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#

I decided on doing the Software Guild after almost a year of casually teaching myself to code. Spending 3 months dedicated to learning a new trade with a cohort of motivated colleagues was the best career decision I've ever made. The work was hard, but I put my time in and came out with 3 job offers the week before the program ended. I never imagined that after only three months, I would be in a position to pick the job of my choosing. 

I was able to double my salary and enter a new career as a software engineer in 3 months, all thanks to the instructors, employment team, and my classmates at the Software Guild. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

It has been almost three years since I started my program at the Software Guild, and I figured I'd leave a review.  The boot camp industry is so crowded these days that it's important to tell the good programs from the bad, and the Software Guild is one of the best.  I constantly have friends asking me for advice on bootcamps, and good user reviews are where I point them first.

Unfortunately, the basic .NET and Java course are no longer available in Akron, but as long as the other locations uphold the same or similar standards, it's truly one of the best programs around.  12 weeks of instruction from staff who were true experts.  Every instructor had at least a decade or two of experience as regional experts.  One was a Microsoft MVP.  All of them invested themselves in student success.

The staff and instructors were totally dedicated to seeing every student graduate on time and employed (if that's what the student was seeking).  Personally, I accepted a job offer by the end of the eleventh week of the program.  The Guild brought in probably a dozen different employers to interview us on-site in week ten, which led to that offer.  The program focuses on preparing for the professional world and practical skills for the field, which gives it a big edge over other camps that might focus on surface level skills with buzzworthy technologies.

There were some students who did struggle with certain parts of the course, but they all graduated and found jobs because they let instructors know what was giving them trouble and they sought extra help early and often.  The Guild cares too much about its reputation to just churn out students and let them fall by the wayside.  Even now, more than 2.5 years into my career, if I needed the help, I could hop back in the slack and ask for interview & resume help, or ask someone if they have any connections at a company where I'd like to apply.  Every aspect of the program was top-notch, and I've found myself better prepared for my career than most of my peers with equivalent years of experience.  I'm now on my third job, having just moved across the country, and I'm loving it.

This next bit depends on the people in your cohort, but for me, I made friends during my time there that I keep in touch with to this day.  We would all hang out, support each other, and push each other through a light sense of competition.  The benefits of doing an in-person program, if you can afford taking the time off for it, cannot be understated.  It was one of the best decision I've ever made, and my only frustration is that I didn't do it earlier.

My biggest piece of advice, which you could figure out if you read between the lines of my review: you get out what you put in.  If you really throw yourself into the program and dedicate yourself to it, you will succeed.  When you have trouble, schedule extra time with an instructor or TA.  Hell, even if you're caught up, schedule extra time to learn something extra or solidify your basics.  Make friends.  Experiment with side projects and ask peers & instructors for feedback.  You will be in such a strong position when the time comes to enter the professional world.  Just make sure that you are ready to commit to the program and that you want to pursue this career track before you dive into it, or you might be disappointed.

I chose to roll the dice on a boot camp program after deciding on a career change, and I am really glad that I picked The Software Guild. I had next to no experience going in, and while the first few weeks were very rocky and full of conceptual leaps that I was half-convinced I would never be able to make, I eventually hit a certain stride and felt like this was really something I could do.

The support from the instructors was stellar and forthcoming, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the others in my cohort. While the experience was harrowing and emotional, I look back on it fondly because it was a lot of fun too.

The curriculum was comprehensive, modern and tailored to developing the skills in demand in the Twin Cities. I do wish that we had spent some time on learning at least one popular JavaScript framework at a more in-depth level, but that's the only shortcoming of the course that I could perceive.

My job hunt after graduation took longer than I expected it to (~3 months), and longer than it did for most of my classmates. Coming from a background of mostly manual labor and low-level administrative work, I began to worry that it wasn't going to happen for me, but TSG's job placement support helped immensely with my search during that time. Ultimately I was hired by a member of their employer network in a role that I thoroughly enjoy.

I'm very satisfied with my experience at The Software Guild.

A few pieces of advice for prospective students:

• Have a sense of whether or not you enjoy this type of work before committing to the program. If you know that you plain hate it before you even start, spending all day learning it isn't going to make you like it any better.
• This is a boot camp program. Unless you are doing the online program, be prepared to commit nearly all of your time to the program if you want to make it.
• DO NOT skimp on sleep. It is absolutely vital to the accelerated learning process. All-nighters will ruin you.
• Trust the program and your instructors. Much of the time you are likely to feel that you aren't grasping the material quickly enough or well enough, and that is normal. Power through and have faith.
• Expect to put in a lot of leg work in your job search. Demand for developers may be high, but you will still have to put in the effort of getting noticed.

Hope this helps any prospective students.

I just graduated from The Software Guild and am very happy with the program and the results - I ended up getting a great job offer on graduation day!

Quick note on myself - I have a CS degree and took an 8 year break to work in a totally different industry, I used the Guild as a way to get back up to speed with employable skills very quickly. My degree did give me a distinct advantage in job applications, but the other students in my cohort I keep up with are also interviewing with multiple companies this week.

Instructors

My instructor was great and the perfect fit for the 'flipped classroom' model. He was extremely patient with students' questions and had a great handle of the material. I appreciated that he could give us insight on what the workplace and interview process actually looks like and that he was regularly available on the weekends to help with questions on our projects.

My one issue was that he's a very gentle touch and I think our class could have used a little more structure. We regularly abandoned the flipped classroom to do more traditional lectures and tutorials and I think it was in part because only about a quarter of the class did the 'how to succeed' prework - the rest didn't really follow the model.

Curriculum

The curriculum focuses on core programming and Java skills in the first half and databases / web development in the Spring framework for the second half. The online materials are solid, with both text and videos (transcripts available) as well as detailed code-alongs to get some hand-on practice. There are regular sets of excercises accompanying the material that, while optional, do a good job of giving you practice on the topic.

Two small issues with the curriculum. First, the earlier material has been rewritten a couple times since the videos were recorded which means sometimes the videos are the only place where the material exists. This is fine but there are frequently HOURS of video that's mostly repetition from the written portion, digging through for those nuggets of new material was a pain. Second, while we leaned the practical skills needed, I wish we had spent a little more time on the underlying details of the tools we were using - I can describe what Spring does but I wish I knew how more about how it did it.

The course is very fast-paced with nightly reading and projects every weekend. There is a hard deadline after the first half of the class and we ended up losing 4 of the 12 students. The people in the class who had never written a line of code before struggled but some of them did make it through.

Job Assistance

The job assistance program is fantastic! We got a lot of great advice over several sessions on how to interact with recruiters, interview, find jobs and more. The course culminated in two days of 20-minute speed interviews with local recruiters and employers. While they emphasize there's no guarantees, I ended up getting a couple solid leads leading to a job from them. Job assistance continues after graduation, graduates get regular check-ins and emails with leads until they find a job.

tl;dr

This is a great program to learn Java web development quickly and move straight into finding a job. It is demanding, several people did not graduate. Great instructors, good but slightly disorganized curriculum, and a great job assistance program. Recommend!

If you want to see even more words about the Guild, I blogged my experience here: http://www.stu.systems

I came to The Software Guild to change careers from being a therapist, and I did not really know what to expect other than that it would be intense and I would learn Java in twelve weeks. In that twelve weeks, I learned more than I could have possibly imagined, and I was extremely impressed with everyone. From my instructor David who was an incredible teacher who spent so much time making sure every person understood the material, to Josh who handled the day-to-day operations and made everything run smoothly from a logistical standpoint, to Kipp who did an amazing job getting us all prepared to find our first career in software development.

I ended up accepting an offer on graduation day to work with an amazing company Kipp had invited for the speed interviews, but even if I had not received an offer, Kipp continues working with graduates to help find a job in the field. I truly cannot express how grateful I am for this program, and if you are interested in learning software development (and are willing to work hard for twelve weeks), sign up for The Software Guild. You will not regret it!!