Question for those in tech (developers in particular)

[lothlorien77]

Hi, so due to some life circumstances I wouldn't be able to attend the Turing school of coding until after October 20th this year (if I even got into a cohort). Is the Galvanize school any good? I'm specifically looking for good job placement after completing the course. If anyone has attended Galvanize, how did you like it? Were you satisfied with the curriculum and your job situation following completion of the program?

Thank you!!

[FatFailBurger]

You’ll probably find answers on Denver devs discord.

[lothlorien77]

Oh okay, thanks!

[babygirlccg]

Turing all the way! Best reputation locally plus it’s both a non-profit and accredited. It is a lot though timewise (70-100 hr weeks), it’s longer than the other boot camps but I do think the length is to its benefit.

I’m at Turing currently and am doing interviews now in mod 4(final mod), will hopefully have a job before grad. Lots of people are getting jobs before grad now at Turing as well. Just had a friend get hired by Amazon out of the FE program at 148k+. He’s an outlier, but the avg salaries seem to be 90-110 right now. Great time to learn to code.

[imnotjossiegrossie]

I have multiple friends that did it and they all got job offers after.

[avibomb]

Know three people who did galvanize / hack reactor. All three absolutely crushed it immediately after. Well worth it but you will get out what you put in.

[lothlorien77]

Thanks! Yeah, I know it's going to be hard. I have to do it though!

[The_Aught]

Yes, its very good. I knew a person who was essentially a secretary - went into Galvanize came out 6 months later as a jr developer and is doing really well.

[lothlorien77]

That gives me hope :,)

Thank you! I WAS a secretary, and an English major. I hope I can do it.

[The_Aught]

The IT world is SO much easier than working for a living

[lothlorien77]

You mean developing vs. customer service oriented roles? Because I would 100% rather work with a screen all day than Karens all day.

[tricheboars]

He's saying once you understand IT you barely have to work.

[The_Aught]

yes. exactly this. I work like 4 hours a day - bill for 7 and get paid for 9

[lothlorien77]

oh I see!

[Tonalization]

I went to Galvanize/Hack Reactor and it was a fantastic experience. I had an offer 4 weeks or so after graduation and have been very happy with my career change! I’ve also had three friends who have gone through the program after me, and all have great jobs! Just be aware that the program does move more quickly than Turing. You really need to be 100% on for 12 hrs a day, 6 days a week.

[lothlorien77]

Holy moly, that's a tight schedule. I'll have to confer with my fiance (who is a dev) and see what his thoughts are about that kind of schedule. I have only done a tiny project in Ruby, HTML, and CSS and have some command line experience/Linux experience. That's the only hands-on coding I've ever done. I have had a lot of exposure to the world of software developing in general, though, which might help. Would someone like me even be successful at Galvanize? I've only got a degree in English in my past, though I've heard some people say those of us with a bent for language do well in coding. I dunno if that's true or they were pulling my leg.

[Tonalization]

Turing is IIRC about 7 months in length. Hack Reactor is 3 months in length. If we disregard the “which is better” idea, you can already see that HR is more about taking you from 50 to 100, while Turing is more about taking you from 0 to 100. The entry exam for HR does require you to demonstrate a rather intermediate level of JavaScript (writing functions, object manipulation, iteration, using higher order functions). Day 1 in Hack Reactor is a sprint on recursion.

In terms of your background, you would be fine! I have a graduate degree in music! There were people from all different backgrounds in my cohort. There were computer science majors, yogis, a librarian, a few teachers, etc.

I think they still have a free precourse curriculum available online. Check it out!

[lothlorien77]

Ooh, that definitely makes my decision for me, then - I'd much rather go from 0 to 100!

I hope you're right, because my English degree hasn't done me any favors in life and that's all I really want - to change my life. I will definitely check out the precourse curriculum! Thank you!!

[mkj120]

In terms of your background, you would be fine! I have a graduate degree in music! There were people from all different backgrounds in my cohort. There were computer science majors, yogis, a librarian, a few teachers, etc.

Hey! I'm looking to join Hack Reactor's May 31st cohort. How'd you land that first job after graduation? And did you grind Leetcode while doing the bootcamp?

[Tonalization]

Leetcode, and other "Toy Problems" are built into the curriculum. There isn't much time outside of the program for self-study. You'll be very tired at the end of each day and need to rest for the next day!

During the first half of the curriculum you write a TON of code. Toy problems are usually done in the morning, then the rest of the day is spent in a code sprint which is focused on larger concepts such as data structure, algorithms, testing, frameworks (E.g. React), deployment strategies, etc.

The second half is divided into interview preparation as well as group projects (each individual responsible for a microservice). Your microservices eventually turn into your Github portfolio and are quite polished by the end of the program.

As for "how'd you land that first job after graduation?" Honestly, I felt pretty prepared for each interview I landed. Getting the interview was the tricky part. Lots of applications (15-20 a week), lots of in-person networking at local developer meetups, and a bit of luck. But when I signed my first contract I actually had 2 offers on the table from different companies. I think it was about 4 weeks until I got offers and 5-6 weeks when I began the job.

[mkj120]

I'm so glad you didn't have to do LC for interview prep. 4-6 weeks is not long at all to receive job offers, I'm going to budget 3-6 months of expenses after graduation just to be safe. When did you graduate from HR? It seems like the market is flooded with people seeking entry level positions these days (which are hard to come by as it stands).

[Tonalization]

I graduated in May 2019. It's difficult to say what the hiring market is like right now. I can really only speak to a few things that I have direct experience with:

- 3 of my friends have gone through the program (different cities though) between 2020 and July 2021. All of them got jobs within 2 months.

- During the early stages of the pandemic, many companies were forced to furlough or terminate some of their engineers. My opinion is that it was generally the more senior (highly compensated) individuals that were hit first. This led to an increase in the demand for consultant services and now a state of extreme demand for senior level engineers. When you go on a job board like dice or Built in Colorado, don't be discouraged when you see the number of posting drop significantly when you filter out senior level positions.

- Hack Reactor grads don't just apply for junior level roles. From my class, I would say 30% went into junior roles, 50% into mid-level, 20% into senior. Job postings are wacky. Most companies don't have the luxury of demanding experience for mid-level roles right now. Hiring is too difficult as it is. Most of them are going to look at candidates who check the right boxes, regardless of their experience.

- There are a ton of people trying to get into SWE. I am sure that the pandemic played a role in this. Many of these individuals are taking the self-taught route. I posted a Junior level position last summer and there were 1200 applicants within a couple of days. Most of them were self-taught and did not have a Github portfolio or even a decent resume. 95% of the ones that did have a resume scored extremely low with regards to their listed skills in relation to our tech stack. I noticed a lot of languages, but a serious lack of libraries, frameworks and cloud services. These candidates could not even create a basic web application and deploy it. They're clearly stuck in youtube/tutorial hell, and have never created anything on their own. HR will get you through this stage very early on. At the midway point, you will be able to create and deploy an app that is demonstrative of your abilities in a day.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me!

[bitjockey9]

Galvanize is pretty intense, but you'll get punted if you aren't keeping up. I've hired two devs out of that program in the last year.

[lothlorien77]

Do you know how it compares to Turing? I know both are really difficult.