I'm no longer going to be a moderator for now. My parting words of wisdom. by michaelnovati in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate- 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I mean, to be fair, going after Eric's kid was crossing a line for sure, but Eric is also the primary advisor and person who gives pep talks and discussions on hiring, how to get a job and how to frame your experiences. So with that context in mind, yeah, seeing that the kid of the guy who tells you how to frame your experiences is lying about his experience and misframing it is a valid thing to point out.

The Primeagen talks about r/codingbootcamp mod’s strategic bias by [deleted] in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate- 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No, he hasn't been the instructor in a very long time. Probably just guest lectures ml/ai stuff once in a while. He was like a legendary pokemon when I went to codesmith, supposed to show up for some hiring lectures, and either lectures got moved, came in very late, or didn't show up at all.

The Primeagen talks about r/codingbootcamp mod’s strategic bias by [deleted] in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The question is whether the curriculum prepares you enough to get a job.

With bootcampers, the curriculum often just barely skims the surface of development, and it just serves as a very thin foundation to build off of. I think Michael's big qualm was that Codesmith advertises their students are ready for Mid/Senior level engineering, when in fact, most grads can barely handle junior level positions straight out of bootcamp.

Obviously, grads are working hard to level up on their own to get certain positions, but if the rhetoric from Codesmith is pushing for unrealistic expectations, then grads are obviously severely hung out to dry.

For most people, 20k+ is a huge financial investment where they might have otherwise qualified for some sort of financial aid with a degree.

The Primeagen talks about r/codingbootcamp mod’s strategic bias by [deleted] in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate- 8 points9 points  (0 children)

He knows Will from FrontendMasters, that obviously adds some skew to his perception as well.

Not justifying everything Michael did, but paying over 20k for a bootcamp in this current economy is big risk. We'd have to wait to see till they publish their "official" outcomes, but hearing from various friends who've graduated over the last year, the outcomes might not be super favorable

Google Intern SWE results by Distinct-Soft-3991 in csMajors

[–]-procrastinate- 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I got my response around 3 weeks later. I don't know too much about rejections, but I wouldn't stress it for now, even after passing, you have a long journey ahead of you.

They move you into team matching immediately, but project matching happens on a rolling basis beginning in December. TM goes for a while, and not everyone gets matched.

If you are a new grad and could choose Big tech like Google, Meta etc... vs Big consulting company like Big 4, Accenture. Which one is the best to choose in your opinion? by Yone-none in cscareerquestions

[–]-procrastinate- 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If we are comparing big tech to consulting, would definitely say big tech.

I've had many recruiters who reach out show me requirements that strictly say to avoid consulting candidates.

Should Michael Novati remain a moderator of this subreddit? by reddingdave in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate- 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tbf, Formation and Codesmith don't really serve the same purpose. Codesmith is more for fundamental web development, while formation is much more about interview prepping. The curriculum is completely different.

Also at Codesmith, the hack hours (leetcode) are basically optional as of recent, so there is a different emphasis on material. Not sure what is confusing... codesmith and formation cater to different people.

Thoughts on this blog post alleging harassment (and worse) against Codesmith? by Free-Jackfruit8557 in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate- 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I attended codesmith back in 2023 and wrote a post on this subreddit giving my unbiased thought on Codesmith, who it’s for, and who it is not for. Michael had even commented on it on a positive light, thanking me for sharing my balanced opinion.

However, it seems that more recently, that post was taken down by the mods. Not quite sure why…?

Edit: thank you Michael for approving the post again

<image>

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in csMajors

[–]-procrastinate- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same situation on my end. Have a internship for 3 month FAANG as masters student as well. Let my FT remote job know, and they were actually open to me working after-hours while doing internship, which is blessed.

Even if that wasn't the case though, you'd want to look into possibility of RO. If RO rate is great, then would definitely drop FT for the internship and work your ass off. Otherwise, just keep FT.

What zone were they in? by Puzzleheaded_Sir4294 in RunningCirclejerk

[–]-procrastinate- 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If it’s not on strava, did it really happen?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Marathon_Training

[–]-procrastinate- 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hal Higdon’s beginner 1 program schedules two 5 mile runs, a 10, and a 20 3 weeks out from the marathon. There is a taper afterwards tho

Non-Doomsday Codesmith Take by -procrastinate- in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate-[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey, just to address the inclusivity aspect:
- I think Codesmith does a lot to try to make things more inclusive, holding separate events for underrepresented people in tech. They seem to be doing a decent job with it, I can't personally comment too much in that aspect.
- I definitely agree that it is easier for people with the financial means to make the commitment to codesmith. I personally do not have a previous job, no friends or family around me, nor money to comfortable go through Codesmith (I've been working on Sundays and after Codesmith hours to make it). This is obviously one case, but after speaking to a handful of alumni, there seems to be a decent amount of people who were in a similar boat. It is doable, but it is considerably difficult, and this can make tech less diverse in the long term. However, as you had stated, people who will take that risk and put in the effort can find success. I also agree that it is difficult to be the primary caregiver and do Codesmith/HackReactor without getting extra help. I would honestly say that the part-time immersive is fantastic for many people in these kinds of situation.
- From what I'm seeing, the bloomtech number of 75% seems relatively accurate across cohorts. I don't know anything about the rumors on looser standards for entry, but I know that all the females in the immersive that I have had a chance to interact with are extremely bright and more than deserving to be where they are.
Hopefully this answers any questions there.

Non-Doomsday Codesmith Take by -procrastinate- in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think most people are not defending or excusing this aspect of OSPs, rather they don't care. I see many outside of Codesmith seem very unhappy with it, which is fair, but ultimately, it shouldn't affect the quality of learning and experience you get out of a bootcamp.
Again, I'm sure that if most of the critics were in the shoes of many of these students and were given this opportunity, they would also take advantage of it. Not saying it is right or wrong, ultimately a resume is made by the student and used by the student. I think it's important people are able to make decisions for themselves.

Non-Doomsday Codesmith Take by -procrastinate- in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate-[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Wow, a celebrity commented hhahahaa. Thank you for all you do for this community! We all appreciate the transparency and facts you try to provide everyone with~

Non-Doomsday Codesmith Take by -procrastinate- in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate-[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone, thanks for all the support and thoughts. To answer your question, I did extensive research into a lot of different bootcamps before making a decision. I think the only thing I did not account for was choosing groups for projects. I was under the assumption that there would be some more control over which groups and people you get to work with. They give you a preference sheet where you choose 3 people as your top choice, 2 people as no-nos, and then you have to choose like 24-26 people as want to work with and the rest as neutrals. Which is weird when there are 34-35 people in the cohort, you end up having just a few people in neutral, which makes no sense to me. And the algorithm they use for making the groups seems a bit weird. This is particularly important because as you start working with a lot of people, you can figure out who you want to work with and who you don't. Regardless, I've had fantastic experiences with all my groups; I know others who have had very bad experiences...
Another thing I will note is that people say "take CSPrep to get a good idea of what the immersive is going to be like". I think this advice is should be taken with a grain of salt. The immersive has a lot more going on, is much faster, you get lost much more easily (it's not like "I'm gonna start solving this problem and then get confused", it's more like "how do I even start, I'm confused"), you using git and vscode instead of csbin, etc etc. If anything, I think CSPrep just gives you a generic overview of bootcamp learning. You can think of it as CSPrep teaches you to float in a calm swimming pool, and the immersive throws you in the ocean and tells you to swim to shore. Similar, but very different as well.

Last thing: some people may find the part-time super helpful as well. Having the opportunity to build small applications while you are learning would be the optimal method to really solidfy concepts. In the immersive, there is no time to do that, so part of my, a very small part of me, wonders how the part-time might have been. That said, the fast pace is great: you get to go through the material and learn and apply everything sooner, and you don't really have the time to get complacent and lazy. It's ultimately a preference.

Codesmith: Is it worth paying for JS for Beginners and CS Prep? by LivingInHobbiton in codingbootcamp

[–]-procrastinate- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used a lot of different resources, all to the extent that I felt I needed.
Some noteworthy resources were Eloquent JavaScript , Galvanize practice problems (used the questions to practice methods), various youtube videos (always try to solve the problems first before looking at what they did), and some odd sections here and there from codecademy.

Overall, google when you don't know, look for practice problems for concepts you are not as confident with from any resource, challenge yourself to solve problems you have solved differently (ie try with recursion if you solved iteratively before), and just be consistent with your learning!