RED Academy Reviews
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Patricia Bharwaj
Digital Marketing Professional
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I graduated from Simon Fraser University (SFU), one Canada's top institutes, with a Bachelors degree in Psycholgy and high hopes for the future. While I learned a tremendous amount within my undergrad, I was lacking practical hands on skills that are required to succeed in today's fast paced job force. I quickly became aware that experience was an absolute necessity to get any job, and unfortunately I was lacking in both experience and passion for the psych field.
That's when I came across RED Academy. While transitioning from an arts background to a communications/marketing one, there were many obstacles and uncertainties. I knew I wanted to flourish in the tech industry but needed to acquire the hard skills to do so. Not only did I gain hard skills at RED Academy, but I was given soft skills, access to an amazing network, and a family I will cherish for the rest of my life. RED does an excellent job of providing all the real world knowledge and skills needed in preperation of entering the tech sector.
When I first started the program, the fast pace and self-determination needed to excel, made me a little weary. That being said, with having little to no understanding of marketing and the digital realm, I picked up on the concepts with the help of the instructors. Also learning throughout the program that asking questions is encouraged and necessary to fully grasp each concept. Once you get on the same wavelength of the programs pace, it doesn't necessarily become easier, but you get a hang of things. I will say, this program is not intended for people that have previously "gotten by", it requires A LOT of hard work and effort and does entail long hours at school, and often doing work on the weekends. While I did not have a problem with that, it can become stressful and being able to manage stress is an extremely important part of the program, which leads to the FRIDAY SOCIALS! These socials held every Friday at RED kept me sane and reminded me that even when times get tough, we must remember to take a break. They were the highlight of my time at RED and reminded me of how close I had gotten with the people there.
I loved my time at RED and leaving was one of the most bitter-sweet moments of my life, but I know their doors are always open to us and I have gained so much from taking the digital marketing professional program. I whole heartedly reccomend this program to anyone looking to expand their current skillset or anyone looking for a career change.
Motto: Work hard (during the week) Play hard (at the Friday Socials)
:)
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Rodrigo
Digital Marketing Professional
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I decided to attend the Digital Marketing Foundations course at RED because I felt I was lacking the skills, tools and knowledge after I finished my bachelors degree in Business.
The courses are taught by the industry's best with years of hands-on experience on every topic + great speakers form the top tech companies in Vancouver. The part-time Digital Marketing Foundation course gave me more than a “foundation” in digital marketing, it provided me with up-to-date techniques, tips and tools to be a top marketer.
9 months after completing the course, I managed to find a job in Digital Marketing thanks to the skills and education I got at RED.
I recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn more about the digital world, looking to expand their knowledge for their current position or looking to change career paths!
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Caitlin Dyk
Web Developer Professional
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The web development professional program did a great job of preparing me for a career in web development. I was taught coding languages and workflow processes that are currently being used in the industry, how to research the answers to new coding challenges and how to debug code. The program is very fast paced, but I learned so much during the 12 weeks there.
The instructors were amazing! They are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding, and did a great job teaching it, even adjusting their teaching style based on our feedback.
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Daniel Hernandez
Digital Marketing Professional
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After finishing my university arts program at a major academic institution I had become quite disappointed with the lack of practical, hands-on, experience I had developed. Thus, my interest in helping digital agencies in Vancouver's tech industry was hindered by my lack of relevant knowledge and experience. RED Academy provided a great solution to my gap in knowledge and experience in tech. Overall, RED Academy programs are extremely hands-on, allowing you to work with real clients that truly need your support. Although you are supported by your instructors, the curriculum is based on a self-taught mentality, which in my opinion, realistically reflects not only the current state of tech workforce, but also the future of tech (where a rapidly changing environment will require that individuals become their own instructors and their own filters). The Digital Marketing Professional course is highly recommended if you flourish as a team worker, enjoy fast paced environment and have an open-minded approach to learning. Overall, in my eyes RED Academy can be seen as an innovative learning environment, somewhere between a school and an internship. You are always supported by great people and a positive environment, recommended! -
Brittaney Anderson
RED teaches skills you'll actually use
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I decided to take Digital Marketing at RED after noticing that the world of public relations was becoming increasingly driven by online content. I was hoping to gain some basic industry knowledge that I could apply to my day-to-day work for clients, but what I took from the course was much more.
I was pleasantly surprised with the wealth of content and practical tips that our instructor, Michael Steele, was able to provide in such a short timeframe. I found great value in the opportunity to put this information into practice every class. After the first class, I was able to begin bringing my newfound skills to use at the office and work with our clients to optimize their digital marketing strategies.
I have now built an incredible network of industry professionals and have gained knowledge and experience surrounding SEO strategies, Google Adwords and Analytics that have been extremely valuable tools for planning and reporting in my career.
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Jillian Greenwood
Launched a new career thanks to RED
Was in the first cohort of UX Design full-time program, and it helped me to switch careers and get hired as a UX Designer. The school's culture and instructors are so great. The networking opportunities with other students is also an amazing aspect. Would highly recommend the school to anyone looking to advance their skills in the tech industry. This is the new education model, and it WORKS!
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Gregory Ma
A great introduction to the world of tech and design.
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I first heard about RED Academy through a family member. I had just completed a 6 month introductory program for design at BCIT, which had left me a little lost in terms of career direction. I knew that I wanted to do something design related, but lacked a specific skill set that would allow me to do so.
I decided to take the UX Desgin Professional program in hopes that it would suppliment my visual design learnings. I figured it would be a proper marriage of learning.
The course was a 12-week condensed boot camp that crammed as much practical information as humanly possible into my tiny cranium. Anything UX or UX related was thrown our way in hopes that some of it would stick. It was up to us to retain as much of it as possible. With a program of this ilk, I think it is more than fair to assume that a huge part of the learning must be self motivated. The majority of the money spent on tuition went towards safely experimenting with different ideas and thought processes in the safety of an open minded enviroment.
It's an enviroment that is very welcoming of all, but only helpful to some.
I know that statement comes with a negative undertone, but it is not exactly what I mean. It is not to say that there are people who will not benefit from a program of this kind. Its value hinges on the mental state of the student. If you walk into this program with the hopes of finding a job just for money, you will be deeply disappointed. However, if you are approaching this program in hopes of discovering a passion (whether it be the program you take or not: RED offers a ton of opportunities at self discovery), you will have come to the right place.
I loved every moment of my time at RED. It allowed for a great amount of personal growth in a very short period of time.
Your actions are a direct reflection of you as a person. At RED, you really do get what you put into it.
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Tim Davis
RED and their UX Part-Time Course
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My journey with RED has been an incredibly informative, personalized and eye-opening experience. I come from a technical background, but before starting the course I had no previous web or app design experience. My motives were entrepreneurial: I want to build a web-centric company in my own (smart homes) industry, starting with nothing more than an outlining idea.
The course was well structured, fast evolving and inspiringly taught: there were several ‘light-bulb’ moments. The class sizes were small enough to get one-on-one attention when needed. The instructors (different specialized instructors for different topics) came from diverse backgrounds with lots of nuggets of information; always willing to help. Furthermore there were graduates from previous (full-time) classes on hand (sat at the back of the class) when more simple help was needed. The course is very ‘real world situations’ focused. Relevance is always highlighted and contextual discussion between classmates (with instructors) is promoted. The learning process feels like a systematic implementation of creative solutions. It was unlike any normal ‘schooling’ - dry and boring in my opinion - I’ve done before. This generated an amazing energy that’s felt throughout the Academy.
I’ve been able to take enormous amounts of understanding away with me and grow that further. RED has also been instrumental and hugely supportive in my post-graduation business development. I’ll be back for more, soon!
If you’re looking to diversify your experience with real-world projects that can put you on direction to create a product or portfolio which has meaningful impact and supports your personal growth possibilities…. If you want somewhere that simply feels like the learning environment you always hope an educational institution could be… RED is for you.
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Gabriel Scaglia Dias
Awesome Digital Mkt Foundation Program
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I took the Digital Marketing foundation program on July, 16. As I had zero experience in this field, the program was extremely helpful. The content itself is exceptional, clear and objective.The instructors and mentors have practical experience, so their inputs during classes truly reflect the market perspective. On the top of that, a strong and supportive community of entrepreneurs and former students who help each other and create a powerful network.
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Anonymous
Web Developer Professional program
Instructors are very knowledgeable and amazing, facility is great. But I think curriculum has to be improved, as JavaScript course is very sketchy. -
Anonymous
life changing learning experience
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I went to RED for UI design for it is the only bootcamp that offers a course with focus on UI instead of UX. UX is a trending profession but I wanted to get some UI skills under my belt. At the same time I didn't want to completely miss out UX course, which RED curriculum helped me exactly with that. Because for two months out of three, UI students sit in UX classes (UI and UX also have so much in common that you can't teach them in separation) and sit together with a UX student to work on real projects. I got to see the whole process of UX and also after we knew each other pretty well, I started to chip in in the UX decisions and UX students started to help me with UI designs. So our path is very much inter-related and we gain experience in both fields.
There are two layers of "life changing", first being the stuff I actually got exposed to and got my hands on. One thing made RED special is its interdisciplinary exchange, we had HTML & CSS class with web development instructor and Google analytics/Snapchat class with digital marketing instructor and so on. You can definitely learn a lot more than just one course if you are willing to. Another thing that is pretty "RED" is that we got to work on real projects from community partners. Sometimes it is just a personal idea from an ambitious client, other times it is real businesses who want to build their site better. Either way they are very valuable experience. Think as if we got to work with 3 startups (3 real projects) in 9 weeks. Pretty crazy right?
Another layer of "life-changing" is that it transformed the way I deal with people. I gained some good friendship and reinvigorated my career and life choices. Just because they had so many social events outside a rich curriculum to encourage good bonding and going out to socialize. I am an introvert but now I opened up a little bit.
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Anonymous
I wouldn't recommend RED Academy in Toronto
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I went to RED Academy in Toronto during the winter cohort 2017 (January to March). During my stay, it was a mix of positive and negative experiences, but the latter one would describe it best.
I went to RED since it's the only bootcamp in Toronto offering full-time UI Design courses, the other ones only offered part-time. Since I wanted to fully immerse myself and make a quick career change (doing FT vs PT), I enrolled with RED. When I was trying to sign up, they told me about their student ratio of 1:7 and how they already had 6 students signed up for UI Design, so they rushed me to quickly pay and enroll into the course before somebody else did. As I believed them to speak the truth, I became anxious and desperate so I enrolled at RED right away. Turns out, on my first day of class, there were only 4 students (including myself)! I was quite disappointed that they lied to me just to get me to enroll into the course.
RED offers a PPD class where they teach you "how to get a job in the tech industry," it turned out to be a waste of time and money to me. Instead of preparing us for customized classes directed towards the tech industry (for example: knowledge about salary for a junior role, portfolio preparation, drafting a freelance contract), we were given very generic and basic resume classes and nonsense exercises such as creating a rap song or building a tower with popsicle sticks. I asked for some material and resources from the PPD class and the instructor never sent it to me. At the end, she was let go, although we were promised that she would provide career coaching once we graduated.
RED has partnerships with a recruiting agency called Creative Niche. You would think that they will either help you land a job or connect you with other companies. Instead, all they did was say that my resume was perfect and gave zero constructive feedback. If my resume was perfect, why didn’t she ask me to do an interview right away? Also, I noticed that they always have online job postings for UI Designers, yet never bothered to asked any of us.
In general, my instructors (UI Design only) were pretty good. The instructors were knowledgeable in their craft and helped me with all the questions I had. On the other hand, I had HTML and CSS class with one of the other instructors and it was horrifying. He kept telling my class (all UX and UI design students) to Google everything, instead of teaching us how to write the code. Although I took some previous online courses in front-end development, I still couldn't grasp the basics of HTML from this class. After a few months, I bought an online course through Udemy for $15 and I understood every single thing they explained.
I'm not sure if it was my cohort's fault or not, but UX students love to overstep on the UI design A LOT. I just wished that the UX instructor would've done a better job telling the students to set boundaries when it came to working with us. There were a lot of times where UX would want to make the decisions for the user interface (typeface, icons, colours, logo, and so on). They would literally argue with you for hours if you didn't agree with them on the visual elements. This was definitely not a pleasing experience for me and made me doubt about the workplace in real life.
There's still a big chunk of graduates from my cohort from the Web Development and UX program that are still trying to land their first job (its been more than 3 months). If I were you, I'd recommend going to another bootcamp that actually knows what they are doing and would provide you with all the resources and support that you need to land a job in the industry.
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Anonymous
Digital Marketing Professional
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The Digital Marketing Program is great! Of course, as it is very intense (3 months, Mon-Fri 9 to 5), it is easy to get stressed because it is a fast paced environment! Projects, lessons and other deliverables and internal (amusing competitions) are included in the program to make it more lively and interesting! Instructors are great, very resourceful and always willing to help!
I went through different phases: At first I thought I was going to drop everyday, because there is a lot of content to learn and understand (first 5-6 weeks). Once we get our feet wet with the first client, everything that we learned seemed to make more sense. This real client opportunity is great as we face problems we could face in real life! Meeting their requirements and needs and having them appreciate your work, which is not always the case.
As we got closer to the end, I felt way more comfortable compared to the beginning of the program. It is thanks to the instructors who always believe in you!Keep in mind that you are learning a lot of new tech skills in 3 months, when instructors learned them on their own for years! In fact, we are very lucky to have to possibility to learn all these cool new tech skills at school!
I would like to have more improvement in the Career part. The problem is that when our cohort started, the person in charge of career dev, got another offer elsewhere, which made it a bit hard for us to have proper follow up, in that purpose. But Creative Niche, a tech recruiting company did a decent job in terms of interview prep, resume revision, etc. Still room for improvement. Although, instructors are always happy to do mock interviews with you even after you graduate!
The overall school atmosphere is great! take advantage of all the social events that Emily suggests! Our cohort was a bit boring so we didn't enjoy these social events as much as we could have, I regret this! I also wish we had some kind of conclusion event - apart from the prom which was a lot of fun - but like a diploma ceremony. Maybe something to introduce...
Now RED Academy has a new member in their staff, the Manager by the name of Peter Lane! This guys is absolutely awesome, you will learn a lot along his side and he is a lot of fun and gives a so many good tips and advice!
You'll enjoy the 3 months for sure!
Overall it's quite a positive experience. 8.5/10
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Anonymous
RED for UX? Don't do it.
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RED is completely unprofessional, disorganized, unaccountable, and breaks virtually all their promises.
(I gradated from the full-time professional UX program from RED Academy in the Winter 2017 cohort in Toronto)
Where to start...let's start with the beginning on a positive note (because, *spoiler:* it goes south pretty quickly after that...).This was a huge investment for me, and so I researched as much as I could into this school (which was challenging because at the time, the Toronto location was finishing up its first cohort, but still managed to talk to who I could/reviews of the Vancouver campus). I talked to the Admissions team and they were very quick and clear in taking the time to answer my questions and concerns. I was pretty impressed with this and felt like it was mutually a good fit. As soon as I sent my money though, it all changed. I didn't hear anything from them until the week before classes were to start.
My overall experience was disappointing...a lot of promises were simply not delivered. The school is very disorganized and therefore a lot of things were done very unprofessionally (if at all).
It was initially advertised that they guarantee a 7:1 student to instructor ratio. I was in the UX Professional class, with 17 of us in my cohort, we had one main instructor. It's interesting to note that this promise has since disappeared off their website. The classes were very much all over the place by the end of the term, the schedules were not followed, things in the curriculum were never taught (it says on the website that Omnigraffle was part of it, it was never even mentioned). Software licenses were supposed to be set up prior to the start of the course, but were not and one of the students had to take it upon themselves to do this.
A large reason why RED was such a poor experience was because of how unprofessionally the institution was run and managed.
While a few instructors and staff seemed to go above and beyond, many more seemed very unmotivated, disinterested, disengaged, and had no patience to teach. I don't care how great of a designer or developer you may be, but this is a school, therefore teaching and what comes with it (patience, compassion, and understanding) are imperative. Their lack of interest on their part ultimately affects my and my peers' futures! At least do a better job at pretending you want to be there?Also to note, some instructors were not respectful enough to see the importance of getting to know their students' 'names. Some instructors also had very obvious favourites (so if you're not one of their favourites, don't expect any kind of attention).
I originally decided to pay more for an in-person course (as opposed to an online course) to have access to support, mentorship, and personalized feedback if needed (I am not someone who needs hand-holding, but I know the value of having personalized support). I didn't get any useful help, personalized feedback on progress or support. We didn't get any feedback on our projects beyond our group presentations (which were about the presentations itself). I've asked for feedback but never received anything useful to work off of. Our community clients also seemed to be kept in the dark, and students were expected to take over communication when there was no communication between staff and students on what was discussed, expected, etc. I can't see the clients having had a professional or pleasant experience. The short amount of time we have to work on client projects also hinder in us ever delivering on a really great product. I was told to just know that the pieces can be fixed up later for my portfolio....but my concern is not my portfolio first and foremost, it's delivering a great project for these businesses/organizations - these are people's livelihoods, and I felt that the RED does not take them seriously nor follow-up with them after the fact. I'd like to know how many websites have actually been launched from the Toronto campus?We never got connections to the industry despite what was told to me when I signed up. Apparently RED has "industry partners", but I have yet to know what that means since there's been zero connections....Oh, let's also talk about their Grad Hiring event (which was cancelled 2-3 times without any notification to students -- we had to find out from each other through Slack) which was finally held 1.5 months after graduation. There must've been less 20 people who came...about 80-90% being recruiters from Creative Niche, their sister (recruiting) company. It was like filling your audience with your friends and family so it looks more successful than it is. I'm not quite sure why we had to give our presentations to various Creative Niche staff who all work together and we could have been connected with individually prior, during the program. I believe it was more for show, because as far as I know, no one got anything out of that event (probably because it took so long to put together and was constantly cancelled without notification -- that's a great way to organize a successful event!).
Career support and Personal and Professional Development (PPD): I must say I was pretty excited to see them offering PPD - a few hours every week to devote to career and personal support. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to its potential. I would have expected the material to be more specific to the tech industry, as well as specific to our fields (UX, UI, Development, Marketing), but instead they were very basic and very generic material on how we should remember to make eye contact and have a firm handshake. Please remember that a lot of us have been working for years and decades...it was ultimately not useful and kind of condescending! Even when I had my resume looked over by HR staff, it was a generic review and not specific to tech/design. They weren't able to provide things like portfolio reviews or coach us through design tests and portfolio reviews (because for those entering the design field for the first time, THIS is what's new to us, not general resumes and interviews!). As mentioned by others, conveniently, the week following our graduation, we lost our career support. This was not announced until a month later, of course. Students of course had to piece together things through the grapevine because RED is not transparent about a lot of things and makes me wonder what else they're hiding. Their staff have continued to turn over at an alarming rate since April. Overall, support throughout my time at RED has grossly declined...ending up with none after graduation (unless you want your resume to be looked over for the umpteenth time because that's all they can offer along with a 20-min pep talk over the phone).
For a school that offers user/customer experience classes, it's telling that we have not been reached out to to see what kind of support WE actually want and need. I had reached in earlier with my concerns (along with a lot of time spent on feedback surveys that apparently no one reads because things just progressively got worse), the most I've gotten is offering to look at my resume again (really?!).
There's also a new initiative, RED Studios (now RED Design Labs -- this is another thing, they like changing names of things every once in a while just to keep confusion high). It's a period after the program where a smaller number of alumni are so privileged to work for free for "global clients". What does it tell you if they need to build an extension to the program that should be enough on its own (at least that's what it's sold as), but also one where they're encouraging their students to be exploited by doing free work. Don't worry, they're not stopping there -- they will soon be charging...THE ALUMNI....to do free work. Why RED Studios is a thing when you can't even figure out your primary product (a school), is beyond me.
It was a lot of money for me to invest into a course and I'm not sure I know what I paid for. I felt very much like I was just another number that they're churning out. Unfortunately, their (lack of) action just shows the lack of respect and care they hold for their students, as you can tell from my and my peers' experiences. It's frustrating and disappointing that despite all the hard work and effort a lot of my peers and I have put into the program, RED's end of the deal was not held.
Peter Lane of RED Academy
General Manager
Jul 06, 2017
Hello,
We would really like to apologize for the experience you had with us, as this is not the experience we intend for our students. We understand the time, commitment and effort you've given in this course, and we are aware your concerns regarding the course. We appreciate your feedback and we're working very diligently to hire the right people to improve the support we give to our students.
We are very much open to discussing your concerns and gaining more insight, and if there is anything in particular that you would like to receive further support on we are committed to working with you. From career support to design portfolio feedback, we will work to support you further. If you are still open to working with us, please reach out to Peter Lane, our General Manager in Toronto either by phone: 647.793.2333 or email: peter.lane@redacademy.com. -
Anonymous
Digital Marketing Program Winter 2017
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If you want to get a Digital Marketing job in the tech industry, take this program. RED is so much more than just the instruction, there are staff to connect you to jobs, personal development workshops and job hunting coaching from professionals. You get out what you put into this program, so be prepared to study hard and to do a lot of self-learning at night to learn more about topics of interest. RED provides a supportive environment where one can be uncomfortable and learn. If you are interested at all, book a tour, it's free!
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Anonymous
Neglecting Administration
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I'm happy with my program but the administration won't respond to inquiries and emails unless you are making a purchase. Way to make us feel like 'cash cows.' Sometimes they give no response and don't even direct to someone who might have an answer for you. I wasn't able to get a response from them once and had to talk to my instructor who thankfully clarified the issue for me. Ideally the administration should have either let me know or checked in with the instructor. The level of incompetency is what drives people away from RED. 'Admission Officers' or the glorified receptionists either need to change their attitude or go. I'm actually thinking of not attending RED again for another program because of the fact that the administration is unresponsive. Their admission process is hectic. You don't know when you are going to get a call and they don't even have a transaction channel for credit cards. Other places book a time to call you or even have their staff show you around at a designated time slot. What does RED do? Ignore emails, Slack messages and leave you in the dark. Don't recommend.
Michelle Andrew of RED Academy
Admissions and Events Manager
Mar 27, 2017
Thank you very much for your feedback. As a member of the Admissions Team, I would really like to apologize that this has been your experience at RED. This is not the type of communication we foster with our students, and is not a reflection of what RED stands for. I am happy to hear that you enjoyed your program at RED, and I'm glad that your instructor was able to support you.
I am proud to work with our current and prospective students and am extremely invested in making sure everyone has an amazing experience with us. If you are open, I would really appreciate if we could work together to find a resolution so that we can grow as admissions team and prevent this experience from happening again.
If this is something you'd be interested in doing, please contact myself, Michelle, directly at anytime either by phone (778.379.7175 ext 1) or email (michelle.andrew@redacademy.com).
Thanks once again for sharing your experience and I really hope we are able to speak soon. -
Anonymous
Good, with room for improvement
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I enrolled in RED's UX Design program because I was looking for a career change, and it was the only full-time program offered in Vancouver at the time.
The 12-week program was very intensive and they cram a lot of information into a short amount of time. The pace does not let up from day one, so it's sink or swim. If you are driven, focused and have a strong work ethic, you will be fine. There is little time to absorb the information and there is a lot of self-teaching (which was frustrating, as you wonder why you paid $7500 when 'googling' is free).
One thing that was missing from the program was detailed feedback from the instructors on the projects. After presenting each of our 5 projects, we were asked to write a case study outlining our thought processes and how we arrived at our solutions. We were told that we would get detailed feedback for projects 2 through 5, but only received feedback project 2, and it was so late (we were already working on project 4 or 5) that we couldn't apply it to each subsequent projects. It was frustrating to go through the entire program not knowing whether your work was good or bad, or how to improve.
After finishing the program, RED offers assistance with job placement, but it's not really 'job placement' where they direct students to particular jobs that are best suited for their strengths, skill set and career goals. Instead, a few jobs are posted on Slack, and they're not unique to what's already on the job boards. It's a shame that they don't take the time to get to know all the students, so they can properly guide and support them in the real world. It would be nice if the placement manager initiated regular touch-bases with each of the students to see where they're at, make sure they are on the right track, or if they need help, etc. Some people may not be comfortable reaching out for help, so to do regular check-ins and make sure no one falls through the cracks would help those students a lot. There is definitely lots of room for improvement here.
Overall, the program is very comprehensive, and you get out of it what you put in. If you're lucky enough to be in a cohort full of intelligent, ambitious and supportive people, like I was, your experience will be very positive despite the flaws in the curriculum and services. Be prepared to spend about 12 hours on campus everyday and do homework on the weekends. I did learn A LOT and gain a good set of core skills that enabled me to get hired as a UX designer. Besides covering the main pillars of UX design, current software and methodologies, they also teach you how to do presentations, which is an invaluable skill in today's job market.
Christopher Doege of RED Academy
Recruitment & Placement Manager
Oct 13, 2016
Thank you for the feedback on your experience at RED! It sounds like your experience was positive for the most part, but I wanted to follow up in regards to the job support side of things.
During and after the full time program I meet with students to discuss their career, their resume, and their LinkedIn. I also coach them on upcoming interviews and discuss new opportunities. My job is to support students through their whole job search process as well as network with the local community so that I have the inside scoop on job openings before they are live in the market. RED Academy also supports students by hosting a Meet & Hire event for every graduating cohort. The purpose of this event is for students to meet hiring partners and for the community to see how awesome our talent is. We also have active slack groups where I post jobs, but I also reach out to students individually who would be a good fit.
Nevertheless, it seems like your experience was not in line with what I am here to do and I want to apologize for that. I would also like to offer any ongoing support you may need. Please feel free to reach out at any time. It is our promise that we will continue to work with our students until they are hired.
Thank you,
Christopher Doege
Recruitment & Placement Manager
RED Academy
chris.doege@redacademy.com
778-379-7175 Ext 1 -
Anonymous
Digital Marketing Review
Taking the 12 week digital marketing full-time course was one of the best decisions of my life. I was able to learn a completely new set of skills that are tangible, measurable, and extremely valuable in the job marketplace. The instructors were great and working with real clients gave me a competitive edge. It's a lot of hard work, but it's worth it!
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Anonymous
Full Time Front End Dev Review
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I moved to Vancouver from Alberta hoping to start a career in the Tech industry. It has been quite the experience and I definitely would not have made it this far without the guidance and expertise of the staff at RED Academy. The Front End Dev Program is similar to most bootcamp programs, a lot of work every day for 3 months straight.
However, I do believe that RED Academy has more to offer than other coding bootcamps. Being surrounded by students taking other courses like UX Design and Digital marketing made it a very unique environment. I learned what Sketch is and how to use it to redesign my resume. How to optimize web pages for SEO purposes. How to utilize LinkedIn to get a job and network. What it's like to have a kegger every Friday.
All these tools I gained on top of learning how to be a Web Developer from great instructors. The curriculum can be unforgiving, but I promise you that if you really enjoy coding and you put in the time/effort, RED will help you find a job.
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Anonymous
Full Time UX Course Review
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When I decided to switch Careers, I came accross RED who helped and guided me through the whole process before even putting my deposit down. It was their culture and openness to help that pushed me to join the Full Time course.
It's a fast paced environment that really does prepare you for real, industry work and cultures. The people I have met and relationships I have gained from atteneding RED has helped me expand my network so much.
It was a great experience and I would recommend RED to anyone with ambition
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Anonymous
Review of RED's Full-Time Digital Marketing Program
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I was a graduate of the third ever cohort of the digital marketing program at RED Academy, so by the time you read this the curriculum and the way the program is run might have changed. That said, for a school that was relatively still in its infancy when I decided to enroll in it, I was overall quite satisfied with my experience.
In contrast to more traditional educational institutions, I felt that the curriculum was very relevant and up to date at the time with the latest trends and practices in digital marketing. If you've ever been to one of RED's free seminars, you'll know that they emphasize giving you hands on experience with real companies, as opposed to the traditional academic model where it's all just theory and lectures. For our cohort, each team worked with a total of 3 companies. Some companies I found more interesting to work with than others, so there's a bit of luck involved too.
The instructors, unlike your typical middled aged university professor, are all relatively young professionals with lots of recent hands on experience in the digital marketing industry, and this is something you want when it comes to a constantly evolving industry like Tech.
Another highlight was that our program frequently brought in professionals from the industry to share with us their knowledge and practical strategies that they were using on a regular basis. I enjoyed this not just because of what I learned, but you get to learn about some of the cool companies that are out there and it also opens up opportunities for networking.
The main thing that kept me from giving RED a 5 star experience was that the instructors at the time had slightly differing expectations when it came to grading written reports (one report was needed for each of the 3 projects), which made it difficult when you have a different instructor grading your next report. I also felt that there should have been clearer guidelines when it came to preparing us for presentations. Of course, RED being less than a year old at the time I enrolled, I wasn't expecting things to be perfect, and I'm certain that future cohorts will have a more streamlined experience.
The last thing I'll stay about my cohort is that everyone in my class including myself managed to find a job within four months of graduation. This was in large part thanks to one of RED's staff members who's primarily role is to keep in touch with graduates and help them find work upon completing the program. Based on those results alone, I would definitely recommend RED's full time digital marketing program to anyone who's considering it.
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Anonymous
Great UX Program
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I took the full time UX program. My experience with RED was not just great but also life changing experience. I learned everything I need to know to be a UX designer and made great friends and got a job that I wanted!
The course was 3 months long and within in the time, I was able to learn and practice UX process consistently. The instructors are great teachers and also great supporters. They teach students everything that they need to know about UX and also emotionally and mentally support students. The instructors are passionate in teaching and they really care for their students. During the course, students worked on real community partner projects which help students to practice how to work with clients.
Also, RED provides great career support even after the program ends. RED has a recruiter who help sutdents with finding jobs, making resume, and finding networks.
I'm grateful that I took the course.
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Anonymous
Great Program
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Took the full time 12 week digital marketing program, and I learned quite a bit. Coming from a marketing background, the skills I learned at RED Academy were vital in progressing my career within the field. The instructors were extremely helpful and knowledgable and the school environment was like a family. Working with real clients really sets RED Academy apart, I found that this was where I could take what I learned and apply it to real businesses.
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Anonymous
RED is like a second family!
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I came to RED because I was looking for a career change and took the full-time UX Design diploma program. The environment felt like home, the instructors went above and beyond to ensure that were getting the most out of the program and provided unlimited emotional support when things seemed uncertain. It was an immersive program and what I loved the most about it was that the curriculum adapted to our changing needs to keep us challenged and engaged. We learned how to apply design thinking using the tools current in the industry, such as Sketch and Invision. The projects provided real-world experience in working with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders. On our last two projects, we got the opportunity to work with real clients which were great exposure to real world problems.
The students in my cohort all came from different design and non-design backgrounds, ranging in age and career levels. The bonds formed with the students, instructors and staff made it feel more like a family rather than just a community. It was a fun learning environment, with fun activities and exercises.
What's worth noting is that they also provide professional development and mentorship throughout the course of the program and have industry professionals come in to talk about different topics related to professional development. They provide a lot of support with building a resume, portfolio and also have a dedicated placement manager who provides job support after graduating. You're always surrounded by people who genuinely want to help you succeed in your new career.
On the non-academic side of things, they have a social every Friday afternoon, led by their superstar facilities coordinator. Everyone from all the programs, instructors, and staff kick back, and mingle with a couple drinks and just have fun! It's was a great way to end the stressful weeks.
My biggest takeaway from this program was that it made me more aware of myself, my strengths and capabilities. I felt that I grew so much, mentally and emotionally in those 3 months than I ever have, because of the nature of the program. It was a struggle to get through the 12 weeks but well worth the challenge and so pleased with the outcome. I don't think would've made it out of the program if it wasn't for the instructors and students who made it enjoyable and exciting every day!
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Anonymous
Part time ux program
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My time at Red Academy was truly an unfortunate experience. The course was taught by three recent (as in a month ago), young graduates of the full-time program who were wholly unprepared to teach the course. It was extremely curious that for the first class we had an instructor and then for the second session on it was the unexperienced TAs. This instructor had not left the institution, but was somehow absent from any furhter sessions. Additionally, the school has a policy wherein you can only get your money back after the first 10% of the course, and for a part-time 10 session course -- that was the first session.
These poor TAs with no work experience, and only their class projects to base recomendations on -- any questions were met on deaf ears, or with very shallow dismissive anwsers. I feel for the recent grads, as they should not have been put in this position; however, it also meant that my $2000 on the course was totally wasted.The class was comprised primarily of individuals who work in the industry but not specifically in UX (ages 25-45), and while many stuck out the whole course some of us just could not be bothered. We spent most of the class watching the TAs read their slides verbatim (which were not prepared by them), and when asked a question about any of the material they were unable to anwser or asked us to google the anwser....
TL;DR - this is a horrendous waste of your money. Do not under any circumstances attend their part-time ux program as you will be disappointed.Sean Eikerman of RED Academy
Operations Director
Sep 22, 2016
Thank you for your honest review, and I'm sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience with our part-time UX class.
Our main focus at RED is to provide instruction and facilitation for students to learn the subject matter through the lens of real world projects. With this being the case, our instructors are hired due to their relevant professional experience in the local tech community. Their jobs are to provide structure and oversight, but since there are usually quite a few questions, much of the coaching is done with TA's currently working in the industry to help students navigate the projects. It is our policy that all instructors and TA's go through immersive teacher training, but are professionals in their fields first and foremost. However, we are aware that there was a highly unusual staffing issue with respect to the delivery of this particular part-time program that may have impacted the quality of your experience, and I can certainly appreciate your frustration.
Our main focus is to provide an exceptional student experience and it is certainly not our intention to mislead students; therefore, we'd be happy to discuss this further about how we can help rectify your experience.
Feel free to reach out to me directly- we'd love to continue this conversation to help improve our part-time program.
Thank you,
Sean Eikerman
Operations Director
RED Academy
sean.eikerman@redacademy.com
778-379-7175 ext. 1