Bitmaker General Assembly

Good Kickstart into UX
Joey Hua

Toronto • July 18, 2018
GRADUATED FROM

UX & PRODUCT DESIGN

Overall:

5 out of 5
Instructors:

4 stars
Curriculum:

5 stars
Job Assistance:

4 stars
So if you're here, I'm guessing you're thinking about a career in UX design. I've done my research before deciding to enroll in the full time Bitmaker UX & Product Design course, so I've been there. Something a lot of people told me about the course was "You get what you put in", and I'm going to tell you the same. Speaking candidly, UX is competitive and you need to know that this is what you want, and be hungry enough to chase the dream.

At the time, I was making a huge career shift and had already taken the first steps into UX design by self-teaching the basics. Admittedly, I was a...

I thoroughly enjoyed the program at Bitmaker General Assembly. The 10-week part time course was the perfect additional to current skill-set as a graphic designer. The course was paced really well and the instructors were very approachable and understanding of our issues. The content covered was excellent as well. I definitely recommend this class if you're a designer like myself who wants to add user experience as part of their skill set. Ultimately the course is about what you bring to it. If you're willing to put the time and effort into it you're going to get a lot out of it.

I took UXPD in Fall 2017 and loved it.

I highly recommend taking a full-time course and not part-time as it allows you to be 100% present in the UX environment – your brain will start speaking UX whether you like it or not :) In my class we had something around 20 students and every day there was one lead instructor and 2-3 teaching assistants, that work in the industry, so any minute you need help – you get it.

As a highlight of this review, I want to mention career coaching at Bitmaker.
I had no idea that it was a part of the curriculum! Every week we had 1-1,5 hour group session with Alyx (career coach) where she shared strategies, approach, exercises and gave us tons of confidence. On top of that, there are personal sessions that give you the ability to analyze what you’...

I'd always been interested in programming and computer science, but taking another 4-year university degree wasn't an option. After talking to friends who work in tech, I found out about Bitmaker, and decided to quit my job and enroll in the 3-month full-time web development program.

The pace was fast there was a huge amount of material covering all aspects of web development. The lectures were of excellent quality and the knowledgeable and experienced instructors were be available most of the day whenever you needed them. The course teaches you the popular languages and frameworks but the emphasis is on teaching you the skills and tools you need to learn things on your own, reflective of real-life scenarios. Site visits to tech companies and guest lectures provided excellent insight...

I had a fantastic experience at Bitmaker. The staff and instructors are incredibly helpful and engaging, but most importantly they care about your success. Even with some family emergencies, I was able to keep up with the help from Mina and Natalie and the rest of the TAs. Bitmaker has awesome career support where they conduct workshops and helpful assignments on an almost weekly basis. When you graduate they continue to help with the job search with tools and 1:1 support.

The 'Bootcamp' mentality does ring true so make sure you do your research and are ready for the pace. Overall I'm really glad I chose Bitmaker.

I took a part time evening course in Front End web development with Bitmaker. I was seeking to refresh, upgrade and learn new things regarding my coding skills. The course met my expectations. I found the atmosphere very encouraging and the instructors very resourceful. Having an extra resource person on hand to assist if students ran into any difficulty or fell behind the pace of the class for any reason was a great bonus. Additionally, students have access to screencasts of the lectures and the exercises and drills from each class to practice, which is a great plus.

My time at Bitmaker was excellent - The staff was incredibly friendly and the instructors really care if you succeed. I was a little behind due to some family emergencies but the instructors found alternate ways to get me up to speed so I could still reap all the benefits of the classes. Make sure you really understand that this course does ring true when they call it a 'Bootcamp'. The material is taught in a very fast paced way during core learning hours, and they have TA's who come help you with your assignments from 2-6 (or a bit later). I really enjoyed this learning structure as it kept me speaking to my instructors and classmates when I was stuck.

Bitmaker also has fantastic career support where the Coach teaches almost every week with workshops and assignments. I was exceptio...

Bitmaker’s Full Stack Web Development immersion was an excellent program. I was impressed with both the quality of the lessons and the instructors. The course material was very well developed and the instructors were enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and always there to lend a hand. Job search support was amazing. I learned how to brand myself, how to network, and how to interview. Be prepared that it can take 3-6 months after finishing to get a job. It took me 6 months, but they helped every step of the way.

I was a seasoned wealth management professional who wanted to pivot into fintech. I chose to attend Bitmakter's web development bootcamp because I believed it was the missing knowledge bridge that I needed in order to crack into the industry. Fast forward 9 months, I am extremely glad and grateful that I made that decision.

Bitmaker's web development course is a 12 weeks full-time immersive program that runs from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday, with the morning session being lecture and the afternoon session being work/project time. The syllabus covers a wide range of topics including front-end, back-end, testing, version control, as well as other best practices. The initial 10 weeks of intensive learning and practice, which Bitmaker emphasize a lot, paved way to the final 2 weeks wh...

I remember i came in like a stray puppy looking for shelter and direction.
Three months later, they churned out a thorough-breed ready to take on the world!

I cannot say enough about what kind of a game changer Bitmaker has been for me.Their programs are geared to make some a hero from zero. The staff takes the time to actually know who you are so they can tailor their aide around that. Not only did they put up with my constant bombardment of questions, but they actually took it to the next level and challenged me to dig deeper beyond what my initial query.

Facilities are great, accessible anytime all the time, you get full access to whatever you need to get your learn on whether that be a computer or a monitor or just a special quiet place by yourself. Not to mention bottomle...

Bitmaker Labs Web Development Immersive takes anyone who is willing to learn and turns them into a developer. The course focuses heavily on the fundamentals and learning how to learn. I've tried multiple different approaches to learning, mostly conventional, having gone to but not completed University and College. Bitmaker Labs changed that. Not only did I complete the course, but I feel confident going forward with my ability to learn new languages, coding styles - anything really. The instructors are professionals who know their stuff and spend the time with you to ensure you learn as much as possible. Have a question? They'll do everything they can to answer it. I rarely found a question that couldn't be answered, and on the off chance that I did, I'd have direction to go to where I ...

This program has horrible career support. Don't expect to get a job out of it even after putting in extra time and completing all assignments. The learning experience is good but if you're looking to get a job after graduation look somewhere else, this bootcamp is not fit for that.

Coming from marketing and sales background with the tech field, I've always been interested in the industry.

I didn't think it could be possible until I began my research. Based on that, Bitmaker was the only place that offered both web development and user experience curriculum so I enrolled in both.

Turns out, it was a good decision that I made for two things:

1. When you enter the tech world that might seem daunting to you, Bitmaker has a solid community of people who support each other. They help you out literally. For example, you can ask alumni questions who are in the field that you couldn't solve, they will take the time out of your day to help you out whether it is a career related or the coding related. As the saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you ...

I'm a UX designer and I had known a bit of HTML/CSS before starting, but this class gave me plenty of material to explore and insight into a development mindset, allowing me to better communicate with my developers and for me to do a bit of front end work myself. There's still plenty to be learnt but I was surprised by how much was covered in the 12 weeks and loved how practical the material was.

I had a great time with Bitmaker. Mina was a fantastic instructor and the TAs were incredibly patient and were enthusiastic to answer any questions I had, even if it's sometimes beyond the scope of the class.

My time at Bitmaker was great. I took a part-time course and we covered a lot of what I would need to later use the skills in a professional environment. Those are things which I was hoping and planning to learn but you can never learn everything you'll need in such a short period of time. Bu I was shown where to continue learning and how to know what I might need. I was shown how to find and use the tools which I would eventually require.

The instructors were wonderful. They were fun, helpful and knowledgeable. I felt I was learning from the best there was.

I work as a Graphic and Web Designer in a small marketing company. We have to be very versatile and have many skillsets since we are a small department of a big company. My Front-End Developments skills were pretty intermediate but I was looking to become faster and work cleaner. So I recently took the Front-End Web Development night course at Bitmaker in Toronto to advance my skill sets and discover new resources to assist in my job. I had minimal expectations as my understanding of HTML/CSS was already very advanced. The first 2 weeks were a little redundant for me, but after the first 2 weeks, I was learning tricks and skills that I didn't even know existed. In 12 short weeks I went from a novice to a professional. The professors were extremely helpful, and even stayed till 11p...

I enrolled into Bitmaker Labs as a part of the October 2014 Web Development cohort, and since then I was hired and now continue to work at Kobo as a Web Developer/Producer. Starting out, I had my concerns that my only real formal education in web development was through an after school program in beginner level HTML. I knew I wanted to learn more and so before coming to Bitmaker Labs, I spent many hours going through tutorials like CodeSchool, Lynda, and even Youtube. However, I often found the learning experience to be completely one-sided.

Bitmaker Labs is a platform for learning that pushes you to challenge yourself in being better prepared for the tech industry. Of course, the lessons with the instructors are awesome but I felt like one of the most invaluable resources was the ...

Bitmaker Labs promotes preparing you to step into a new role as a web developer seamlessly in just nine weeks. Can you really learn to be a developer in just nine weeks? I quickly learned by the end of week two that this highly depends on what you’re willing to put into the program. The intent isn’t to teach you everything there is to learn about programming, it’s to equip you with the right amount of both technical and problem solving skills to take your own learning further. Learning how to learn is just as valuable as a technical skill, especially in an industry or environment where things are changing so quickly.

I took the January 2015 cohort and found a full time job as a Jr. Full Stack Developer within a week of finishing the program, where I still work today. At work I'm buil...

I recently completed the 9-week web development course at Bitmaker. After doing a lot of research, I choose Bitmaker because I wanted to learn both front and back end skills, and I they offer the opportunity to accelerate the learning process.

At first I was a little skeptical about the schedule because when you have four hours every afternoon, it is easy to get distracted and be unproductive, however, as long as you are willing to remain focused and dedicated, and put the time into the program, this was the best part of the day. It was during this time I was able to work on the assignments and figure out what concepts I understood and where I was struggling.

I quickly learned that the true value in the course is the instructors and TA's. They all have a wealth of knowledge and ex...

A graduate of Bitmaker Labs fourth cohort, I joined the program to follow my passion for web development. I chose Bitmaker because I felt it had the most comprehensive exposure to help build a solid foundation for entering the web development world. This included:

- Teaching both front- and backend web development in tandem, focusing on Ruby on Rails, an excellent framework for building a career (and apps!) off of. I felt that other programs in Toronto didn't have as comprehensive a career and instead focused on front-end development.
- A flipped classroom which focused on instructor interactions, of whom there were many. Very approachable and always willing to go the distance to ensure concepts were understood for students. My personal favourite was when students didn't fully under...