Le Wagon

The school in Barcelona is located in a co-working space near La Sagrada Familia, it has a good kitchen, balcony, supermarket below and restaurants nearby. The classroom itself is like a small lecturing room in the corner of one of the co-working floors and you can break out to the co-working desks (if available) to do the day's work.

The buddy learning system (assigned a different coding buddy each day) in the early weeks really helps you with both learning the material and getting to know your classmates. Le Wagon also has a great support ticket system as well. Overall, I found the infrastructure and implementation of Le Wagon's course work to be super student friendly.

There are different teachers for different components of the course, for our batch they were often seconded from other Le Wagon bootcamps or are freelancers, so didn't necessarily have teaching experience. Therefore some teachers were markedly better than others when it comes to both lecturing and troubleshooting. That being said, Barcelona is a new location and the teachers seem to change with each batch, and you can also watch video lectures from the Paris bootcamp in French or English if you need to.

By week 9 though, you've gone from knowing nothing about code to building an fully functional app with a couple of your peers, experiencing a new city and making a ton of international friends along the way - for me that was an exhilterating and rewarding experience, as the title says, it still feels like a dream.

Final verdict: the coursework was excellent, my classmates rocked, Barcelona is an amazing city, but for the money paid, the standard of teaching staff could have been higher.

I’ve graduated from Le Wagon batch #18, about 4 months ago. I am 30-year-old and I have been working intensively for the past 6 years. I felt a bit nervous about getting back to a classroom into an intense learning situation for 9 weeks straight. I had read and heard a lot about the intensity of the program and how demanding it would be. I had never been the best at school and I didn’t have any engineering background. In a nutshell, I didn’t felt like I had the best profile and I was feeling anxious. Despite all, I consider that graduating from the Le Wagon was the best thing that happened to me for a real long time. Here is why…

 

Getting back to learning mode and building a new skill

Once you graduate from university how often will you get a chance to dedicate yourself 100% at learning a new skill for 2 months straight? And yet, isn’t the XXIst century economy all about adaptability, continuous learning and building fresh skills?

Of course, each day at work brings its shares of learning in some sense. But putting your career on hold for a couple of months and dedicating yourself to something really new has the ability to reconnect with the incredible power of learning. By breaking up my routine, I quickly felt excited again by discovering new stuff and I wanted to share this excitement around me. It really reminded me that we should always keep a fresh mindset and we should always aim for the step learning curve.

Sheryl Sandberg once said “Build your skills, not your resume”. Well that is exactly what Le Wagon is all about.

 

Getting a 360 overview

How often do you learn to build a project from beginning to end all on your own? Professionally, I knew a lot of things before joining Le Wagon but I have never been competent enough in a specific field so that I could do it all by myself. In that sense, the full stack program, which goes through back end, front end and infrastructure topics, gives you an incredible feeling of freedom and independence.

On top of it, even if you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve next, or which job opportunity you are aiming at, I would strongly advise to go for a full stack / generalist bootcamp program. Coding is such a long run that, for me, it doesn’t make any sense to focus right away. You have the rest of your programing life to focus, so why rushing?

 

Finally, here are the 2 most common questions I get when people ask me about Le Wagon.

Do I need to have a clear project in mind in order to be efficient?  

Absolutely not. In fact, I would think the opposite. People who showed up with an extremely specific project in mind tend to only see classes through this particular prism and might miss some things. Coming with no project enables you to get there with a free mind and get the best out of each and every classes.  

 

Where do I stand when I finish Le Wagon?

Learning ruby is just like learning any spoken language: there is the theoretical part and the practice. I remember learning Portuguese listening to podcasts in the bus for months. When I got to Brazil, I had never spoken with anyone and hence no one understood a single word I was saying. I believe it would be the same for ruby.

Le Wagon makes sure that you have all the theory right and give you basis of practice. Some within the class pick up much faster than others but ultimately, the only thing that matter is what are you going within the next 6 to 12 months. Ultimately, I see coding a bit like poker: it takes five minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. You will realize very quickly that it is impossible to learn all the coding tricks within 2 months but Le Wagon will guide you on how to find these tricks for the rest of your life. 

I attended the bootcamp of Le Wagon in Amsterdam. It was an amazing experience. Within three months I learned all the different steps of building a website: front-end, back-end, and working with the database. 

They use very creative methods to learn you how to code, without ever using any books. It was an amazing experience I am happy I took this unique experiences. I feel more confident know with my computer skills. 

I graduated from Le Wagon in May 2015 in Paris, and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone with even the most remote interest in coding.

I recently attended a Q&A with DHH (creator of Ruby on Rails, the web framework taught at Le Wagon), where he said:

“Learn to code. If not to be a coder, then to understand the world.”

Le Wagon is the perfect doorway to begin that journey.

My Background

After an amazing learning experience in high school, I was less than enthused with my university experience (liberal arts). So I quit after my BA and took a job at a big company. 4 years later, I grew tired of the corporate culture and handed in my resignation to do Le Wagon.

The Bootcamp

All I wanted from the bootcamp was learning to code. But what I got from the bootcamp was much more:

• the Program: the program is excellently designed, both in pace and content. I really liked the no-nonsense approach to the material and the intensity was high but appropriate.
• the Team: the team behind the program is a rare combination of technical and human skills.
• the Network: with over 500 current alumnis and counting, the program keeps on giving beyond the 9 weeks it lasts. Whether you’re looking for a job or have a technical hiccup you need help with, the network has your back. Across 12 cities in 8 different countries.
• the Culture: learning code is one thing. But the human experience is a huge factor for me, especially under intense working conditions.. And that was my favorite thing from Le Wagon: the optimism that permeated everything about the program. You leave not only with an arsenal of new tech skills, but with a new mindset. The mindset of someone who doesn’t stop until something is working exactly like you intended. The mindset of a coder, of an entrepreneur, of a “Wagoneer”.

Le Wagon is the best educational experience I’ve ever had, and I will always look back at those 9 weeks as defining both personally and for my career.

After 7 years as VP Sales in a startup, it was time for me to have fun with code.

I was clearly determined to become a web developer.

At start, I tried hard to learn by myself with online courses, but It was really hard to link all these elements. I was able to create simple algorithms, but how to store it ? how to create a simple interface for web users ? how to share an URL to target my users ? At start, Internet is a mess !...

My luck was, a good CTO friend told me he just hired a young ‘graduated’ developer from Le Wagon and it was a good surprise for him and for his team. That was such an argument so after passing tests, I started to learn how to code with Le Wagon during the winter 2018. I really loved this experience working with other students with the same will to succeed in coding. Program and teachers are well-honed and after 9 weeks I was the first surprised by all the things I was able to accomplish.

After Le Wagon I practiced as a freelancer for small projects and since septembre 2018, I’m now CTO in a young company and I am having a lot of fun coding every day..

I have always been fascinated by great tech products and have always had plenty of ideas on how to make them better or come up with radically new ones. However, I always lacked the technical skills to make my ideas reality.

I did LeWagon to overcome this situation but would never have believed that I would actually learn this much. The LeWagon curriculum is incredibly well organized and just perfect for absolute coding beginners. The 9 weeks are intense but it's a super fun experience and the teachers are great. It really is a community and you can feel that the teachers are passionate about coding and want you to learn the skill.

Although, I am not working in a technical position strictly speaking, my technical skills help me in my day to day job. As a Business Developer I have to understand our product (Payment API) really well and I am currently working on a prototype to test a new use case for our product. Moreover, I am still working on a coding side project. 

In short, once you do the LeWagon Bootcamp you will never want to stop coding. I have recommended 3 friends to LeWagon since I left, which pretty much says it all

Very interesting bootcamp allowing me to get a better idea of what the job of web developer implicates; the system is very well designed with the students that can become teachers and improve they way it is done. 

Le Wagon has been a life changing experience for me. I used to work at Conde Nast in New York City then moved to London. I was starting an app with my sister and got frustrated not being able to understand the web developers we were working with. I decided to put the project on hold and enrol at le Wagon London. At first, the program was hard but after a few weeks all made sense. During the program, I met my business partner, with who I now have a company called Socialive TV. We launched a little under a year ago and couldn’t be happier. Without le Wagon none of this could have happened!

I’d heard so much about Le Wagon before I started the course that I was afraid it was going to be overrated. Boy, I wasn’t disappointed. The curriculum is well thought out, like Lego bricks that you assemble. And the social experiment is definitely a highlight: meeting classmates who took the same risk as I did, the risk to learn something completely new and to perhaps also change their lives. 

But the most satisfying and rewarding part was to build the final project from scratch with my own hands (and with those of my 3 fantastic group members). Prior to the bootcamp, I was working as an Investment Analyst at a VC firm in Singapore and I was so frustrated about not being able to build anything except legal documents, Investment Memorandums and Excel spreadsheets. When I came back to Paris, I got seriously ill and wasn’t able to do anything for a long while as my frustration ramped up. Le Wagon helped me find a way back into the working world as I now work as an auto-entrepreneur building websites for others and for myself. Now I can’t go a day without thinking about coding new projects!

The course itself felt pretty comprehensive but after the daily lecture, you will be paired up with a buddy to work through it and re-teach each other. This in principle could change Software Engineers from working independently to collaborative professionals. This worked well in week one, but after a while individuals learning speeds differed and so did the motivation to be a good buddy. This became detrimental to one student's learnings who felt she could not continue because of the constant stream of poor buddies and a situation with a rather unharmonious final project team. The Teaching assistants also varied in approachability and care. All having different ways of fixing issues. One major thing was the minimal attempts Le wagon made to help with employment, 2 out of 5 Recruiters didn't turn up and not one business or Recruitment agency had a real role to interview for, they were simply connecting for the future. Employability is a real issue, despite the Teaching assitants promising to be on hand afterwards on the alumni slack channel, they have been pretty slow to respond.

Working in the sales department of e-commerce companies, I couldn’t help myself looking at ways we could improve our users experience. I was slowly moving towards the product side. I wanted to land a product manager position. But how do you talk to your programmer’s mates if you never coded anything? That’s why I joined Le Wagon. What happened next is just a life changing experience ! It was intense, fun and rewarding. I didn’t think I could learn that much skills in such a short period of time. You can feel the curriculum is crafted iteration after iteration, batch after batch. The teachers are all experts. You don’t lose time searching hours to debug your code. Experienced staff are there to solve your problems and teach you how to walk by yourself. I ended up loving coding so much that I changed my life’s goal to become a full time programmer. After the bootcamp you will enter in Le Wagon community and be able to get in touch with alumni who became experts in many fields. This is priceless !

Working in the sales department of e-commerce companies, I couldn’t help myself looking at ways we could improve our users experience. I was slowly moving towards the product side. I wanted to land a product manager position. But how do you talk to your programmer’s mates if you never coded anything? That’s why I joined Le Wagon. What happened next is just a life changing experience ! It was intense, fun and rewarding. I didn’t think I could learn that much skills in such a short period of time. You can feel the curriculum is crafted iteration after iteration, batch after batch. The teachers are all experts. You don’t lose time searching hours to debug your code. Experienced staff are there to solve your problems and teach you how to walk by yourself. I ended up loving coding so much that I changed my life’s goal to become a full time programmer. After the bootcamp you will enter in Le Wagon community and be able to get in touch with alumni who became experts in many fields. This is priceless !

Le wagon bootcamp was an incredible experience. At the beginning I just wanted to better understand coding to be able to discuss with developers. Through the bootcamp I realized I could even build my own mvp for the company I planned to build. The skills I learnt are now very useful in my everyday life, a new card to play in the tech ecosystem. 
The human experience was also outstanding! I met true friends in my class, a great way to meet people with different backgrounds, different stories, and same tech interest.
I highly recommend this training! 
Augustin

At the end of 2017 – at the dawn of turning 30 - I decided it was time to move on from my employed life and finally do something I have always wanted to do : launching my own start up and developing an online product which could have impact on people lives. 
First issue : I did not have money to get my product developed by someone else, it was time to learn how to code and of course I chose the best bootcamp to do so : Le Wagon Paris.
9 weeks to be able to start coding my own web product, starting level 0 - quite a big challenge ! It was intense but the team is just incredible and does everything to make sure you keep the pace and a good energy. 
I graduated 3 months ago, my MVP is today over and is currently in beta test – I did everything by myself, now that I look back I’m quite proud – 6 months ago I did not know what coding was. 
Without Le Wagon – my idea would still be in my thoughts – thank you for allowing people to keep the digital revolution growing!

I have always been fascinated to see how a digital product can become a must-have for millions of users: my business training allowed me to understand the economic issues but the technical aspect remained for me a great mystery.
At the end of my studies, I wanted to join Le Wagon in Paris to better understand the world of digital entrepreneurship but also to be part of it.
This goal has been reached! Today I'm working as Product Owner for a start-up which is growing very fast. Thanks again to the entire Wagon team for teaching me how to code and helping students in their future careers.

Trabajé en una startup donde constantemente necesitábamos cambiar nuestro producto y adaptarlo a nuevos clientes. Para hacer un buen producto se necesita un perfecto entendimiento entre quienes venden el producto a los clientes y quienes lo desarrollan... cosa que no siempre se cumple. Es por esto que decidí hacer el curso de Lewagon, para transformarme en una project manager profesional y hablar el "mismo idioma" que los developers.  Lo más importante es estar preparado para poder resolver cualquier problema, y  Lewagon es un experto en esto. Enseñan de forma tal que no te dan las respuestas sino que te enseñan a encontrarlas.   La modalidad intensiva hace que estes 9 semanas enfocado solo en coding y que el aprendizaje sea óptimo. Los profesores son excelentes y logran potenciar al máximo a cada alumno. Recomiendo el curso para todo aquel que tenga ganas de desafiarse, autosuperarse y quiera poder crear cualquier producto en cualquier momento de su vida.

Le Wagon is amazing. It was  a great it experience, it gave me the fundamentals and helped me to become a better problem solver and exposed me to the world of Software Engineering. As an American residing in the San Francisco Bay Area there are a plethora of coding bootcamps but they are 6x times as much as Le Wagon. Le Wagon gave me the most value for the amount of money I spent, I felt it was one of the best decsions I have made overall. 

Intense and tough, but totally worth it. I previously worked in communication and marketing with zero background in coding. Then decided to do something else and stumbled upon this thing called a coding bootcamp and am really glad I went for it! The bootcamp was hard, but not impossible. You quickly realise that you don't need a background in maths or engineering or be a genius to learn to code, you need to be persistent. 

The teachers at Le Wagon are really good, everyone is friendly and motivated, the curriculum is really well designed in that it gives you a well-rounded knowledge of programming. Full stack is a great way to start if you don't know where to begin to learn programming as you get exposed to both front end and back end elements of programming. 

 

Great social life, hanging out with other students on weekends and evenings. And Amsterdam is of course a great city!

I highly recommend Le Wagon Amsterdam.

I joined le Wagon Paris after a master degree in innovation management in Grenoble, in the French Alps. There, I launched a fablab for a company. This experience leads me to learn hardware prototyping. Then, I just wanted to learn software development to get a great toolbox for building stuff. Le Wagon was a bootstrapping learning experience. It was a great opportunity for me to learn web development, discover Paris startup ecosystem, and have great time with buddies.  Today, it gave me a great confidence in launching things even if I wasn't a coding rockstar.  In september, I want to work on UX design in startups. And then, in a few years, I might switch to Product Management. But for now, I’ll keep summertime to code my side projects as well as to start some freelance work on the French seaside. It’s easy to keep learning with Le Wagon’s learning platform and the great community on Slack ! It is worth it

I graduated from business school followed by spending 4 years working in Mergers and Acquisitions in Paris focused on fast growing European technology companies. Rubbing shoulders daily with highly successful entrepreneurs analysing their products and markets has opened my eyes to the impact and power of technology on societies.  It inspired me to build my own tech company and not be at the fringe of the action any longer.  Which leads me to Le Wagon.

The camp at Bali without a doubt met its promise of a perfect environment to balance coding with a relaxing lifestyle to enhance our learning even further.  I believe this played a crucial part in and am still impressed that in the short duration of the camp, I had already accumulated the skills to build the MVP of my product idea.  Another invaluable take away was the experience of working with my camp mates as a team which gave me the confidence of hiring a co-graduate as my first CTO.  I am proud to say that without Le Wagon I wouldn't have been able to push my company forward to make my stamp and really make a difference in this world.