Skill Distillery

Skill Distillery is much more than a coding bootcamp. They do not want to produce a mass amount of "coders". They want to produce competent software developers ready for the workforce. How they do it: The class sizes are smaller, allowing an effective student : instructor ratio. The curriculum has great depth and is influenced by market demand. The instructors are all vastly knowledgable and truly love what they do. Every single student is of concern to the entire Skill Distillery team. They have a growing alumni. One of which I am now proud to be part of. The alumni is a key component to obtaining a quality job after the program is over. Companies throughout the United States are growing confident hiring new graduates from Skill Distillery due to the reputation of the alumni. This reputation is a direct reflection of the amazing job Skill Distillery does. This is an intense program and takes a great deal of work and commitment. 19 weeks is a short time to go from never touching code before, to becoming a software developer companies want to hire and keep. With the instruction and guidance from the Skill Distillery team, I did just that. 

Skill Distillery is what every bootcamp should aspire to be. The combination of teachers took our class, almost none of whom had any background in programming, and gave us the technological exposure, hands on training, and expert instruction to turn is all into capable full stack developers. 

We spent the first few weeks learning Java. We covered the basics of programming in a strictly typed language and object oriented programming. As a wrap up to the completely Java focused portion our class spent a week reviewing for the Oracle Certification Exam and half of us passed it. A typical Java programmer is writing code for a year and half before taking this exam. 

We moved onto other technologies throughout the program, but never left Java completely. We learned MySQL to create persistent databases for our applications. We learned HTML and CSS to make our projects presentable online. We learned Javascript/jQuery/Angular to make our web pages dynamic. All of these skills were taught patiently by instructors with a variety of backgrounds. Two of our instructors have been programmings for decades and the other two come from strong computer science backgrounds and bootcamps. This combination means that I never felt that I had an instructor who didn't know where I was coming from. 

That feeling of personal attention and focus is what really stood out for me at Skill Distillery. Unlike other bootcamps I’ve heard of, they’re not out to just make money off of their students. They look good if they put out quality programmers, which works out great for the students too! If I needed additional help or resources on anything, the instructors were more than equipped to help me. 

On the subject of job placement, they did all they could. They helped us revamp our resumes, they put us in touch with recruiters and local groups, and they gave us the knowledge base to expand our skill set to accommodate specific job requirements. Perhaps the biggest asset was the portfolio of web projects we put together starting about halfway through the program and we put them on an AWS page that any hiring staff can go look at. The only thing they couldn’t do was guarantee placement, but that’s a rule with how the school is set up, not a weakness of the program. Four out of eleven students in my class had jobs before graduation and a fifth had a job two days after graduation. 

If you are serious about getting started in a programming career, I really can’t recommend Skill Distillery more highly. 

Overview

I'm in my last week here as a student, and it's been a long, difficult, and rewarding journey.  I am incredibly glad that I took the opportunity to attend here, and I've truly enjoyed my time with my fellow students and staff here at the school.  I was apprehensive about my decision, both concerned with dedicating several months of my life to a career transition and also dedicating the money that boot camps cost.  That apprehension passed quickly.

You'll want to study hard.  Keep your brain fresh.  Work together with your classmates and develop a sense of camaraderie.  It makes the time at the school much more enjoyable.  Pressure, stress, and self-doubt are your biggest opponents here.  Attend class, ask questions, and prep with their recommended Java instruction or your own.  It will definitely pay off.  They'll help you here, but they can't do everything for you.  If you have a sense of curiosity and self-sufficiency, there's no reason that you can't succeed here (or in life in general, right?).

Program

The program is challenging.  I came into this with minimal knowledge of development.  I self-taught some python, took a class in high school about 15 years ago, and took some math classes in college.  I felt an inclination to switch careers into tech, specifically development, and self-teaching was simply too slow and arduous.  I wanted to learn an OOP-based language, some sort of full-stack experience (based on what I'd read online).  There are very few boot camps around the country that offer a broad curriculum like what is offered here.  It's very intensive--prepare to cram information into your brain for months--and also very nuanced.  I'll speak more about the quality of instruction next.  If you are looking to learn fundamental, common-use languages like Java and JavaScript and you also want to learn a ton of other technologies that are relevant or dominant within industries, this is the place to go.

Instruction and the Staff

The staff here are outstanding.  Our cohort was primarily instructed by Jamie, Rob, Kris, and Andrew.  Jamie has since left, and the school replaced him with an instructor named Steve.  Although I didn't have much opportunity to work with him, he seems like an excellent hire and I have no doubt that he'll add to the already tremendous quality of instruction that you'll find here.  The instructors are enjoyable, both as teachers and as people, and they care a lot about your personal development, and the development of your development skills.  I struggled initially in the program, but evolved quickly to feeling great about my skill set and my capabilities.  This is a direct result of the hands-on curriculum and awesome instructors.  

I cannot emphasize enough how comfortable it is to work with the staff.  Cole is the school director, and he's great with the students.  Bruce, the owner, is easy to talk to and is often present.  Janet in the back is usually busy at her workstation, but she's diligent about ensuring that snacks and soda, which the school makes available to students, along with special events (lunch parties, etc) go smoothly.  She did a great job of handling our finances, including VA.  The school here is very vet-friendly.

Jamie (who left recently to return to the private sector), Rob, Kris, and Andrew were all terrific to learn from.  They are a group of instructors that love coding and teaching.  I can't say enough as to how much I owe them; the time spent explaining concepts that I didn't understand, always being available to help, and staying on top of technological changes (distributions, frameworks, dependencies, etc).  They took me, a former marketing manager, and guided me through some very hard material and some challenging projects.  My thanks goes out to them.  You don't have to worry about distant instructors that check out and leave you hanging.  They're top notch.

What you learn

You learn full-stack development here, and it's not easy.  Java and JS developers are needed in the job market, and you'll spend more time than you'd imagine on every link in the tech chain.  By halfway through the program, you'll be creating fully-functional web applications using everything from SQL to JavaEE to Spring to HTML/CSS.  I still can't believe how fast I progressed.  By the end of the program, we were creating even better web applications by adding front-end development with JS (and jQuery, Angular, etc) and even some MEAN stack projects as well!

My brain, which I'm sure atrophied since college, was re-energized.  Intensive and immersive learning, like studying abroad to learn Spanish for example, is a proven effective method for "re-wiring" a brain, as long as it's done right.  The program moves fast because it has to: the concepts and technologies here are difficult.  Weekend projects, both solo and in groups, along with some self-study and in-class keyboard time reinforce what you learn in lecture.  Our class was just shy of a dozen people, and we almost always had 1-2 instructors available for help during labs/projects.  This isn't something that you'll find at every boot camp or coding academy.

Summary

This review is getting long.  The summary here is easy: if you're serious about wanting to be a developer, and if you're up for the challenge, SD will do it's best to get you there.  They're still a new school (most schools like this are), and they're still networking with companies and alumni to create more comprehensive job placement assistance.  This might be their biggest point of improvement, but they're aware of it and continue to work on it.  In my interviews so far, employers have been impressed with the fundamentals of my knowledge and my experience with industry tech that I worked with here.  I'll update this review when I take a position after I've officially graduated from here in a few days, but I feel confident about that side of things.  To be honest, I really enjoyed learning again, and I'm pretty excited to keep learning even when I'm working.  I'm a developer now, it's what we sign up for when we go into the profession.

Choose your boot camp carefully.  It's a financial investment into yourself, so make sure that you understand what languages, technologies, frameworks, curriculum, etc that you're getting yourself into.  Do more than just google salaries by language.  There's nothing gimmicky here.  No feeling of profit-over-student.  I was worried about both, but so glad that I made the decision to attend because neither was an issue.

Thanks again, to both the SD staff and my fellow students.  I had a blast during my time here and it was quite a ride.

I chose Skill Distillery because they teach Java and because Batky-Howell has been around for 25+ years training IT professionals. I echo the other positive reviews here regarding the thorough curriculum, the extremely knowledgeable instructors (who also love to teach), and the rest of the dedicated staff of the school.

I had been an accounting professional for about 20 years, and I decided to transition to a programming career. The boot camp model made it possible for someone like me, with no prior coding experience, to become a full-stack Java programmer in a matter of a few months. It was a difficult program, and we all had to work hard at it for long hours every day and most weekends, but it was worth it. In the world of IT, I’m obviously still a beginner. But, Skill Distillery gave me a broad foundation from which I have the tools I need to continue to learn and grow in my new career.

Most importantly … ALL of the interviews (and subsequent job offers) I had until I found my new job were a direct result of Skill Distillery. Most of the companies had already hired former students, and those students referred me to the hiring managers when they had more openings. The school staff also actively reaches out to area companies to establish relationships that end up connecting their students with local hiring managers, which is how I ended up with my job.

I have no regrets choosing Skill Distillery, and I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who is considering attending a full-time coding school. 

I graduated Skill Distillery about one month ago.  I previously wrote a review on here, and I am writing this one as an update.   I had taught my self a little programming prior to Skill Distillery, however this school makes learning a much faster and more organized process.   The first part of the course focused on Java and the Spring Framework.  The last half of the course focused on Javascript and MEAN stack.  For the most part, the course was presented very clearly and it was easy to understand even the most confusing topics. We always have access teachers and TAs who are very helpful, dedicated, and knowledgable, and the school listens to student feedback in order to continuously improve the program.     I started interviewing during the last few weeks of the program.  I have interviewed with several companies, and received several offers, one of which I have recently accepted.  The feedback I have gotten from potential employers has been very positive.  Also, when being interviewed for developer positions, I am able speak about programming concepts with confidence.  If you put in the work during the program, you will come out with a surprising amount of hands on experience.  This really helps set you apart from the competition when searching for a job, especially for those of us without a college degree.   I can confidently say that Skill Distillery is the best way to spend your GI Bill.  I would encourage any veterans looking to change their career to check it out.    It is difficult, and it is a lot of work, but if you are willing to put in the effort, Skill Distillery will provide what you need to be successful.   If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me at alexmp1689@gmail.com.  

After I got out of the military I went straight into a private University, I did not know what I wanted to do but I was aware that I needed a bachelor's to do it. By my second year I was already hesitant on what I could do with a bachelors in Economy. By accident I stumbled upon Skill Distillery, a coding bootcamp where I could use my GI Bill! I did some research and applied to the school with Zero knowledge in coding. After many, MANY hours of coding, I have to tell you the program is not easy, it asks a lot of you and requires a lot of your 'free' time if you want to actually understand the topics and truly learn to code.Thankfully the instructors and the TAs were ALWAYS there to answer those pesky problems where not even the internet could help you, they always took the time to go over our code and help us understand what we were doing wrong and how to better think about the problem, so the next time we came across that situation we knew how to handle it. I must have asked dozens of questions everyday and everyday they answered me with the same enthusiasm and  motivation as me. It truly was a pleasure to come into class everyday, I was learning to do something I loved with good people! The classes are small so a camaraderie is built really quickly, specially since you are all beginners and you can lean on each other to help you get over those hurdles.

I recently started to actually look for work and the feedback I get from employers is astounding, constantly I get told that my skill set is very impressive and they cant believe I was able to grasp it so quickly.  Comments like those help me feel a little more like an actual programmer and its all thanks to the tools I obtained thanks to Skill Distillery's instructors and TAs. I will always carry this institution close to my heart, they helped me reach the career of my dreams.

I cannot say enough great things about Skilldistillery, but if made to choose the top three; the curriculum was spot on, I learned Java inside and out, and it doesn't stop there--SD prepares students for real world coding complete with backend, frontend, and middleware experience. How to pariticipate in SCRUM, Agile methodology and much more then I can easily list here. Staff, Cole Frock keeps his finger on the pulse of the industry and is continually involved in each students success, Jamie and Rob (head instructors) were knowledgeable beyond compare in their fields, always willing to put on the extra time and effort to see their students progress, succeed, and explore every avenue of software development, I would be remiss if I didn't give a huge shout out to the teaching assistants--these guys put in the hours and research to be there when you need them. Atmosphere. Relaxed yet fast paced. It felt comfortable and I never felt any hesitation from faculty to accommodate me in anything I needed. I've made new lifelong friends and colleagues at Skilldistillery. 

I would like to preface this review with the fact that before this bootcamp, I had zero experience and only an extreme interest in the idea of coding. 

Application Process/Why I Chose Skill Distillery

After searching for about a week through different bootcamps across the country, I decided on Skill Distillery. I was prior military in Colorado, so going to school in Denver sounded like a great place to be. The fact that they accepted the GI Bill was a bonus factor for me, but not the primary. 

The application process was fairly straightforward and quick. After sending an email to them, I heard back within one business day (I had applied on a Saturday evening). They had answered all of my questions and concerns, and within the next two, maybe three days, they had me take a 'creativity and logic' test of sorts, all done virtually with one of their administrators. After that, I believe it was another 48 hours when I received an email stating that I had been accepted and I began the course pre-work after I made my deposit. Total, I say about a week and a half had passed for me to finish the entire process and receive my pre-work once my deposit was made.

Classroom Experience

The classroom is pretty small, but comfortable. You're close to your classmates, but it isn't overbearing. We had 13 students in our class, and during the first half of the program there is almost always at least 1 instructor and one TA, or two of either, to help. This was important to me, because I knew I would have a lot of questions and not be afraid to ask them. 

There were a couple TAs each day that would stay behind after normal class hours and often I would be there with several other students well past 7pm continuously asking for guidance, and they would stay there with us until the last student left. This includes the weekends, even when snow storms slowed down most of the Denver Metro area. 

The first two quads were hell, especially for someone with no prior experience such as myself. But with the additional guidance and constant paired programming as well as plenty of hands-on labwork, I would say that most of us were able to keep up without issue. Anyone who did have issues would put the time and effort in on their own time and during the weekends and they were fine. 

The last two quads were just as quick paced, but were focused on Javascript and at this point I believe some people, myself included, began to lose a little focus. This was just from possible classroom fatigue or primarily beginning the search for jobs in their preferred fields of Java, toward the end of the last quad.

Overall, I believe the instructors (Jamie and Rob especially) and the TAs did a great job of holding our attention, addressing our issues and weaknesses, and learning from previous cohorts to improve maximize our experience and Cole and Bruce will continue to improve this for the cohorts going forward. 

Gripes

Not much for me to say here, as I'm pretty easy going about this type of stuff. The only things I would have to say here would probably be that the last quad be locked down a bit better regarding the MEAN stack. Even though I am putting this here, it's fair to note that this is also being addressed, as we had our end of school sitdown with the director in regards to our concerns, and it's being worked on to improve for future cohorts.

Job Hunt

** Again I will note that I had zero experience in programming before this. Prior to this bootcamp, I had worked as a medic in the Air force and a Customer Relations manager in the Healthcare Technology field. I don't have a college degree, and did about a year and a half of college courses toward my AA before I decided I wanted a change. **

Due to my unique situation, I started looking for jobs about a month before school ended. Within about a week and a half of applying to a number of jobs, I had three interviews that I had gotten past the phone screening stage. Two of the three were impressed with what we had learned from a bootcamp, and they continuously stated that it seemed we knew more than most CS grads fresh from college. About three weeks into my job search I got my first job offer and I currently work for them here in Denver.

 

If you have any questions regarding this program, feel free to shoot me an email. I'll gladly answer what I can.

I graduated college from UNC here in Colorado in 2015, and struggled to find a job for 6 months before a friend of mine graduated from a bootcamp in her state and couldn't say enough good things about her expirence. I looked around and Skill Distillery at the time was the only bootcamp that took the GI Bill, and it was nearby. The acceptance process was quick and easy.

 

The school advertises 20 years of expirence, but I do think it's important to point out that this obviously isn't in the boot camp sphere. Batky Howell, Skill Distillery's parent company, is a corporate IT training provider. This was apperant from the way the first half of the course was structured: The Java-based curriculum clearly has a ton of thought put into it, and is absolutely stellar. The Javascript curriculum, at the time I went through it, was much newer and not as refined. There's absolutely learning to be had, of course, but I can understand the sudden sea change throwing people off, and I suspect this is what happened to the course prior to us and is the source of some of the more negative reviews.

The job assistance is pretty decent, all things considered. I was sent several hand-picked positions to apply for that had clearly resulted from a recruiter or other hiring official emailing the school to inquire about potential fits in their company, all of which resulted in an interview at the end of the course. The director would also send out a blanket list of good fits he had found on job websites and the like. I was concerned that the school would end up being one of the many money traps that commonly prey on veterans to take advantage of their grants and GI Bill, but can confidently say that everyone at the school absolutely has the best intentions and has their student's interests in mind. The only way I can think of to improve is perhaps to offer some sort of deferred payment plan, similar to App Academy or other bootcamps on the west coast.

All in all, attending Skill Distillery was one of the best decisions of my life. After graduating college, I still felt like my knowledge was limited to useless student projects, and that my technical skills were so lacking I was almost embarassed to show up for interviews. After just three weeks at the school, I had already learned more than I had learned in my 4 years of college, and could finally see how these skills were actually relevant in the real world. The knowledge I gained and the projects I created and added to my portfolio allowed me to speak with confidence in my interviews, and I was offered a position the day after I interviewed with only the third company I had applied for.

As a final note, I'd highly recommend looking into getting a Workforce grant if you're able. The $6000 scholarship I was given really helped, and not very many people I spoke to even knew it existed.

There are lots of coding bootcamps out there, and picking one can be an extremely intimidating process. There are all these schools to choose from that all teach different coding languges and all seem to boast a phenomenal hiring rate. So, how are you supposed to choose? 

I didn't know this when I was choosing a coding bootcamp, but the two most popular and profitable languages to learn today are 1) Java and 2) Javascript. Skill Distillery is the only coding bootcamp I know of that teaches you both - and they teach them to you well. I started applying for jobs about a month and a half before the program ended, sent in applications to just three companies, and landed a job as a Java developer three weeks before the program ended. My new salary is 50% higher than the job I had in marketing and communications less than a year ago. I'm going into my job confident in the skills that I learned at Skill Distillery, and confident that I now have a solid foundation as a developer and can teach myself myself anything that may be required of me in my new job. 

 

-tl;dr- The professionals that I have met and interviewed with thus far have been blown away with the technologies and the level with which I have learned to program in the past six months.  Even companies that have previously written off bootcamps are now interested in me and my classmates because of the serious skills we got here.  I was extremely pleased with my experience at Skill Distillery and believe that my investment of time and money will pay off exponentially.   -Full Review-

Making the decision to attend a coding bootcamp was one of the most difficult I have had to make.  The bootcamp model is relatively new and there are mixed opinions everywhere about the merits of a condensed and accelerated programming regimen.  I approached the beginning of the program with a fair amount trepidation, and I knew that I was taking a risk, having no idea if it was going to pay off.  I can now say, after watching previous students and fellow classmates receive high paying job offers from reputable companies, that the model and curriculum that Skill Distillery has instituted is world-class and without peer.  The Skill Distillery team has repeatedly shown that they can take anyone with a logical mind and turn them into quality programmers.

  I ended up choosing Skill Distillery over other bootcamps for three reasons, they have over twenty-years of experience in corporate training (Disney, Sony, Lockheed Martin, etc.), they teach a serious stack (Sql, Java, Spring MVC, JavaScript, etc.), and they are one of a very few that has been approved for the GI Bill by the Veteran's Administration.  I could not be more satisfied with my decision as each one of my reasons for joining were exactly what was delivered and more.   As far as the experience gained from corporate training, that shines through in all aspects of the staff and instructors that work at the school.  Jamie Romero and Rob Roselius have been teaching Java and Sql/Database Administration/JavaScript respectively, continuously, to professional programers for more than 15 years each, and their professionalism and raw ability to teach is far beyond what any other program offers.  Both Jamie and Rob wrote the curriculum that they teach, and have developed it over the past 16 years, continuously updating it all the time to be at the cutting edge of the programming needs of both us students and also the companies that need to have their programmers learn the latest technologies.  Cole Frock the school's director has been invaluable to students in helping to connect students and companies, local programming events, and professional groups in the community.   What I really wanted from my time learning to program was to walk away with the skills that would be desirable by professional companies and that is what I got from the Stack taught at Skill Distillery.  The first 10 weeks of the course are spent learning Java, not just procedural programming like taught at other schools, but in an Object Oriented way.  Object Oriented programming is not taught at other schools and this is why some bootcamps get a bad reputation for putting out coders who don't understand how to actually engineer enterprise level applications.  Spring MVC is also taught here, MVC (model view controller) being a programming pattern integral to secure web application design, I have talked to students at events that graduated from other bootcamps that have no idea what the MVC pattern is much less how to implement it.  After moving on from Java other hugely popular and highly desirable technologies are covered to include JavaScript, NodeJS, Angular, MongoDB, BootStrap, and jQuery.   As for taking the GI Bill, about six of my fellow classmates were veterans and we all agreed that being able to come to Skill Distillery with our earned benefits was amazing.  We came from all over the country and were all blown away by how much value that we were able to get from attending this bootcamp.  One of the students that I went to school with, no prior programming experience, had a job offer across the country weeks before the program even ended.  In my cohort we now have had eight students that have had job offers and or started a job as a Java/JavaScript developers, not QA testing, not sales, not anything other than full developer positions, this and we graduated just a bit over a week ago.   I could not have ever hoped for a better experience or a more solid education in programming fundamentals and CS design patterns from any other bootcamp. I will report back when I find a job and to let you know how my experience goes in the coming months. I am currently in the process of moving to California and have no doubt that I will have great success with the impressive tool chest that I am bringing away from my time at Skill Distillery.