Software Guild

I know most of these reviews sound too good to be true, but they're not. I graduated from The Software Guild's Java Cohort, and this is my actual experience. No one at the Guild edited it, or looked it over, or influenced it in any way. It is 100% me.

The Short of It:

Was it worth it? Yes! I now have a salaried job with good pay, benefits, and an amazing career in front of me, and I got this job through the Software Guild. After 4 months of training, and three months of job searching, my starting salary was more than double what it used to be. The other members of my cohort had starting salaries similar to mine. The numbers don't lie. If you can commit the time and effort, it will pay out, and your life will take a change for the better because of it.

The long of it:

Background

My previous experience before the guild was in the education sector. I had worked as an adjunct professor for a couple years, and wasn't even able to cover all of my bills doing that. I was very frustrated, struggling to keep the lights on and the wife and kids fed. Like many others, I believed that having an advanced college degree would make me more desirable and employable, but my career had not taken off like I had expected, and despite years of hard work, I was not seeing any end in sight. I had actually decided to go back to school and become a dentist (like most educated folk, thinking the answer to my problems lay in more schooling) when my sister randomly sent me an article about some guy who graduated from a coding boot camp and started a career soon afterwards. I was initially hesitant to believe such claims, but began reviewing different boot camp, their published success rates, and whether or not attending one of these boot camps was actually a viable option (are these places legit). After a couple months of looking into it, I was unable to uncover very many negatives, and most of the rave reviews I read of these different camps seemed genuine. After the wife and I talked it over, I decided to apply to one of these camps and see what happened. As I was emailing back and forth with a boot camp in Denver CO, I happened across the Software Guild's website, and saw that they were opening a new location in Louisville, where I was currently living. After talking with the guild for a couple weeks I applied and was accepted to Louisville's first Java cohort (and quit my dead-end labor job that same day).

The Program

The coursework of the guild is intense. Class is held 9-4, M-F and requires hours of work after class every day in order to keep up on the assignments. Like many other reviews have pointed out you are learning many different technologies (Java, CSS, html, JavaScript, maven, spring, git, etc.) and it is all coming at you 100 miles an hour. It is confusing learning so much at such a rapid rate, and not knowing why you're learning it (it all becomes clear as the cohort continues), and the stress can really pile on. If I could only give one piece of advice before going into the guild it would be DON'T FALL BEHIND! I lost my babysitter for a couple weeks in the middle of the cohort and was unable to keep up with all of the assignments, and I was almost not able to graduate. I had to dedicate myself and stay till midnight almost every night in order to catch up, and I still did not graduate on time with the rest of my fellow classmates. If you can’t commit the time and effort, then this program is not for you.

The Staff

Well, I can't say enough good things about the staff. Here is a quick review on each of the people we had contact with on a day-to-day basis:

Austyn

She is the lead Java instructor, and is awesome! It probably felt like pounding her head against a wall sometimes, but she never gave up. She would attack things from different angles, and try to find different ways of explaining it so we could all understand. And she only got better as the cohort continued. When I was having problems understanding the course material, she took her personal time after class and tutored me one-on-one. Her commitment to her students was very admirable. Even after graduating I occasionally email Austyn with a question or two, and she is always willing to point me in the right direction.

Erin

As Operations Manager, Erin is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the cohort, and she is always quick to answer any questions you may have. When I was drowning in back-logged assignments, I cried out to Erin for help and she arrived the next day with a written plan on how to get me the help I needed. That was very comforting.

Jacob

Jacob is the hiring manager, and works with you as you job search. What you learn at the guild is phenomenal, but what really sets them apart is their hiring network. You can teach yourself the things the guild teaches you (albeit in a much longer time frame) but you can't leverage the hiring network and skill that these boot camps have access to, and that's where Jacob comes in.

After I graduated Jacob and I sat down in his office, set some goals for my job search, and then Jacob would have me email him my excel spreadsheet every week and follow up with me on every lead I had (or call me to task for not applying to as many jobs as I said I would). We talked over the phone or in person at least once a week, usually twice or more. He would email me jobs he found and thought I would be a good fit for, and was always working to make connections with companies that he could exploit for my advantage. His advice and tips on how to be more effective in my own job searching were invaluable. And he did this with every one of the Guild's graduates. Having Jacob in my corner while job searching was what made the difference between success and failure when it came to finding a job.

It was Jacob's job to build the Guild's hiring network, and he is extremely good at it. A week before the cohort ended he set up a meet and greet with around 12 or 15 companies and we had a sort of speed dating activity where we signed up for so many time slots and spent about 20 minutes with each company. A couple of the guys in my cohort got hired by companies they met at this meet and greet. When it comes to finding a job after graduating, Jacob Knight is the best resource you have at the guild. The job offer I eventually accepted was from a company that Jacob introduced me to.

The Result

**A quick caveat: I do not recommend falling behind. My experience graduating late was a very stressful one, and I would not wish it upon anyone. If you are applying to The Software Guild, or any coding boot camp, you need to be dedicated to it 100%. You need to make sure your spouse, or family, or significant other understands that you will be otherwise detained pretty much all day, every day, until the cohort ends. If you are having difficulty in the guild, then clear, early communication is imperative. If you can commit the time and effort required to be success at the guild, you will get a great job and career from it. If you can't, I believe the guild now offers a 9-month, mostly on line program that is a little slower paced.**

When graduation day came, I was not ready. I knew it, and the guild knew it. Erin, Austyn, and myself all sat down and we worked out a plan so I could graduate. I followed the plan, and a month later Erin and Austyn signed my graduation certificate. But the best part about that extra month is I felt like I was ready to work as an entry-level developer by the end of it. That was one of the great things about the guild to me, they don't just take your money and throw you through a program and hope you make it. They are invested in their students. If they hadn't been, I wouldn't have graduated.

I received a job offer right around the time I graduated in January (the rest of my cohort graduated in December) but it wasn't the right fit for me, and I passed on it. 90 days after the cohort ended (to the day) I received another job offer and am now working as a Software Developer with a great company, and my career has no where to go but up. A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I am able to cover all of my debts, and then some. Out of the seven people in my cohort six of us now have jobs in the software field (the last guy was self-employed).

I attended because i wanted to get into advanced C# / ASP.net. I had a lot of coding experience as i had been a hobbyist developer on my own for over 10 years and mainly had good skills with basic website design.  We started out doing console applications which was annoying. It would be nice to at least start on a visual studio designer. They made us do console apps for the badges i was in which is horrible and outdated. I had completed the code at the last minute and had an issue with file access due to a bug in Visual Studio. The console apps open up flat text files which was ridiculous and should have taught us database at this point. I ended up losing out on my tuition. When i got to retake the course they gave me a new assignment structure to pass it since i was a former student in the same badge. Totally unfair. Usually you retake something and get the same content!! and for over $2000 its not fair. They gave me this game to program which i'm sorry but was impossible and i'm not going there for game programming. So i didn't make the next badge so instead i transferred over to Java so i wouldn't lose out on my money. It was good until they switched LMS and merged with Wiley. It used to be Canvas which was bad enough but looks like they moved to some old school open source platform. So now i am out over $6,000 and have no skills at all. And good luck finding an ASP.net bootcamp on flex schedule. I am from NY and all jobs are looking for ASP.net here and there is NO TRAINING for it.

It was a great and intensive program. All study materials were very well organized. They gave us only what we needed to enter a career in Software Engineering. All instructors are very helpful in all aspects of education. I was receiving a lot of support and help whenever I needed it. My instructor gave me the best advice that helped me to get through an intensive Bootcamp in a timely manner. It is "to understand the material and then to move forward with the study material". Obviously, I had to study hard to grasp the material. Even after graduating from the program, Software Guild still was supporting me in finding a job. During my adventure with Software Guild, I felt true happiness twice. The first time was when I graduated from Software Guild as a Full Stack Developer. I felt a great accomplishment! The second time was today when I received a job offer. I am very thankful to all staff at Sofware Guild for all their hard work and the most up-to-date resources that they make available for the students.

Worth every penny! I was definitely skepticle at first but I got started with an open mind and gave it my all to get through the boot camp. Commiting 100% of my time to studying and working on projects was stressful. I totaled 80 hours a week counting in class time, homework and weekend projects. The first half of the cohert was the most stressful as I had so much uncertainity I be able to meet the deadlines of weekend projects. With some help and determination I managed to get through it. The instructor was pretty was pretty awesome and hit all the marks to educate beginners. It took awhile for it to click in my brain but with some help from other programmers that would say the same things to validate his teachings I was able to understand the foundation of learning to code. After that I moved into the 2nd half of the cohort and worked with fullstack development and towards the end worked on employment information and practice to land a job after we graduate. Overall a great experience and very greatful to be given the oppurtunity The Software Guild gave me.

I am online java Apprentice as of the time I am doing this review.  I am on Badge 3 of Badge 4 as of the time i am conducting the review. Since I started the school with software Guild i always considered my self lucky to have known Software Guild.  I was thanked the friend who told me about the school.  When I came to software Guild i have taken java and some other programming related classes, However i didn't get chance to apply the knowledge i got from school and from studying by my own.  The greatest thing that I got from Software Guild is applying the programming knowledge that I got from the lessons.  The other thing is befor  i come to software Guild i tried to understand many concepts of programming from reading books and articles and watching YouTube but i couldn' t really understand. But when I read a software Guild materials i was able to understand everything.  Now that I am in Badge 3 i am feeling like I'm way more experienced than when I started.  I learned that programming is not only coding.  Even though coding one important thing there are also rules and best practices to become a good programmer.  Software Guild teaches everything that takes to make someone a good programmer.  It can be challenging for someone with zero coding skill but honestly feel programming is the easiest it can at software Guild.  A person with zero coding skill can still make it by giving some extra time to read the material and practice as well as to get help from instructors and openofficehour on slack. I strongly recommend software Guild for anyone who has passion for becoming a software developer. 

I started working in factories straight out of college and found out about the Software Guild in Minneapolis, MN. After about a year of dreading work I decided to take a risk and try out the Software Guild. I do not regret it one bit.
The instructor I had was great, and he helped me understand things I had trouble with. I had about a years worth of coding experience from college courses I took, but those courses taught me nowhere near as much or as effectively as the Guild did.
If I could start over I would have gone straight to the Software Guild instead of college, because it would have saved my tens of thousands of dollars and 4 years of my time.
If you can commit your time to completing the reading assignments, take notes, ask question about ANYTHING you don't understand, and actually practicing/ finishing projects, you can succeed and find a job afterwards.
The Guild does not hand you a job, they give the tools and resources to be able to find a job. They help make you look like a really strong candidate for junior developer positions.
The Guild in Minneapolis even gave us a chance to have speed interviews in the last 2 weeks of the course and I was one of the lucky few to get hired from that process. If you do not get hired during the speed interviews, do not worry, the guild sends out different opportunities that you can choose to apply to.

If you are questioning whether or not the Software Guild is worth it. I would tell you that It 100% is, and that you can become a developer if you put in the time and effort.

Personal Background

I've been messing around with programming ever since I was the age of 14 (I'm 21 now as of writing this review), and I knew that being a software developer was always what I wanted to pursue, so it didn't come as a surprise when my trajectory shifted from completing a college degree to joining a code bootcamp after 3 years of taking classes that didn't benefit my degree, and pretty much setting myself up to be in college for way longer than I hoped for. I really wanted to just jump into my career as soon as I could considering the previous experience that I had. After some research, I had selected my top three picks for bootcamps that I was interested in. 

The Software Guild really stood out to me because of the employment statistics, along with offering a .NET/C# course which I was also pursuing. After looking into the school, I learned more of the fantastic job prep skills that the guild offered, and at that point I decided to apply.

The Experience

Upon being accepted to the guild as an apprentice, I was given the pre-cohort coursework that is mandatory to be completed before starting, which is an introductory, online web development course that focuses in teaching you the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This is so that all apprentices are on the same basic level of web development knowledge before starting that section of the actual course, which is very beneficial to your success at the guild (especially if you really dive into it!). It took me a little while to get the pre-work done, but it was very worth the time. 

At the start of the cohort, it is all fundamentals. If you are new to programming, or just object oriented programming in general, getting through the first half of the course WILL be fairly difficult. There's a lot of material to cover, and you have to make sure that you're pushing yourself to complete your projects on time, and to get all the help you can get from your instructor (that's what you're paying for, after all) in each course milestone. Even with my previous experience with programming, there were still so many new fundamental skills that I picked up, and the workload of the course certainly challenged me.

The next section of the course is where you'll be putting all that basic web development knowledge, along with your newly gained .NET/C# knowledge to use. In my opinion, this is the most difficult section of the entire cohort, since there is so much information that is being taken in, and each week moves by so quickly that it's easy to fall behind. However if you are to fall behind at all in the course, you can quickly get caught up if you are proactive and get all the help you need to get up to speed with the material you might be struggling in. I don't think that there was a single day that I was in class and didn't ask at least a handful of questions to my instructor on what I was working on or anything at all that I was curious about. 

There will be many presentations, guest panels, mock interviews, and other very beneficial tools available to you as an apprentice to get you ready for starting your job search that I STRONGLY would recommend not to pass up. Take all the notes and soak up all the information you can during all these sessions.

Concluding Thoughts

Like the title says, joining The Software Guild was one of the best decisions that I could have made for my career. I was provided with skills that I wouldn't be able to obtain on my own time, and it has opened up so many opportunities for me, as well as given me tools that are applicable to not only my software development career, but many other sections of my life too.

The #1 advice I'd give to somebody looking to join The Software Guild, or any code bootcamp in general goes as follows:

1. Be ready to work. You'll be very busy with projects and staying on top of course material throughout the cohort.

2. Don't miss up on all the opportunities & additional help that you're offered from the staff & instructors! You want to take in as much information as you can that can benefit you & your career.

3. Just have fun. Find ways to make the course enjoyable for you.

Background: I attended UofL Computer Engineering program for a year before dropping out in favor of this bootcamp. In 3 months I learned more than I probably would have staying all 4 years at university writing tic-tac-toe applications.

Coursework: Having some (although very basic) knowledge of Java helped me with the first week or so of the coursework. Regardless, the projects you will work on are challenging for a beginner; do not be scared off by this, it is good to struggle a bit when learning to code. The instructors will guide you through the purpose of fundamental techniques so that you can gain a solid foundation of learning how to go about solving problems through code. This is type of critical thinking is key to having a successful career after graduation and definitely seems to be the focus of the program, rather than just writing code for repitition sake.

Post Graduation: I have been working as a developer full time for nearly two years now and continue to use techniques that I learned while studying at the Software Guild. This program has been incredibly useful propelling my career and the community is great even after graduating -- I still talk with friends I made in the program regularly and sometimes go back for Wednesday night board games.

I can only consider my experience at the Software Guild as the best career decision I have ever made. Because of the skills I learned at the Guild I have been able to excel in an incredibly challenging, lucrative, and fulfilling career. You are thrown into a very expansive and comprehensive curriculum with only a certain amount of knowledge and encouraged to struggle and learn from the difficulty. This was key for my success in the Guild and now in my career. The single best skill I learned was how to effectively research issues, problems, code, etc and how to find the answer I needed. I will say at some point I do wish I was given a bit more direction at the beginning of the bootcamp when I knew practically nothing and slowly given less and less as I learned on my own but nevertheless I was successful. 

I had some previous coding experience through school but didn't want to pursue a bachelors so I decided to try the Software Guild out. I had a newer instructor so the first few days were a little rough around the edges but by the end of the program everyone was prepared for an entry level position and had the skills to continually learn new things. The course is really hard if you don't commit to it and use your time efficiently, several people switched to online because they couldn't keep up. 

They really do help you with finding a job, resume reviews, networking, interviews, etc. Basically the entire part after completion of the program. I found a job after about a month and the job market was slowing down when I was applying because of the holidays. (Nov - December)

I highly recommend checking the guild out if you are interested in a tech career. Also, you should probably research your job market when deciding which language to learn but it's not a big deal because they give you access to the other course at the end of the program. I learned Java but my job uses .NET/C#