Tech Talent & Strategy

    I am currently finishing up the first part of the fully remote Graduate Accelerator Program - Data Science course. The class is set up really well for the diverse backgrounds and skill levels of the students. With that being said, be ready to work hard to keep up! If you don't set aside enough time to study, practice, and work through the materials outside of class, you could get lost pretty quickly.    Even as someone with a strong science background and a fair amount of experience with Excel and coding in Python, I'm gaining a deeper understanding of the python language, learned how to use Excel more efficiently, and had a much needed review on statistical analysis. I really look forward to the material covered later in the course as we will cover more advanced Python skills and dive into more tools and software specific to data science and machine learning.Lectures/Labs and office hours are held over zoom and are recorded, which has worked out wonderfully. Lectures/Labs have been a healthy mix of covering course content and working on assignments as a class and in breakout groups. Additionally, a Slack channel is set up so you can connect with and collaborate with classmates and reach out to the instructors. Instructors:     I really appreciate the instructors. They are very encouraging, helpful, and respectful of everyone. They seem to understand that there are several different learning styles, and use different teaching resources to utilize them. Links to these resources are shared when possible too! Curriculum:    The curriculum is challenging, extensive, and fast-paced. There is A LOT to learn when it comes to python, especially if you are new to coding. The best way to learn to code is through practice. In class, you get introduced to important concepts, shown examples, and become familiar with the documentation and other really useful resources. Use them.  It's important to study and practice outside of class-time so you can get the most out your time with the instructors and really keep up. However, I feel a point of improvement would using more examples in class that bring multiple concepts together.  All in all, my experience with TTS has been the windfall of support, resources, and structure I've needed since, like so many others, my life was flipped upside down since the pandemic. I look forward to the journey ahead with them.

I just recently finished the Tech Talent South New Orleans JavaScript App Development Course. Despite having to go remote after the first class because of the COVID-19 pandemic, TTS was overall a really good experience. I am personally the type of learner that likes to go somewhat at my own pace, which comes with its pitfalls because it is easy to lose momentum and get stuck. Tech Talents's JS class was the perfect way for me to keep up some momentum and structure to my learning routine. The class goes into advanced JS concepts, comes with lots of great supplemental reading material, and assignments that give you hands on practice. The tools they teach, such as Webpack, React, and jQuery, will give you the ability to start making your own projects very quickly. In addition to the curriculum you are taking, you get access to lots of different seminars that they have that will give you insight on how to get started in the tech world, including how to build a resume and how to use LinkedIn to your advantage.
For some people, the full time, long hours break-neck pace of coding bootcamps with a "job guarantee" (often times people find there is an asterisk by a guarantee like that) and a huge price tag works well for them. For me, this balanced, yet accelerated approach with a very reasonable price and community support worked well for me. I am now working on building my own MERN stack apps and looking to start applying to jobs soon.

I am currently in the Full Time Code Immersion and Intro to Web Design classes in San Antonio but we are meeting by zoom due to COVID.
I was a bit worried I wouldn't pick up the concepts well over zoom but the instructors are incredible! They make sure you're able to follow along, ask questions when you don't understand and keep you confident with lots of one on one help offered before and after classes, even on weekends! There is also lots of collaboration within your cohort that makes working on homework and networking fun.
The instructors are truly dedicated to making sure you succeed along with the others from Tech Talent South. They are available for any and all questions. Being new to the tech environment, having so many resources has been awesome as well as getting lots of career advice and help too!
They have made a nervous, recent graduate without many offers for a good career feel incredibly confident that with my new skills, I will land a rewarding position with a great company. 
This program has been challenging at times but has also been the best investment I've made in myself thus far. 
So glad I am a part of Tech Talent South!

Took this course in 2018 when i wanted to make a transition into I.T. The course then covered Ruby and RoR but has now switched to a Java based platform (so jealous!!). The support from the TTS team was amazing, and their dedication to helping with the job search was reassuring. I was employed, and am still, within about 6 weeks of graduating the camp and am now a software consultant and manage infra and release for my project. Follow up has been constant without being overwhelming. I can't say enough good about them.

Great supportive teachers and coordinators who spent their time doing their best to teach us a very intensive lesson plan and creating a great profile for the tech industry. Our teacher has an amazing personality and great ability to both teach us in the subject matter and how to present it in way that ensured our understanding and ability in programming. Our community organizers were really supportive in resume building by reviewing with indepth feedback to ensure we are putting our best skills to the world, and going out of their way to make sure we are comfortable with the enviornment and class.
 

After deciding to leave my recruiting job and pursue a career in development, I researched around and decided to take the 8 week code immersion course. The bootcamp was a great introduction to general programming and really sets you up to learn different programming languages and frameworks. I met a lot of great people during my time at TTS. Bart was my instructor and he did awesome at explaining the lessons and you could tell he really cared about teaching the class. We also got to go on a lot of company tours where I was able to grow my network. I am also taking the JavaScript course to further my knowledge. The only thing I would have liked to see more of in the 8 week bootcamp is covering more relevant technologies that would be useful as an entry level developer trying to get their first dev job like myself. Also, some job interview prep or assistance in getting my foot in the door would be nice too. It is definitely not an easy course so be prepared to give it your all or else you might not get as much out of it as others who do. Overall, I would definitely recommend taking some TTS classes to anyone who is trying to get into the field or just trying to learn something new.

Background
I recently graduated from the 8 week part-time code immersion November - December 2017 cohort. I had previously been learning web development using Free Code Camp, Udacity, Codeacademy, and other online resources. I was tired of jumping around and not fully understanding how everything connected so I started researching boot camps. Tech Talent South fit all of my criteria: curriculum, cost, and location. 

Overall Impressions: Code Immersion Course (Part-time)
The course does a great job of balancing content for complete beginners and somewhat knowledgeable students. With that said please make sure you complete the pre-course work before the course starts. This will make the class better for you as you won't feel completely lost on the first couple days. 

This course gives a great foundation in web development skills. You will learn some best practices in coding and how to structure your files and folders. We spent our class time following along with the teacher typing code and then after class the homework was uploaded for us to work on. The homework is not required for the course. However, if you really want to get the most out of this course you should complete it. 

I would highly recommend anyone looking at a coding boot camp to consider Tech Talent South and I would recommend that they attend. I truly enjoyed my experience and would do it again. 

Extras

Resume Review: I was able to get my resume reviewed and got advice on how I could tweak it to attract attention from tech companies. I currently have 10 years of retail sales experience so this was extremely helpful. 

Company Tours: The company tours are okay. Since I was taking the part-time course for the fact that I have a full-time job I was not able to get to many of the tours. However, the one I was able to attend was a great experience as you are able to see what real jobs look like and what the company is looking for. Attend as many of these as you can. Well worth it. 

Job Assistance: There is a job board that updates with jobs in the area. TTS is not going to hold your hand so if you have jobs that you are looking for or want help finding jobs then you need to reach out. Once you do they have done a great job with sending me jobs and highlighting what I should be looking for and what I would have the best chance of getting interviewed for. Again, they cannot promise you a job and they cannot help you get an interview but they are helpful in wanting you to get a job so reach out and help will come.