Codesmith

Hey there, Will! What motivated you to start a bootcamp?

I was lucky to get to go to Harvard and Oxford for college and graduate school and I'm hugely grateful for that but I still graduated frustrated that I couldn't build the things I dreamt up. I saw my friends feeling the same way - frustrated that they couldn't make the impact they wanted to make. Becoming a software engineer was enormously empowering - it let me turn my ideas into reality. Icecomm - a technology we built over a few weeks - is still on of the most popular tools for adding video chat to a website.

This inspired me to help others get these same abilities. It's why, while I believe there is no more transformative experience you can have than at Codesmith, I always encourage people to aspire to one of the top coding programs, whether or not it’s Codesmith, as it will change your life.

I'm also enormously frustrated that so much of our professional destiny is determined before we're 18 when many of us aren't yet fully in control. Then when we are ready, many of the conventional paths to success are already closed off. I love that even if it takes months of preparation to get admitted to Codesmith, it doesn't matter what you were doing before, if you bring your total dedication and commitment now, you can succeed.

What challenges have you faced so far with starting your coding bootcamp?

One of the things that motivates me most is improving access to fulfilling creative careers for people who were not 100% prepared at 18. So how can we reconcile that with such a low admissions rate? It's not perfect but by creating free classes - called JavaScript the Hard Parts that I teach each week - we don't wave goodbye when someone isn't admitted but try to help them up to the level where they might be admitted through free classes and advice.

In the program you complete over 300 hours of pair-programming during the 1000+ hours in the program. Pair-programming is a secret hack to rapidly growing as an engineer - but it's also intellectually and emotionally exhausting. This means we put a huge weight on engineering empathy and supporting each other. We've had to ask a few people to leave the program when they've not been ready to be supportive and constructive to others' learning - that's been really tough to do.

What successes have you had with your first few cohorts?

We had our first Hiring Day in January 2016 and we were thrilled to have Whisper, Disney, Riot Games and 25 other awesome companies join. The companies were hugely impressed - I particularly enjoyed Ticketmaster's CTO's response "You've harnessed the magic with these graduates." And so far almost all the grads took jobs with our Hiring Partners which I was thrilled about.

The first 6 figure offer came in 2 days after hiring day and that grad went on to take a role at a technology startup, Whisper - a fantastic app based in Venice Beach, California. He was a consultant in NYC before and wanted to be in a more fulfilling role. It's incredible to hear the impact he gets to have every day and the warm and welcoming culture he's joined at his new company.

One of the grads went off to a company a couple of weeks before their demo day at YC and the same week they came top of Product Hunt - as their first engineer working directly with the CTO and cofounder. It's been 8 weeks since graduation of the cohort and all but 1 has a job already.

What plans/dreams do you have for your bootcamp over the next 5 years?

As 'software eats the world' fields that are still relatively untouched - finance, transport, by 2020, will likely be much more software engineering dominated and the companies that have greatest impact will begin to have software engineers at the core of their leadership.

I want Codesmith to train this generation of leaders - who are immersed in the engineering community as true builders - not just 'able to speak the language' but building the tools of this generation. I want our grads to fuse a product-oriented problem-solving mentality with a deep understanding of programming and software architecture. This is what will create the truly transformative companies over the coming years.

Any advice for students looking to join a bootcamp?

Invest in as much learning for free beforehand. Challenge yourself to discover whether software engineering truly is the path for you. Be prepared that you may well be able to self-teach enough to get a Junior Developer job without even going to a coding bootcamp

There are two phases of growth of an engineer aspiring to be admitted to Codesmith:

1. Stage 1 - Beginner to Novice Developer - Develop familiarity with syntax and work through resources like Codecademy, Codeschool, Team treehouse, Freecodecamp. You can be admitted to most bootcamps at the end of this stage

2. Stage 2 - Novice Developer to Junior Developer - Start solving problems with code - either algorithms or building solutions to problems you have - Chrome Extensions are perfect projects at this point. At the end of this stage, you should be ready to interview for Codesmith

Stage 2 can be tough and even lonely - that’s why we created the free JavaScript the Hard Parts classes to help people get through to the Junior Developer level. Because if you can push through this stage and get admitted to Codesmith, you’re ready to truly flourish in the intensive environment

Any advice for people who want to start a bootcamp and/or start teaching code?

I hugely encourage it. Learning through teaching is a core tenant of Codesmith and massive opportunity to grow. In many ways this is the essence of pair-programming. Start by finding a topic you want to share with others - some programming concept, tool or framework. Find a friend who wants to learn and start teaching them. Find a meetup of other folks learning to code and go along and offer to teach the topic. Ask people for feedback afterwards. I like to use the format "something you liked, something to work on" so you have the confidence to hear their feedback. If you enjoy it and people respond well, set up a small group meetup and start sharing topics through the meetup

Take your teaching to another level by incorporating pair-programming into the session. You can have an even greater impact when you empower others to grow themselves and each other by teaching. Finally, watch this video about teaching others by Philip Roberts at &yet.

Do you see bootcamps replacing college for parts of the population?

The people you meet and the energy you bring to college can be an opportunity for extraordinary growth - but the skills you develop can be mixed at best and the preparation for hiring is minimal - whereas at Codesmith (and some of the other bootcamps) you receive obsessive hiring support to get you a world-class role after graduating. This was part of what inspired me to create Codesmith - that feeling that I didn't have the tools to make an impact - even after College and Graduate school.

Graduate school - particularly MBAs should give you the tools to build your dreams but they're not - grads are left frustrated. I think we'll see an ever-increasing number of people turn down the MBA/Law school path and move into software engineering - even if only for a couple of years but giving themselves the tools, network and way of thinking to enable them do whatever they want to afterwards - much the way consulting, finance and an MBA has done historically

That being said, I'm happy if people continue to do degrees in a range of fields and then augment that with a top programming training program like Codesmith - together this is one of the best preparations you could possibly have to make an impact in the coming years. The top coding academies are producing new product-oriented engineers who are not just excellent problem solvers but come with diverse ideas and backgrounds.

What is the job market like where your bootcamp is based?

Graduates from Codesmith take jobs both in LA and SF and Silicon Valley - there's Hiring partners in both. We're in Playa Vista in LA - opposite Google's new SoCal HQ (where they're hiring 6000 new employees over the coming couple of years) and right by Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo's SoCal HQ.

The energy is really extraordinary here. We host the largest React.js meetup in the country and it's here in LA. The companies that attend our hiring days are from Los Angeles, San Francisco and even the East coast. It ranges from larger companies like Yahoo, Warner Bros, Disney, and ESPN all the way to brand-new YCombinator backed startups like Locent through to mid-sized companies like Whisper - based in Venice Beach - they're all hiring mid and senior engineers from Codesmith.

Isaac is currently a software engineering student at Codesmith, a 12-week immersive program in Los Angeles teaching full stack JavaScript. Based on the Oxford University educational paradigm of immersive independent learning combined with mentorship, the curriculum is primarily project-based, using pair programming to create a unique environment of “guided problem solving.” Students explore Computer Science, full-stack JavaScript (notably React and Node), and software architecture required for mid-level engineering positions and above. The course also features preparatory material, extensive recruitment preparation, and ongoing support with students’ job searches.

Hi there, Isaac! Thanks for chatting with us. First things first: How did you decide to make the switch into software?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been really interested in how people learn. When I graduated from college, this passion led me to a job in education technology, even though I’d never considered myself a “technical person.” Part of my job was to synthesize feedback from teachers and students and share it with the engineering team. I really enjoyed learning more about our users and how we could serve them better, but I was frustrated that I couldn’t do more. Without programming knowledge, I couldn’t actually implement their feedback. Gradually, I realized that I could have more impact if I learned how to build software myself. And as I got to know the software engineers around me and learn more about the kind of work they did, I realized that I’d really enjoy it too.

What shocked you when you first attended your schools?
When I first met my classmates, my biggest surprise was how diverse our backgrounds were. From healthcare and mechanical engineering to finance and film, we come from a wide variety of academic and professional backgrounds. This diversity of perspectives enriches the learning experience for all of us, and since we do a lot of pair programming at Codesmith, we really get to know and support one another. We all benefit from seeing different ways to think about the same problem and from helping each other on our learning journeys.

Now that you’re in the middle of the program, what are you looking forward to in the second half?
During the second half of our time at Codesmith, we focus on building production-level projects. I’m really excited to apply the skills I learned in the first half of the course to build new things, and to deepen my understanding of key programming concepts along the way. I’m also looking forward to learning more about the technology scene in Los Angeles and preparing to apply for jobs. It will be exciting to see where all my classmates and I end up!

What type of prep work do you recommend prospective students complete before applying to schools?
I think the most important thing is to get into a mindset of continual learning by programming regularly. Find a routine that you can commit to, whether it’s an hour every day after work or a few hours each weekend, and spend that time building your skills.

Fortunately, there are a ton of great resources available online and in print, especially for beginners. I started my programming journey with Khan Academy’s free Intro to JS course, and I’m a big fan (though having worked at KA, perhaps I’m a bit biased). The course is accessible to all ages, and it teaches JavaScript in the context of drawing and animation, using the ProcessingJS library. This means that you can see the results of your code right away, and you start to get a sense of how creative programming can be. I also really like how the course combines coding challenges that reinforce basic programming concepts with open-ended projects that encourage exploration. And of course, the fact that everything on Khan Academy is free is a big plus. Outside KA, I benefited a lot from the free lessons on Codecademy and Code School, though both sites require a paid subscription for full access. I also found Jon Duckett’s books HTML & CSS: Designing and Building Web Sites and JavaScript & jQuery: Interactive Front-End Development helpful, as well as the first few chapters of Marijn Haverbeke’s Eloquent JavaScript.

You can’t learn everything before bootcamp, because there will always be more to learn - that’s one of the things that makes programming so exciting. But you can build a strong foundation.

Words of advice for people in your age group who are considering a switch?
You can do it! It’s easy to box yourself in - to convince yourself that you’re destined to keep working in your current field, or the field you studied in school. And in the short term, it might be more comfortable to stay put, even if you don’t love your job, because at least it’s familiar. But that’s not a recipe for long-term happiness. You’re going to spend years and years of your life at work, so you owe it to yourself to find work that you love.

If you’re interested in programming in particular, give it a try, working through some free online lessons on your own. Better yet, go to a programming meetup in your area. The people who run these meetups do it because they’re passionate about helping others learn to code, and chances are they’ll be more than happy to welcome you into the community. Finally, reach out to friends or acquaintances who work as software engineers to learn more about their jobs and the paths they took to get there. Talking to other people my age who hadn’t studied computer science in school but had made the transition to working as engineers really helped me build up the confidence to go to bootcamp.

What types of jobs are you interested in after the program?
I’d love to find a job related to either education or entertainment, two things I’m really passionate about. But I’m certainly open to other possibilities. The most important thing I’m looking for is the chance to tackle interesting problems and build products that benefit people. The company culture also matters a lot to me - I want to be part of a team where engineers support one another and where continued learning is highly valued.

Five years from now, where do you want to be?
In five years, I’d like to look back on the products I’ve helped build and feel proud of the impact they’ve had on people’s lives. I’d also like to give back by mentoring new engineers and working to expand access to computer science education. Coding is incredibly empowering, and I’d love for more people to experience that empowerment.

How did you find out about your program? What was your research process? What about it was appealing to you?
I used Google and Course Report to find a list of computer programming bootcamps in the Los Angeles area, and I applied to several of them. A big part of my research process was talking to friends and acquaintances who’d attended bootcamps, asking them what factors they considered when picking a program and what they did and didn’t like about their bootcamp experiences. These conversations helped me pin down what I wanted in a program. For example, I realized that I wanted to attend a full-stack JavaScript program because I wanted to learn one language at a deep level rather than several languages superficially.

Codesmith appealed to me for two main reasons: the rigor of its program and the dedication of the staff. During the application process, the Codesmith team expressed a genuine interest in who I was and what I wanted to learn, and they were very responsive to my questions. I got the feeling that they would push me hard but also give me the support that I needed. Visiting the campus in person and reading student reviews on Yelp and Course Report confirmed that impression. In short, I felt that Codesmith was where I’d learn the most, and I’m very happy with my decision.

What did your friends and family say when you told them you would attend a school?
My friends and family responded with overwhelming support, and I can’t thank them enough for that. Some people were surprised at first, but when they saw how excited I was about learning to program, most of them got excited too.

Some of my biggest cheerleaders were my colleagues at Khan Academy, who’d piqued my interest in software engineering in the first place. It was a difficult decision to leave Khan Academy to study programming full-time, because being part of that team meant so much to me. But when I told my teammates my decision, they were incredibly supportive. They encouraged me to pursue my passion, and that meant the world to me.