Springboard

I completed Springboard's Cyber Security Career Track course in April 2024 and am very happy that I decided to go with Springboard. I am a former coach/teacher with zero IT/Tech experience, minus building and maintaining my PC during COVID and teaching... Read More the older coaches how to use a laptop, lol. I had researched and talked to multiple boot camps offering a cybersecurity track but needed a course that would allow me to work at my own pace and not be confined to pre-determined meeting times. After much deliberation, I decided to go with Springboard and am very pleased with my experience. The enrollment process was very easy, they offered a deferred tuition plan and also had a job guarantee program. I ultimately choose Springboard because of the deferred payment option and also the job guarantee.

The units were very informative and a good mixture of reading, videos, writing projects, and interactive labs that allowed you to deepen your knowledge regardless of your prior knowledge/experience. Each unit also concluded with a short quiz to test your knowledge and allowed you the opportunity to go back and relearn any material. The writing projects often comprised of researching a particular vulnerability, breach, and/or company and answering questions about the particular unit. The hands-on labs were my favorite part of the course as they allowed you to put learning into practice with detailed steps. I do wish the labs were more detailed in terms of explaining exactly why you were taking a particular step, but post-completion labs have allowed me to fill in those missing pieces. I also liked the personal mentor they provided and my mentor was extremely helpful throughout my two+ months within the course.

As far as aspects of the course I disliked; I do wish the career coaching calls were more personalized. The Effective Networking call was extremely informative and I did get a lot of great information from that particular call, but I felt the Career Kick-Off, Career Planning, and Career Branding calls could have been better. The Resume and LinkedIn call was also a little disheartening as the coach had not researched or looked into my information before the call. I felt like the resume building was just copying and pasting my name onto a cookie-cutter resume that had been used multiple times. I didn't feel like that call was designed to tailor my resume specifically to me, but that it was designed to simply pass for a grade. We also did not even talk about my LinkedIn and I was rushed off the call as the coach had another student's call after mine (she also used my time to respond to that student). I also felt that I was not being commended for the pace in which I was completing the course. They (Springboard) do state that they recommend taking six months to complete the entire course and I finished in two. I felt that my mentor was the only person on my side and that when I got on a coaching call it was as if I was making a mistake with how fast I was progressing. Lastly, I also never heard from my student advisor. I'm not sure if that was intended or their role exactly, but I know I never heard from him throughout the two+ months.

I was very satisfied with the mock interviews and the coaches that conducted them. All three gentlemen were professional, asked tough questions, and provided amazing feedback for me to use. Applying for completion was also very easy. I am happy with my current career coach post-completion and look forward to her mentorship during my job search. I would highly recommend Springboard for those self-motivated and determined individuals. Thank you, Springboard!

The curriculum provided by Springboard was exceptionally informative, offering clear examples that facilitated understanding. The learning process flowed smoothly, guiding me through each step seamlessly. My mentor was an invaluable asset, providing significant... Read More support throughout the duration of the course. Given the self-taught nature of the program, the availability of on-demand mentors was crucial in clarifying concepts and addressing any technical difficulties encountered. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the course. However, individuals who may struggle with self-directed learning could find it somewhat challenging.

As someone who is a self-starter, I mainly enrolled in a bootcamp to speed up my networking and experience some mentorship. I am not in a location where the field is growing as fast, so having a network and structure was very helpful. There are a lot... Read More of ways to learn cybersecurity, but having a curriculum like this tied to career steps makes the whole process more seamless.

I m glad i took this course, gave me skills that i was missing. The support and mentorship program they have is wonderful. I would recommend to anyone wanting to start a career in data analytics. Would be nice to have included more visualization tools... Read More like Denodo and more ways for student to interact. Career support/coaching is wonderful in helping you get your desire analytics position.

I think with any bootcamp, the work is so independent that the greatest determinant of your success is you. I started Springboard knowing that I wanted to do well and take it seriously, and 10 months later, I am very happy with my work/portfolio.
Springboard... Read More could do better with it's ui/ux curriculum. A lot of the curriculum is online articles/videos that you can find yourself online, but it's helpful that it's all in one place. That being said, some of the resources are outdated, and their self-made resources aren't the best-looking or most comprehensive resources out there. However, most of the work in the curriculum is independently completing the 4 projects, which again is largely about the level of work you put in.
I chose Springboard because of the weekly calls with a 1:1 mentor, and that ultimately was my favorite part of the process. I did ask to change mentors at first, but once I found a mentor who worked well with me, it was so valuable to check in every week and ask questions. The career calls were helpful, especially with advice on how to sell career transitions.
Lastly, I completed the project in 10 months while working full time, and some weeks/months required more time than others. My advice to others in a similar situation would be to try to get through the first project as quickly as possible to learn the fundamentals - it's a majority of the curriculum, but the other projects are very time-consuming.

Springboard creates a step-by-step curriculum in order to pave the way for you to succeed in this ever-evolving industry. With the wonderful mentors and career coaches, this is perfect for me because I was switching from finance to cyber and needs a lot... Read More of guidance along the way. And Springboard did that job amazingly!!!

Pros - Dense Curriculum - High Expectations - 1:1 Coaching calls - several different forms of help are available Cons - Will need to go more in-depth in coding languages in your free time - Some units/projects are out of date by close to 2 years Working... Read More with Springboard was honestly such a rewarding experience. Throughout my time in the program, I really got a grasp of modern software engineering techniques and all sorts of cool programs and languages. The hands-on approach they take to teaching made it super immersive and fun. And let me tell you about those weekly calls with my coach – we really clicked, and their support meant the world to me. What I loved most was how the program gave me the freedom to take control of my learning journey. Sure, I could have just cruised through the curriculum, but diving deeper and pushing myself to go beyond the assignments was where the magic happened. It's amazing how much you can grow when you're given the space to explore and create on your own. Plus, it's all about building that killer portfolio, right? So, yeah, Springboard definitely helped me level up in more ways than one.

Springboard did a wonderful job not only teaching the foundational elements of UX/UI, but truly preparing me for the career. The mentors go a long way to understand what the job market looks like and what to expect working on a real team. I feel prepared... Read More to move onto the next chapters and feel like I am miles ahead of most people in only a short amount of time.

Overall, the Springboard Data Science Career Track is good. First is the curriculum content, which is good and almost updated. Second, is the mentorship, my mentor always ask me questions to deepen my understanding and provide me some resources for me... Read More to explore. The career support is not good enough since they didn't provide any internship or internal referall.

Overall, Springboard is a great bootcamp with some minor areas of improvement. The mentorship was top notch. The career counselors were super. My only negative is that a lot of the course material consists of links to existing websites that could easily... Read More be accessed for free. But other than that, I would absolutely recommend Springboard to anyone wanting to make a career transition or gain new skills.