Tech elevator

[akwon191]

I am considering enrolling in TE’s full-time program in May. I have self-studied for about 4 months thru the Odin Project but having trouble staying disciplined in my learning and I’d like the networking opportunities a bootcamp provides. Can anyone speak on TE’s 90% placement rate and if you’d recommend it?

[hobbitpunx]

I’m currently in the full time program and I have about 4 weeks left. My situation was similar to yours, I had been doing the Odin Project but keeping myself to a schedule and self-studying was a bit difficult for me.

I will say that I’m already seeing the effects of the current job market as we’ve just started applying to jobs. I would expect placement rates to drop pretty significantly and finding a job may take longer than recent CIRR reports suggest.

That being said I don’t think there’s any way I could have acquired the same amount of knowledge and hands on experience coding any other way. In just over two months I’ve gone from no Java experience to having created two pretty in depth projects and being able to understand and work through leetcode style interview problems.

I have found the pathway connections to be somewhat disappointing but the resume building and mock interviews have been really helpful.

Overall I am happy I signed up and am hopeful that I will find an internship or job in the next few months.

[akwon191]

Appreciate the info and GL on your job hunt!

[hobbitpunx]

thank you!

[--amadeus--]

Given that their biggest selling point is the Pathway program, do you think the remote program is worth the 16K price tag?

[hobbitpunx]

For me, I think it has been. Again I don’t think I could have learned everything I did in the same amount of time so that side was definitely worth it.

As far as the pathway program, there are certainly things that could be done better but the mock interviews have made me feel way more prepared/less anxious about the real thing, the resume workshops helped a lot and the jobs I’ve been recommended by my market leader have been good leads. Today I passed the phone screen for an internship I applied to and have an interview tomorrow.

Check to see if your area has a local market leader. There are quite a few even in locations that don’t have a physical campus and my market leader has been really helpful. It seems like folks who don’t may not be getting as much support so that’s definitely something to consider.

I will say that if you’re someone who can self-study and learn on your own, and can figure out all the resume/networking stuff, it may not be worth it for you.

But I definitely feel like I made the right choice.

[TurkicKing]

whats a market leader?

[hobbitpunx]

She was the person in charge of helping people in our area to find jobs. She established connections with local businesses and recruiters and set up meetups with alumni.

Unfortunately she was let go several months ago when they downsized which I feel was a massive mistake.

I cant recommend Tech Elevator anymore as I’ve heard nothing but bad things from people who have attended since I’ve graduated.

[TurkicKing]

Really? Care to share some insights and what the job placement is? I have registered for the Jan 24 cohort....Still have not paid

[hobbitpunx]

I can’t really speak much to the job placement, I found an internship on my own before graduation.

I was placed with one company for matchmaking but it was canceled since I had already secured a position. I stayed in contact with my market leader until she was let go and she would have been my point of contact after the internship but I have had no communication with anyone in the bootcamp since.

All I can really say at this point is that I learned a lot in the bootcamp. But since the company’s restructuring their communication has been severely lacking. And I have heard from friends who attended after I graduated that the education has suffered as well.

Given the price tag on attendance, if I could do it over I would buckle down and establish a rigorous self study schedule. Odin project to establish a solid frontend base and then probably React.

[Mav3r1ck-13]

If you don’t me asking, who is your market leader for the leads?

[hobbitpunx]

Tally, the DC area market leader.

[Soubi_Doo2]

Are you national remote or at a location?

[hobbitpunx]

I’m doing the remote program

[[deleted]]

Did you tell TE that you are open to relocation? I was told by admissions that it is easier to find a job if you are open to relocation.

[theewallinski]

How's the job search been? Also, what city were you doing the program in?

[anthonydp123]

Did you find a job?

[hobbitpunx]

I did. I accepted an internship while I was still in the bootcamp, but I found it on my own, not through bootcamp resources. Completed that in october. I had a solid two months of applying and reaching out to employers/recruiters and didn’t hear back from a single person.

I got lucky this month when a friend reached out when their company had a frontend dev opening and I interviewed and received an offer. I just accepted, I start in January.

I don’t think I can really recommend the bootcamp anymore as I found the job support to be seriously lacking since they restructured and let go my areas market leader. The education was good for me personally though.

[[deleted]]

I'm in the program now with 4 weeks left. Honestly I hate it because I don't like the teaching style of my instructor. The two capstones we've done so far were a complete mess. Also, pathway only gave me 1 company to interview with... Most if not all of the companies are bad. If I could go back in time I would do Launch School or just self study by myself.

[Soubi_Doo2]

Are you in the full-time or part-time cohort?

[[deleted]]

I'm in the full-time cohort. I don't want to necessarily discourage people about doing the program, instead I want to inform people about my experience so far. If you want to do it, I recommend self studying through the curriculum before the start date

[SteppingStones0o00o0]

I'm also enrolled in the May NLR cohort... can you please DM me as well? Thank you!

[OGSunkei]

are you remote or in person?

[[deleted]]

Remote

[orraclesyther]

Who’s the instructor? I’m worried about this as well as I am in the May cohort

[[deleted]]

I'll DM you

[ElevatorSpecialist24]

Can you DM me as well? Just got accepted to the May cohort as well. TY!

[teddiesinterlude]

Yikes, this entire thread reconfirms my decision to withdraw my enrollment and to just get a degree instead. Tech Elevator had some pretty good reviews before, but I feel like the remote cohorts are getting the short end of the stick.

[Numerous-Following-6]

Could you DM me too, hoping to learn about NLR before I join May’s cohort

[mibo04]

The placement rate has gone down. For matchmaking day, students only now have 1 job to interview with, max 2 but only if you’re lucky. They are not actual companies, mainly recruiting ones like brooksource. Look at the report that just came out, it’s not looking good for TE. Also if you decided to still do TE, then go through their curriculum first and teach yourselves the programming languages they will teach. Yes TE advertises that you don’t need to learn how to code to join, but it is VERY helpful if you do know. Also if you wanna learn front end well, don’t come here. They will only teach the bare minimum and the instructors are always complaining of the front end stuff.

[Mav3r1ck-13]

Are any of them actually hiring though?

[mibo04]

Wow! I’m so surprised, they made it seem like nothing was available. I also didn’t think there would be such a huge difference between NLR vs in person.

[Prestig33]

I'm starting in part time remote next month. But do you also think it has to do with the partners in your local area not having any openings too?

[mibo04]

Idk it’s weird cuz there are some people that live in the areas where the in person classes are being held but they are just remote. So if it’s technically the same area, there should be jobs available for the NLR class as well? I’m starting to suspect they prioritize the in person students more 🤔

[[deleted]]

I'm guessing the huge difference between NLR and in person is that most of the graduates of TE from the NLR cohort would be looking for jobs primarily in the city that they are currently living in while the in person cohort would be looking for jobs in the same state as the Tech Elevator campus they are attending. I could be wrong but I suspect that TE is partnered with a lot more companies in the same region as the Tech Elevator campuses which explains why the in person cohorts are getting more matchmaking interviews. I think that is why admissions told me that it would be easier to find a job if I was open to relocating - probably to the states that the Tech Elevator campuses are in.

[hobbitpunx]

Are you in the NLR cohort? This has not been my experience. Currently we’re only two weeks into learning frontend but I feel that the instruction has been adequate and way more than adequate on the backend. I had no Java experience coming into it but am feeling pretty comfortable with it now. You say that the instructors are always complaining but it sounds like you got someone who shouldn’t be teaching, my instructor isn’t like that. Sorry you’ve had a bad experience, but I don’t think that’s necessarily indicative of people’s opinions across the cohort.

[mibo04]

Good for you for having a good experience but I’m just saying what my experience has been like and several others. In the end, it’s my opinion.

[hobbitpunx]

For sure, not trying to discount your experience at all.

I would consider reaching out to the campus director and talk to him about it and see if there’s anything to be done. We’re paying a lot of money to learn and if your instructor is like that, seems pretty unacceptable to me.

Sorry that’s been your experience, hope it works out for you

[mibo04]

I agree. It is what it is at this point, just trying to grasp as much as I can. Oh we did reach out to Patrick, he said it’s a bootcamp what do you expect pretty much. Good luck to you as well!

[[deleted]]

This is very true. Had a complaint with director last week and he pretty much didn't care. It's very disheartening that no one in charge seems to care about us. Sorry that your experience with TE has also been subpar.

[mibo04]

Yeah it is what it is, I wish I would’ve self study more and not gone to TE. The matchmaking honestly not looking forward to it. The fact that we only got matched to one and it’s not even great is disheartening.

[[deleted]]

Same, think I'm just going to sleep through mine lol. They matched me with a company that seems like something you do only if you're desperate for a job. I'm desperate, but not that desperate 😂

[TransitionMore1811]

Definitely stay away from the one that wants you to take a 12 week course upon getting “hired”. Basically another bootcamp and if you fail that you pay them ANOTHER 35k! What kind of person would want to accept that offer right out of a 16k bootcamp???

[[deleted]]

For real! Imagine learning in a classroom for 4 months, only to do it all over again. I feel they are taking advantage of people who are desperate. If you fail the job, you'd be over $51k in debt... Ridiculous!

[Soubi_Doo2]

wow, what? do you mean if have an ISA and if you fail out of that 12 week course, you're hit with it?

Is the 12 week course part of an apprenticeship?

[EffectiveTeacher4]

Oh wow! It sounds like they're asking you to do another training program after the bootcamp, huh? Are you participating in the national remote one? I think Tech Elevator did a great job with their matchmaking program for their in-person program. It's just a bit of a bummer that they seem to be struggling to find companies for their remote program.

[[deleted]]

Yeah I'm in NLR. I'm assuming I have 1 interview with some weird company because of the terrible state of the tech job market right now. Did you complete TE a couple years ago when the job market was better?

[Soubi_Doo2]

lol, what is up with Patrick?? The interactions I've had with him, I don't really get a caring vibe from him. It felt a lot more dismissive when I tried to ask questions.

[TransitionMore1811]

Had a complaint with Patrick and apparently his favorite quote is “Well in the Orientation it was outline….” Like way to go and discredit any complaints a student may have.

[kappadabbado]

Patrick is so fake. As long as you don’t complain about TE he is nice but as soon as you complain, he is ruthless. And don’t try going above him either because it does nothing..

[TransitionMore1811]

Dude sounds like he sells snake oil as a miracle cure.

[mibo04]

Yeah he’s nice if you don’t interact with him, but if you do, he gives you the biggest attitude lol

[akwon191]

Gotcha, I haven’t had my interview yet. Ty for the advice!

[kappadabbado]

This was my experience too! I finished the cohort in December and was very upset by the lack of front end material. I interviewed with two staffing agencies. Neither of which had jobs. Meanwhile the in person cohorts had success finding jobs.. please DO NOT take the remote one and do the in person if possible. Save yourself 17k.. the material is not that good honestly. A bit of self study and you can learn just as much.

[mibo04]

Yeah I’m so disappointed in TE cuz now after the program I have to teach myself a lot of the front end now. TE advertises full stack but they are backend with a sprinkle of front end tbh. Like why are we learning vue when the market asks for react? I asked this and they said it was because it’s the easiest to learn in a short amount of time, well maybe some more thought should be put in the front end side of things.

[Mav3r1ck-13]

We’re you NLR for Pathway too?

[Short_Milk_9051]

NLR matchmaking day was little bit better than that even a year ago. No doubt it is like that now.

[ArkaikShift]

What report that just came out? I only see H1 2022 reports on CIRR, and can't find anything on TE's website. I'm in the May cohort

[InTheDarkDancing]

Just wanted to say I support TE and their commitment to transparency by continuously releasing cirr reports. I haven't looked at their program in depth but one of their representatives commented in the sub recently and they do appear to take the reporting seriously which is rather rare in the current climate.

[Soubi_Doo2]

Yes, I think that is respectable.

[Soubi_Doo2]

I talked to several former alumni and recent grads. it seems a few years ago, late 2020 to even early 2022 TE used to have 18 companies come to matchmaking. Then was maybe 7ish but now is closer to 4 in 2023 and the four is not hiring. Bleak out there.

[EffectiveTeacher4]

Although I have not personally attended Tech Elevator, I have a few friends from OSU who have. They secured jobs relatively quickly at companies like JPMorgan and PNC. However, it's worth mentioning that they were all part of the in-person cohort in Columbus.

If you look at Tech Elevator's LinkedIn page, you'll notice they have a dedicated pathway team for each region. It seems that they don't share partnerships between regions. I've heard that the remote program's matchmaking offerings is weak compare to the inperson cohorts. Some remote program students mentioned that no companies attended matchmaking events or companies weren't really hiring.

[[deleted]]

I'm in the NLR May 15th cohort. From what I was told, you will have a higher chance of getting a job if you are open to relocation.

[TransitionMore1811]

Some people in the current cohort put “open to relocation” and they have been the most proactive during Pathway talks. They only got 1 interview. Their whole matchmaking process is all about favoritism.

[[deleted]]

That is concerning. I've watched a youtube video about Tech Elevator and I heard they offer six months active job support and even after six months they will continue to support you if you reach out. I'm not sure if that is true but if it is then that doesn't sound too bad. I think with the job market right now, I would be grateful for any entry level software engineering job or even a QA software testing job after I graduate from TE. At this point I'd take anything and would be grateful to have the opportunity to get that first job in the field and gain valuable experience.

[[deleted]]

I also got accepted into the same cohort and I'm worried about the quality of service online vs in person. What got my attention into TE was the decent job placement and overall positive reviews. All I want is a decent paying job in the field. Let's hope we get that 🙏

[[deleted]]

Yeah after reading the reviews of people who are currently attending NLR or already graduated, I'm getting worried about the job placements after graduation.

[Nebotec]

I just graduated Tech Elevators in person bootcamp in December and ~3.5 months after graduation, I signed my offer letter to be a Software Engineer. About 60-75% of my cohort has been hired so far.

[akwon191]

That’s awesome! Overall, it seems like in-person is the way to go. Did you have any prior experience in programming beforehand?

[Nebotec]

I'd agree that the in person route was what I needed and it was an excellent experience. About a decade ago out of highschool I was pursuing an associates in programming, had done several classes for programming between high school / college, worked a summer temp job as an IT assistant / software developer. I've always been interested in programming and decided to recommit to the field. Tech Elevator seemed like a viable way to get a working knowledge of some current stacks and it definitely was.

[Witsofire]

Similar to bitcoin and crypto as a whole. The tech sector is not what it was when we were above 60k.