Thinkful

I took part in Thinkful's UX/UI Design Flex program from September 2020-June 2021. 

It was a weird time to take on a new project with the pandemic, my home state being on fire and being job limbo. In spite of the word seemingly to be ending I decided to move forward with my plans to take this course. 

Overall I had a great experience. I'm not a school person and usually stray away from things that are structured. This program was the perfect balance of structure and ability to be self paced for me. I had 4 mentors throughout the program and gained a TON of relevant knowledge from them throughout the program. Every question I had would get answered in a way that directly related to what would be relevant in a professional setting.  I asked one of my graders to be my mentor after my second presentation because I was having a hard time understanding user flows and the research side of things. He was more than willing and it was very easy to make the switch. I liked that I was able to take charge of what I needed and that my decisions were supported by my team. 

I got hired as a digital marketing strategist in the middle of the program. Taking on a new job while in the program was a lot to handle so I ended up asking for an extension because I fell behind. The program is flexible but there are deadlines and you only have a limited amount of time to get certain things done. Don't start the program and expect it to be easy because it's not. You learn a lot in a short period of time. Being able to make time to really digest what I was learning was challenging at times.  

I was able to use my work for my 3rd project and I've gotten a few interviews just from that one experience. If you do the program I'd recommend positioning yourself in a job that is relevant to the career you hope to have post program! For me working at a company that I could connect what I was learning in school to my day to day helped me understand things faster than I think I would have. 

I would definitely recommend Thinkful to anyone interested in UX/UI. I got a 33% raise after using my company as a project and showing them that my UX experience increased conversion rates. I still haven't gotten a UX job (I graduated 2 weeks ago when writing this and honestly haven't applied to a ton of places yet) but I've had 3 interviews which is great! Also my overall "worth" as an employee/ freelancer I would say went from 20 ish dollars an hour to closer to 30-35 just by having the certification. I don't have a college degree so that's pretty awesome! 

For me this program was a great way to dip my toes into what is possible in this field and discovering my strengths. 

I honestly really loved this program, it was harder than I expected but the challenge was fun! I love that I was able to learn so much and meet so many kind hearted professionals. 

Tip: If you do the program add your graders on linked in and do informational interviews with them! They give great genuine feedback and have been in your shoes! I loved getting to know people who worked for companies like the New York Times or have worked for big marketing agencies. It's really helpful to ask what their UX path was like and play with what yours might be! 

Also! The careers team is so sweet and the ASM I worked with was very encouraging! (ASM is who helps keep you on track to graduate and helps you make a plan if you fall behind) She was super real and I never felt embarrassed that I was struggling when I talked with her.  This program really meets you where your at and gives you the push you need! 

It gets hard at times but push through it! There are some people who dropped because it got to be too much. I almost did! I'm glad that I choose to do nothing on the weekends and get this stuff done because now I feel like I have so many opportunities in front of me! Which is great because I'll definitely be making more money moving forward either at my current job or when I get hired somewhere else! 

DO IT! 

For someone that is completely new to tech, I think I did pretty well. Yes, it’s not easy but that is part of the struggle and it’s up to you how you move forward. I chose the Data Flex program because I feel that I learn more when I read and do the exercises on my own. At time, I’d get stuck and I’ll go on the slack to seek guidance or wait for my mentor meeting. My mentor was amazing. He’s very knowledgeable of the industry and the school material. The only things that Thinkful struggles with at times was their mock interviews or temporary mentors and scheduling. There was times that I would book a mock interview a couple of days in advance and use their calendry system, but for whatever reason, the interviewer would be unaware. Not sure why that happened a couple of times but once I’d meet up with them, they would make it up and give great feedback.  I am not yet employed, but I am confident I will find a job with the skills I earned.

I just graduated from Thinkful and I had an absolutely fantastic experience overall. Starting from no experience in SQL, Python or Tableau, I am now confident enough to try and attempt projects on my own. Like any other boot-camp, it is a given that you will not have the complete knowledge of the subject that you are studying but the important thing is that you leave with a solid foundation that allows you to build on it and that is what I have. The instructors and the career guides are extremely helpful, there are tools available to help you throughout the course, just make sure you are aware of all the tools available to utilize them to the best of your advantage. I would highly recommend the course to anyone new to the field of Data Analytics.

A little over a week ago, I completed the Immersive UX/UI program at Thinkful. The program is intensive; there was a lot of information to take in in five months; nevertheless, they were willing to work with me based on my situation. Thinkful's support and the academic team are fantastic; they understand that life is full of unpredictable events, and they were willing to support me based on my situation. My family and I are deeply affected by COVID-19, my ASM, mentor, and the academic team were able to help me and give me options to remain enrolled to complete the program. Thinkful offers a wide range of tuition options; my family and I benefited much from the ISA + stipend. Overall, I believe the curriculum adequately equipped me for my new career in user experience and interface design. Each week we got a deeper understanding of each phase in the design process. All of the instructors and ASM's are professional and knowledgeable, and so are most mentors. Upon graduating, I've been working closely with a careers specialist who has been assisting me in finding work with my new profound knowledge.

I recently completed the UX Design Immersion program. I'm really glad I did it, though I am still looking for a job (I just graduated 2 weeks ago - why I left the job Assistance as N/A, though they do seem to have a great assistance program from what I can tell.) Some other students in my cohort were already interviewing/landed roles before graduation but they tended to have some background in design already. I think this program is a great way to get into UX and really teaches you everything you need to know. It moves fast though and we didn't often revisit topics once we had moved on (so take good notes and look at them again later.) My only critiques would be that student should receive more hands on training in the design software (Figma) and the web building platform (Webflow for building our portfolio). Just because I am able to pass a design assignment doesn't necessarily mean I did it in the most efficient way possible, ya know? YouTube and forums help and further self study with the software is recommended if you want to get the most out of it. That should be exciting not daunting - this is our careers we are talking about so hit it hard because this is all for you!

I recently graduated from Thinkful in March of 2021. My experience with Thinkful was for sure a mixed bag of some amazing experiences and then several regrettable situations. I had heard about Thinkful from a friend who had been through their program 3 years before. He raved about the mentorship and the pair-programming that happened through the program to help you learn software development. The mentor assigned to me was AMAZING. He went above and beyond to serve and help me survive a very rocky cohort. However, by the time I started the program they had switched models from pair-programming to working in online remote teams of 4 to 5 people. These teams were loosely structured and didn't provide enough accountability or support through the program to really help. The reason I signed up for the Engineering Immersion program was that I knew accountability, camaraderie, and going through this tough program with others would be crucial to my success. However, two months into the program I found myself working alone for the last 3 months. This made finishing the program much harder and more grueling. Although I have heard that they have since restructured their team structures to be more involved and structured, my experience with this was very negative. 

Another unfortunate situation in my cohort was that they removed Office Hours as something that was offered to students at the beginning of my program. I signed up for this program thinking that was something that would be included in my support structure only to have it taken away a couple of weeks into the program. This was disappointing and frustrating to have the program changed on you once you had already begun. 

To discuss other aspects of the program. The curriculum was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed learning from it! My Academic Success Manager was PHENOMENAL and was wholeheartedly dedicated to my success! If it had not been for her, I do not think I would have survived this program. The majority of the teachers were excellent and very helpful. I only had one instructor who I found to be subpar during my REACT section of the program. The TAs were very mixed for me. For some of them, it didn't feel like they knew what in the world they were doing and consistently wasted my time trying to help me solve a problem. However, there were some amazing TAs who were repeatedly helpful and amazing! As I mentioned above, my mentor was phenomenal, though I definitely heard from other students that their mentors were subpar. My advice would be not to hesitate to ask for a new mentor if you find yourself in the latter situation. The career coaches have been exemplary. Every single one of them I've had contact with has been exceptional. Some say they are the highest value part of this program.

The reason that I believe that I can still leave a good review for Thinkful is the team that surrounded me on my journey. They supported me and helped me every step of the way and without them, there would be no way that I would ever have graduated from this program. Bootcamps are unmistakably hard and difficult programs and Thinkful isn't perfect. But if you are committed to learning Software Development and want a jumpstart to getting into the industry, I believe it is an excellent route to go.

I graduated from the Immersion Software Engineering program a month ago. Overall, the course was paced very quickly and, unless you have prior experience with code, prepare to spend the majority of your free time trying to dissect the material. The coursework is broken down into modules and, within each module, there is a checkpoint with an assessment (this is autograded for the most part) that will need to be completed. There are a few capstone projects which make good portfolio features and there are several technical assessments in the form of a live interview that you have to pass in order to graduate.

This autograding system, I learned, was a new addition to the course and my cohort was the first the experience it. That being said, there were quite a few bugs that posed significant challenges in getting the material completed; however, the academic success team is quite flexible and, so long as you are forthcoming and an active communicator, you will not be penalized for missing a deadline for a valid reason. I'd also like to shout out the team who handles bug reports and any curriculum-specific concerns -- they were highly responsive and invested in fixing and improving upon what was already there. They were also quite eager to receive feedback and actively sought it out.

The quality of the instructors varied and while none of them were "bad" in any capacity, some definitely outshone the rest in terms of enthusiasm, general knowledge, and control of the flow of the class. A lot of the work throughout the day is done in groups which are randomly reassigned on a weekly basis. The expectation is that you'll have your webcam on the entire time and are present and interacting with your group members. 

Overall, I had to use a lot of outside resources to get my work done but as a dev this is pretty typical. Referencing official documentation is relied on and heavily encouraged! I didn't find the workload to be more than I could handle but I also spent pretty much every waking moment doing something related to the course. 

The careers team blew me away. As soon as I graduated, they contacted me and sent me dozens of job listings daily, and made connections for me. They checked in often and were so quick to respond. I genuinely felt that they had my best interests at heart and, thanks entirely to them, I was referred to a company and accepted a position within three weeks of graduation.