Skill Distillery

Skill Distillery was by far the best decision I have ever made in regards to my career. Before applying to Skill Distillery I was working in a call center for tech support. I felt like my life was going no where and so I decided to look for alternatives. I had done a small amount of HTML and CSS in college, and remembered enjoying it so I looked into courses about web design. After looking around I discovered Skill Distillery, emailed them, and had a response within the hour. After a lot of consideration and many hours spent researching, I decided to go for it.

Changing careers at the age of 29 can be a very scary decision, however, I quickly fell in love with coding and completed all of the pre-work, plus more before classes began. The actual class was amazing, all of the teachers ...

I found Skill Distillery as I was digging myself out of a low point in my life. I had spent nearly 10 years jumping from college to college just trying to get a degree, because I had a habit of failing out. When I finally received my degree in German Language in 2015, there wasn't much I could do with it. I didn't want to teach, nor did I think I would be any good at it anyway. I decided to try to go back to school and check out computer science and engineering degrees. I LOVED my coding courses, but I started failing again. I had to withdraw, and I felt embarrassed and hopeless. I was almost 30, still living at home with my parents, unable to support myself, and I couldn't get myself out of it. I felt like a failure. Around that time was when I learned I have ADHD, and that the slow pa...

SUMMARY

The learning process was intense consisting of 60+ hours of work a week. Each of the instructors was among the best I've ever had the privilege of learning from. I accepted a job offer I am incredibly excited about, for a position I really wanted, only a day after graduation. Overall, it was the best decision I have ever made.

In the following chapters, you can read about my background, other students' backgrounds, Skill Distillery's strengths, the school's weaknesses, financing, and the outcome.

MY BACKGROUND

Firstly, have no fears about your background. The first person who to have a job in my cohort had never completed their Bachelor's degree. That same person was consistently one of the top performers in the course and had multiple job-offers weeks before co...

This boot camp is very different from others i researched and heard about as it teaches Java! While this makes the course much more difficult, it also give you a huge advantage over other bootcamp grads who only know javascript or ruby. Java is a tough language to learn, let alone that you learn it in two months.The first two months focuses on Java and then you move onto finishing the stack while always using java for your back end. This course is well worth you money and time but know it is a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time. Skill Distillery did an awesome job with amazing instructors. I would and do recommend this corse to anyone. I was one of the luckier ones in my class and was able to secure a job before graduation. I do feel strongly that my class mates will h...

I originally started looking at coding bootcamps after deciding that the way colleges handled Computer Science wasn't for me. It felt like the material was moving so slowly and had a lot of information that wasn't relevant to actual programming. After two and a half years, I knew a lot of concepts, but I knew almost nothing of how to really write a program. Initially, this drove me away from programming, but I decided to try it again with a different approach.

Skill Distillery stood out to me because of their curriculum. Most of the other bootcamps put a focus on front-end development, but Skill Distillery teaches full stack development. I really liked that I could put together a program and understand every aspect of it, rather than just bits and pieces. Skill Distillery's cur...

Making the decision to restart my career and enter the world of software development did not stop feeling like a crazy decision until the middle of my second week at Skill Distillery. I had just moved across the country, away from friends, family, and continued employment for…what exactly? To work harder than I ever had before towards the idea of coding for decent pay, rather than as a nerdy hobby? Essentially, yes, and it was the best decision I could have made at that point in my life.

I started looking into coding bootcamps after spending several years in other industries, always working hard but rarely making more progress than simply treading water. After speaking with some old friends (and occasionally less emotionally invested acquaintances), I decided that the coding bootcamp...

Attending Skill Distillery felt like a leap of faith for me initially; I had always wanted to get into software development, but I never quite knew how to start.

Having just finished my Bachelor's Degree, it felt crazy to be leaving what I had previously devoted my life to. I was also skeptical of the fact that I could become marketable in the industry after four short months. After graduating from Skill Distillery, I found that many employers found coding school graduates very desirable in their own ways. At my new job, my coworkers who have graduated with 4-year CS degrees mention that they had much less occupational knowledge than Skill Distillery graduates had on their first day.

The teachers were extremely helpful throughout the entire experience, and they sincerely let you k...

Great Bootcamp with wonderful instructors. I am glad I attended

They teach you a ton, and the instructors are excellent. Small classes, multiple instructors and assistants keep the instructors to student ratio around 1 to 5.

If you put in the work, you should have no problem getting hired somewhere immediately upon finishing this program.

Skill Distillery is highly immersive, covers many topics at a relatively advanced and detailed level in a digestible way. They are always looking to improve their curriculum to benefit the students. It was challenging and rewarding at the same time. My expectations were met in terms of concepts covered. I personally may have benefited more in terms of my job search preparation but that may have been at the loss of other important information covered because it is a expedited program.

First off I do want to say that Skill Distillery is definitely not for everyone. If you are willing to put in the time and effort then it can be very rewarding.

I came into the program with probably a lot more to lose than most others that come into the program. I have a wife and 2 young kids, only an Associate Degree in a non-technical field, and no coding experience.

The first part of the program was a deep dive into Java in which I struggled with. The instructors, Steve and Rob, are excellent instructors. They are both very knowledgeable and passionate. Seeing a bad review about Steve upsets me because if it weren't for him I would not be where I am today, a software engineer which I will talk about. With 4 months of instruction from these 2 instructors I was able to take and ...

I was a graduate of SD6 in late 2016. The instruction was clear, and the instructors and teaching assistants were great to learn from and work with. I knew basically nothing about software development when I started there. Fortunately, I received a good amount of help from both the staff as well as my classmates, and I was able to graduate and not only find work but also excel in my new career.

If you work hard and understand that the entry-level market is tough and you need to rise above the competition in order to succeed, Skill Distillery will give you the tools and the jump-start needed to find entry-level work as a developer. The instructors care about your education, so all you need to do is care about it as well. Prepare for a difficult few months as you cram information into ...

I went into this boot camp with zero knowledge of Java, it was a tough road to climb. It is a full-time boot camp, 9-5, but the TAs always stayed later to help answer any question you might have. It was the best resource the school offered. I put in 8-10 hours every day I was in this course and it paid off. I got several jobs offers upon graduation and I've been climbing the tech ladder ever since. The employers were somewhat hesitant about the boot camp, but as soon as we got to whiteboarding or discussing my knowledge of the technologies they knew what I was bringing to the table.
I would never say this boot camp was a magic bullet or that they taught me everything I needed to learn to be a successful developer, but they definitely helped me understand how to think like a developer....

Skill Distillery was probably the most challenging thing I've ever done in my life, but I don't regret it one bit. Having never written a line of code before enrolling in Skill Distillery, I struggled to keep up with the quick pace. Many of my peers had some prior coding experience and were able to catch onto subjects much quicker than I was. I would get frustrated that by the time a subject would finally click in my head, we would already be moving on to the next subject. I felt like I was always a week behind on the subjects we were taught, so it was very important for me to spend the extra time I needed at home or after class to try to catch up. So I grinded. Every day. I was putting in 10 to 12-hour days every day during the week, and about 8-hours each day on weekends working on ou...

Skill distillery is excellent. I felt I was taking a huge risk attending this program as many bootcamps receive polarizing reviews. I can’t speak to the quality of other bootcamps, but skill distillery did such a good job I have a hard time imagining other bootcamps doing any better.

I am not natural to coding, and I had no prior experience. If your situation is similar, the pace of the course will more than likely expose frustrations. But, stick with it and and you will be rewarded!

Speaking for myself, as one of the slower individuals in the course, I was still able to get through some tough technical interviews and received several offers from empoyers seeking an entry level Java developer. So, believe me, you will gain the skills necessary to find a job and be successful in ...

For those hesitant to enter into a boot camp, I understand. I had concerns about my age, my ability to learn a new skill, not graduating with a bachelor’s in computer science, the possible stigma of being a boot camp graduate by employers/companies, and the duration of my job hunt.

A little about me: I was in the military for 8+ years (non-IT related field), 30+ years old, with a bachelor’s degree in social science. Prior to completing Skill Distillery, I left the military during the summer of 2016 to pursue a second undergrad in computer science at a university located in Maryland. After a semester, I couldn’t fathom another 3 ½ years as I would be 33-34 years old by the time I graduated. Looking for an alternative solution, I started looking around for boot camps though it took me ...

Skill Distillery gave us all of the knowledge needed to get started in the software development industry in 16 weeks. Through a combination of hands on practice and lecture, we worked our way from core concepts and basic syntax to developing full stack web applications. They don't just teach you enough to make applications from a standard blueprint. Instead, the instructors work to convey an understanding of all of the parts involved so that you can stretch and grow your skills. At the time that I attended, they didn't do a lot to support people finding jobs after graduation, but my understanding is that they've improved in that area.

I was an electrical engineer who was looking for a career change. I was skeptical about boot camp but skill distillery has changed my mind.

The staffs are friendly and the course is challenging. As long as you are eager to learn and interested in programming you will do well.

First half you will learn Java and get ready to take in lots and lots of information. Personally I though this was the most important and basic part of the class. The instructors are always excited and ready to ask your questions. Always try to come up with questions.

For the second half, we learn front end and in between . It is fun and the instructors make it easy to understand the technologies.

I do recommend skill distillery and I think it is an awesome course as long as you are motivated and ex...

I will start off with saying when I first started my journey at the Skill Distillery, I was skeptical and wary. I had done a lot of research before hand and there were arguments for both sides. I am not skeptical anymore. From Day 1 to Graduation Day, I have had nothing but the best experience.

On to the instructors. From Steve to Rob to Andrew and to Kris, I have to say that the Skill Distillery has the best instructors hands down. I have taken a Java course at a college located in Denver (not naming any names) and the experience was dreadful. Steve taught what I had learned in a semester in two weeks and I was able to retain it all. I would like to take the time now to address the anonymous complaint against Steve by saying that it not only pure nonsense but 100% unfounded. There i...

I'm a veteran who has prior professional experience (not coding related at all) in the corporate world. My prospects were quickly turning into a dead end and I had a family to support. I knew programming was the way of the future but I didn't have the time to dedicate to getting a four year CS degree. If coding boot camps like Skill Distillery didn't exist, I would have been a slave to a less than optimal job outlook.

Skill Distillery has given me the tools I need to successfully break into the software engineering/development market. If you have a clearance you will have an immense number of job opportunities. Those who do not have clearances have plenty of opportunities as well. The market is booming! However, I won't sugar coat it. The process to get hired for positions that don't...