Lighthouse Labs

Simply put, the Wed Dev Bootcamp I attended at Lighthouse Labs Toronto was exactly what I was looking for, exactly what I'd been lead to expect through reviews, interactions with them, and the admissions process, and one of the best decisions I've ever... Read More made! If you're serious about learning to be a developer and want to be a part of an awesome community, then you can't go wrong by attending Lighthouse Labs!

I spent a lot of time comparing the various organizations offering Web Developer Bootcamps in Toronto - even geeking out and creating a big spreadsheet weighing the pros and cons of each - and Lighthouse came out as the clear front-runner. Not long after that I was signed up, deposit paid, and giving my notice at my job.

My time at Lighthouse was great. The environment was comfortable and conducive to a studying while still offering enough interaction that it didn't feel like some creepy quiet library. The staff was super friendly, knowledgeable, approachable, and understanding (ALL staff, not just the teachers & mentors). The course content was great to begin with and, when they updated their curriculum to be more JS heavy & better reflect the industry, they gave all of the grads access to the new content!

One thing I genuinely LOVE about Lighthouse Labs is the community that they've created and that the people who work there are human. If something doesn't go as expected it's immediately all-hands-on-deck to find a solution that makes everybody happy. Not only that, but the whole team, from the interns to the founders, are empathetic to those affected. The way the Lighthouse team reacted to any hiccups was inspiring.

By far the most valuable part part of Lighthouse is the community mentors that are available at all times to help you through the course material and with any other questions you may have. Without getting to long winded the best advice/warning I can give... Read More is that this course rewards hard work. Say goodbye to your friends and your partner for the next 8 weeks because if you're not putting in your all you will be disappointed.

I decided to do Lighthouse Labs' Web Development bootcamp after realizing I didn't want to work in the field that I had just graduated university from. The whole experience was great - I have nothing negative to say. I really loved how it was fast paced... Read More and practise-based. It was definitely an intense course (they don't exaggerate), but I learned so much, made some really good friends, and most importantly I got a whole new career that I love out of it. I would recommend doing the in-person course if possible (vs. satellite) only because you'd get to interact with the instructors more. In the satellite location, I could still message/video chat with them, but it'd be so much easier in person.

My favourite part of the Web Development bootcamp was definitely having access to top-tier mentors who have been working in the industry for years. Learning to code on your own can be frustrating mainly because you can get stuck for hours and not know... Read More which way to turn. Having mentors to talk you through your thought process as well as sharing how they would go about solving the problem was extremely valuable to me.

The curriculum was thorough and touched on a wide range of modern web development practices. The projects allowed me to dig into different languages and frameworks just enough to get a taste of it, and opened the doors for learning more if I chose to. I enjoyed the focus on modern JavaScript because of how relevant it is in today's job market.

Lighthouse Labs did a great job all around, although I found that being a remote cohort made it difficult to engage sometimes with the main cohort in Vancouver. Just some minor bugs with the stream on some occasions, but there would always be a stream uploaded online after, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

Career Services was helpful in prepping me for the job hunt, although for somebody who was coming from a general-labourer background my first couple technical interviews were still a bit of a challenge. Career Services was always there though if I had questions and provided some great advice and resources to help me out. I ended up accepting an offer for Employment as a Web Designer about 3 months after the course.

So all-in-all, Lighthouse Labs was a great success for me!

The Full Stack Web development Bootcamp is I attended was 500+ hours of project-based and mentor-assisted programming experience with focus on JavaScript, Node.js, Ruby, Rails, React, SQL.

My biggest personal learnings from bootcamp -
1) Getting familiar... Read More and comfortable with reading documentation
2) Using Git to work with teams
3) Learn by doing. Always play with the code while learning
4) Asking for help, using the 20 minute rule (If I don't figure something out on my own within 20 mins, ask for help from one of the mentors)
5) Keep Calm and Keep On Coding

PRO's - You are learning alongside a great community of experienced tech mentors, motivated students and tech start-ups working at their Development Hub. It's a great way of building your tech network. There are also regular meet-ups and tech events in their space. Their career support is good too. Lighthouse Labs is a well recognized bootcamp in Toronto.

CON's - I would highly recommend you complete some kind of online course for basic HTML, CSS and beginner level Javascript before jumping into any web development bootcamp. There are tons of free/cheaper learning resources on the internet, including but not limited to - codeacademy, Udemy, Mozilla Developer Network , Coursera, Khan Academy etc. A bootcamp can be really intensive (You are learning a LOT in a very short amount of time), so it puts you in a very good place to a get a grasp on the basics early on.

This program really pushes you to your limits and forces you to get learning! The rate at which they introduce concepts is great, and the topics themselves are the result of a curriculum that has been fine-tuned by experts. The best part of it all is... Read More the backbone that they have, I was able to get a job I loved right after graduation, and they have an entire community that is active for those wishing to grow.

Pros: Everything you learn.

Cons: Can only spend a short amount of time on everything you're learning during the bootcamp. Likewise, if you're brand new to programming, the program is that much more difficult and you'll find yourself spending many extra... Read More hours learning. Try learning some javascript for a couple of months before entering, it'll make the first two weeks much easier.
Also, the interview speed dating/ demo day may not have a lot of employees show up, which kind of lowers your chances of getting more interviews/ getting hired right out of bootcamp. On top of that, December as a grad month is pretty poopy, since not many people are hiring right at the end of the year.