Springboard

I'm a current UI/UX track bootcamper. My mentor just "disappeared" about a month ago and I've been mentor-less for a month now. 
One morning, I just got an email saying that XXX is no longer my mentor anymore and I would be rematched with a new mentor without any further explanation. The rematched mentor did not show up to our weekly 1:1 meeting. I complained to the student advisor, who matched me with a new mentor. A new mentor, again, did not show up to the 1:1 weekly meeting as well.
Three weeks have passed by, and I'm still mentor-less. I've finished my last project and a rough draft for all of my case studies and my portfolio, but there's no dedicated mentor who could review them thoroughly with me. I want to move forward but the bootcamp student success team (if there is any) isn't helpful in my case. Read less

I was lost after graduating and I am confident saying Springboard was very helpful in getting me my confidence and motivation back. The course curriculum was very well paced and the fact that it was online meant you could speed through if you had the time. I definitely recommend if you don't currently work full-time to choose the monthly payment plan to save a lot of money. Cant recommend this course enough if you have the time and drive to stick with the course. Read less

I had actually worked as a professional Data Engineer prior to enrolling in this bootcamp, but the database I focused on was highly specialized and proprietary technology, and I wanted to shore up my skills in the more general open-source technologies that are widely used throughout the tech industry (python, sql, spark, airflow, cloud, etc).  

I had always felt confident to google such subjects when I needed to get a one-off job done, but I was well aware that my work was likely rife with hidden inefficiencies, tacky stylistic choices, and  affronts to established convention.  The problem with that kind of learning is that you "don't know what you don't know".  This is what I hoped a formal education in Data Engineering subjects would afford me - a comprehensive understanding of the most essential technologies for Data Engineers today.  

I can say that Springboard did pay off in that respect.  I feel confident to not just speak about those elements of tech, but I know the pros and cons of each of them.  Because you get experience with multiple Capstone projects that are indicative of industry assignmemts, I also feel confident with my skills in execution while using any of these technologies - despite having zero experience in many of them prior to Springboard.

My mentor, Karthik, went above and beyond to make sure things were going smoothly for me - even when he wouldn't have been expected to.   Read less

I chose Springboard for several reasons including price (on the low end of the available bootcamps), timeline (able to complete in 6 months or less), and the ability to perform an industry design product with a real company. I did not qualify for the job guarantee, but they also offer that if you qualify. My mentor was knowledgeable and flexible with scheduling our calls which I appreciated because I work full time. As someone with no prior experience in design, I wish there was a little more guidance and support with learning the actual design tools. Otherwise, I made it through the course without too much difficulty. What I actually found most helpful was the information I learned about networking and job hunting. The career coaching is an excellent perk. A good career coach alone could cost what this entire course costs! I would definitely recommend the course to others, especially if you make an effort to utilize all of the resources they offer. I wish I attended more office hours calls and did took advantage of the unlimited mentor calls, but I was just too busy with other things going on in my life. Read less

I began the transition from the healthcare industry to the IT industry last year and this course helped me land my first IT job! It’s impeccably organized and prepared me very well for the CompTIA Security+ exam. Springboard also connects you with an industry expert mentor who is there to guide you along the way as well as with experienced career coaches. I definitely recommend this course!  Read less

I felt like this bootcamp helped me secure interviews and land a job. I was able to learn so much and add to my resume and essentially start my career. Having the Security + exam content built into the program was helpful and useful out in the real world. The staff behind Springboard truly want you to succeed and providing mentors and career coaches is something I have never experienced before and it changed my life. At the end of the program I felt confident enough to apply to more jobs and negotiate and choose which one I wanted. Now I have a great start to my career and the difference in pay has allowed me to live more comfortably.  Read less

Springboard was a great experience! They had a great curriculum that went over all the important topics I needed to become a Data Analyst. It was well laid out and they had a lot of support in place. You have a mentor that helps you out every week, career coaches to prep you for a new job, a slack community to help you when you get stuck on parts of the course, and great resources to practice your skills. I would recommend to anyone.  Read less

Springboard has a strong support system implemented for the students throughout the duration of the course (and even during the job search afterwards). Between the weekly mentor calls, career coach calls, and on-demand mentor calls, I think it was pretty easy getting the help I needed. I personally have difficulties with deadlines and holding myself accountable at times, however my mentor was pretty good at trying to help me with that. I also really enjoyed hearing about my mentor's and my career coaches' work experiences over the years. If you are considering studying with Springboard, I would try to really think about the 9-month course duration/deadline (if you have any difficulties similar to me).  Read less

Springboard was a great way to learn about UX Design. My mentor provided a lot of great information and the curriculum is helpful and in depth. I feel like I have a great portfolio and appreciate that there is a professional certificate I received at the end of the program. The Career Track provides job assistance with a career coach who acts as a guide in finding a job. If you have the time and dedication to complete the track on time, I recommend the program and making that career change. Read less

I took Springboard's UX Design Career Track from October 2021 through March 2022. I took it as a way to accelerate my career transition and be prepared to start a career in UX. There are plenty of bootcamps to choose from I'll highlight why I chose this particular camp over the others.

Why I chose Springboard
The features that were most attractive to me were the mentorship with someone who has been in industry for a long time, the career coaching, a legitimate job guarantee clause, and the ability to self pace. Another very important feature was the curriculum of course, as it was something that gave me the accurate information in an industry with a lot of misinformation circulating. 

Mentorship
It is important to have mentorship, as a good experienced designer's expertise empowered me to know I was achieving real success in my work throughout the course as all assignments were graded and reviewed. I also loved the weekly meetings with my mentor to discuss my work and any questions.

Career Coaching
Before the course I never had a good picture of how to network, job search or interview effectively. This was all covered and explained in the course and it was great to give me increased confidence in job search, which I always found intimidating before.

Job Guarantee
I did not need to use the job guarantee, as I got a job before the time period ended. I did review it and find it acceptable, especially because their requirements were designed to increase your chances of getting a job. You're required to continue building your network and required to apply to jobs. If you are a chrome user there is an extension that makes submitting the connections and job applications easy enough that it doesn't add too much work in addition to the job search its self.

Self Paced
I did this course while working a full time job, and it was quite a full schedule. The ability to time things on my own within the total course time requirement made me able to get ahead some weeks and have slack weeks when I simply didn't have time or availability.

A Couple Challenges
It's important to require excellence from yourself in your work. If you really want to do UX Design put your back into your work, as it doesn't do its self. While this may seem like a non-statement, I want to point out that for a junior role there are often HUNDEREDS of applicants. This level of competition requires working hard to get things done. A second challenge is there is little education in the course for quantitative data gathering, which is very important in the actual field. A third challenge is I found out that they expect the course to take 8 months rather than the advertised 6. I don't appreciate the bait and switch feeling this gave me. That being said I put my back into it and almost completed it in 6 months.

Springboard is not perfect, but it had what I needed to learn and make my career transition! Read less

Excellent syllabus, very much complete! High quality videos from a high quality instructor, Colt Steele taking you step by step from 0 to 100 in each unit. I would say that Colt and my Mentor were my major motivators during this journey. My mentor was an industry expert, with very deep knowledge in full stack development and always eager to assist me when needed. I also enjoyed the flexibility I had with this online course to follow my own pace without ever feeling struggling alone out there. Teaching assistants, "on-demand mentors" and peers community on slack were available at any time. However, I have to mention that the material to cover is endless and additionally there are various optional units that I found necessary to study. This means that in order to finish and get the maximum, the student needs to be very well organised and self-motivated. Otherwise it might take much more time than anticipated. But overall a great course! I would definitely recommend it!  Read less

I am a teacher transitioning to data analytics. I chose Springboard's Data Analyst track because I wanted to pivot quickly. 
I chose the program because 
1. I knew I wanted something paced with curriculum provided (I didn't want to have to figure what I needed to know and then figure out where to learn it) and
2. I wanted something that was career track focused. I wanted to pivot from teaching to Data Analyst and the job guarantee sold me. They also provide more data if you request like completion rates. Other bootcamps did not provide this.
I'm satisfied with my experience, and I feel prepared to enter the data analytics profession. 
Cons:
->HOWEVER, I am not yet employed as a data analyst. So, I can't say yet if my investment paid off! Hopefully I will never have to say if they will make good on their job guarantee.  I completed the program about 1 week ago, it's too soon to say on this subject.
->About 1/2 the curriculum is sourced from other websites & Youtube. As a professional educator, this DOES NOT bother me. Like any teacher will tell you, if someone else made a kick ass lesson plan there is no reason to re-create it, just use it! (It is not stolen content, Springboard either pays for you to use it or it is already free, and they give credit to source)

Tips:
Take the free Excel course they offer to see how it feels. That is a good indicator if the pacing and style will work for you.
Go into this knowing that YOU are the deciding factor on success. That means YOU have to want to do this work, YOU have to make the connections with the mentor and fellows, YOU have to practice daily. They give you the tools, but YOU have to use them.
The career coaches are amazing, USE THEIR SERVICES! Take every tip they give you even if they are sometimes harsh or it feels like you don't need help with the soft skills, just do it anyway! Believe me, I am/was a teacher, my communication skills are 10/10 but after a practice interview and feedback my confidence and interview skills are now 12/10 lol
Lastly, don't be discouraged. I don't have a math background, but I learned statistics. Am I the best? NO. Did I get it in 2 weeks? NO. But did I learn it? YES! 

My referral is:
https://www.springboard.com/invite/OXVVV Read less

Pro - good content, great support, great flow from week to week and good projects. Way to connect with mentor was very good. 

Con - ( my situation ) I was working full time so it was hard to balance a 40-50 hour job plus getting all my weekly goals done.  Read less

I highly appreciate and value my experience with Springboard! I decided to take the Springboard Data Analytics career track certification program to get back to work after a 5 years career break with goals to refresh and upgrade my skills, gain confident in using UpToDate  tools and got a job - all were achieved. The curriculum is comprehensive, well structured, and has a good amount of practice and materials to grasp the concepts. I liked the abundance of learning resources. I felt well supported: weekly mentorship, monthly career coaching, office hours and webinars, peer community - I found it all helpful! The student advisor and tech support were welcoming and quickly helped with all requests. I valued that it is a self-pace and remote program!  Also, the program allows some extensions and breaks.I recommend it!  Read less

Joined the Springboard Data Analytics Career track back in Jan 2022. I am not from analytics background and I had a good experience overall. Some of the pros and con are below. 

Pros-
1. The skills taught were relevant to the industry and provided me with additional confidence. 
2. The curriculum was solid and covered a lot great topics. 
3. The mentor and career coach are great and important part of the bootcamp. 

Cons
1. Can be more economical and felt it to be on expensive side. 
2. Can provide more information on how to best use the time with industry mentors and extract maximum value. 

Overall I would definitely recommend this bootcamp for someone looking to transition into Data Analytics career. I did my google data analytics certification before starting this bootcamp which helped me as well and would recommend doing any kind of basic certification or courses of the tools which would be used in the bootcamp before hand to help you not get overwhelmed during the whole process and make it smoother. 

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I had a pretty fulfilling experience with Springboard. At first, I was assigned an unprofessional mentor who rarely showed up, and when the mentor did, it was 20 mins late and our call would last 5 minutes. This lasted for a month and as a result - i learned incorrectly. This was a HUGE bummer, especially because I was paying $1,300 a month for stellar mentorship. I was paired with a new one who was great, but eventually ended up leaving months later due to a massive pay cut. My third, and last, mentor was absolutely fantastic. I truly wish i had been assigned her from the start. She was patient with me while also challenging and holding me accountable. I relearned missed concepts from my first mentor. I realized I hadn't come up with the strongest solutions for my 2 capstones so I went back and my mentor was proud and cheered me on the whole way. I wished i would've had my mentor from the beginning, she truly made the experience amazing. 

Regarding content, i'd say cirruculum is good, but you can really learn it all on your own. i personally love how its laid out, its a better set up for me personally. just know that most of the material is Medium articles. 

The career support is awesome and i'm really excited to utilize it more. i do wish it was more of a requirement to meet with career coaches throughout the program. Read less

If you are looking for a self-paced online study program for data science at an affordable cost, Springboard is the right pick for you! Springboard's 500+ hour online self-paced technical curriculum leans heavily on a combination of DataCamp coursework, online articles, and self-created exercises and materials to teach students the necessary skills to be a data science professional. Their technical coursework is supplemented by additional career and technical resources, including regular call opportunities with an industry expert to assist you in your projects and a career coaching team ready to help you dress up your resume and experience and tackle your job hunt. 

However, because there are no deadlines in this course (except for the 6-mo Course-End date) you really have to stay on top of yourself. There are no mechanisms built into the coursework for advisors or mentors to track your progress and help push you along, if needed, so you, like I, may find yourself getting behind on the material and ending up at risk of not completing by Course-End and losing access to the course without certification. But, if you are good at pacing yourself and staying committed over a long timeline, you will find Springboard is quite accommodating and flexible. 

They boast a 'mentorship' program, with weekly 1:1 calls with an industry expert that I found to more closely resembles a one-way 'human Google' relationship than a proper mentor relationship. The burden of creating value from the calls falls entirely on the student and the 'mentor' does not bring anything to the table. While they do a very good job of providing feedback and advise on specific questions and topics, when prompted, I feel like their mentor program could be so much better if the 'mentors' actually mentored the students actively. 

That said, they cultivate a nice community amongst the students via their Slack channels and weekly 'fireside discussions' where are optional live 'lectures' around some relevant topic. I found the Slack community to be quite helpful in guiding me through many obstacles I encountered, particularly a small group of student alums which frequent the channels and are eager to help. I also found the Career services and learning units to be very helpful and it changed my perspective on how to market myself and my skills to be more successful in my career. I anticipate using these resources and knowledge I gained there to help me in my career well beyond my 'first data science job'. 

I found Springboard's cost to be cheaper than most competitors and their job guarantee was a nice hook, and you get what you pay for. There's no live lectures or other resource that simulates a 'classroom' environment, and some of the materials are a bit outdated, but considering everything above, I think the value is very good overall.

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