Skill Distillery

After a 12 year career in Finance, I was looking for a challenge and a new career to go into that would be more engaging. I looked for many options but was impressed on the accolades seen from fellow veterans that had attended the school. This was before... Read More the Vet Tec Program, I used my Post 911/GI BILL and the VA worked well with Skill Distillery.
Pros: The classes were taught by people in the industry, the depth and level of knowledge they bring would only be recognize by me until I started working. From day one I knew what was being talked about at my first job as a developer, thanks to the staff at Skill Distillery. You get a thorough breakdown of concepts that seem trivial at first but it's all part of a bigger picture and its not limited to the school environment. I went from having no formal technical training to having a grasps at concepts that would later transfer into a new field, and I had the confidence to take on new challenges at work because I got the core I needed at Skill Distillery. The course is challenging but they give you the tools and resources to reach the goals that sometime seem unattainable.
Cons: This is a full time course, meaning you could be putting in some 10 hour days. The course is heavily backend based but with just enough on the front end to gain an appreciation for it.

Being a software developer was the top option I wanted to pursue as I was getting ready to transition out of the military. I wanted to attend a program that is veteran-friendly and teaches technologies that are highly sought after in the industry. Skill... Read More Distillery was on top of the list, and attending this program was the best decision I made. Now, I work for a fortune-100 company as a Software Developer.

The program was designed to not only teach you how to code, but also teaches you the ability to learn new technologies. It’s also designed to train you how to collaborate with other developers using tools to help you be succesful at your work. Not very many bootcamps teaches Java, because it’s a hard language to learn in my point of view. But, they really make sure that everyone doesn’t get left behind. Another good thing about this program is that they help you prepare for the Oracle Certified Associate Java SE8 Certification. I didn’t get to take it because I was one of the strugglinG students, but the fact that they offer it, is a great deal itself.

The instructors were very knowledgeable and they were definitely industry experts. They have dedicated instructors for each technologies, but whenever I needed help with a topic, even the instructor from a different topic was willing to help out. Like I mentioned earlier, I was one of the struggling students in our cohort, but I got all the help that I need, from the TA, classmates, and instructors. This was definitely a great experience for me.

Be forewarned that this bootcamp will require the vast majority of your time! But that's because you will learn so much and come out on the other end with an abundance of new skills. Don't let people tel you this bootcamp is not for the inexperienced;... Read More I had zero coding experience as did two of my closest friends in class and we all made it through having learned so much. No lie - it took a lot of work, studying, and dedication but you can absolutely do it! My only cons are sometimes the wording of the curriculum is hard to follow and towards the end we didn't get a lot of detailed critique on our homework projects. But Skill Distillery is one of the best decisions I've ever made and I feel really good about my future!

I attended Skill Distillery in 2019 shortly after leaving the military. Everything about the experience exceeded my expectations from the first day of class through graduating and getting my first job as a developer. The instructors are amazing and the... Read More curriculum is well designed to give you what you need to compete as a junior developer.

The program is intense. It's not easy, and is not for everyone. You need to have the aptitude for this kind of work to be successful here, and they will help you decide if you are a good candidate during the admissions process. You will begin coding on day one, and it doesn't slow down. They call this a boot camp for a reason! Between class and homework, plan on putting in at least 60 hours a week.

I was amazed at what my classmates and I were able to produce in this short time. You will write literally dozens of small projects while learning Java, JavaScript, SQL, and HTML. You will also design and build two fully functional web projects for the midterm and final. A week or two into the course, I watched the class ahead of us present their final projects and I remember thinking there is NO WAY I could build something like that. A couple of months later I was even more amazed when I did.

You might be thinking this sounds great, but can you actually get a job coming out of a boot camp? In a word, YES. Some of my classmates had interviews prior to graduation. I had a substantial commute to/from class which left me no free time, so I decided to wait until graduation to start seriously applying for jobs. I sent out maybe 15 or 20 resumes. Within days of graduation I had a promising phone interview. That lead to in person technical interview two days later, and I had a job offer before the week was over. I have been working at this company for over a year, and can honestly say it's the best job I've ever had.

If you are motivated, disciplined, and not afraid of drinking from the fire hose, Skill Distillery can offer you the express lane to a career as a developer. Give them a call. You will be glad you did.

Skill Distillery was a life-changing experience for me! I went from a non-profit director to a Full-Stack Software Developer, and I do not think I would be successful in this change without the great instructors and SD course. If you choose to put the... Read More effort and dedication into the SD course, it will pay off when you begin a career as a new developer.

My first Software Developer job was delayed because of COVID-19. I am now a developer working with Java building microservices at a Fortune-150 company at one of their Denver Metropolitan locations, but I am currently working remotely. I graduated in January 2020 and became employed in May 2020 after a seven-week delay to my original start date.

This transformation was not an easy process, but I learned the needed developer skills at Skill Distillery and how to learn new skills quickly. It was a game-changer to me having SD's staff continued to encourage, coach, and help me after the course to help me have stronger interviews.

I recommend the Skill Distillery Java Software Development Bootcamp to anyone aspiring to be a developer who is willing to put the hard work in and wants to make a career change. Please look me up on a business networking site and feel free to ask me about this experience.

Skill Distillery is a comprehensive and incredibly detailed program. They really create an environment where learning can thrive and give you all the tools needed to succeed in the “real world”. From learning actual code, to rehearsing for interviews,... Read More down to beefing up your resume; they really cover the necessities.

I started programming in college for a semester and discovered coding bootcamps. I found Skill Distillery through VETTEC. It was one of the few schools that taught Full Stack Java Development along with Angular. I was having trouble learning how to learn... Read More programming and getting everything to stick prior to attending. I loved the model that was used to teach. We would have a lecture and a lab to enforce what we learned for every topic. Skill Distillery allowed me to transition from the medical field into a Software Engineer position. I currently work using Angular and almost everything I learned in the bootcamp.

The instructors and assistants for Skill Distillery were very helpful and compassionate when it came to teaching and some even stayed with us after class was over just in case we needed help. Skill Distillery also had a lot of workshops for job assistance in the second half of the program as well as after we finished our final projects. I recommend working on HTML and CSS before attending and during your downtime since this coding bootcamp is more backend heavy.

I highly recommend Skill Distillery for anyone in search for a coding bootcamp. Just remember you get what you put into it. I spent a lot of time during my downtime making sure I understood the material and it paid off for me in the end.

Pros:
+ VET TEC Preferred Program
+ Very veteran friendly, my cohort consisted of all military veterans
+ Seemingly very compassionate instructors & staff
+ Very eager to do whatever it took to ease our minds through whatever transition we would go through... Read More (OCAs, COVID, etc)
+ Made an extended family with my cohort
+ Accepting of my emotional support animal which I understand is not a service dog
+ Awesome building/facility even though one classroom has no windows

Cons (which I knew going in):
-Extremely fast paced, wish there were more reviews to ensure retention of foundational topics
-Some instructors read from slides so can lose attention easily

I made the decision to attend Skill Distillery because I felt stunted in my career field and wanted to attain marketable skills and felt like this Java Full Stack Bootcamp was a good decision based on recommendations from prior students and other veterans.... Read More I ended up leaving my job and moving from Missouri to Colorado and quickly realized that it was the greatest decision I made thus far in my career path.

Prior to attending Skill Distillery, I had worked in the cybersecurity field as an intelligence analyst but did not really have any knowledge about programming languages. We were immediately thrown into learning Java since the program is only 16 weeks. The program offered numerous labs, some that needed to be completed over the weekend, that were crucial when it came to fully understanding and absorbing the new concepts. Quickly on I did feel like I was falling behind, but through the closeness of the cohort (small class size), dedication of the instructors, and the teaching assistants help on Saturdays I was able to pull through and have more confidence in my coding ability. Throughout the program, we learned many technologies, including front end, back end, and project management tools.

I started attending the course in January and when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred Skill Distillery was very transparent when it came to communication and a way forward as lockdown was eminent. Skill Distillery was able to transition us to learning over Zoom and I did not notice any loss in the material we were learning. We were able to share our screen with the instructors if we were stuck or behind and had the ability to have breakout rooms to be able to conduct pair programming and group projects.

Lastly, Skill Distillery was very helpful in preparing me to reenter the job market by conducting career workshops, mock interviews (technical and nontechnical), and resume review. I was able to secure a job offer the week prior to completing the program. Everyone that worked at Skill Distillery seemed genuinely passionate about what they did and helping the students to succeed and overcome their imposter syndrome. Overall, I would highly recommend this bootcamp for anyone that is considering making the transition into software development or wants more knowledge on front and back end technologies.

ALL THOSE CONSIDERING THIS COURSE...PLEASE READ!
The skills learned in this course are very translatable and useful to the industry. You leave with a knowledge base unparalleled to that of other courses. The instructors are dedicated and willing to put... Read More in the time and effort to get you to where you need to be. HOWEVER!!! IF YOU HAVE NO EXPERIENCE IN THIS FIELD WHATSOEVER, I highly recommend reconsidering your application here. The pace is breakneck and I saw people with varying levels of experience have an extremely difficult time. Will you get through it? Probably. but the issue is information retention.

If you are set on taking this course, do yourself a favor and:

1. look or ask about the specific topics covered in the course, at least for the first two months
2. take some courses on Udemy or edX on those topics.
3. There are some great textbooks out there (Intro to Java Programming, OCA Study Guide)
4. PUT IN THE TIME BEFOREHAND. STRESSING THIS!
3. Youtube is a great resource (however can be dangerous) to explain topics further.

Most other bootcamps are about 6 months. There is a reason for this. The amount of material to be covered is vast and growing daily. Do yourself a favor and put in the work beforehand, or reconsider your decision. Prework will get you past week 1. you have close to 4 more months after that.

You are about to dedicate 4+ months to 24/7 coding. Possibly relocate and go without income unless you are lucky enough to be one of those who have VA benefits. It is not a decision to take lightly. Do not go in blind. The result of the class, like many other experiences, hinges on what you put into it. The information is there, and the instructors are ready and willing to put you first. But the most important question is "are you ready and ABLE to take it all in?" I write this because I've seen many people not be able to reap the full benefits of this course, of which the benefits are many. It is stated that this course in a "no prior experience necessary". I disagree. My CS degree from undergrad was helpful here and there. My C++ experience was helpful, but at the same time confusing due to how "strict" Java is. If this scared you off... well, good. It is not for everyone. Be humble because this course will humble you quick.

If it didn't scare you off, then you're perfect for this course. Go forth and conquer.