DigitalCrafts

As a DigitalCrafts 16 week graduate, I’ve been very happy with my experience there, and I recommend their course(s) to everyone! The instruction was great and tracks the industry very well and, when I talk with graduates from other schools, I believe... Read More I had a far superior experience in terms of both instruction and support. (Biased but honest assessment.) I just feel the course was very coherent and well laid out, and, coupled with the great staff support, I’ve just been very satisfied with the experience.

Job-wise, when I graduated from DigitalCrafts I wasn’t really into doing front-end work, so that made the job search a bit challenging. Lots of great front-end jobs out there with great companies, but I enjoy working with different technologies, like cloud services and IoT, and I knew I wouldn’t be happy doing pure front-end stuff. So I took my time, worked a kinda crappy job for awhile and continued to develop my skill-sets. I really enjoy working with the full stack and the great instruction I received there provided the foundation and glue for incorporating these techs into usable products.

The whole time after graduation, though, I was continuously sent job info from the staff, and they were amazingly supportive and encouraging. It took awhile to find my niche, but one day Jake introduced me to a great company looking for people with a diversity of tech skills like I’d been working on. I now work at that company with really sharp people developing cutting-edge IoT technology and I couldn’t be happier. If you'd asked me before attending DigitalCrafts about my dream job, I'd have described something just like this.

Couldn’t have happened without DigitalCrafts and their support. Intense doesn’t even begin to describe how tough that course was for me, but I couldn’t be happier with the results. Great school, great education, terrific support.

1. Teacher - Without a doubt it ultimately boils down to how willing and able you are to learn. This requires that your teacher leading you through a whirlwind of knowledge and training know his/her stuff very well. Also, not just know the material, but... Read More be able to teach it to class in a way that will allow newbies to understand it and absorb it. DigitalCrafts has sought out great teachers for their program and I absolutely loved learning from the teacher I had.

2. Staff - The staff at DigitalCrafts does a great job to help equip students for the job market. They are very knowledgeable in this area and make it very clear what they expect from the students to help best prepare them for their dev role after the class. Their network of companies and knowledge of the job market are extremely valuable assets that you will gain access to upon being a DigitalCrafts student. This is exactly how I landed my first dev role.

3. Curriculum - The curriculum is current and needed by the job market. All of the skills we learned during my class were very relevent. It was very cool to go from a complete newbie learning a bunch of new skills, to then looking at the job market and saying "Oh awesome we are already learning this in class."

I would highly encourage any of my friends to attend DigitalCrafts if they are interested in learning web development. It takes a significant amount of work and perseverance but will definitely pay off.

I came to DigitalCrafts because I felt that I needed a serious, dedicated boost to push me through a plateau that self-study and even a five-month front-end internship couldn't help me overcome. I did a lot of research and chose DigitalCrafts because... Read More of the good value, extra month (most other bootcamps last 12 weeks, not 16), focus on full-stack JavaScript (not Rails), and the fact that it was based in Atlanta where I knew nobody and would have no distractions.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made.

The concept of these bootcamps seem almost too good to be true. People from underpaid/low-paying fields enroll in a program that lasts a few months and then go land with a job that pays double or triple when they were earning before. It's easy to get wrapped up in the payoff, but what often gets overlooked is how much hard work and grinding is truly necessary to get to that level. DigitalCrafts offers a program that facilitates the best possible path to this new career. There's nothing "magical" about it -- it's up to you to put in the effort -- but everything is set up so that if you do your part, you'll come out on the other side with the chops, abilities, and mindset of a web developer.

The most prominent aspect that sets DigitalCrafts apart from the pack (and I've felt this way since I first reached out to them in July of 2016) is the authenticity of the program. It's an organization run by people who sincerely want their students to succeed. Period. While I was there, I always felt at home and at ease with everyone on staff. The administrative staff was constantly checking in with us and also hosting events, bringing in people from the industry, and overall doing everything they could to offer us the best possible learning experience. The instructors are phenomenal and are incredibly dedicated to their students. It was clear that they were there because they loved teaching and I learned so much, even having come in with a decent amount of prior experience.

The most critical thing I learned at DigitalCrafts is how to THINK. The key to success in this field is being a good problem solver, and this program really taught me how to approach real-world challenges and produce viable solutions. Prior to DigitalCrafts, I had always concerned myself with the tools and the final result without much consideration for the process, but this program changed my perspective and I am now far more confident in taking on unknown bugs, challenges, and new technologies than I ever was before. It made me a much more flexible and adaptable developer, which are two traits that worthwhile employers really want in their candidates.

I strongly recommend DigitalCrafts to anyone who has had enough exposure to the field to be absolutely sure that they want to pursue it as a career. I'm extremely happy with my decision and consider it to be one of the best investments I've ever made.

DigitalCrafts, from the moment I found it in March 2016, has done nothing short of impress me. Its curriculum covers more than most of its competitors, the staff are constantly trying to give an edge to their students with materials offered and covered,... Read More and the quality has remained an important factor. A 16 week immersive experience that aims to make builders.

I underwent a career change leading to my time at DigitalCrafts, and they not only prepared me for the intense job hunt but gave me the tools to be competitive in the market. I was learning with people who were career changing, along with those who wanted to enhance their knowledge. I firmly believe choosing to come here was one of the best decisions in my life.

Pros:
Lots of materials covered in time-frame
Instructors are very knowledgeable and give valuable insight into your learning
They want you to do well, and hold you to a standard
Assistance with job hunt through portfolio/resume reviews, mock interviews, and job postings.
More than just what to do, but goes into why
Projects that allow you to use what you are learning
A culture of people who want to learn

Cons:
It is a time commitment
The pace is intense, and will require some self study outside of class

Going to DigitalCrafts was the best decision I've made in regards to career choices.  I came from an I.T. background and quit my job as a Desktop Admin at a major Houston based hospital to attend, and I was terrified.  I spent hours reading reviews, talking... Read More with different bootcamps in Houston and Austin, and talked with my wife about where to go and what to do. I spoke with graduates from the program before making my decision, and every single one of them had a job in the field, and every single one of them said it was the best decision they made. 

Damian, the instructor in Houston, is an amazing teacher.  Every day class was lively, packed full of learning, and tons of laughs.  Damian graduated from a top 5 computer science program, and has been working in the field for over a decade.  The amount of knowledge that he has, and his ability to pass it along to the students is remarkable. I can’t speak highly enough of him!

I decided on DigitalCrafts because they teach full-stack development, they're placement rate was outstanding, and the reviews were very good.  It was very reassuring how forthcoming Jason, Max, and Jake were in my initial conversations with them.  They are all very honest about how difficult the program is going to be, but how much it can pay off, and it paid off for me!  I got a job offer as a Software Developer at a fast-growing Houston company only 9 weeks into the course.  The salary that was offered to me was a 50% increase to what I was making before DigitalCrafts, and the earning potential as a software developer is exponentially higher. No matter how you chalk it up, it was a good investment.

If you're considering going to a coding bootcamp, I can't recommend enough DigitalCrafts.  Setup a meeting with Jason, and learn about the program. Talk to graduates of the program, read reviews, do your homework.  For me, the more I dug, the more confident I became that DigitalCrafts was by far the best coding bootcamp in Houston.

-Cody

I am 8+ weeks into my 16 week course at the Houston campus' 1st Cohort. I can't stress enough the amazing value of the DigitalCrafts bootcamp! I already received and accepted an amazing offer from a fantastic company right after the completion of my first... Read More capstone project, which was a 2 person full stack project using Python, Flask, MySQL, and Bootstrap. I can honestly say that I have learned more in 8 weeks than I expected to learn in 16 and I feel well prepared to tackle whatever challenges come next. If you are reading this then chances are you are trying to identify the BEST coding bootcamp for you. CourseReport is one of the reasons I decided DigitalCrafts was the one for me and that was hands down the best decision I could have made. I have seen several projects from students of other Houston programs and the depth and breadth of their learning as evidenced by their final projects is not nearly as impressive as our first projects.

Damian, our instructor, is AMAZING! He has decades of experience in the local area and has successfully launched private software as well. He is new to teaching, but you wouldn't know it! You will get stuck and frustrated from time to time and he sometimes let's you sweat it out, but it's for a good cause. He doesn't baby you but he does drive you to push through your frustration and find the answer on the other side. 2 out of 10 of us have already received offers and we are only halfway through the course- what more can I say?

Last thing: Go for it! If you do, the pre-work is extremely important and the people who neglected it have definitely had a harder time so DO IT ALL, but don't be afraid to enroll- its definitely doable. Good Luck!

I am officially an alumni of DigitalCrafts and I am beyond pleased with my experience.
I graduated from DigitalCrafts almost two months ago and I can honestly say that enrolling this immersive coding school was one of the best decisions I've made in my... Read More adult life.

After teaching for eight years, I decided that I didn't want to teach for the rest of my life and I was looking for something more lucrative with endless learning opportunities and would give me the opportunity to work wherever I want. Being driven by my passion to create something and see it become available for other people to use, I applied to, and enrolled in, DigitalCrafts, an immersive Full-Stack web development course that lasts for 4 months.

When choosing the coding school that would be suitable to my needs, DigitalCrafts stood out because of the programming languages that would be taught, the length of time that the program would last, the location of the school, and the ability to take electives. Over the course of 4 months I learned the full MEAN stack, as well as Python and MySQL, from and amazing and experienced instructor while also gaining experience in UX/UI design through the elective course that was offered. Throughout the program I was immersed in an environment of entrepreneurs of the tech startup industry at the Atlanta Tech Village and had the opportunity to meet and interact with many individuals that encouraged my learning as well as my passion to be apart of the tech world.

On the first day when I met in the lobby with the other students, I did notice that there were more men than women (5 women and 10 men), which was expected, but I was extremely happy with my class. No one was treated differently because of their gender or race and we all got along very well. I didn't even really think about the male to female ratio because it didn't affect the dynamics of the classroom to the point of discomfort. We were all learning, sharing the experience of becoming a web developer, and we were all enjoying our time together. The staff is amazing!!! They are very supportive and eager to help you reach your goal. Currently there are two women on staff who make the experience more inviting for other women.

I was concerned about being a woman in the Tech industry and how that would affect me during coding school and I honestly do believe that DigitalCrafts is THE best coding school/bootcamp in Atlanta. I can confidently say that as a result of talking to other women who have been students with other bootcamps in the area versue my own personal experience. I also appreciate the extra effort that DC makes in supporting women in the tech industry and being active in reaching out to more women to participate in their coding school in an effort to close the gender gap.

ATV, itself, has a wide variety of individual who come in and out on a daily basis. From what I've noticed, there is a significant female presence in the building and even if it seems that more men are visible, there's never been a moment where I felt uncomfortable or unwelcome as a female, nor as a minority. Everyone there is friendly, like-minded and supportive. Overall it's a great opportunity to meet all sorts of people who share common interests, as well as people who can give you insight into things you've never heard of. I've had nothing but positive experiences with DigitalCrafts and with ATV. ATV became my second home and DigitalCrafts has become my new family and I looked forward to each day of learning.

Another deciding factor were the reviews that I read for the other programs I was considering versus the reviews that I read for digital crafts. The overall experiences that students were having at other schools swayed me more to choosing DigitalCrafts. For anyone who is thinking of going to an immersive coding school, I encourage you to read the reviews with an open mind and also reach out to the alumni of the coding schools you're interested in with any questions that you may have.

You will often hear and read about the intensity of a coding school and about how fast it will be, but it does not compare to actually being in class. You will absolutely hit the ground running sprints. Be as prepare as possible. Do all the pre-work and then some. I definitely wish that I had spent more time practicing javascript, but I make it a point to go back through my code, the resources provided from the instructor and the videos from class to solidify my learning. Going through coding school has been the most difficult learning experience I've ever completed I came out victorious. I finished my course Nov. 2nd, was worried about the transition time between finishing the program and being hired, interviewed recently (almost didn't show up because I'm so hard on myself), and received an offer that day. I received a NodeJS/Backend developer position with a company that handles merchant sales. I'm so excited about where I'm heading in life.

A quote to keep in mind as you go through this journey and make a decision;
“99% of learning to code is learning not to judge yourself harshly, and understanding nobody knows everything and that's OK. You got this!” ~Eric Elliott

It’s been a little over a month since I graduated from DigitalCrafts and I just landed my first developer position. I can definitely thank DigitalCrafts for that.

I decided to attend DigitalCrafts after visiting and interviewing with all the other major... Read More coding bootcamps in the Atlanta area. I really liked the length of their program and the focus on Javascript and the MEAN stack. I also liked that they were located in Atlanta Tech Village and I was able to mingle and network with the other startups in the building. Rob and Toby are both fantastic teachers who are extremely knowledgable and happy to work with you until you understand the concepts. Max, Jake, and Natalie make you feel part of the family and do a great job coaching you and helping you with job placement. By the end of the program I felt a real kinship with my classmates. Everyone was happy to help one another whenever someone got stuck.

It was definitely challenging and a there was a ton of information to process but in the end it was certainly worth it. I was in the process of selling my business and making a career change and after doing a bunch of research, coding bootcamp is what I settled on. Going the route of a CS degree or teaching myself seemed like it would take too long. I am very happy with my decision and would recommend DigitalCrafts to anyone considering going to a coding bootcamp.

I had a fantastic experience with DigitalCrafts. It's the most intense 16-week course I've ever taken, but I'm so glad I did. I'd been contemplating going to code school for about six months before I finally took the plunge and joined DC. I did my research,... Read More talked to the other coding schools in Atlanta, and ultimately, decided I liked the fact that DC was small and scrappy, and that the founders Max and Jake and their chief instructor Rob cared so much about their students' success. Honestly, everyone at DigitalCrafts cares so much about current and former students' success, it's amazing to me.

So here's what happened for 16 weeks. We learned HTML, CSS, Sass, JavaScript, jQuery, AngularJS, JSON, Ajax, Node.js, Express, Socket.io, MongoDB, Python, Flask and MySQL. Yes, all of that. Our class started out with 15 (they cap the class size to make sure everyone gets enough quality time with the instructor who sticks with them for the whole course), and it ended up shrinking to 12 by the time we graduated.

Which is a brilliant segue to the biggest drawback of this course (if you can even call it that). It is a big, big commitment - in every way. Your time will not be your own, your brain will constantly be buzzing with code (you'll even start dreaming in code, believe me), and your nights and weekends will be spent working on projects you built during the week or otherwise trying to improve your burgeoning skills. From the first week my brain was overflowing with knowledge and my head hurt by the end of each week, there was more than one day when I came home and wasn't sure I could hack it, wasn't sure if this was for me, but I kept on going. The best advice I can give is to keep going, keep trying and don't try and understand everything - you won't and there's not nearly enough time in the course for this kind of in depth understanding. Just keep going and understand that later things that didn't make sense before will start to make sense.

And that's what's also so great about DC - the instructors and staff are super smart, and encouraging and everything a company like this should be. The Developers in Residence (the TAs) are former students so they know exactly what you're going through when you're struggling. The former students (most of whom are gainfully employed in the technology field, I might add), are super nice and more than willing to give advice, share what they know and try to help current students. And the current students are all motivated, energetic and eager people - DC carefully screens to make sure the people who want to join them are serious about this. Plus, they're all going through the exact same mind blowing experience, so there's a strong sense of camaraderie that's forged when going through such trials by fire together.

DigitalCrafts is also doing a great job of making a name for itself within the Atlanta tech community. One of founders Jake, is making connections to companies and staffing agencies left, right and center, so when it comes time to start applying for jobs, students are armed with example resumes, LinkedIn profiles, portfolio sites and mock interview experience to help set them apart from the competition. And not only do they host a demo day at the end of the class for students to show off their final projects, but they bring in speakers from recruiting agencies and developers from the Atlanta area to talk about their own experience getting a developer job and what to be aware of going along. It's all extremely valuable, useful opportunities.

So if you're considering a web development boot camp in Atlanta, and you're ready to have your grit tested in a big way, I 100% recommend DigitalCrafts. It's worth every penny, every hour and every ounce of blood, sweat and tears you'll put in. I know it's a business, but these people are changing people's lives for the better, and if I had it to do all over again, I would absolutely choose DigitalCrafts without hesitation.

I highly recommend DigitalCrafts for so many reasons but will focus on these four: 1) Curriculum 2) Location, 3) Instructor and 4) Administration.

But first, my situation. I spent 28 years in Software Engineering prior to my DigitalCrafts experience but... Read More really wanted to get back to coding. A bit of an anomaly (based on comments from peers, family and friends!). Nevertheless, I needed a place to re-tool and learn the prevalent and upcoming web technologies. Researching and comparing bootcamps, I landed on DigitalCrafts.

The curriculum/program at DigitalCrafts was perfect. Since I worked in software engineering for a long time and already had exposure to C++, Java, .Net and the top 3 relational databases, I really wanted to learn something new and exciting. The MEAN stack fit the bill. Only DigitalCrafts offered training in the MEAN stack.

The program is truly immersive. Although advertised as 40 hours a week / 5 days a week at 16 weeks, for me it turned into 50+ hours a weeks / 7 days a week at 16 weeks. It became addictive! The program has a “Hacker” component (if you’re brave enough) that challenges you to go above and beyond! The immersive nature of the program also gives you the ability to really feel like a developer day-in and day-out. Something I really looked forward to because the last 15 years in IT I was a manager/leader with no coding responsibilities. With DigitalCrafts you have the opportunity to learn and practice pair programming, Agile methodology (Scrum) and develop a business/product sense via writing MVP statements.

In terms of location, being in the Atlanta Tech Village (ATV) felt surreal. There was a level of excitement in the air I had never experienced. I encountered people talking about raising capital, making their pitches, understanding the ins and outs of their business and desire to out-grow the ATV; amazing. It felt like I was watching Shark Tank every day! Because of the experience of being part of ATV, I am targeting startups for future employment.

My instructor, however, was a force to recon with. I’m still trying to figure out where he gets so much energy and patience. He did a great job of taking people with very different backgrounds and presenting the subject matter in consumable chunks so that people can feel accomplished; feel they are learning and consequently, stay engaged; feel like developers (each morning he would say “good morning developers!”. In addition, I found him easy to talk with and transparent. He’s a well-rounded technologist and a published author with tremendous insight who’s open and ready for the students to tap into.

Lastly, the DigitalCrafts administrators truly care about the students and student success. When the Director of student services interviewed me for admission, I initially that it was overkill. My impression was “all you should care about is my money”. Not so with these guys. The Director challenged me to carefully consider my decision. He clearly articulated expectations of students, shared success factors and provided insight on market statistics. I’m not naive to think all of this doesn’t benefit DigitalCrafts as well. However, there is something special about these guys beyond business as usual that’s difficult for me to quantify … but it’s real.

The DigitalCrafts team invests their time and money into their current and former students through many avenues. Some involve active career assistance, networking events, continued education and even employing graduates (eat their own dog food).

In summary, DigitalCrafts was an awesome experience!