Parsity

Pros

• Accomplished my goal of stepping away from IT support/ops and into a JS engineering role
• Provided a good framework in which I could code every day (including 8-12 hrs per weekend at my own pace) for three months
• It's a small startup with hard-working staff who care about your success personally
• Cohorts are limited to ten people, so you really get to know everyone including the instructors
• Attempts to teach concepts in a logical order, sometimes taking the harder route of learning an older framework first so that you have more context for the new one.  Flipside of this is that we were stuck in outdated land for a long time. 
• Took me from being shaky at simple scripts to writing a functional full-stack app. 
• Projects provide real artifacts to show off (or to hide forever ;) )
• Price was reasonable for quantity, quality, and availability of training and staff, and for the increase in salary I saw before/after the camp. 
• We had an awesome TA who went way above and beyond and truly made the difference in all of our success.  Can't praise him enough. 
• Public demo night was an awesome opportunity -- I had three people from name-brand companies approach me about jobs after watching me present.  That's value. 

Cons 

• Growing pains.  I was part of the third cohort.  They're still figuring things out, such as: 
• Unrefined training content was littered with spelling, grammatical, and code errors.  Daily struggle.  I hope they're working on it but I really didn't see any acknowledgement of the issue or action taken to fix it.  Everything is usable but... it can feel unprofessional. 
• Logistics.  We moved offices three times in three months.  Future cohorts shouldn't run into this, but it was a distraction and we were treated like second-class citizens by one of the offices ("go park half a mile away in a sketchy lot where people don't feel safe at night").  
• Geared towards people truly switching careers, so they sometimes don't really know how to handle tech professionals with overlapping experience.  With an IT background I often did not find any value in the trainings geared towards teaching computer science, and there were sometimes inaccuracies in the material.  They should really structure this in a way that allows for opting out and focusing on coding. 
• I did not use job support services as I found a job myself part way through the program.  The requirements to get the services felt like they would be pretty burdensome, so have a frank conversation about expectations for both parties prior to enrollment.  I don't think they explicitly offered this service when I enrolled, as we never talked about it until like halfway through the program. 
• There were a couple instances where I felt like staff went too far towards acting like cool kids -- keep finding the right balance of teacher/mentor vs. student.

Over the course of my life my approach to success has been a safe and linear plan, this includes going to a traditional 4-year college, and playing by the rules made by the status quo. This approach made me skepitcal of coding schools. I knew I had to put in research to find a school that would give me a return on my investment. I had been teaching myself some Javascript and computer science principals on the side but in hindsight I was going about it the wrong way before Project Shift. Traditional schooling teaches us to memorize definitions and concepts but the reality is that experience will inevitably teach you all those things in a natural way plus a lot more. The practical applications I learned in the 12 weeks of the program made me confident in answering any technical interview with real-life experiences. I started this program feeling scared and unprepared since the pace picked up so quickly. But by the end of it I had gained tremenous strides in my ability to code, solve technical problems, and most importantly in my confidence as a Software Engineer. 

Sean, Aaron, Morgan, and Alex brought many different types of experiences to the table. By the end, I felt like I had created a close relationship with them all and their support during and after the program was priceless. As far as the content of the program, they taught us many frameworks and theories that are applicable to software development today (like ES6, React/Redux, Node, etc.).The stucture of the program does not focus on grading which I enjoyed since grading is stressful for me. Instead, they focus on making sure we are making weekly strides and connecting new material with old material like finishing a puzzle. I would recommend any prospective or current students to take advantage of the electives and to soak in all you can since you'll never know if it will come up in an interview. An example of this was Sean's elective on Cybersecurity. I interviewed at a bank and since I attended the elective I felt confident in answering questions about security. 

As far as my experience post-Project Shift, I had three interviews the week after demo night, two of which led to second interviews and then job offers. Morgan, Sean and Aaron would constantly send us leads to the group and to me personally when they saw positions that aligned with my interests. Any job search comes with anxiety and rejection so it's important to keep that in mind, but I think Morgan helped in ensuring me that everything would be okay and that these things take time. Although the past 3-4 months have been stressful since I was devoting 60+ hours a week on coding, I'm fortunate to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 3 weeks after Project Shift I accepted a job as a Junior Java Developer. I'm so grateful for the curriculum at Project Shift, the people I met at Project shift, and for this risk that I took on that ultimatley changed my life and now I can say I am doing what I love.

I find myself telling anyone who asks about Project Shift the same thing: it was the most enjoyable and engaging learning program that I've ever experienced. If you're serious about switching into a career in software development, I highly recommend Project Shift. For a time, I was skeptical about code schools, but the more I learned about this program, the more I realized that it checked off boxes that other schools couldn't. After interviewing with Aaron (the founder and one of the instructors), I felt confident that this was a serious opportunity for someone like me who enjoyed coding on and off for years but wanted to dive deeper and start a new career path. I love that the cohort size is capped at 10 students. This maximized my ability to learn and made me feel as if I was more than just a warm body filling a seat. I quickly discovered that both instructors, Aaron and Sean, are enthusiastic and tireless in their efforts to help you learn the nuts and bolts of being a successful software engineer.

During my cohort, the lessons were generally straightforward yet challenging. Learning was enhanced by pair programming, which was built into most lessons. The curriculum was well thought out and well paced. To me, Project Shift does a great job of teaching practical development skills in current technologies while also incorporating universal programming principles, which are applicable regardless of which language or technology you use. Also, the instructors make themselves readily available when you feel stuck or have questions.

Before and after the cohort ended, both Sean and Aaron went above and beyond for my career search - they responded readily to any questions I had via chat message, video chat, and meeting in person. Both gave helpful advice and guidance throughout the process or applying, interviewing, following up, etc. Less than three months post-Project Shift, I started my career as a full-time software developer, and I owe that to a connection I made through my Project Shift mentor. I can say with confidence that this program prepares you to become a software engineer because from day one on the job I have been applying lessons learned from Project Shift.

I was a member of Project Shift's first cohort and, being a former teacher, I knew the first iteration of any course was probably going to be a bumpy ride. But I did it anyway for a couple of reasons. First of all, I just really liked Aaron. Is that a dumb reason? Maybe, but it worked out. I could tell he was passionate about what he wanted to do, and I loved his enthusiasm. Secondly, I liked that the program was competative to get into and they wouldn't just accept anyone. Another bootcamp I was 'courting' at the time that shall remain nameless made it obvious (to me) that they were just trying to fill seats. That was very offputting to me because I wanted to be in a course with others who had similar abilities and goals since this was such a tight timeline.

The actual course exceeded my expecations. Like I previously said, I was expecting a ton of hiccups, and Aaron and Sean were both extremely candid about how this was the first time and they were probably gonna screw some things up. And for sure there were issues here and there, but overall, the curriculum was really well thought out. You could absolutely tell how much time and energy they put into deveoping the course materials. Also, I found the lessons easy to follow and, more importantly, easy to learn from. I liked working closely with the other members of the small cohort (there were only 7 of us), and I really felt like I got to know everyone and we had a ton of fun.

In terms of post-bootcamp, it's only been a few weeks so I cannot really speak to long-term career prospects, but I will say that Sean and Aaron have been super supportive and have put all of us in touch with people in their large network, many of whom have job openings. I was lucky because I landed a part-time contract position like two weeks out, which works perfectly with my schedule. It was really a best case scenario for me, and I found out about the opportunity via one of Sean's connections.

I chose Project Shift for a number of reasons: I wanted to learn JavaScript, I didn't want to have to choose between front-end and back-end specializations, I liked the approach of learning big-picture concepts alongside practical skills, and I thought the selective admissions and small class size would mean getting the most out of our 12 weeks. I was definitely not disappointed. I worked hard and learned a TON. 

Each week of the course has a different focus. Monday through Thursday, students partner on guided lessons. Fridays are for all-day evaluations (the name sounds scary, but they felt more like a project than a test), which were almost never completed by the end of the day--expect to spend plenty of weekend and evening hours working on these.

I expected to learn a lot and I did. Maybe the thing that surprised me the most was how much fun our cohort had together--over the course, we had a slew of class inside jokes, periodic ping pong breaks, and prodigious use of the Slack party parrot.

I gave four stars to job assistance as our career counselor left mid-cohort and the mentor and guest speaker programs are still being worked on. Less than a month after the end of our program, it's too early to know much about job outcomes. Speaking for myself however, I had the great fortune of finding a job within a few weeks of graduation.

I am so grateful that I was a part of Aaron Hayslip's very last bootcamp in Israel. While I know personal family issues were the only reason Aaron was prevented from continuing at his previous bootcamp, I am also certain he would be a success at leading the future coders of the world anywhere he is. The bootcamp I attended was Aaron's brain-child as is his new endeavor with Project Shift so I can do nothing but try to convince anyone looking to jump into the ever-growing lucrative world of web and app development to stop considering and just sign up already.

What can I say about Aaron? He is genuine, funny, thoughtful, but above all, an amazing teacher in the realm of coding. I am achieving my own dreams of leading a talented app development team (all also grads from Aaron's previous bootcamp by the way) and I am sure that Aaron had a strong influence in leading us all in this direction of success. The biggest compliment I think I can pay Aaron is not that he is smart and a great teacher, but rather that he just "gets it." He is very aware of the current trend of web development and has a keen talent for positioning himself and everyone associated with his endeavors for success, not only professionally and monetarily, but perhaps more importantly personally. He just gets it. Sign up for Project Shift, be prepared to work harder than you've ever worked and watch your dreams come true.

 

I'll start with a disclaimer - I was never part of "Project Shift", BUT, I was part of "Elevation Academy" cohort 3 in Tel Aviv Israel that was managed by Aaron Hayslip, so I suspect the vibe of "Project Shift" will be not much different...

The 12 weeks I've spent in the cohort were amazing time for me, very often thanks to Aaron. Whether it was a question that he would always answer (yes, even if he is busy at the moment, he would make a point of coming back with the answer later on), or agreeing to my suggestion to make a video of the classes since I almost always missed the morning ones.

Aaron was always on top of the subject that was taught, even if sometimes he admitted he learnt it only in the passing week and always had the patience to explain a certain topic again and again - a trait that never stopped amazing me.

In short, I'm of a mind that Aaron has the knowledge and the right attitude to teach coding. The combination of the two makes "Project Shift" a great opportunity for people who are searching for a place that will teach them just that.

Aaron was my instructor when he ran this course in Tel Aviv. 

I must say: the curriculum was well-organized and engaging.

Yes, it's true the program is expensive. But, I see it as an investment for the future. About 4 months after completing the program Aaron ran in Tel Aviv, I got a job as a Product Manager for a promising startup company. 

I am Super-Happy to see that Aaron is now offering this program in North Carolina. I am positive that people who are hungry to succeed in hi-tech will use this course as a stepping stone to a brighter future.

I enrolled in Parsity looking for some structure to my learning as I transitioned to software development from education. Of course, I found that structure in a curriculum and agenda of projects with deadlines. Perhaps more valuable than the structure, though, was the community. Mentors were eager to help out and just chat about programming and jobs. Group projects were actually a joy and perhaps the most valuable part of the learning experience. 

My main critique is that I'm not convinced that the tour through the history of web development, including a week Backbone, is necessary in a short curriculum. Also, more might be done to link students with employers. 

By the end of the program, though, I was skilled both in the MERN stack and in learning new technologies on my own. The job search is still difficult, but the career staff and mentors were great resources for questions. With a comparably low price to other bootcamps, Parsity is a solid option to start your full stack web development career. 

I was one of the oldest members of my cohort. I am a father of two, a husband, and I have bills to pay! I spent the last ten years at a job that I was growing increasingly burnt out on, and I decided it was time for a change. I didn't make a lot of money, so I was perpetually paycheck to paycheck. As gratifying as public service was, the cons were outweighing the pros, and it was just no longer sustainable. I decided to try and teach myself code. I spent the better part of a year learning web development. Things would come up, and I'd take a little break...maybe not so little, and I'd have to relearn a lot of what I was working on. Then I decided to get "serious" and started coding everyday, even if only a little. I got better, but I felt I still had a long way to go to make the career transition that I was planning.

It was then that I started researching code schools in my area. I looked at several, one "affiliated" with a local university, a couple of online bootcamps, some part time, some full-time. And then I found Project Shift. It stood out.

They focused on teaching programming fundamentals. They included some Computer Science topics in the curriculum. They purposefully kept their groups small. And they taught full stack JavaScript, which I liked. Basically, they ticked all of my boxes. They gave me the warm and fuzzies, where all of the rest seemed to fall short.

So how was I going to pay for all of this? It's not just the tuition, but also living expenses as I would have to quit my full time job. It was a tough decision. It would be (in my mind) a big gamble. 

So how did it turn out?

I'm two weeks out from graduation, and I have a wonderful job offer with a large tech company! Your mileage may vary, but for me, I nearly doubled my income. Not to mention the other great benefits. And I get to work on cool, cutting edge, technologies. It's literally everything I could have hoped for. 

The curriculum is thorough, but not exhaustive. After all, part of learning to code is learning to learn new tech, and Project Shift encourages that. 

There is a ton of mentorship. You will have an individual mentor, access to a team of mentors on a Slack group, as well as the staff; all of whom are incredibly helpful. 

There were several opportunities built in for networking with local devs like an invitation luncheon, a few panels/discussions, field trips, etc. 

The work evironment and the local scene are very conducive to being productive. You have 24 hr access to the coworking space where they are located. I spent many nights and weekends coding away at the office.

There is plenty of help if you get stuck on a problem. The onus is really on you to seek help when you need it. 

There will be boat load of career services training in addition to all the programming. This is invaluable and has played no small part in the traction I've been able to gain in the short time since I've completed the course. And it continues far beyond graduation.

There are wonderful moments of ephiphany where you accomplish more than you thought you could. 

So...the cons?

It is a lot of work. A LOT! I spent a good 70-80 hours a week most weeks. 

It moves fast. Sometimes it felt like we were moving on to an entirely new topic before I could grasp what were were just talking about. 

Some of the material starts out pretty esoteric, but becomes clearer as you progress. So it takes a bit of faith in the process, but can be a bit frustrating at times.

And of course, it isn't cheap. But what kind of value is it. Well, like I said, two weeks from graduating and I essentially doubled my salary. 

Is it for you?

You'll need to be driven and proactive. Seriously, not just buzzwords. This isn't high school, the responsibility will be solely on you.

You'll need to be humble and willing to ask for help. Throw whatever shred of ego you have out the window. It will only impede your progress.

You'll need to be able to play well with others. Much of the learning is done in a pair programming environment, and it is a small, intimate group. 

So, do I recommend it? Unabashedly YES! If you are considering investing in a code school to help you change careers, I could not recomment Project Shift any more highly.