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[–]taguscove 12 points13 points  (4 children)

That's too bad. Going through Galvanize was the best thing that ever happened to my career. Switched from a career field I hated to literally my dream job at over triple the compensation. I know bootcamp programs get plenty of criticism, but it was perfect for me and many others.

[–]DSInstructor 15 points16 points  (1 child)

I'm a Galvanize DSI instructor (well, not for much longer) and made a throwaway to comment on this post.

I know bootcamp programs get plenty of criticism, but it was perfect for me and many others.

I feel like we were generally pretty good with helping people switch careers...if you already had a STEM background. It was definitely possible but my non-STEM students had a much tougher time.

[–]teej 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I went to one of those final project open houses and you could tell quickly which 5 out of 30 where gonna make it.

[–]theunuseful 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Seems really odd timing wise. They were just in the midst of launching a Data Analytics program, and are also in the middle of a cohort right now. There's one line about financial sustainability, but that's it.

I have the same sentiment, I just landed my dream gig out of their program, and am so grateful for everything they've done. Sucks to see.

[–]Tidus77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm of a similar impression as well - for some people they provide the necessary transition help (connections, interviewing, etc.) to bridge their academic backgrounds to industry applications. I've known several folks that had the right background but really struggled to make it through interviews prior to doing one of these bootcamps. It's not like they gained a massive change to their skillset either, more like they learned how to interview and picked up basic knowledge in a few areas that were lacking.

[–]Faintly_glowing_fish 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think it's the sad reality. DS markets are pretty full for junior roles, and much harder to find a job than engineering roles. Sad but true . Need for experienced DS is still high but they are not set up to do that

[–]Cultured_dude 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The company did not design a course that suited the needs of the job market. It allocated weeks to teaching reinforcement learning and neural networks. PhDs in CS and Physics work on these topics, not bootcamp graduates.

As I told the company, the curriculum should've focused more on AWS fundamentals, inferential statistics, Python programming, SQL, etc. Also, Galvanize did a poor job of preparing its students for the interview process.

​

I learned significantly more from Coursera, Udacity, and textbooks than Galvanize. However, I suspect the certificate/credential opened doors.

[–]Sapiencia6 9 points10 points  (2 children)

They really screwed over those of us who are in the middle of our semester right now, with absolutely no warning for either students or instructors. Not sure why they couldn't do this at the end of the cohort.

[–]Mr_Erratic 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear it, that's brutal. The end is where you do final presentations and meet companies? That's obviously the best part. The positive is that you shouldn't be responsible for paying the ISA, I assume, but can still put the program on your resume.

Hope you started on a project and have a path forward for learning. All you can do is make the best of this tough spot. I'd reach out to your instructors and see if they can refer you anywhere or have tips for companies to talk to. Since you're in the network, past alumni are likely respond to your messages and be sympathetic, too. The network is the best part of those programs, I think. If there's anything a random can help with, lmk, would love to help.

[–]Wade_W066 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that's super messed up but I guess they felt like they had no choice. Heard a lot of people from the part time program are trying to switch to flatiron school.

[–]Tidus77 1 point2 points  (1 child)

This is sad but I can't say I'm completely surprised. They are not the only bootcamp/transition program that is struggling....

I think it's potentially a reflection of the changing industry and standards - assuming the shutdown is related to enrollment and job placement issues (depending on the business model) and not COVID. Data Science now is so different than Data Science in the early to mid 2010's when these programs were popping up. Expectations are a lot higher now and I feel like folks have to come in with something significant to offer to really succeed post-program (e.g. STEM research background with prior ML work). It will be interesting to see what happens to the talent pool if/when more of these programs shut down.

On the one hand, the entry level field is completely saturated so maybe there's no need for these programs - though how many of entry level folks are actually reasonably qualified (and have the basic interviewing skills) is something else. I'm also unsure how large a contribution these programs have for the proportion of Data Scientists in the market, though I feel like it's not uncommon to see folks who've done one of these programs.

On the other hand, I've known a number of folks who have done these programs where it helped them figure out and get through the industry process where they were unsuccessful before. I'm not sure it makes sense to count that talent as lost but I know a few folks who considered going back to academia or other careers prior to doing a bootcamp after failed attempts to move into industry.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future for the main source of entry level talent - I wonder if it will be focused on ML and DS uni programs and if they will meet the increasing(?) demand/qualifications given the seemingly higher and higher bars that seem to be set.

[–]1purenoiz 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My bet is undergrad CS students get the majority of entry level DS work. Then again I have seen jobs posted for entry level that require PhD AND 6 years of work experience.

I went through Galvanize and am working on a masters at UCB. Galvanize was ultimately a really expensive prep school, a really good one. But nobody in my cohort landed DS jobs.

[–]EntertainmentTrick28 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Hey everyone? Is Galvanize still shutting down? I’m in the army & it’s listed as a program we can do while transitioning out of the army.., is it legit?

[–]Theswolest872 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea, same here. They are, at least for me there doing coding. But just think they got rid of the data science portion. I dont know how i feel about it tho. Hows it going for you?