Orange County Code School

I had no prior experience with coding before I attended OCCS, so I didn't know what to expect. The instructor, Ron, provided books and other tools to assure the students to learn how to code.  Ron has 15+ years of experience and the knowledge, so I felt comfortable knowing I'm being taught by an expert. Throughout the course, I completed 3 main projects with each one showcasing the new coding knowledge I had learned. Ryan (OCCS's Managing Partner) provided high level CIO's, speakers, and multiple other attendees to join the students presentations!  Ryan and Ron also helped with our resumes and line up multiple job interviews. I had two interviews within the first week of completing the course (I know other students had the same or more)! I've heard that other coding schools (around this area) offer no such help, so I was excited that OCCS really cares about the future of their students and everyone put a lot of effort into making sure we became successful! If you're looking for a career change ( or even want to fine tune your coding skills) I highly recommend OCCS!  

I am part of the first cohort at this school, and I have to say it is a great one.  Here is a list of reasons why I think you are getting what you want out of this code camp compared to other ones.

The instructor is an industry professional

I went to a couple of info sessions for schools around OC and LA, and found that many were not taught by people with a good track record.  Some were taught by freelancers who weren't developers, but more hackers.  Others were taught by current alums who have no experience working in the field with other developers.  For those of you inquiring about the difference between a hacker and programmer is that programmers write code programmatically which can be readable to peers.  Hackers write code that works, but not necessarily meant for people good at being organized or working on a team.  

Another benefit of having an industry professional is that he knows what companies look for when they hire.  The finer details of cleaning up your code, updating your linkedIn, format of github repos, and many other methods.  

Ron Perris is the head instructor.  He is an expert in software security, and writing secure code.  To work in security, a coder has to know the flaws and intricate details of how software works.  Knowing that an instructor has that much knowledge allowed me to trust all his methods of teaching us.  

Showcases and hiring partners

The thing I was skeptical on this school was how much exposure we would have to other industry professionals.  This school's managing director, Ryan has a decade of experience as an IT recruiter and he knows some big players in the industry.  Our first showcase consisted of CTOs from HOAG, CoreLogic, SpaceX, and Allergen.  We were super nervous about meeting them because we were intimidated, but it gave us a chance to meet these down to earth people.  Not only that but we were able to tour SpaceX after school one time.  I never thought I would be able to see where spaceships were made.  It was quite the experience.  

The actual coding

You will have a lot of moments where you want to bang your head because you will be coding a lot.  These moments when I'm alone I would usually just give up.  Being at this school, there are constant reminders on how to research problems, or thorough explanations of why things didn't work at some point.  I don't think there was ever a time we gave up on a problem and couldn't solve something.  This is one of the things that made me feel good about this code school.  I was able to learn a lot better form my mistakes with the guidance.  As time progressed, I would understand more and more and ask less and less.  I'm not going to say I'm a JS ninja right now, but I could say that I know enough to learn new things on my own and constantly read new documentation on libraries and incorporate them in my code.

The Content

The workflow of how the school goes is important for us as future programmers to learn.  We learn how to use the console first, then HTML and CSS, then Javascript.  Learning in this order comes with huge benefits.  Even when speaking with the CTOs of the many various companies, agree that the content taught at this school is favorable.  They were impressed at the content of what we were learning.  We are not learning to just rip code off the internet and make it our own.  We are learning how to write code to be developers that can fully understand how the architecture of the program works.  

• What this school good at?
  • Deep Knowledge of Code

    Ron is incredibly experienced in code, the internet, and computers in general. He will impart a respectable amount of knowledge to you provided you show interest and put in effort.

  • Best Practices

    Ron will drill best practices into you that seem overkill but are absolutely vital for code maintainability (I learned this on my first day in my dev career).

  • Exposure to Culture

    Ron has a broad network, and likewise wants to broaden your network as well. I was encouraged to meet people in the software industry, and I did: I spent hours every day messaging professionals and absorbing culture through coffee meetings and interviews

  • Job Assistance

    Mike is astonishingly dedicated to the success of each student. He checked in with me daily, kept me on track and remained encouraging when the job search became discouraging.

• Job Search is Difficult But Worth It
  • Lots of Coffee With Connected People

    I met with a lot of people for coffee: CTOs, Sr Developers, Lead Developers & Directors of Engineering. I wanted to speak with anyone that looked like they were well informed and setting the standard for hiring because they could be hiring me.

  • LOTS of Applications

    I put in a LOT of applications: 10/day every week-day, 3 linked-in connections per application, I crawled Indeed, LinkedIn, Angel.co, everything, even Googled local companies and sent resumes to people not searching. I have never worked so hard for a job in my life, but it paid off in the end.

  • 2-month Job Search

    I searched for two months, it was difficult and intimidating and the bar is definitely set high to hire, just be aware that Ron really has engrained in you /best/ practices, and that will make you a skilled dev on the team that eventually does hire you.

• How Prepared Will You Be?
  • Overqualified (Your Milage May Vary)

    I learned a lot, I dedicated myself to learning more, and I was not bashful about asking Ron for extra-advice, which was typically given to me in sarcastic witty retorts that pointed me in the right direction. As such I landed a Lead Developer position for my first software-development job. If you work hard for it, you can really make this experience worthwhile

  • Don't Be Afraid of New Languages

    I'm doing so much more than just JS now, in fact, I'm predominantly working with PHP. Ron taught me how to understand a language through researching documentation and through that I learned how to work with new (or old) tech bravely and effectively.

My personal experience:

I am recent graduate of the 4th cohort, but my background details are not likely what you care most about. (There are plenty of other reviews with folks and their backgrounds/accomplishments if desired) You are considering embarking on an incredible journey into Software Development and have questions like: How much and what will I be learning from this school? Will I be able to get job? Is this school imaginary and a bunch of bots trying to fool me?

I have decided to keep this post short and sweet in order to help you best understand the OCCS experience: what the school will and will not offer you.

What the school will offer you:

Ron Perriss: A Javascript Wizard

There is really no doubt that Ron knows his Javascript and has an impressive background. The best part about this is that Ron really gives detailed breakdowns of all the considerations when you have a problem or a proposed solution you are thinking about. There is not always a defined/singular path to accomplishing goals with code, and Ron is excellent about making sure his students understand how to attack problems in a variety of ways and the pros/cons of various approaches. He is great about trying to impart a holistic sense of how to think and reason about problems, which is a key part of becoming a Software Developer. (a.k.a A Problem Solver)

A knowledge of "Best Practices" and Coding Culture

I am sure there are some quotes floating around the internet like : "The small things ARE the big things". Well it's true. You will learn code to tackle your projects, but Ron will also let you know how your projects/Github look like in the eyes of a experience Software Developer/Hiring Manager. (e.g. Code cleanliness and style, commit history and wireframing, tackling issues methodically)

This section would almost seem like "common sense" if all these learned lessons were typed out, but having Ron's perspective and experience as you work and make mistakes (you are going to mess up at least once) proves to be invaluable.

Exposure to the industry and potential employers with a proudly owned portfolio of projects

When you leave this school, you will have 2-3 projects under your belt which is no small feat considering the time frame. You will also get a chance to interact with hiring managers (Ron is extremely well connected) during demo nights and present your projects to them. 

Job Assistance

Ron and Michael really do care about the students and their success after the course. They will make calls, walk into offices, setup meetings and introductions, and do whatever else is in their power to assist. (They can't force employers to hire students unfortunately) What do you have to do? Just make an effort to keep in touch and keep at the process. There is really no magic bullet to finding a job, but if you heed their job search advice and keep working with the school then probability will be on your side. (You will succeed and find a job)

An Alumni network and camaraderie

OCCS's network is large and it keeps getting bigger and better. OCCS hosts alumni events every week for students to return and learn additional skills and share their post-course experiences.

A diverse skillset of Full-Stack Javascript

First and foremost, Ron's goal is to teach you to understand core Javascript principles. If you can understand Javascript at a deep level, then many of the subsequent topics become much easier to handle.

That being said, this course still covers ALOT of material in a short time frame. (e.g. Someone could make a 3 month course on Angular alone) I really think there is a near 0% chance of a student completing the program and remarking: "I wish the OCCS curriculum had even more material".  The course exercises will definitely help your grasp key concepts as you move along, and teach you how to accomplish practical tasks. (e.g. When learning Angular, we built a To-Do App by applying each lesson)

What the school will not offer you:

This section is probably the most important thing to read as a potential code school applicant in my opinion. I will not lie in this review, there were some people who dropped out of the 4th Cohort (some gracefully, some grudgingly) because the material/pace was tougher than expected.

I really do believe that OCCS can teach anyone to code, but how effective the teaching will be will also depend in some of the principles below.

Curiosity/Eagerness to Learn

Ron will definitely teach you how to code, how to learn to code, how to read documentation, and so forth. Software Development however is a very "deep" field, and there will always be the opportunity for the student to learn more of their own volition.(e.g. I wonder how that method works instead of this one....let me go and try it out to get a better idea)

Doing the bare minimum to complete the exercises might get you through the course, but it could create additional difficulties when tackling projects, lower the quality of your projects, and be detrimental to how much knowledge you build in the long run. 

Reading comprehension, knowledge application, and questioning your understanding of things. (Study habits)

You are going to be coding alot. "All Code. All Day" is more of a fact than a slogan to sound impressive. So of course, you can expect to be reading plenty of material to go along with that. Many of the exercises for example will reference a material (specific link to documentation, book, code sample, etc.) that teaches you plenty enough to tackle the exercise, which you will be expected to read and then apply. 

For an example, take a look at the first 2 chapters at : http://eloquentjavascript.net/. (Ignore the exercises, this site is not a requirement of OCCS)  While the material you get during the course will be much easier to read through than the EJS site, it will also definitely end up being tougher to read at times. 

There is no way around having to read and test what you learned (e.g. right away in a browser/code editor) as you proceed through the course, and having a mindset that incorporates thoughts along the lines of the following will be critical:  

1. Did I really just understand everything I read? Can I apply parts of it without looking at the source material?
2. Hmmm, I didn't quite understand what that that other prerequisite method was. Let me look that up too. 
3. OK I just got stuck, if I break this down what is really the part that I am not getting? Can I take a step back and look at this from a different perspective?

Motivation and Willpower

Coding is tough. You will get stuck and hit a wall. You will feel frustrated. The monkey in your mind may begin hurling feces at you as you begin to wonder if you can really become a Software Developer. (hint: you definitely can and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome is real)

You will have the instructors and your colleagues for support, but you may have to dig deep at times to keep chipping away at problems and finding solutions. 

Overall Summary: Becoming a Software Developer is incredible enough for reasons that you might already be hearing, which is why you are most likely reading this. OCCS is a fantastic school with a proven track record of success and being able to teach students how to code. Just remember that this is a coding bootcamp and is an intensive way to acquire this valuable skill, and it is not always the best path for everyone. (But if you have what it takes, I probably didn't dissuade you anyways :) )