's and use the returned content to dynamically update a page.  I feel more confident in my ability to work through problems and approach them step by step.  The instructors are great, and their one on one guidance really helped unblock me when I was stuck.

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It was a great overall crash course to user experience design that really delved into as much as one can cover within a span of 12 weeks. Ricardo was really engaging and helpful during class and there was never a dull moment when he was teaching. All of the mentors were great and always approachable and willing to chat when there was free time. It was good to have something tangible to work on as the project and I appreciated that it encompassed both the visual and research aspects. As a designer it was great learning about design approaches and how to implement them in my work. I'd recommend the course to anyone interested in UX design!

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I took the Advanced UX course in Spring and it was even better than I expected!   Ricardo is hands down one of the BEST instructors I’ve ever had. He’s so knowledgeable and his enthusiasm for design is contagious. What struck me the most was how he was able to teach topics that are interesting to both UX designers and people with no design background.   Linn and Winter are the mentors of the class. They are very approachable and generous with their time. Their feedback was always valuable and insightful. They really help with pointing you in the right direction!   I only wish that there was less time dedicated to working on our projects in class and more time on the lessons. I would rather work on the project at my own time and learn more from Ricardo in class while I had the chance. Especially that the classes are in the late evening and my productivity is very low at that time. I was already drained from working all day and barely managed to get anything done in class, but then again that could be only me.   Glad I found this course! Read less

I took the Part Time Intro and Advanced Web Dev course in Spring 2017.

The curriculum was much more in depth that I was expecting, considering I had taken some online free coding courses in the past. But the instructors/mentors make sure that everyone is up to speed before moving on to new topics. They are totally fine answering any and all questions, even if you feel a little silly for asking them! And the code along exercises spaced throughout each class are extremely valuable to solidifying the skills you are building. And the three course projects really challenge you to apply everything you have learned, and really show you how much you have learned in just a short space of time!

I have never experienced such a welcoming and friendly environment, everyone is so willing to help each other and talk about their experiences, it is amazing!

I am really excited to apply to the full time bootcamp in the fall!

 

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I had little design expereience coming in to this but it turns out that the material was easy enough to absorb and I also learned how to use Sketch to create my first project. The topics covered in the UX class were very interesting and it makes you see every day objects/processes differently. The instructors were very kind and always open to answering any questions. The space is clean and the location (Queen and Spadina) is easily accessible which is great since I attend class after work and it's an easy commute. I would highly recommend HackerYou because I'm sure the quality of their other classes are just as good.

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The Part-Time Web Development course at HackerYou was exactly what I was looking for.  It gave me a chance to "dip my toes" in the world of web development and gain a better idea if it was an industry I would be interested in transferring into.

The program provided me with an impressive amount of practical skill development. I went from knowing nothing about creating websites to creating 3 different sites over the duration of the course.  

The teaching style is very hands-on and project based, allowing for an engaging classroom environment. There are also a number of "mentors" in addition to the class instructor who attend every class to help work through problems on-the-fly.  Through the instructor and mentors, the students also get a glimpse of the breadth of the industry and potential careers/opportunities therein.

HackerYou's facilities are convenient, clean, modern and user-friendly.  There is a lounge with kitchen, couches, etc.  I felt very comfortable in the physical space.

Overall, I would recommend this program to anyone looking to get a better understanding of the wed development industry, and/or learn a set of in-demand and practical skills. I've decided to continue into the Web Development Full Time Immersive program in the summer and am looking forward to diving in full-time!
 

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The part-time Web Development course at HackerYou has been a challenging and very rewarding experience. While the information was not hard to grasp, the amount of information was overwhelming at times. I found the 3 projects really pushed me to integrate all of the information in a way that made sense. The structure and flow of the course was very well organized and Anne was an incredible teacher. I absolutely loved her teaching style!! The mentors were very helpful and friendly and ready to help whenever you needed it. I took this course to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. I am a designer and have been building websites after I created one for myself. Once I started doing it for others I realized there was a limit to what I could accomplish with a template. After this course I feel confident that I can now get the results that I want and more. And the bonus is that I really enjoy coding. Thank you HackerYou for opening my eyes to the world beyond my computer screen. 

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I attended Hackeryou's PT Web-Dev course in Spring 2017. My instructor was Haris Mahmood and he was awesome. Super smart, funny, engaging, and easy to talk to. I have never been more excited to come to a class in my educational career and I am very grateful that I made the decision to attend Hackeryou as opposed to other tech schools in Toronto. I found the community very genuine and supportive and I made some great friends/ connections here. The projects were applicable to real- world scenarios and were a great way to practice the skills learned in lectures.

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My journey at HackerYou began in the summer 2016 part time course and I was so immediately taken with the school’s vibe (think career-focussed fast paced but also unpretentious and relaxed learning environment) that I jumped right into the full time bootcamp that fall. My part-time instructors were Drew and Tiff, who did an excellent job of covering everything you need to know about HTML and CSS in a highly detailed and comprehensive way, while also being super chill. They seamlessly incorporated learning how to code with industry standards and best practices. I would recommend this course to anyone who is considering a career change or who is curious about how to make beautiful websites. Through my studies at HackerYou I have made a full career change and went from working in TV to a front end developer at a software company where my focus is working with the UX/UI team to create a beautiful product.

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I joined the Winter 2017 Introduction to web development and thoroughly enjoyed my time at HackerYou. I learned coding in a very welcoming, project-based environment and would recommend the course to anyone interested in web development. The instructors and mentors were very caring and friendly, and the topics chosen were incredibly handy. There were some topics I wish we could have lingered on a little bit longer, and I wish there were more collaborative group projects, but other than that I give all my praises to this school! Read less

I took the part-time Intro + Advanced course at HackerYou in 2014! 

Wes Bos was the instructor with Anne and Ryan as the mentors. Both mentors are still with HackerYou – Anne teaches an Intro to Web Development and Ryan is the Head Instructor & Development Lead – which is a great bonus for all current and future students. Both mentors are truly great – patient, helpful, and knowledgeable without ever being anything less than completely approachable. Anne even helped me with a non-HackerYou work-related project before class one evening, which was enormously helpful. It was a JavaScript bug I spent two days staring at without making any progress. Thanks to Anne I was able to fix the problem and submit the project in a much-improved form. 

The style of learning – hands-on and project-based with lots of little exercises in the mix – was super beneficial for me! Not only is this the way I personally learn best, but it also means that at the end of the program, each student has real, working projects to show off to friends, family, or employers. You can point to a website or web application with pride and satisfaction (something I experienced rarely in other formal educational environments). I was even able to use a HackerYou project as the basis of a work project (bonus points for getting paid to learn!).

With the skills I developed at HackerYou, I gained a sureness in my abilities I don't think I would otherwise have. And at work, I moved more quickly into complex projects with less assistance from co-workers and greater success (and more positive feedback from my bosses). 

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I can't say enough good things about HackerYou. I just completed the part-time Intro to Web Development and Advanced Web Development courses a few weeks ago, and it has been such a wonderful learning experience. At HackerYou, the instructors and mentors are so knowledgeable, insightful, easygoing, and patient, and it truly makes the entire learning experience unparalleled. 

It was really useful having so many practical in-class exercises that really solidify the concepts you learn so that you can easily apply them in the real world. 

Moreover, HackerYou has the most supportive and welcoming community for both current students and alumni, and I'm so glad to be a part of it! 

Currently, I'm further refining my the skills I've learned by doing small projects for myself/friends while also learning about JavaScript before my Introduction to JavaScript/jQuery course at HackerYou starts next week!

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