Skill Distillery

  Being a software developer was the top option I wanted to pursue as I was getting ready to transition out of the military. I wanted to attend a program that is veteran-friendly and teaches technologies that are highly sought after in the industry. Skill Distillery was on top of the list, and attending this program was the best decision I made. Now, I work for a fortune-100 company as a Software Developer.   The program was designed to not only teach you how to code, but also teaches you the ability to learn new technologies. It’s also designed to train you how to collaborate with other developers using tools to help you be succesful at your work. Not very many bootcamps teaches Java, because it’s a hard language to learn in my point of view. But, they really make sure that everyone doesn’t get left behind.  Another good thing about this program is that they help you prepare for the Oracle Certified Associate Java SE8 Certification. I didn’t get to take it because I was one of the strugglinG students, but the fact that they offer it, is a great deal itself.
 
 The instructors were very knowledgeable and they were definitely industry experts. They have dedicated instructors for each technologies, but whenever I needed help with a topic, even the instructor from a different topic was willing to help out. Like I mentioned earlier, I was one of the struggling students in our cohort, but I got all the help that I need, from the TA, classmates, and instructors. This was definitely a great experience for me. 

Be forewarned that this bootcamp will require the vast majority of your time! But that's because you will learn so much and come out on the other end with an abundance of new skills. I believe there is another review on here saying this bootcamp is not for the inexperienced and with respect I will have to whole heartedly disagree! I had zero coding experience as did two of my closest friends in class and we all made it through having learned so much. No lie - it took a lot of work, studying, and dedication but you can absolutely do it! My only cons are sometimes the wording of the curriculum is hard to follow and towards the end we didn't get a lot of detailed critique on our homework projects. But Skill Distillery is one of the best decisions I've ever made and I feel really good about my future!

Skill Distillery was a life-changing experience for me! I went from a non-profit director to a Full-Stack Software Developer, and I do not think I would be successful in this change without the great instructors and SD course. If you choose to put the effort and dedication into the SD course, it will pay off when you begin a career as a new developer. 

My first Software Developer job was delayed because of COVID-19. I am now a developer working with Java building microservices at a Fortune-150 company at one of their Denver Metropolitan locations, but I am currently working remotely. I graduated in January 2020 and became employed in May 2020 after a seven-week delay to my original start date. 

This transformation was not an easy process, but I learned the needed developer skills at Skill Distillery and how to learn new skills quickly.  It was a game-changer to me having SD's staff continued to encourage, coach, and help me after the course to help me have stronger interviews. 

I recommend the Skill Distillery Java Software Development Bootcamp to anyone aspiring to be a developer who is willing to put the hard work in and wants to make a career change. Please look me up on a business networking site and feel free to ask me about this experience.  

My former career plans had hit a wall and I was looking for an exit. The VA's VET TEC program in April 2019 provided that exit and offered three schools to choose from: Code Platoon, Zip Code Wilmington, and Skill Distillery (SD). SD was the longest course available (680 hours, 16 weeks) at the time and logistically it worked best for me. 

SD was the most mentally challenging endeavor of my life and it consumed all of my time from July 5th through October 28th. The amount of material SD manages to cram into 16 weeks is staggering and you need to understand that this won't be a walk in the park.

The teachers are supportive and knowledgable, the assignments engaging, and the curriculum is a perfect foundation for bringing a person without experience into the world of software development. I highly recommend SD if you're looking to make a change in your life and you're willing to wholly dedicate your time to making that change. Today, I have a stable and promising career path that is enjoyable. The future is bright!

*Prior to enrolling in a bootcamp, research what technologies are in demand for your target locale* 
For example, I went to Denver and learned Java at SD and then moved back to Tulsa and didn't gain much traction in the job hunt until picking up C# / ASP.Net on my own. I highly recommend speaking to a few recruiters in the cities you're interested in to get a feel for that job market. 

Pros:
+ VET TEC Preferred Program
+ Very veteran friendly, my cohort consisted of all military veterans
+ Seemingly very compassionate instructors & staff
+ Very eager to do whatever it took to ease our minds through whatever transition we would go through (OCAs, COVID, etc)
+ Made an extended family with my cohort
+ Accepting of my emotional support animal which I understand is not a service dog
+ Awesome building/facility even though one classroom has no windows

Cons (which I knew going in):
-Extremely fast paced, wish there were more reviews to ensure retention of foundational topics
-Some instructors read from slides so can lose attention easily 

I made the decision to attend Skill Distillery because I felt stunted in my career field and wanted to attain marketable skills and felt like this Java Full Stack Bootcamp was a good decision based on recommendations from prior students and other veterans. I ended up leaving my job and moving from Missouri to Colorado and quickly realized that it was the greatest decision I made thus far in my career path. Prior to attending Skill Distillery, I had worked in the cybersecurity field as an intelligence analyst but did not really have any knowledge about programming languages. We were immediately thrown into learning Java since the program is only 16 weeks. The program offered numerous labs, some that needed to be completed over the weekend, that were crucial when it came to fully understanding and absorbing the new concepts. Quickly on I did feel like I was falling behind, but through the closeness of the cohort (small class size), dedication of the instructors, and the teaching assistants help on Saturdays I was able to pull through and have more confidence in my coding ability. Throughout the program, we learned many technologies, including front end, back end, and project management tools.  I started attending the course in January and when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred Skill Distillery was very transparent when it came to communication and a way forward as lockdown was eminent. Skill Distillery was able to transition us to learning over Zoom and I did not notice any loss in the material we were learning. We were able to share our screen with the instructors if we were stuck or behind and had the ability to have breakout rooms to be able to conduct pair programming and group projects.  Lastly, Skill Distillery was very helpful in preparing me to reenter the job market by conducting career workshops, mock interviews (technical and nontechnical), and resume review. I was able to secure a job offer the week prior to completing the program. Everyone that worked at Skill Distillery seemed genuinely passionate about what they did and helping the students to succeed and overcome their imposter syndrome. Overall, I would highly recommend this bootcamp for anyone that is considering making the transition into software development or wants more knowledge on front and back end technologies.

Skill Distillery’s 16-week course was an incredible experience. I was itching for a career change into software development, and Skill Distillery made that possibility a reality. Much like whoever may be reading this, I too read every review I could -  even reached out to former students who all had positive things to say about the course. The fact that it is based on the Java language is an advantage for those wanting to gain practical experience using Object-Oriented Programming.  The course was highly fast-pace, and at times I did feel like I was drowning. However, that is expected. The instructors were incredibly knowledgeable and went above-and-beyond to help students understand difficult concepts. Within three weeks of graduating, I had two offers. The position I accepted uses C#, which is similar to Java since they are each part of the C language family. Needless to say, students gain the ability to learn how to learn, which opens the door to many jobs outside of the languages taught throughout the course.  Overall, I can't recommend this course enough. This easily might be the best decision I’ve made, but having a desire to code and natural curiosity is essential to enjoying the process. I feel like I learned more in those four months than I did in four years of college. The instructors and staff truly care about the success of each student. 

If you are ready to put in the time for a change, this is the place to go. Staff and instructors are very intelligent and helpful, they are there to teach you how to code and they do it well. You will come out of Skill Distillery as a confident developer ready for the job market. You will get out of this course what you put into it. Be ready to devote yourself to a career change and you will have it.

I graduated Skill Distillery class SD23 two weeks ago and already have a job offer.

 

At the end of 16 weeks you'll have a really solid foundation and be able to build make websites hosted on Amazon Web Services EC2 using Java, Angular, and SQL databases.  Before coming here I'd always struggle learning programming languages on my own. I dropped a C++ class in college, and got by in other Java / Microsoft Access classes. Here they're not as concerned with the academic concepts of topics. They focus more on the practical application of writing code and that's how I managed to stay interested and learn quickly how to do it. Instructors and TAs are very approachable when it comes to questions or when you're stuck on something.

I'm 1 week into my job search and have much confidence in what I've learned during my time at Skill Distillery.