Makers Academy Reviews
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O
Not for the faint of heart!
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Expect to take out four months of your life. This course is absoloutely amazing but it will consume your everything. The PreCourse is a great taster as to what to expect, with numerous Ruby challenges and the bare basics which lay a great foundation for the in house 12 week course. The Coaches are all fantastic, but I will say if you're looking to be spoonfed then Makers is not for you. The majority of the learning is independent, there are group projects along the way but please understand that you must become comfortable with setting your own work plan each day.
The location is perfect and easy to get to, any equipment you need is easily available and Dana (Chief Joy Officer) offers the perfect balance to unwind after a hard day of coding.
If you're looking for a real experience of what to expect as a newbie joining the world of world of tech then Makers is really for you. The Careers Team are a force to be reckoned with. They organise amazing careers talks and are available for talks whenever you need them. In my opinion, this is where the £8000 fee pays off. The advice and knowledge they provide is just fantastic and all the online blogs in the world cannot match them.
However, you still need to be proactive. A job will not just land at your feet.
The curriculum is fast paced so you need to be strict with yourself but also very organised.
Overall, Makers is the only bootcamp in London really worth your time. If you are umming and ahhring about whether to do, be like Nike: Just Do It.
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Marek
Amazingly enjoyable and transformative 12 weeks
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I live in the United States but I attended Makers in July 2018. Makers provided me with the most fun and knowledge-filled experience I have had in my life. The course moves at a fantastic pace - just fast enough to keep you in that magical zone between comfort and panic. Everyone I met at Makers was an absolutely pleasure to get to know which speaks volumes about their selection process. The staff is extremely receptive to suggestions on how to improve the course and it is obvious that the course is improving constantly. Makers provides each student with a fantastic location and sense of family both throughout the course and after - allowing for continued 'post-course' direction from both coaches and the career team, as well as a great network of alumni and events to attend. I was quite sad to have to leave back to the United States after graduating, and was a bit nervous that the Makers reputation would not carry over to my local companies, but I received an interview within the first week of applying as well as multiple others that I had to cancel after getting a great offer from the very first company. I'm beyond impressed with Makers and the results I have witnessed since attending and I would recommend this course to anyone willing to make an effort to change their lives.
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Agnes
The most well spent 16 weeks of my life
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Makers Academy is the place to be if you want to bring change into your life. It does not matter where you have come from if you are committed and determined you will achieve your goals. I was surrounded by wonderful, motivated people from different walks of life but Makers also attracts like-minded people when it comes to persistence, work ethic, and open-mindedness. The curriculum was very hard sometimes, and I strongly recommend reading blog posts about the experience because it is a very intense course. The weekly and weekend challenges were diverse and they were regularly updated based on feedback from previous cohorts. We were introduced to quite a few technologies as well as encouraged to look into things interesting to us. The coaches are great and very helpful but the students need to know when to ask for help. This is a skill that's worth practicing during the course. Other than showing us the best practices for coding, this boot camp also stands out because of its fantastic emotional intelligence curriculum, daily meditation and twice a week yoga session. After finishing the course, the careers team supported me all the way to make sure I was ready for the interviews. Their optimism and energy inspired me every day, and they worked really hard to find the places that are perfect fits for juniors.
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Magyar-Hunor Tamas
Makers Academy is AMAZING
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I can not tell anything else than if you want to become a Software Developer then there is no better solution than Makers Academy.
The course is tough, but the methodologies, the principles and techniques you learn during the course are in the highest demand on the market at the moment. They also keep the curriculum updated to demands.
I had such an amazing 14 weeks with makers ( course on site + jobhunt ) and I can only recommend it.
I've learnt a lot about myself thanks to their Chief Joy Officer, Dana, whose curriculum about Emotional Intelligence taught us for example how to be kind to ourself so that we can push to our really bests.
The onboarding team, the careers team, the whole Makers staff and of course all the students are amazing poeple. I've made friends for life here and I'd be more than happy to life my life just coming back and doing the course over and over.
I can not say anything else than thanks for changing my life, thanks for helping me become a Software Developer and thanks for bringing such a big value to people.
If anybody wants to reach out for any questions, I am more than happy to answer, find me on LinkedIn or twitter. -
Lucas Salmins
Life-changing - haven't looked back
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If you're looking for some solid coding skills and access to a new career path, Makers is the place for you. The monumental task of squeezing huge amounts of base knowledge for web development is expertly managed in the 3-month window, leaving graduates with a solid foundation to build on in a web development career. Learning how to learn is the name of the game. I couldn't recommend it more
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Tom Spencer
Best Bootcamp for Coding!
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This is an excellent bootcamp. The course is highly selective so you get to train with an excellent cohort of students who are driven and ambitious. The tutors are supportive and although you learn to work independently you are carefully guided if you experience any more intransigent coding issues. I am absolutely thrilled that I was able to experience this course and it is no exaggeration to say that completing the course has changed my career opportunities. The career support at the end of the course is outstanding and after graduation you automatically become part of a close community of coders who are leading the way in coding in the UK. My advice: Sign up now! You will not regret it!!
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Suze
Life changing learning experience
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My time at makers academy was a truly life changing experience of learning new skills, how to think about programming and learning new technologies, and forming new relationships while becoming embedded in a new industry. I cannot recommend it enough, both in terms of a rigorous curriculum and an excellent educational philosophy that offers personalised support throughout the course and after graduation -
Will Schwier
An absolutely incredible experience
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Makers academy was an amazing place and environment to learn how to code. The sense of community right from the start of the pre-course is incredible, with your cohort and the Makers community as a whole.
The course itself not only teaches you syntax and certain languages, but also how to teach yourself. This makes picking up new languages and technologies much easier. The methodologies taught, agile and XP, are invaluable in the real world and very sought after.
The careers team were so helpful in finding a job. Any issues or questions I had they were more than happy to help me.
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James S
Great option for a career change!
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I joined Makers Academy in September 2017 on their immersive coding bootcamp. There was an initial interview process to assess eligibility to the course with a basic technical interview. The first month was a 20 hour per week remote precourse which set the level of understanding needed to progress to the full course.
Our class of 17 students were tutored for around 2 hours per day at the start of the course with afternoons reserved for challenges we worked on in pairs, aimed at cementing the knowledge gained in the morning workshops. This combination of traditional classroom and challenge based learning led to an excellent understanding of test driven, agile software development fundamentals and also promoted solid self learning principles.
Students at Makers get to enjoy a lot of comforts including a fully stocked kitchen, daily guided mediation sessions and yoga classes. Everything is there to be enjoyed and there is no pressure to take part if it's not your thing.
After the 4 months spent with Makers Academy I was able to successfully land my first job within a week. My time there had fully prepared me for the reality of making the career change into software development and the careers team were on hand to help with the transition in the build up to leaving.
I would fully recommend Makers to anyone who's considering making the move into development. It can be daunting to take the leap but it's the experience of a lifetime for those who take the risk.
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Alessio
Veni Vidi Vici
Makers lived up to their promise and exceeded my expectations.
I built the product I had always dreamt of, met a bunch of great people, been welcomed everywhere thanks to their great reputation, and got a job within 8 days from finishing the course! What's not to like? Alessio
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James Turner
Remote graduate
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I have only had the opportunity to attend a single coding Bootcamp, I'm glad it was Makers Academy.
The most impressive part of the course for me, besides the excellent coaching and learning environment, is the post-course support team! they worked tirelessly for as long as it took to get me lots of job Leads both with the massive selection of hiring partners they've built up and helped me improve my interview skills and methods.
The main reason I went to makers over other any similar boot camps is the quality of the post-course support.
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Alison
Great experience
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I had a great experience at Makers Academy! It's very intensive and you get to learn a huge amount over 4 months. I'd recommend it to people looking to transition into software development - the course was very focussed on teaching skills that would be beneficial in that environment and ultimately helping you to get a job as a developer. That said, the process of getting to that point was really fun, the coaches were supportive and excited to transfer their knowledge, and I only started to be encouraged to think about jobs about 6 weeks from the end of the course.
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Enrico
Amazing experience
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The school is amazing, there is good support but don't expect anybody trying to stick knowledge in your brain - they learn you how to be a knowledge worker, you will have to make the learning by yourself!
I was very pleased by the support before, during (with an amazing student's emotional support) and expecially after the course - they really try to be there at every step of your career, from starting the course to getting a job.
I was convinced doing the live (not online) course was going to make a huge difference.
I attended it and it really worked for me, expecially regarding team working skills.Although, if you fill you got a good set of those skills already, you can save lots of money by taking the online courses - many remote students have been hired already but don't ask me the stats!
Also, if you have a good base you could even try without the course and save those money alltogether.
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Colin
Great experience
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Makers Academy was a tough but really rewarding experience. The course requires you to take a certain responsibility for your own learning but is structured in such a way as to continually build up your skills and confidence. The weekly exercises introduce important concepts through the applications you build. The concepts are not handed to you on a plate and do require you to figure some things out yourself, but I found real value in this process. The coaches really know their stuff and are on hand to help if you are really stuck - again they won't give you the answer on your plate but will help you develop a way forward and solution yourself.
One thing I did not really appreciate before the course at all was that I would gain experience in areas of development best practice - things like test-driven development, pair programming, or daily standups and retros when working in groups. Getting exposure to these was valuable in its own right, and is also something that I found really interested potential employers.
The course strucutre was really good and building up my confidence in my own skills - after the first few weeks I felt empowered to try new things with the training wheels firmly off, completing projects in areas such as machine learning and blockchain. At the start of the course I never could have imagined I'd feel confident enough to take on subject matter like that. Again I won't claim it was easy, but we felt we could embrace the struggle and build as we learnt!
In terms of outcome, I've secured a job with a software consultancy, which I'm really pleased with. The careers team provided good support in helping to put me in contact with potential employers and briefing me on areas to focus on for interview.
Makers Academy has given me a fantastic foundation as a developer and both a desire and curiosity to keep building my skills.
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Daniele
Very challenging and rewarding experience
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I spent a couple of years trying to learn coding on my own, but never really got to a point where I could have been employable. Makers Academy was the perfect place for me to learn in a structured way. The curriculum focus a lot on "learning how to learn" and learning by doing, so don't expect to be spon fed. We coded from day one and were taught about TDD and Agile practices, stuff that I never heard of before during my self studies. They prepared me for being part of a real working environment, it's not just about coding. After 3 very intense, challenging and rewarding months I found my first job as software engineer for a company that I thought would never even consider me as a candidate.
To sum it up, if you like to work hard, and learn a tons and be part of an amazing community Makers Academy is the place for you! -
Charlotte Fereday
Makers Academy: an all around awesome course
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I found Makers Academy to be a brilliant experience that fast tracked my programming knowledge in the space of 3 months. I was taught industry best practice, alongside the skills of learning how to learn effectively in an industry that is constantly changing. We carried out pair programming every day, and were well supported by our coach who went above & beyond to help us learn. I got a job one week after graduating. It's a well respected course within the tech industry & has amazing hiring partners.
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Ahmed Shehab
Life Changing Experience
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Before starting my journey in software engineering; I searched around for the best bootcamps in the U.K. Makers academy was simply outstanding in terms of what it had to offer and so I went for it.
So here I'am a month after finishing the course about to start a job as a software engineer and nearly double my pay from my previous job. If you are the thinking about studying programming / coding, there's no better place than Makers Academy, they don't set limits to what you can achieve and you are constantly challenged to improve and be your best.
In terms of languages, by the time I had done with Makers; I'd touched on C#, JavaScript, Ruby and Swift aswell as some of the most popular frameworks out there, again these are not all in the course modules but you are encouraged to explore new things through project work. You learn from day one industry best practices and the fundamentals of programming, and by the time you are done; you'll have a solid portfolio of projects and a great grasp of programming.
This course is as intense as it gets, and you will get out of it what you put in. This course is for you if your a hard worker, passionate about code and serious about changing your career. Don't expect to be spoon fed and you must have the right mentality to be successful.
The Makers career team are second to none, and they really do have very strong links with the industry. I got my job through them in a very prestigious company. So if your looking to work in the industry after finishing, this is the right place to study.
This has been an amazing experience and it has truly changed my life, if you serious about making a change; then Makers Academy is the place to be.
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Isabel Larner
Makers is what you make of it
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As a testament to the course: I entered Makers Academy with very limited knowledge of software development. I accepted a job offer within three weeks of graduating.
- There is a lot of focus on care both for yourself and fellow students, including daily meditation and bi-weekly yoga. Both the Joy Officer and the coaches are often around to speak directly about your concerns, and there is a strong, open feedback culture that Makers seem to take very seriously. There is a lot of emphasis on everyone feeling safe and supported.
- The support in getting a job is absolutely fantastic, as long as you put in the effort from your side as well. That means building a rapport with the careers team and helping them to help you find something suitable. They will help you for as long as you need to get a job, though that might mean supporting you in finding one for yourself, as the number of jobs available via hiring partners at any one time will inevitably be fewer than the graduates applying.
- The focus on agile practices, software craftsmanship and projects emulating the real world was great. Learning to work like a programmer, think like a programmer and collaborate like a programmer are by far the most important skills Makers can give you - much more than just learning the actual languages, which is something you could probably go at alone with enough time and dedication. These are the skills that will make you employable beyond the code!
- The focus on 'learning by doing' was indispensable in propelling my learning forward. This, along with the 'growth mindset' that is integral to the Makers learning philosophy, was one of the most useful lessons that I will continue to apply not only to my career but to any challenge in life.
- The course is set up to promote total self-learning. What little structure you have is slowly pulled back until you are working in a completely self-directed manner. As such, you will have to rely on yourself to progress forward. The coaches are there to keep the ball rolling, but they won't chase you if you fall behind. The onus is very much on you to make it known if you are struggling or need specific guidance. Don't expect to be graded, or even receive much feedback without asking for it. This can be very frustrating, especially at first, but is quite good for encouraging self-sufficiency and self-assurance (which will be pretty essential post-course).
- There is a sense in which you are at the mercy of your cohort more than your coach. Pair programming happens every day, if not group projects, and programming alone is discouraged. This is fantastic for letting you get a taste of coding collaboratively, actively thinking about a problem and knowledge-sharing, but does also mean you are reliant on each other to maintain a level of commitment and motivation.
Makers is very much what you make of it. Frankly, it is quite easy to go through the course without much effort, though unsurprisingly the pay-off will be minimal-to-nonexistent. And, of course, it's possible to go at it 24/7 and make coding your life, though I think the necessity of this is over-stated. Maintaining a not-insane work-life balance won't ruin you, as long as you work smart and are mindful of your own progress (it's true, though, that you will need to give up some of your weekends!) Seek help for your weaknesses, engage thoughtfully, be a considerate pair, and you're already halfway there.
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Bailey Kursar
Change your mindset in three months
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Disclaimer: I am writing this review in return for a free hoodie (I do love free hoodies), but apparently I can be as honest as I like 😋
I was part of the April 2017 cohort at Makers and finished at the end of June. It took me about two weeks to get a job as a Software Engineer afterwards. Before Makers I was a marketer and only had a tiny amount of coding knowledge, all front end.
I joined Makers because I was making a conscious career change. Before the course I was sceptical that I'd be able to get a job coding straight after, but I've been proved wrong 🙌
The biggest thing I've got out of Makers is a mindset change. Whereas before I wasn't confident about learning new things, especially technical things, I feel way more confident now. Get yourself a growth mindset 📈
What's good about Makers Academy?
- The learning methodology is great; it's all about 'learning how to learn' which focuses attention on feedback and reflection over learning by rote, perfect for getting into good habits as a Software Engineer;
- The culture is very open and friendly; they take their Code of Conduct seriously in order to create a geniunely inclusive environment;
- Pair programming every day replicates the environment you'll be in when you get a job after the course, and also helps peers share knowledge without too much interference from coaches;
- Learning Ruby, then TDD, then about web apps, then JavaScript; the curriculum flows nicely and each week for the first half of the course builds on the knowledge you already have;
- The careers team are great, friendly and highly motivated to get you a job ASAP after you finish; the jobs are generally good jobs and well paid compared to other graduate-type roles
What's not so good about Makers Academy?
Firstly – during the application and selection process, they can be a bit pushy. Although they make a big deal of the fact that you've been 'selected' and try and make you feel special, they are clearly under pressure to get you to commit ASAP and pay your deposit. It's a huge life decision to leave your job (if you have one), take three months out, spend £8k etc., and I think they should make more of an effort to not put so much pressure on people at that stage.
Secondly – your cohort will very much a peer-led learning group. The coach is there as a guide and to give you some structure early on ('leave the stabilizers on') before you're confident enough by yourself. As a consequence you're reliant on your fellow learners to (a) show up, (b) be attentive and engaged, (c) be forgiving if necessary. Undoubtedly, not all of your cohort will match this profile.
As an prospective student, if you're hoping for lots of structure and lots of teacher/student type coaching and quantitative feedback, then Makers is not for you. You need to be confident enough to ask for help if you think you need it, too.
Top Tips for Applying to Makers Academy
Don't freak out. When they invite you for face-to-face interview, read the email they send you with instructions (from memory it's about doing some Ruby on Codeacademy and a couple of other things). What they ask of you is not hard and it doesn't take a huge amount of time. Just make you prepare by doing all the things on their list and you'll be fine.
Final thoughts
If you know that you're interested in coding, this is a great place to start (if you have the money and the time). It's expensive but if you look at the salaries for the roles from the careers team, a lot of the time it will pay off very quickly.
If you don't yet know that you're interested in coding, do some more Codeacademy or similar, or check out free coding meetups like Codebar.
From what I can see so far, programming is creative, thoughtful and challenging work, and Makers gives you a good taste of that. It's intense only if you want it to be; there's no pressure from the coaches to be working all hours. Take your time and you'll be all the more confident for it.
Any other questions? I'm on Twitter as @baileytalks – tweet or DM me. Always happy to have an honest chat 👍
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Basile Koko
Thanks Makers Academy for making my career change possible
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I came to Makers with 3 years experience as a technical support engineer.
My goal was to change career into web development.3 months after the course, I got a job as a junior Python/Django developer.
I wrote a blog about my journey at Makers Academy : https://bkjourneytocoding.wordpress.com/What I can say about my experience is that you get out what you put in.
Makers has the materials, the curriculum and a dedicated team to help you along the way but you have to put in a lot of work. -
Albert Yanit
A life changing experience worth your time
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Through Makers I was able to get my foot on the software development ladder, which is the main thing I set out to do. Alongside this, I met a lot of great staff members and students whom I was able to grow alongside. The course is really intense, but you get what you put in to it. The whole social side to it is amazing and everyone is super supportive on this difficult journey. The price is irrelavent compared to what you will be earning as your first job.
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Stefan Liute
Gets You In The Game
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You get to learn a lot. You learn how much there is to learn, so it may at times appear daunting. It's captivating, but hard. It demands your undivided attention and all the time you have outside of sleep. It empowers you, but it doesn't do your work for you. It's great company--from students to coaches there's only great people around you, which is a bit surreal. You may think it's expensive, but it's actually a very wise way to invest a large amount of money.
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Keomony Khun
Junior Developer
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In November 2016, I enrolled in Makers Academy, Europe's leading developer Bootcamp, and the Bootcamp has been a fantastic experience for me. Firstly I am amazed at what I have learned and can use those skills to create web applications using Ruby and JavaScript. In addition, I learned many software-development-best practices, including Agile methodologies, XP values, and object-oriented design principles.
Career team is approachable and supportive. They provide us job hunting technical as well as mental support.
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Tim
Makers helped change my life
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Before attending Makers Academy, I had no technical training whatsoever. I had recently returned to school after working for about 5 years, yet I found that my masters degree wasn't really leading to jobs that I found personally meaningful and that stretched my brain. Luckily, circumstances led me to check out programs for learning to code and I found Makers. I immensely enjoyed the program. It was really tough but they realise this. Makers provides all kinds of services and mentorship to help you improve and feel as comfortable as possible with the intensive learning process. If they could improve something, I think it might be the pre-course which increased my anxiety about the program rather than helped build my confidence. What Makers did best was teaching me to think like a programmer, which would have been a tough thing to pick up on my own. In the end and most importantly, I ended up with a job that I really enjoy and a career track that is incredibly inspiring.
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Agata
The best thing ever
Makers Academy has a hollistic approach to learning. It's challenging its students through weekly projects. It also takes care of their wellbeing through meditation, yoga classes and daily checkins. The best learning experience you can ask for
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Charlie Person
From a baby, to a child
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Maker's Academy was the beginning of my beautiful, frustrating, love-hate relationship with code. Before starting the course, I had dabbled in HTML, and CSS. That's it. I was an infant in the ever expanding universe of web development. I don't owe Maker's Academy for turning me into the software engineer that I am today. That's mostly due to my stubborn tenacity to keep struggling through. However, I do owe Maker's Academy for enabling me to fall in love with the process of learning how to code. One must understand that no bootcamp, school, or educational establishment can teach anyone 'how to code' in twelve weeks. That's impossible. Maker's Academy taught me how to enjoy the struggle, embrace the unknown, be confident in what I know, and curious in what I do not. If you're curious about if a job in web development is for you, Maker's Academy will be an inspiring introduction that just might make you fall in love as well. It's a magical experience, and I give it five stars all around, aside from the aspect of Job Assistance. I believe that they are quite helpful when it comes to EU citizens who are looking for employment inside of the EU (almost all of the hiring partners are within the EU). However, being an American, there really wasn't much that they could do for me due to visa issues. Regardless, I recently landed my dream job at ThoughtWorks in Chicago and at the end of the day, when it comes to getting a job, I think it's a very individual effort anyway.
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Richard
Remote course - well worth it!
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Hopefully this review helps those thinking of applying for the remote course of Makers. To sum it up, as good if not better than the on site equivalent! I had only a small amount of coding experience prior to this before switching from a science degree to a programming bootcamp but the amount you learn in a relatively short amount of time is insane. The coach we had was extremely helpful and I loved every minute of it working with others from the cohort every day.
I don't feel that I lost out in doing it remotely. We still did daily standups via video conference and screen shared when pairing for the rest of the afternoon. We all left at the end of the course with as much knowledge as the others but there is a lack of social activities to bare in mind. There also aren't as many(if any) remote jobs for a Junior Developer as they tell you so bare that in mind if applying from abroad or somewhere with a rubbish tech scene.
You have to be willing to work incredibly hard as Makers don't hold your hand throughout the course. You'll leave a much more independent and capable developer from it. Do some practice problems and join codewars to make sure it's what you want to do as a future career.
I'm currently working at a fantastic startup as a backend engineer in London after doing the course back home near Birmingham and it wouldn't have been possible without going to Makers. Best decision of my life. Can't recommend enough!!!
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Mic
Inspirational
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An incredible experience if you're serious about a career change. Makers provide a vibrant and stimulating environment to learn important real-world programming skills (test-driven development, best practices, git flow) and modern technologies that will make you stand out against traditional computer science graduates in the right kind of companies. Take this from someone who did a conversion masters in Computer Science at one of the UK's most prestigious universities and still decided to attend Makers, and now works at an amazing tech start-up as a result.
Makers is not for the faint-hearted. Firstly, the cost of any bootcamp is prohibitive, though it pales in comparison to the cost of higher education (and don't forget that you need to sustain yourself for about 6 months, not 3 to 4 years). I would also recommend seriously trying to learn how to program on your own and in other ways (attending workshops, taking online courses) - not everyone who joins a bootcamp ends up choosing to become a developer, and that's down to personal preferences and warped expectations. Don't expect to be "taught" things in the traditional sense of the term. A few don't fully understand this and feel frustrated when they're struggling outside a traditional classroom environment. Lastly, don't expect to just be given a job. Makers are improving their ties to companies and are boosting their careers team, who are extremely helpful, but at the end of the day it is up to you to figure out where there is a good fit, to ace interviews and tech tests and to go out and find companies that want to hire you.
The coaches and staff are passionate and helpful, and the material is kept as relevant and up-to-date as possible. There's a lot of hard work and team projects, and ultimately you get out of it as much as you put in, since nobody holds your hand and there is a vast amount of knowledge to be uncovered. 12-16 weeks is a short amount of time, but the hands-on learning approach, being steeped in the right environment and surrounded by passionate individuals really does ingrain the knowledge in your head. People in the tech industry who are familiar with Makers and their graduates are consistently impressed, so no wonder some of the best software companies hire direct.
Do your research, go to open days and taster events and make sure you want to code for a living. If you do, Makers is the right place to start.
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Maria
A girl that didn't even know what programming was before MA
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Experience was one of a kind, I had never study anything related to programming until I started preparing for this course, It's extremely important to do all the material given for the pre course, I could not get it all done before we started and I really paid the price through out the course, because once you start there is not stopping or resting! Its a very very intensive course the fact that I did the online one might have made it more intense I'm not sure but it was definitely challenging for me, I struggle with the lack of guidance or people to answer my questions, apart from other students they pretty much want you to find the answers on your own and I'm not very good at that so that made me struggle through out, my mentor was available but only to ask more questions... this is kinda their methodology no way around that, but on the other hand I loved that they help me get job ready, 4 months of studying and I was ready job ready, earning way more than a minimum wage salary, because I lived in London they also helped me to secure interviews and finally a job, I'm very happy I joined MA and regret not doing it earlier in life! its a major change in life style, you get to join an amazing industry that is very flexible when it comes to hours, holidays and family time, there is so much demand that developers pretty much choose where and how they want to work I haven't heard of any other industry that offers this! (obviously the more experience you have the more picky you can get) again I highly highly recommend anybody to go for it, its hard but totally doable
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William Bautista
Junior Full Stack Web Developer
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The whole experience at Makers changed my life for good, I think everything was good apart from the fact that important things like JS experience and Sass or even CSS were not cover with more intensity.
Another down side was the "Hiring Week" it was a complete disaster, bad organized and when I applied for different roles I did not have a proper feedback about why I was not shorlisted in the pack of applicants, then I applied outside and I was called for interviews, but I must say that this part of the course has been removed and this issue does not occur at the moment. That week is another part of the course which I think was a great decision.
Apart from those previus comments, everything at Makers was phenomenal, Coaches were like big brothers or your best friend, communication was very fluid, Dana was awesome with her yoga and talks. The building itself was great, having fruit everyday was good, table tennis was something I quite did not understand at the begining but once you are inmerse coding 12-16 hours daily it becomes vital part of your daily excersice, I really miss that at work.
Making real friends was another big plus for me, I found several characters there which I consider a good influence not only in my career but in my personal life.
I have told my story to many people interested in doing the same, shame that they are not ready to sacrifice what is needed, so I started a Charity Coding Club with kids thanks to everything I learned at Makers and who knows maybe some of them would be Makers one day.
If you are reading this review I just want to tell you that Makers is a door that can give you access to a huge universe called Programming, just do it, you will never regret about it.
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Joe Wroe
Life Changing
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The title is serious, this place completely transformed my career, prospects and general well being. Absolutely brilliant place to go, Makers Academy which I am now a part of (and still feel as much a part of as when I graduated 6 months ago), taught Ruby and JavaScript, but really it taught me to code - and by that I mean it taught me to pick up any programming problem, in any language and be confident to give it a really good go.
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Andrea M
Great investment in my future!
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I graduated from Makers in mid-August 2016. At the time of writing this, I have accepted one of the three job offers I have been made and am about to start working as a professional developer after only 6 months since I decided to change my career and do something I love.
Makers Academy is an amazing environment for learning, helping you develop fundamental skills that make a great developer rather than teaching a specific language or framework. Their career staff is extremely helpful, assisting everyone to find the right job for them.
If you know you want to have a career as a software developer and are looking for reasons to join or not to join Makers, just look at the biggest deliverable, which is how many people who studied here have then gone on to get a job as software developer (relatively) soon after finishing; that should give you confidence that anyone who wants to can make it and Makers is the best way to get there!!
In summary, just do it!
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Fergus O
Awesome
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I'm really happy with my decision to go to Makers Academy - really happy. It's quite a big deal to quit a career and to start out completely fresh in something else but that is what I did and I couldn't be more pleased with my decision.
The course is fantastic and the instructors are all great and very knowledgable. They create an atmosphere which is just perfect to learn in. It's quite a fine balance as Makers walks the very thin line between giving you the space to grow by yourself whilst keeping you pointed in the right direction.
If I was going to make any criticism it would be that sometimes Makeres ered on the side of giving us too much space and maybe a bit more structure would have made people feel a bit more comfortable. Saying that though the whole course really is amazing and it is incrediable to look back at quite how much I learnt in whats really a very short amount of time.
A great foundation to kick-start my new career as a juniour developer!
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Wayne
Makers Academy
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Makers Academy doesn't just teach you to code, it also makes you very employable by instilling best practices in coding and the work environment. Having been taught Agile Practices, TDD and XP among other things i believe gave me a leg up over other candidates when job hunting and helped me stand out. A great environment to learn with and meet such a wide variety of people from such differing backgrounds. Money well spent and memories firmly set in stone.
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Claudia
Challenged myself & doubled my salary!
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I applied to Makers Academy (MA) after my younger brother had completed the course and I was, frankly, jealous of the job opportunities available to him, and that he had a literacy in something I could only dream of.
Having graduated from uni I was left feeling like my degree didn't really set me apart and I wanted to upskill myself so I could compete with my peers in the job market. I also wanted to make moves towards a career that would challenge me and provide lots of opportunity for growth - something I felt I didn't have in my current role.
In summary, i've doubled my salary and wildly boosted my career opportunities in the space of 3 months, having never touched code before my interview preparation. You get out of MA as much as you put in. It's an incredibly hard course, and you're studying pretty much none stop for the 3 months. There were definitely moments where I felt like I wasn't going to make it. But I signed up to be challenged and thats exactly what I got.
Experience:
The learning environment at MA is great. They acknowledge what a challenge it can be, and work really hard to create an environment that looks after people's mental and physical health whilst they're studying. It was those extra things, the focus on feedback and open lines of communciation, the ethos of supporting one another, and being surrounded by so many passionate and aspirational people is what really made it for me.Instructors:
For the most part I found the instructors/coaches great. They challenged me, often answered my question with another question which, whilst occasionally annoying, has made me a more independent thinker and confident at solving my own problems. I did feel like my cohort could have benefitted from greater contact time with the coaches. They often felt somewhat absent during the day to day runnings of the place, more so towards the latter half of the course - however, as we became more autonomous and capable their intervention was less and less neccessary.Curriculum:
The curriculum is rigorous and does what it says on the tin: gives you the skills you need to get a job as a developer. My learning is not over and I doubt it ever will be. But I felt like the structure of the course, and the sue of Ruby as a teaching lagnuage (followed by JS) gave me a fluid and comprehensive understanding of web development. The curriculum will always be a work in proress; students are encouraged to feed back on materials that they don't think are up to scratch or that aren't giving them the clearest understanding of the topic in question. There were a couple of weeks during my time on the course where I felt like that materials weren't as strong as they needed to be to thoroughly teach me that topic, however I have looked at the materials again since graduating and they have been updated and improved based on this kind of feedback.
Job Assistance:
I can't really comment much on this as I found a job relatively quickly after graduating based on my own networking. However, I would say that MA did a lot to encourage me into these kind of networking events, and the careers week at the end of the course in particular I found extremely useful in terms of teaching me how to approach interviews for this kind of industry. They also provide a whole wealth of resources that I will forever be able to reference back to, that cover technical interview questions and how to handle them, tech test advice, and more general guidance on how to job hunt in the tech industry. Their team is incredibly knowledgable on the tech scene in London and beyond, and they were great about advising me on the company I was applying to, and also gave me the confidence and guidance to negotiate a higher salary. I think with the job assistance you get out of it as much as you put in (ie: they won't chace you, the onus is on you to job hunt & keep them in the loop as much as you see fit) and there isn't quite as much support beyond careers week as students expect there to be. I think that MA could do to improve their connections beyond London within the UK but I am aware that they are currently working hard on this matter in particualr.The course isn't cheap. But I think it is a better investment than my degree, which these days appears to just be a tick I can put in a box. I am glad I did it, it was the right decision, and I would absolutely recommend this if you're the kind of person that doesn't shy away from hard work, likes to be challenged, and is looking for a way to break into the tech industry.
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Matthew Bridges
Probably the future of education
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I had a brilliant Makers experience. I first heard about the company after placing a Makers Grad in a role while in my old job as a recruiter - immediate validation. I contacted Nikesh at Makers soon after, and from that point on Makers had my complete confidence and haven't given me any reason to doubt them since, I just accepted my first job ten weeks after graduating.
From the get-go the Makers team were explicit about the level of commitment required to get the best experience out of the program, and ultimately - be successful in finding a job. Personally, I had always struggled in formal education; school was a non-starter, a-levels were two years of slacking off, and one year at university was the final step on the one-way road to educational disenchantment. So naturally, I was a little sceptical about whether or not I'd be able to maintain the level of dedication required to complete such an intensive course - oxbridge meets the marines they said. Actually, it's not THAT tough, however I think that's most likely testament to the way in which the course has changed since that famous line was written.
The syllabus of the course is split into two six-week halves, the first half consists of weekly modules laid out in a challenge-based system - "here's some information, go and see what you can do with it". I don't think it was the case for everyone who came to Makers, but for me something just clicked. I found the syllabus engaging, and the amount of assistance given is pitched at just the right level, the goldie-locks zone for learning.
The second half of the course I am slightly less enthusiastic about (although still on the whole very positive). My week 7 consisted of the now reenvisioned "lab week", in which you were encouraged to consolidate the previous six weeks' materials, you did have the option to pursue a new technology, however I chose to consolidate. The lack of structure took the momentum out of my learning, and flitting between technologies ultimately didn't offer as much as if I had focussed on one vertical. We fed this back to the coaches and by the time the next cohort rolled around six weeks later, the syllabus had been changed (in true Agile fashion!). The impression I got was that the latter half of the course was going through a bit of a remodel to have more of an emphasis on group projects, which I think will eventually benefit the students, however at the time of my studying there were sections in between the two states that weren't at the same standard that I had come to expect.
Evgeny has done great job of putting together a team of world class coaches, who all share in the ability to translate difficult technical problems into easy to consume explanations (although be warned, the metaphors can get a little silly!). Tackling the fundamental principles of web development in the first six weeks was made that much easier by the coaches, who are infinitely patient and enthusiastic which is remarkable given that they do it every six weeks.
One of the few areas that still needs to be improved I think is the post-makers hiring process, a graduate portal of some form would really help maintain a good level of communication between graduates and the hiring team (rather than the current instant messaging solution). Shortly after the course I moved back to Manchester, and it did feel like I'd dropped off the radar for a while. At present the hiring team is best equipped to set you up with interviews and jobs in London, although inroads are being made in Manchester, Southampton and European tech-hubs. In spite of this reservation, two months after my graduation Ruben set me up with a fantastic company based in Manchester, who knew exactly what they were getting in hiring a Maker. I started last week, and another Maker is joining me next, brilliant!
Seeing as everyone asks about the money, yeah it's £8,000, but it's hardly an issue versus whatever universities cost these days. I've not got a degree, and yet I have every confidence discussing tech with CS students up to a year out of university. And what Makers offers you isn't just modules you aren't terribly interested in, you've probably heard the Makers mantra "learning to learn", my new job is writing in Python, a tech I hadn't used until a week before I was completing a technical test.
To summarise, Makers Academy puts you in an environment where you have every opportunity and the necessary resources to become a Junior Developer in 12 weeks, however without the necessary commitment of time and effort, don't expect to succeed.
If you are on the fence about whether or not Makers is for you, do a couple of open days, and go and visit a Makers graduation event. If it's the coding you're nervous about, check out this link: http://imgur.com/gallery/uGdaN, it's my summary of how I got started (and basically everything you'll learn up to the beginning of the precourse), work through those and you should have a good feel for the practice.
Wow, this was longer than I expected, and has probably gotten a little incongruent at this point, if you still have any questions, do feel free to drop me an email at: mattbridgesbusiness@gmail.com
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Pablo
Fantastic Online Bootcamp. Changed my life.
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This review might be useful for those thinking of joining Makers Academy remotely from another european country. I am from Spain and I lived in Cambridge for a year and a half before joining Makers. At the beginning I was looking for an on-site bootcamp in London, but when I discovered the Makers Academy remote bootcamp I decided to change my plans. I joined the couse, packed all my stuffs and left the U.K. I didn't even have to go to the MA offices (I have actually never been there), everything from the very start was arranged using skype, emails and Slack.
I went back to Cádiz, my home town city in Spain as it was easier for me in terms of housing and money and I accomplished the whole course from there without any impediment. Actually it was fantastic enjoying the course while being in my sunny city. I never had the feeling I could have learnt more if I would have been in London.
It is a really intense course and you really need to be 100% focused on it. From 9am to 6-7pm I was coding online with my pair partner. The fact that you are pair programming really push you to do your best everyday. The philosophy of the course is that you have to be autonomous from the beginning which I think it helps in the long run. Don't expect long technical explanations. People asks questions at the meeting, but then you and your partner have to code and try to solve the problems on your own before asking for help . Sometimes you need to stop and read part of a book or watch some videos about a subject but this is something you do on your own.
The negative aspect of not being in London comes when the course is finished and you have to start the job hunting stage. It is obviusly a handicap. London in one of the most important cities in the world and is full of professional opportunities. MA is based in London and most of their partner companies are based in the UK, but I know they are doing a big effort to expand their influence. However, sometimes you can be warned of a position in Spain, Belgium or other european country. They don't do magic, they will help you as much as they can but at the end you have to find the job. My personal experience is that by showing all the projects you have developed during the course people get interested in knowing more about you.I am now working in Paris as a junior developer, it took me about 3 month to get my job after finishing the course. Sometimes I think of myself 9 months ago before joining Makers Academy, when I was doing a job I didn't like. It just brings a smile on my face.
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HeDu
Changed my life..
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Few months ago I did not know what a "Hello world!" was.. now I have an amazing job in the start up I wanted to work for.
My experience.. in one word.. intense!
To get to the point where I am.. I worked from November to April about 12-15hours a day(the course was actually on december the precourse and then from january to april the course..).. I took one day off some weekends.. but in exchange.. the day I did work.. I work double! So it is possible.. but it is on you, you can work s much as you can.. even less is ok too..but it is not like something that just happens.. you are there to learn and this is your responsibility.. Makers is not there to teach you but you are there to learn.. they give you the tools and you need to use them:) all that efford.. pay off and at the end, I ENJOYED doing it!Job hunting
They will not find a job for you.. this is the real life.. you need to find a job yourself.. but they will help you with references, tricks.. many stuff that make the difference in the job hunting etc.. but forget about you finishing the course and start to work for google.. ¬¬ it is on you too, and it is important you keep this in mind.. but I can say, I got an AWESOME job and I feel... happines!!! when the alarm wake me up early in the morning everyday! :D
Instructors
I did Ronin, so basically I had only one coach, SAM, do not forget that name because if you are lucky enough to be his student, you will fall in love with coding and you will not get just an instructor but a friend, he is an AWESOME DEVELOPER and a PERFECT teacher. The workshops with him were amazing, the way he explains stuff is great.Well.. if you want to change your life.. they will give you the tools to make it possible..:)
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James Borrell
The Right Way Into The Tech Industry!
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With the world becoming more and more reliant upon technology & software systems there is no better time to get into the industry than right now. Makers Academy is the perfect stepping stone into the world of computers where you're surrounded by peers who geniunely want to learn, staff & coaches who exude the same passion and excitement they teach the students and very relevant material that applies to a real life working tech environment. I had high expectations joining Makers but they were completely blown away and I'm still thoroughly impressed by how much what I learned during my time there is helping me now working as a software developer!
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Zhivko
Go no further
If you are considering a career change then go no further and join Makers Academy. 8k might seem a lot but believe me, you will enjoy every moment and when you start your new job, you will have no regrets!