Career Differences 

Yes, going to Tech Elevator is absolutely one of the best things you can do for your career. A year ago I moved to Philly and I was applying for writing jobs with salaries around $30-45k. Most were closer to $30k, similar to the $28k I was making before moving here. Exactly one week after graduation, I accepted an offer at a global company tripling what I was making before from a company I met at matchmaking. Aside from finally being able to afford paying off college debt, I actually do something for a living that I love. I'm nine weeks into my job as a software engineer and the relaxed environment still baffles me, especially compared to previous positions where I spent all day on the phone. I mean, I'm able to listen to music or an audiobook while I work; I always have help when I need it; I'm encouraged to spend time at work learning new things outside of my day-to-day responsibilities (like using Pluralsight); there are so many opportunities to attend random events that I'm interested in throughout the week (PRIDE meetups, AI meetups, etc); and I could go on and on. I started virtually, of course, but when asking others about the office culture, I was told my team takes ping-pong breaks, works on puzzles together, brings in food for each other (all pre-covid). Comparing it to a traditional office job... it's still hard to wrap my head around. I enjoy working and coding for hours because my employer wants employees to be happy at work - who knew enjoying going to work was a thing? 

 

The People 

Some of my best friends were made at Tech Elevator, starting from week one. Throughout the program, there are many pair programming assignments, and you always work with someone new, so it's easy to get to know everyone. With assignments that can take hours and capstone projects that take days, you really become close friends with people. I know things are virtual right now, but the in-person campus was my favorite thing. There were so many nights where I went on a mini-lockdown with friends, staying up very late trying to finish assignments, playing games, enjoying food the staff would bring in for us, etc. My cohort did things like going out to lunch, grabbing drinks, going to karaoke, going to a museum, playing games together, etc etc etc. As for the staff - they were absolutely wonderful. The instructors were extremely accessible, especially when we went virtual halfway through the program. They both had a lot of experience in the field and were such great teachers overall. I gathered other students for a group project (highly recommend doing a group project if you want to stand out to employers!) and they spent hours and hours helping us with it, even though it was completely outside of the curriculum. 

 

The Career / Pathway Program 

One of the reasons I chose TE over other bootcamps was how impressive the career services were in the reviews and statistics I read. Other bootcamps in Philly mentioned career prep help, but I can't imagine it was anything even close to what TE offers, especially after reading reviews on Reddit about Philly bootcamps. Imagine having someone push you for 2-3 days out of every week to get yourself together and prepare for a job, starting from day one. I remember thinking, "Why are we starting so early? We have nothing to prepare with??" Yeah, it was necessary to start that early. The coursework picks up so quickly and 14 weeks seems like a lot of time to prepare for a job, but you need that long if you want to prepare the right way. I remember giving my first elevator pitch for an employer visit or talk and my social anxiety was the worst. I almost forgot my name. The idea of matchmaking later on in the program--meeting a handful of employers in only two days--was terrifying, but when it came time for that, I felt really prepared and confident in my abilities and hey, it worked! Those rounds of mock behavioral and tech interviews, the resume reviews, the elevator pitch practice sessions, the employer advice events--I mean, we had everything we needed to succeed. Even with those, Caitie, the pathway director, was absolutely one of the biggest reasons I was able to land a job within a week of graduation. She makes sure you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and that you're doing it right. She's obviously an expert in what she does, and I knew when I met her for my Tech Elevator interview that she is truly in this position because it makes her happy. I still keep in touch with her occasionally :) Despite the economy completely crashing and most employers closing their hiring doors, at Tech Elevator... it almost seemed to not make a difference. Some employers backed out of matchmaking, yet most (all? I haven't checked in with other students lately...) found jobs fairly quickly, most through the companies we met through the program. 

 

Coursework 

I'm still wondering how I was able to learn so much, so quickly, AND be qualified for a software engineer position with only 14 weeks' worth of experience. A lot of my computer science friends from college who graduated around the same time as the bootcamp ended are still searching for jobs, and they have years of experience over me. In talking to my coworkers, it seems like the ability to learn so quickly is more attractive in a candidate than how much you know. Of course, you still have to put in the work to show them how much you can learn in a short time. The first few weeks were spent learning basic programming principles and intro to java stuff--the need-to-know material. Seriously though, make sure you're reviewing these basic concepts every week because you there's a 100% chance they will come up in an interview. We moved on to some database stuff, which was pretty interesting and necessary to learn if you move to a full-stack position. After that, we moved onto servers and web stuff. Ah, the good stuff. My one critique, now that I'm out and about in the real world, is that what we learned at the time was fairly outdated compared to working applications. It was a weird transition going from Spring MVC to regular Spring Boot. The course also teaches Vue.js, which I also learned isn't as popular. I don't think I saw it in more than one job posting. Despite learning tools that weren't directly applicable to a lot of jobs, I still learned the fundamentals of how databases and web frameworks work. Plus, interviewers were genuinely interested in hearing about technologies they've never used, which contributed to a nice conversation. Regardless, as I mentioned, what's more important is that you're able to learn the given material and apply it, because that's what's going to happen on the job anyway. 

 

Going Remote for Covid-19 

Honestly, going remote was a very smooth transition. The first few days were kind of weird to adjust to, but that was mostly because it was so sudden. I think it was a Sunday afternoon when I got an email that said we're going remote the following day? IIRC the staff found out pretty last minute too, but even with that, I really enjoyed virtual classrooms. It was much easier to pair program when you're screen sharing, and it's easier to work together from home/remotely when you don't have to worry about catching a trolley or train on time etc. The difference in learning environments was mainly that our instructor had to screen share instead of writing on a whiteboard, but the quality of teaching/learning didn’t change. 

 

Compared to Other Philly Bootcamps 

I didn't look too heavily into other bootcamps--maybe three or four--but I noticed many of them aggressively try to sell you into their program. They seemed to care more about making money off of their students, rather than educating them. With Tech Elevator, they only accept students who they think will do well in the program. They want to make sure you have what it takes. After comparing curriculums between a few local bootcamps with the help of my friends who are software engineers, Tech Elevator definitely outranks the others in that realm. I will note that Tech Elevator did not once reach out to me by phone or email with promotional material, unlike the daily phone calls and emails I received from other bootcamps. Anyway, it's clear Tech Elevator doesn't have to have a sales department to push people to apply and spend thousands of dollars. Students don't need to be pushed to apply to Tech Elevator; it's the clear choice. 

 

Conclusion 

If you like coding, and want to do what you love for a living, then do this. The curriculum gives you the knowledge you need to impress employers on your skills, but the Pathway Program is designed to help you tackle your individual professional weaknesses and highlight your strengths. If you put in the work, you will succeed. 

Going remote was seamless and easy. Career services actually WANT to help you find a job. Doubled my income in the matter of four months. Life changing experience!

This review is from the perspective of someone who graduated from TE Pittsburgh over a year ago and loves her job. 
My background involved absolutely zero coding experience, as I graduated from Pitt and then worked in mental health for about 8 years. I was burnt out, and was lost about how to get out. My brother is a developer and I like to make sure that I can do whatever he can do, which is what planted the seed in my head to learn to code. I didn't even have a real interest in tech but I knew I needed to change my life's trajectory. I heard about Tech Elevator on the radio and just like everyone else, began looking for evidence of scams or horror stories about bad experiences. There wasn't any. Figured this was good news. I talked to a friend about it who connected me with someone who graduated from an Ohio campus, which helped quiet the feelings of impending doom as well.  I didn't fully trust course report because when I interviewed, Pittsburgh was brand new. Course report's reviews were all from the Ohio campuses. I was worried about the instructors and the quality of a new campus. BUT, I did it anyway.  Took the test, interviewed with Justin, and was accepted. I was in the Java class and all of the instructors were helpful and knowledgeable. You learn all the necessary basics of coding during the first week or two, so if you have no experience, it really sets you up with a solid foundation for the future modules. We had a bit of an instructor change mid way through, and the new hire was a welcome and fresh perspective on the tech world. Gotta admit, I second-guessed myself every step of the way. I compared myself to my crazy smart friends in the program and wasn't sure I had what it takes. I think this is common. But, leaning on peers (and educators) and offering support in return really helps to ease the anxiety surrounding the course.  The Pittsburgh campus has a rooftop deck, which I highly recommend you make use of to both decompress and work.
The other part of the boot camp is called the Pathway Program. This is where you learn to be super profesh and build important skills to land you a job. It could be daunting at times and if you hate public speaking (like me) this will force you to get over that. You craft an elevator pitch which you then repeat in front of all of your peers and various company reps weekly. Often, multiple times a week. Matchmaking was incredibly important in building confidence in your interviewing skills. They will probably tell you at times to get some experience outside of the program, like attending meetups, in order to work on networking skills and appear well-rounded in your interviews. I never landed a job with any matchmakers (although I did get second interviews). Surprisingly, what did end up getting me 3 promising interviews and a job was networking with employees of various companies at WIT meetups. So, I heavily suggest if you attend TE that you work on networking, especially if you are an anxious and awkward interviewee and do better in a less formal setting. Like me. Pittsburgh has a lot of meetups and I'm sure they have converted them into Zoom meetings in the age of Covid.  And as a side note, even if you don't have previous coding experience, TE prepares you well enough that you can learn Java at TE but then immediately switch to C# upon landing a job. So don't let that make you shy away from a job offer should that be the case. 
Now, a year in, I can safely say this was the best decision I could have made for myself in terms of career and growth. I work at a small start-up where I am the only developer (aside from my coworker-boss, who focuses mostly on business these days). This job seemed incredibly daunting at the start, but now it is incredibly daunting. However, I love what I do, the product that I get to help create, and all the various roles one plays at a tiny start-up. It pushes me to keep working on being a better developer and have confidence in myself.  I was lucky to get a job where I get to work as a full stack developer, so most of the things I learned during boot camp come in quite handy.  
If you are on the fence, just do it already. 

Overall a great experience. I made lifelong friends, not just in other students but in the staff members as well. The instructors are incredibly knowledgable and amazing at sharing that knowledge. A job is not guaranteed once you graduate but they have some of the best placement numbers around. I obtained my current position through the matchmaking process, which is probably the distinguishing factor for Tech Elevator versus other bootcamps and very valuable as a new member of the tech field. I highly suggest the .NET course; John Fulton is hands down the best teacher I've ever had the honor of learning from and Matt Eland is on his way to be of the same caliber. I went from never looking at a single line of code to being a functional full stack developer in the span of a few months. It was exactly what I was looking for in a career change.

There are few cases in life when certain things you think too good to be true ,actually turn out to be that good. Tech Elevator is definitely one of those rare ones. Hind sights 20/20 and looking back, i realize what a unique and great opportunity it was. Have no illusions about the hard work it would demands, but the instructors and career coaches are nothing short of amazing, encouraging and very very competent. You will struggle to catch your breath but its ok, because bootcamps are designed to keep in your boots 24/7. I cant recommend tech elevator enough after my experience.

 Tech Elevator is split into 2 parts. 1 part teaches you to program, and the other part teachers you how to get a job. The programming part is broken down into 4 modules with a capstone after each module. There are 2 classes c# and Java. You will be in one of the 2. I was in c#. The 4 parts for me were broken down by in the first module c# programming language in depth, and finish up with object oriented program, and learning how to design programs. The second module is learning to use databases,  third module is learning to front end development, API's, and MVC, and the 4th module is learning javascript with vue as a component based language. The day to day starts with a 3 hour class lecture, followed by a lunch break, and the individual or pair programming exercises for that day. At night there are daily readings that cover the materials that you will go over for the next day. 
The job search is what gets you put into a job. Here they teach you to interview, make and use Linkedin, construct a resume, as well as a elevator pitch. The program has a match making event where you interview with companies looking to hire the students of the cohort. Most of the cohort receives an offer from this event, or a company that is part of this event. The programs hiring network is what makes the program so strong, because you have over 90% chance of landing a job. After your cohort ends Tech Elevator has events that involve alumni that want to participate, and is always good networking. The job searching, and interviewing skills you learn in Tech Elevator will help you the rest of your career. I was very prepared going into my first programming job out of this program. I would recommend this  program to anyone that has a Tech Elevator in there area, and is interested in a Tech career. 

I have been looking how to get into the software engineering field from my dead-end career in real estate for about 2 years. Tried online courses, videos, even went to NYC for one week JavaScript Fundamentals class and didn’t like the vibe of that school. Got back to Pittsburgh, keep working in real estate, and one day in July had a really tough day at work and started looking for local bootcamps. Found out about Tech Elevator, read reviews, took aptitude test, scheduled interview with Justin (campus director), passed both interview and another aptitude test, and in July of 2019 I knew I was going to start in January 2020. I had doubts but decided to take a leap of faith and believed it would work out if I were to give it all I had. 

Tech Elevator staff made my heart melt on Day 1. They treat you like family, pull you out of your comfort zone for your own sake, and make you do what they know is the best for you. All you have to do is to trust them and work hard. The campus atmosphere is unbelievable. Somehow people you see for the first time in your life, become your friends very quickly. We worked hard and pretty much spent most of our time together, usually coding and drinking coffee/eating.

COVID-19 happened when we were 3/4 down the program. We were worried and exhausted.  Everyone (our instructors, our Pathway Directors, Campus Director, Admissions Coordinator, teaching fellow) was there for us at all hours. We had to switch to remote learning and kept pushing. By the graduation day most of people from my cohort had offers in their pockets. We still were able to get a job meanwhile other people had to face difficulties during the pandemic. The only thing I sometimes think about is why I didn’t get there earlier but that’s a different story.

This was by far the best educational experience I personally have had and I’m very grateful for that!

Tech elevator was an excellent place to learn a new skill. The instructors are extremely knowledge and are able to convey coding concepts in a way that makes sense to anyone. The Pathfinder program really brings it up a notch by prepping you for the job hunt and helping you to land your first big role

Let me start this review by stating I had no coding background before TE. I was a philosophy major in college and never finished my degree. Devastated by my inability to finish I became a career nomad. I tried several different industries including car sales, hospitality, low level management, retail, and real estate. I found myself at a dead end with every move, my income ceiling was a lot lower than expected and any hope for advancement came with a four year degree. I first heard about TE through an acquaintance who had finished a philosophy degree and was now a full stack dev for a local consulting firm. I simply brushed it off as something I could never do. Weeks passed and the daily grind continued. I came home one day to my room mate exclaiming he had been accepted to TE. I got the thought "man maybe I should do this". I was completely terrified, I knew nothing about hardware or software, no more than playing Civ IV and League of Legends. I took a complete risk, and it really paid off. I had no idea if this was something I could do. I was worried about not finishing like college, or not being able to grasp the concepts. I had my interview and to my surprise I was accepted. I still was unsure of myself and struggled through the pre-work. Fast forward to my first couple of weeks and I am really at a loss. I struggled and I struggled hard. Every day was spent putting in the work and listening to every detail the Pathway program presented. Tom A my instructor challenged me to think, he challenged me to overcome my fears of failure. At the start of Module 3 COVID hit. We were disbanded from our normal brick and mortar classroom and moved to Zoom classes. My fear kicked back in. Now the worry was getting a job during the start of a global pandemic. Ellen and Jennifer reassured me that if I trusted the process and did my best everything would be okay. I put my fears aside and trusted the people at TE. I was offered a position before graduation. I have been working in the field a couple months now and couldn't be happier. TE gave me the skill set to work in the tech field but it also gave me a true framework for overcoming those fears of the unknown, failure, and rejection. I still have my moments as we all do. The stat's prove this process at TE works, follow logic and not emotion. I went from a low level real estate position to being a Jr Software Dev with nothing but a chance. TE really did change my quality of life. If you are considering applying, just do it. Set aside those negative thoughts and take the chance. 

The staff at Tech Elevator in Columbus was amazing. I was a Java student with Steve Carmichael and could not recommend his classes enough. From day one he prepares you for interviewing and really drives home a wealth of knowledge. Vinny, Ben and Katie make an excellent career help group, they are driven and devoted to ensuring you get placed.

My Background: I graduated with a degree in Music Performance six years ago and worked as a freelance musician before Tech Elevator. I was teaching lessons, touring the country, recording, and doing all sorts of musical odd jobs. It was a very rewarding career, but I found that I hit a point where I had hit all of my goals and no longer felt challenged. I wanted a new career that was mentally stimulating and rewarded hard-work and continued learning, but would still allow room for creative problem solving. Last summer, I took a few online courses on Edx in different topics that interested me to explore the idea of a possible career shift. One of those courses was Harvard's CS50, which introduced me to coding. I found that the abstract thinking and deep thought required to code was very similar to the creative headspace of composing music and felt at home. Around that same time, I met Jeff Jeung, Campus Director of Tech Elevator's Detroit campus, at a local event in Detroit and heard him do a presentation on their curriculum. Tech Elevator had just opened in Detroit and their Fall cohort was about to begin so I decided to enroll.

Admission Process:

The first thing I noticed about Tech Elevator was how seriously they took the admissions process. I was surprised that Tech Elevator's admissions process felt more thorough than when I had applied to college. It was clear to me that they only let students into the program that they believe can succeed. I took an online assessment made up of logic puzzles and then attended an open house event to learn more about the program. After that, I went back to the campus for a 60 minute interview where I discussed my story, my goals, what brought me to Tech Elevator, and was asked behavioral questions. The interview was a very pleasant experience and was very conversational. After that, I had to take a more comprehensive 90-minute assessment. After receiving the good news of my admission and deciding to enroll, Tech Elevator sent out approximately 40 hours of pre-work that covered the basics of coding.

Why Tech Elevator?

 I'm inherently not a risk taker in life, so the thought of spending a lot of money on a program that had no guarantee of landing me any job had me skeptical at first. I did several weeks of research on various bootcamps, in Detroit and in other cities, and spoke to bootcamp grads to try and gain a picture of what it would be like, whether it was worth it, and what to look for in a bootcamp. The two biggest things I found in my research were to look for programs that are transparent with their job statistics and look for programs that are selective. Tech Elevator works with a 3rd party auditing company to verify all of their statistics, which made it a lot easier to trust their statistics and I've already mentioned how thorough their admissions process is.

At the time, I was also considering self-learning and going back to college. I thought that four years and spending a lot more money seemed impractical for my situation, and while I'm confident I could teach myself coding with all of the great available resources online, the idea of actually getting a job seemed intimidating.   In the end, one of the final turning points for me was coming to Course Report and reading a review from a past TE student that had come from a very similar background as me and found success, so I hope to whoever is reading this, that this review helps to guide your decision too!

What Part of the Program Helped Me The Most?:

What sets Tech Elevator apart from other bootcamps is that they have what they call the Pathway Program, which is a parallel course to the coding curriculum that teaches you how to get a job. We started with writing and rehearsing elevator pitches, and then moved on to creating LinkedIn pages, going to meetups, learning to network, resume workshops, and doing mock interviews. A lot of these activities put me outside of my comfort zone, but being pushed to do five rewrites of your resume or being assigned to send three private messages to potential networking contacts on LinkedIn was invaluable to getting a job. Pathway was led by Nicole, who did an incredible job making me feel confident and provided invaluable feedback. By the time it came to applying for jobs, I felt really prepared with the whole process so that I could put all of my focus on interviewing and showing off my best side, instead of stressing about the little things.

The Pathway Program culminated in a Matchmaking Event where each student interviewed with a half dozen hiring partners in the Detroit area. Prior to Matchmaking, each company came in to do a presentation about what they do and what they're looking for in an employee, which made it easier to prepare for the interviews. I was lucky to receive an offer that I ended up taking from Matchmaking.

Coding Curriculum:

Tech Elevator's curriculum is divided into four modules: core Java, databases, server-side web development, and client-side web development. Each module is several weeks long and culminates in a capstone project that is completed with one or more other students. Each day begins with several hours of lecture, followed by free time to work on the assignments. Outside of the lectures and homework, the days are also filled with Pathway events, review sessions, and special seminars to learn skills like Test-Driven Development. You'll find yourself staying late most days working on the homework and collaborating with other students and the instructors. Learning to collaborate and solve problems with classmates is invaluable and is a skill that will definitely come in handy in the real world. Andy and Margaret, the instructors, are both exceptional people and have unlimited patience when it comes to answering questions and troubleshooting bugs. It's safe to say that every student's success is very important to the instructors.

Getting a Job:

As mentioned before, I was very fortunate to secure employment during the program during the Matchmaking event. I was hired as an Associate Technical Consultant for a company called Perficient. They came in to do a presentation early in the cohort and returned for matchmaking. During matchmaking, I had what was mostly an HR interview where I was asked about why I was changing my career and some behavioral questions. After that, I was given a coding assignment to complete in one week. My second interview was presenting my project and walking through the code and answering questions. After that, I received an offer.

My job started with two months on-the-job training in a project-based setting and then I was put on my first real project doing web development for a major automotive company. So far in my career, I am wearing a lot of hats every day. I'm doing web development with AEM and React, working as an Automation Engineer writing scripts with Java Selenium, as well as some QA Lead responsibilities.

How Well Did Tech Elevator Prepare For My Job?

An important thing to understand with bootcamps is that no program can teach you everything you need to know to be a successful web developer. There is so much to learn and technology is always changing to the point that someone who has been working for decades is still learning everyday in their job. However, the most important thing you can learn from a bootcamp is how to be a good learner. If you can successfully consume and learn Tech Elevator's curriculum in fourteen weeks, it's a good sign you'll be ready for anything a job will throw at you. When you're new to coding, it seems really important to learn as many languages and frameworks as possible, but really what's important is learning to think like a software developer, using good patterns, and how to ask the right questions. At the end of the day, I'm not necessarily using specific skills I learned at Tech Elevator everyday, but I've learned how to pick up new skills quickly, how collaborate and communicate well with my team, and how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

Advice to Prospective/Future Students:

It's important to understand that simply attending Tech Elevator and completing the assignments will not guarantee you a job, but if you keep yourself accountable and push yourself there is a really good chance you'll find a lot of success. The best thing about enrolling in Tech Elevator is that you've committed fourteen weeks of your life to deep-diving into an exciting new world. It's rare in life to have such an awesome opportunity to focus entirely on one thing, so it's really important to make the most of your time. You'll learn a lot everyday in Tech Elevator, but you should still do your best to follow your curiosity outside of the curriculum. Anytime you see any word or line of code that you don't understand, google it. Any time that you're stuck on a problem and don't know what to do, ask a class mate or an instructor.

Personally, I made a concentrated effort to stay ahead of the readings at all times so that every lecture was reinforcing my knowledge, instead of hearing information for the first time. It's really important to try and work on a side project, even if it's small, so that when it comes to interviews you have something to talk about other than what you've learned in the bootcamp. I made a simple Tic-Tac-Toe game with Java and was able to talk about it in the interview that got me my job. Do your best to attend meet ups and network outside of class, it will be really helpful to have some contacts when it comes time for job hunts. I met someone at a meetup during Tech Elevator who is now a friend and a coworker. The time will move really quickly, so make sure to make the most of it, but also remember to enjoy the journey. Your classmates will feel like family by the end of the cohort and you should expect to form lasting friendships.

Also, I would recommend taking Harvard's CS50 before the bootcamp. It's free, will lay a great foundation, and will let you know if coding is for you. 

Bottom Line:

Tech Elevator was definitely a life-changing decision for me, and a really wonderful experience. I'm incredibly lucky that I was able to successfully shift careers in only a few months and it would not have been possible without Tech Elevator's help. I made a lot of great friendships with my classmates and the staff and always look forward to seeing them. Tech Elevator will be a very difficult experience and at times you may doubt your ability to succeed, but if you work hard and persevere, you will find that you're capable of doing amazing things.

 I choose Tech Elevator after reviewing sites like this one; I was impressed by their outcomes and commitment to independently reporting their results. I decided to make the change, and having completed my coursework, I can say there is no place where Tech Elevator did not meet or exceed my expectations. I’m now about to start my dream job in 2020; That in itself speaks volumes about the quality of instruction and career support. 

Tech Elevator will not be easy for anyone; I came in with a fairly solid technical background and found the work challenging. That said, anyone admitted can complete the work; the point of the immersion environment is to stretch your abilities in critical thinking, commitment, and collaboration skills. Plan for the challenge and be prepared to commit to the work. Soft skills are every bit as important to the program, so expect those to be developed as well. 

I could not be more impressed by Tech Elevator’s dedication to placing TE graduates. Despite having to adapt to a hiring environment where everyone was suddenly going remote or going into a hiring freeze, Tech Elevator’s staff worked tirelessly to help the members of my cohort find jobs, even reaching beyond the usual regional contacts to support a truly national job search for 2020 grads. 

If you feel passionate about technology and want to make a real career in software development, this is the place to go. If you’re just starting out, or looking for a career change, Tech Elevator will help you make it happen.