Makers Academy

Makers Academy has created a great community and helps more and more people become members of this fantastic, supporting community. The best aspect of this journey for me was the people I met and how I developed my soft skills and my wellness being. The... Read More courses, coaches and curriculum changes a lot and frequently so I cannot really comment on that, as I know that every cohort gets a different experience. That being said, frequent changes are not a bad thing, they try to adapt and they take feedback very well and create a culture of always seeking and giving feedback. The weeks of learning are intense and you will mostly learn a little bit about a lot of new concepts and, most importantly, how to learn and how to find the tools you need to develop your skills to do the thing YOU want to do. There is a lot of work to be done after graduation and the job-hunting success relies on the work the alumni will do. Makers career coaches are there to help and support, but they will not find the job for you.

Overall, I genuinely really enjoyed my time at Maker's and it did indeed allow me to change careers and get my first tech role. The way the learning is delivered and the focus on group projects towards the end provides a solid foundation and insight into... Read More working as a developer. That being said, you definitely need to be committed to on-going learning on top of this. I took the course when Maker's was changing their curriculum and unfortunately my cohort was bridging the gap between the transition from the old curriculum to the new. This often meant our cohort felt like the awkward middle child and it seemed as though coaches often did not know what the plan was for our group going forward. Nevertheless, we got through the course successfully and moved into the dreaded job hunt. Although I appreciated the job hunt was going to be difficult given the state of the market, I do think there could have been more transparency about the lack of current opportunities via hiring partners. Although there is lots of support available to help with CV writing and applying, this can only take you so far when the opportunities simply aren't there. I do think it's really important to highlight that my negatives are quite situational/circumstantial and so may not reflect the course now. In terms of the learning, I do think it was transformational in giving me solid foundations to pursue a career and I did genuinely enjoy my time at Makers. You just need to be prepared for a gruelling job and stay motivated to continue your own learning.

Makers Bootcamp has been a game-changer in my journey from having zero knowledge to securing my first role as a junior software engineer. The coaches were not only supportive but also made the learning experience exciting and engaging. If I had to do... Read More it all over again, I'd choose Makers Bootcamp without a second thought. They not only equipped me with essential skills but also boosted my confidence, setting me on the path to success.

Makers Academy was recommended by a friend who works with many who graduated from Makers. And the commonality between them was that they didn't have any computer science background... So if you are motivated enough and believe in the Makers' process,... Read More you will be successful! Very understanding and supportive career coaches same applies to the technical coaches and the whole team who seat behind the scene! Have faith and believe in yourself, don't overburn and enjoy it.

The learning structure of the bootcamp was good, there wasn't a week when it felt wasted. The emphasis is definitely more so on producing projects and completing challenges rather than getting a thorough understanding of the topic, which is understandable... Read More given the time constraints. However, as topics got more challenging towards the latter end of the bootcamp, this lack of depth proved to be more detrimental. So see the learning as a foundation to give you the gist of what to learn in your own time during or after the bootcamp. I think the real value of Makers comes from the large alumni network you are able to tap into and take advantage of at any point of your career. Additionally, being able to learn, pair-program and do team projects with other fellow learners is invaluable and is not easily replicated. Due to Makers reputation and selection process you are going to be in cohort with many amazing people that you will learn so much from and could help you down the line. There's also a big push on mental wellbeing and emotional intelligence, which is not necessary of a bootcamp, but just goes to show that Makers goes above and beyond for its students.

I completed a Software Developer apprenticeship with Makers and I have to say the process of the bootcamp and initial start with Makers was great. Once the bootcamp is over though and you go into work it is a totally different story. 1. They don't ensure... Read More that your company have a team and work/training set up for you. So if you go into a job like I did with a poor manager and no team or place ready for you, let that be the first red flag. It was a struggle my entire apprenticeship (two years) to get a place on teams/projects and be given any responsibility. Makers were no help, I repeatedly made clear to both my company and Makers I was not getting the work or training I needed to complete my apprenticeship and they did not care. Once you leave that bootcamp they do not care whatsoever, the placement meetings are more for your manager to feel good about themself. My placement coach every month heard from myself and my manager that he had not been providing me with the work needed and all she would do is say 'oh don't worry there is still time' to make him feel good despite how he was wrecking my education. 2. If you are lucky you will go into a company that enjoys pair programming and mentoring junior employees. We did not. Pair programming was a completely foreign concept to them and there was no mentoring of junior or mid level employees. Bottom line is Makers had the responsibility to ensure the company had a role for us and that we got the work/training we needed to complete the apprenticeship. Instead they watched for two years as we suffered and did nothing, wasting two years of our lives and coming out with less programming skills than we had before the bootcamp. Programming requires constant practice especially when you are a junior and we did not get that, we would be made to do jobs at work which were nothing to do with coding or testing.

I really don't think there were any downsides to the course (aside from obviously the time commitment). The material is written in such a way that it breaks down complex and intimidating tasks and topics into smaller, achievable chunks, that then builds... Read More on itself until you can do something you never really thought you'd be able to. It's how learning should be, but so often isnt! The coaches are without exception, lovely, and will go above and beyond to make sure you are comfortable in your understanding of the topics, they're not just in a rush to get you to pass a test and out the door. Highly, highly recommend!

The Course skills you up quickly with enough knowledge to build and deploy professional apps and the job search aftercare is good, they have partner companies that need entry level staff come in a give talks, I got offered a job from one of those companies.... Read More I graduated in December - and the job search was tough several months! Not sure if this was due to economic downturn at the time and the fact it was round xmas where employers are not hiring as much, it did pick up though and I started to get interviews in spring. This Bootcamp did what it said it would do and I have changed careers.

Pros: The content was really great; it was a lot to get in in a short period, but it really did teach you the fundamentals of programming Learning 2 languages and how to use learnings from one language into another; this was a really helpful skill to... Read More learn and makes it much easier to pick up other languages The coaches and their willingness to help. They really did want to help you solve problems, but also made you independent enough to exhaust all other routes first Dedicated EQ lessons and daily meditation made me incredibly pleased that I chose Makers. It really did set them apart from other bootcamps and has been invaluable Cons: The communication and management of expectations was a bit of a let down in places, it felt very chaotic when it needn't have been There were times when people at Makers were very disorganised which really didn't support learning

I found the course to be a great way to learn the foundations of Software Engineering. I think it's important to note that a lot of success depends on your own motivation and ability to seek help from peers/coaches if you need it, as a lot of the learning... Read More is hands off. Coaches are available to help with the course materials and run a few workshops/webinars. The structure for most of the course of 'solo work' in the mornings and then 'pairing' in the afternoons works well. You get assigned a pair that will either be behind you or ahead of you, and you work on the materials of whoever is behind. This way if you fall behind a bit, you can get guidance from someone that's further ahead of you, and if you steam ahead, you are somewhat forced to reinforce what you've already learned by helping others. Careers support is pretty good, but again it's somewhat hands off. Lots of workshops to help with CV and cover letter writing, application tips, etc, and then ad hoc support when you need it. E.g. if you need a pep talk or technical advice before an interview you can schedule a call with a coach. Also students are allowed to book a (theoretically) unlimited number of 'code reviews' these are like mock technical interviews where you get really detailed feedback on your coding process and where you can make improvements, as well as a full recording of your review. These are done with an external partner so there's no bias. These are really useful so, if you do Makers, be sure to take advantage of these. It's hard to give a fully thorough assessment of the careers support however, as the job market is really in a bad place right now, so the 'getting a job' bit is quite tough at the moment. The careers partnerships team seems, however, to have started bringing in a few nice hiring partners who agree to interview Makers grads, but for a while there was a real drought of any partnerships coming in so there's a bit of a backlog of job hunters in the alumni. General chatter is that the market is picking up again after the bloodbath of layoffs in the sector have started to stabilise, but it could still be a while. Overall, I'm really glad I did Makers and I found a job 2 months after graduating, however some people have been less lucky and are still hunting quite a few months on. With that in mind just be aware of the fact that - given the current market - the job hunt requires a LOT of work to keep coding and keep your motivation up applying to jobs, and also requires a fair bit of luck too.. But if you have the logical mind for coding and the motivation to power through it I'm sure you'll be great.