Le Wagon

After a business school in France and several internships in startups and Venture Capital funds, I decided to attend a coding bootcamp at Le Wagon. I had a rather business and analytical profile thanks to my study and my professional experiences but I had a lack of tech skills and awareness. Le Wagon allows me to have a wide scope of the coding environment (from Ruby to Javascript with notion of SQL). Thanks to this bootcamp, I was able to continue to develop coding skills by learning Python online and to write scripts to interact with APIs. All of these will allow me to automate a lot of tasks in my future job that is to me more and more essential today. I am glad to have done this coding bootcamp and be part of Le Wagon community which helped me a lot in having a better overview of tech jobs !

I had a great, great experience at LeWagon Buenos Aires and would highly recommend it, especially for beginners/people who are changing careers. I did quite a bit of research before choosing a school, and I chose LeWagon because it has been around for a few years, I read great reviews both on CourseReport/SwitchUp and on various people's blogs, and also it seemed to be great great value (the one in BA was especially great value). I had never done any coding before, so I wasn't sure yet if I wanted to become a computer programmer, and I wasn't ready to drop $20,000 for a bootcamp in the US. 

I was really impressed with the curriculum at LeWagon. Each day and each week, I would look back at what I had accomplished and would be amazed with what we had accomplished. It's all very well done, and I liked the daily schedule as well - it worked well for me. 

Although I learned a lot the first 6 weeks of the bootcamp, for me, the most fun weeks were the last 3 in which we got to actually work on projects. I'm really proud of what my team created for the final project, and it's something that I feel confident including in my GitHub portfolio. I also learned so much during that period that I now feel comfortable launching small web apps on my own. I still feel like I have a lot more to learn, but I at least feel that I have a strong foundation from which I can build upon which is so important. Before the bootcamp, I had trouble studying on my own. Now I feel much more comfortable working on my own. 

But the main reason I would highly recommend LeWagon Buenos Aires specifically is that the teachers were amazing. They were incredibly dedicated -- I couldn't believe how many hours they put in, giving 100% energy all the time. The two teachers that I had also complemented each other really well. They both obviously cared so much about each and every one of the students - they followed up with each of us regularly, giving us advice and asking us how we were feeling about the material. They were highly knowledgeable, motivating, and patient. I really can't emphasize enough how incredible they were.  

The only negative thing about LeWagon is that there isn't really much job assistance, but I knew that going in, so I don't really mind that, and for the cost of the program, I'd say it's still completely worth it without the job assitance. The alumni network is also very active on Slack, so we get access to lots of job postings through that which is great! 

All in all, the program is GREAT value and I highly recommend the LeWagon at Buenos Aires! 

Whilst on a sabbatical from my career in strategy consulting, I did Le Wagon in order to understand a bit more about tech and how to build websites. This was primarily to help me with my own long term aspirations of setting up my own start-up. Ultimately, the course did just this and provided me with a solid background and understanding as to the coding process and how the various parts of a stack fit together. Creating real life products such as an airbnb website and a tinder for tennis web-app helped to solidify those learnings. Whilst this course is designed for those that want to transition careers into a coding role or re-fresh their knowledge; it is flexible and rigorous enough to provide useful learnings to those who are just dipping their toes in.

For a start, my background is only a single semester in Computer Science (and tons of hours in Codecademy 😁).

For a long time, I’ve always been fascinated in the programming world. I remember my first time looking at bits of HTML/CSS code (around 6-8 years ago) and was confused on what it was. Although, my confusion only sparked my curiosity. There began my first time actually learning about HTML and CSS (and yes I did not know of JavaScript at this time). Unfortunately, I didn’t really know how to proceed and nothing really came out of it.

Fast forward to 2 months ago, I joined Le Wagon with the hopes and goals of gaining knowledge for what I’ve always been passionate about and actually build something concrete and live for everyone to see. On the other hand, I got to meet and spend time with a lot of people from all over the world during the bootcamp, which in itself was a bonus! (shoutout to batch #253!)

I remember my first day in the bootcamp clearly, setup day (probably one of the hardest days, lol). After the setup was finished, it was time to rock and roll. First set of challenges for the day, done, Boom🚀. The excitement and thrill for the next days and challenges were experiences that are hard to forget.

For 9 weeks, my life was an adventure. Everyday, we learn new things. The teachers said that the first three weeks would be intense, so I buckled up and prepared myself for the ride. I’ll be honest, some days were quite bumpy, a couple of roadblocks here and there. But thankfully, the teachers were there to help and guide us. Stuck on a challenge? Frustrated and don’t know what to do? Ask the teachers for help and they will help you until you understand. (shoutout to the teachers, you guys are amazing👌)

Week by week, I learnt a lot of new things. Pieces of a bigger puzzle that I will get to touch later on in the bootcamp. From Ruby, Object Oriented Programming, Databases, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and eventually Rails, the bigger puzzle. Rails (and project weeks) was definitely my favourite part of the bootcamp. All the things I’ve learnt in 6 weeks, I finally got to piece all of them together into one single thing, a web app. I was ecstatic! I finally achieved one of the reasons why I joined the bootcamp.

Now all of this boils down to one thing, the end project, which takes place in the last two weeks of the bootcamp. We were separated into groups (in which we sort of choose by ourselves). Different groups, different products, but all of us share the same goal, build a web app/product.

14th of June 2019, the last day, or as we call it Demo day was an amazing experience for me. We got to showcase our new abilities that we’ve learnt for the past 9 weeks into something real and in front of a giant crowd!

In the end, Le Wagon successfully exceeded my expectations. My hopes and goals are now accomplished👍, with everything I’ve learnt in the past nine weeks, I am now equipped with the knowledge and ability to dive into the programming world and I am now ready to set new goals for the future me.

 

During my studies of Economics in Frankfurt I have developed a interest for IT and after I graduated with the Bachelor I made the decision to learn how to code. A friend of mine who experienced a similar education chosed Le Wagon and told me about his experience before and after the Bootcamp. This has encouraged me in my decision to participate in the Le Wagon Bootcamp and it was absolutely worth it.

The experiences I made during the bootcamp were overwhelming. I got to know a lot of interesting people and learned a lot of new things.The time during the bootcamp was very challenging but the environment and the atmosphere in everyday life contributed to the fact that it was a lot of fun. But it was not only the time during the lessons but also the time with the teachers and other participants that made it so special.

Barcelona is a very liveable city. I lived in the district Gracia near the Le Wagon campuses. Gracia has a lot to offer there are many cool bars and restaurants and the people are all very relaxed. The city generally exudes a spirit of its own and offers with many events opportunities to get to know new people outside of the course. One of my personal highlights was the Placa del Sol, where many people met in the evenings to drink a beer, make music or just sit in the sun and talk.

For the future students of Le Wagon I would highly recommend the bootcamp. It is lots of fun but also hard work it is necessary but worth it to fully commit to the program. My  advise would be to revise the daily challenges either with the provided videos or with the flashcards it helps a lot while learning so many new things everyday. But besides all the studying you should not forget to enjoy the city of barcelona with all its variety.

My name is Frederic, I am soon to be 24yrs old, and originally from France.    I am a former Le Wagon student, but before I did this school I used to work in hospitality. After 7 years In this field where I did everything from cook, waiter, bartender and supervisor, I arrived to a point where I knew I needed to change my path in life. I was tired of the long hours (10-12h), the stress, angry customers and disrespect.    I wasn’t happy anymore, and wanted a career that stimulated my intelligence, and where I can constantly learn and improve myself. Growing up I always had an interest in IT, so I decided to search online for an IT school where I could learn Coding. Preferably in a fast way as I couldn’t stay too long without a job.   After finding a few different schools, there was one in particular that caught my eye. It was Le Wagon ! And what’s so special about Le Wagon you ask ? They teach you Coding in only 2 months, and they make it very easy for you to find a job right after.    After careful consideration I decided to apply for it. Shortly after I had my Skype interview with the school manager (Alex), and once I passed that interview I was given the Prep Work that all student need to do to be prepared for the Bootcamp.    Once the Bootcamp started I got very motivated to see that there were 41 other students just like me wanting to change their lives. Everyone was really supportive and the atmosphere was really chill even though the course was really intensive.      As this is such an intensive course and you have to learn so many things it’s normal sometimes if you feel like you don’t understand, or start to question wether you will be able to find a job after. But I tell you what, all the staff (the manager and all the teachers) are incredibly supportive. They take their time to explain, help and motivate you along the way. This whole experience has been life changing for me. I had the chance to make some good friendships and connections, and managed to find (less than a month after) a job as a Software Developer.    A big thank you to Le Wagon London and their staff for making this whole bootcamp a life changing experience.    If you are wondering whether you should do it or not. Just stop wondering and go for it, you will never regret it. Good luck

Working as Graphic designer since several years I decided to give new impetus to my professional career by following the training offered by Le Wagon Lausanne. This school showed me an absolutely fascinating world based on the sharing of knowledge. The teachers are very professional and are available for each one throughout the training. The school subject is complete for anyone wanting to start a career in web development. I thank Le Wagon for making me discover a new passion.

I was working as an IT-Consultant implementing ERP systems for many years and felt it was time for a change. Since I always wanted to learn how to code but could not afford the time while working full time (especially in Japan!), I decided to take leave from my company for two months (which they gratefully agreed to) and joined the Le Wagon boot camp in Meguro, Tokyo. I felt at home at once surrounded by awesome teachers and people from all around the world and had the most awesome time. The best thing is that I can now confidently say - I learned how to code! I can now create prototypes on my own even with languages we did not use at the boot camp (e.g. Python) while - probably the most important skill I learned there - being able to catch up on stuff I don't understand yet by using Google/the internet, a task I just could not do before joining the boot camp. I rejoined my company again now working as part engineer/part consultant in projects utilizing Internet of Things concepts, Deep Learning and lots of Web-engineering. Work became so much more fun!  

Before joining Le Wagon I worked in Consulting and Finance. Despite learning a lot in these two industries, I was looking for a job that would give more meaning to my life and through which I would work on tangible products that can impact people’s lives. Also, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur in the next two years.
Therefore getting into the exciting and booming tech sector made a lot of sense. My civil engineering background and my analytical way of reasoning made a coding bootcamp the most appealing bridge to that sector. Choosing a bootcamp was an obvious decision thanks to Le Wagon’s reputation.
The 9 weeks went very well, I felt intellectually challenged and satisfied, learned a lot,  and found a passion. The limitless pool of things that coding allows you to do, from machine learning models to making people’s everyday lives easier, is something I find very exciting. Additionally, it is an ability that cannot be found in other industries and jobs. Also, I get a lot of satisfaction from building tangible automated products.

I come from a liberal arts background but have always been passionate about tech. After graduating from university, I worked for a tech startup, but I quickly realized I wanted to understand the product on a deeper level. I had been wanting to learn how to code for some time and heard about Le Wagon from multiple people around me. The timing was finally right and it felt like the perfect opportunity.

Trust me, the reviews barely do justice to the amazing experience it is! The staff is incredibly dedicated to us, and although the program itself can be intense at times, I cannot stress how rewarding it is. If you had told me I would have learned everything I have throughout this Bootcamp, I would not have dared to believe you. Moreover, you're not just learning how to code, but applying these skills into building a real product, as well as becoming part of the community that is Le Wagon.

Loved everything about it and would strongly recommend. 

C’est pendant un voyage d’un an que je découvre le Wagon et le code, à l’autre bout du monde, et c’est presque comme une évidence que je me suis lancée dans l’aventure à mon retour. Issue du milieu juridique et financier, je n’avais absolument aucune connaissance dans le développement! Pour autant la pédagogie du Wagon permet au plus débutants d’entre nous de progresser très rapidement et de prendre confiance. C’est un véritable challenge, les neufs semaines sont intenses mais les résultats sont clairement au rendez-vous ! L’équipe pédagogique du Wagon Bordeaux est toujours dispo, à l’écoute et bienveillante, c’est un véritable point fort. La plateforme où se trouve les cours et les exercices est très bien faite également.

 

Mais le Wagon c’est aussi une expérience humaine où l’on partage 9 semaines avec des personnes issues de background riches et variés. On apprend sur nous, sur les autres et c’est sans doute ce qui rend cette formation aussi inoubliable !