Tech Elevator

Short version: Definitely worth it for me personally. I went from making teenage wages in the sevice industry to landing a software developer job. Plus, It only took 14-weeks of 50-60+ hour weeks to do it. Which was a ton of work but realistically not... Read More a ton of actual time (14-weeks < 4-years for a degree). As people like to say "life changing". So if you can carve out 14-weeks for Tech Elevator I would say go for it. Mind you, my experience may not be yours.

Background: I had an Associates degree before Tech Elevator and had worked as a production/graphic designer for the better part of a decade before Tech Elevator. I moved to Pittsburgh and was unable to find work in my previous industry and fell back on the world of food service to keep myself afloat.

Instructors: Tom and Andrew were both really great. Both have many years of real world programming know-how under their belts and their areas of expertise were very complimentary of each other. They were a very well-balanced tag-team. The Hawk and Animal of the bootcamp world. Even now I can hear Tom's dulcet tones explaining "for each loops" and "ternary operators" to the class. Andrew's tech/computer-science asides are great if you want to learn more about the theory behind what you are learning in class and come in very handy during job interviews.

Pathway Program/Office: This is what made me decide to go to Tech Elevator. Caitie (the pathway program head) and Justin (Pittsburgh's Campus Director) open doors to future employers that you could never do on your own. I can't emphasize this enough. They do an amazing job of preparing you for the job market and giving you the connections to actually get a job. Listen to what they have to say and then do it. Also Marissa was a great help during the admission process as well as during the duration of the cohort.

To Students: Do what Caitie says. Ask questions when you are confused about anything. Don't quit when things seem very overwhelming. Take a break. Keep asking questions. Help out other Students, it'll help you learn too. Do what Caitie says.

Summary: I got a software Developer job 2-weeks after graduation (most of my cohort had offers before the end of the cohort. 10 out of 13.) so Tech Elevator definitely worked for me.

*caveat emptor: This isn't a knock on Tech Elevator per se but some companies want Bachelor Degrees regardless of their relevance to a job listing, so If you don't have a Bachelor's Degree you're out of luck. So if you are only armed with a High School Diploma or an Associates some doors even the pathway program can't open.

Tech Elevator is an incredible opportunity. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the fifth cohort at the Columbus campus and I cannot express enough how incredible the experience was for me. To start off, coding boot camps certainly are not for everyone... Read More and they are not magical job portals that just place you at companies making six figures right away, but they are incubators for people with an aptitude and passion for learning. The boot-camp model, in my opinion, is best suited to let someone who has experimented with software and wants to get into software development acquire the technical know how and best practices for the industry while also learning to traverse the professional landscape of job hunting in software. That being said, I am convinced that you cannot find a better program to provide these things.

Tech Elevator does an exceptional job of focusing on learning software practices that are relevant to being a contributing member of a development team. All of the instructors are veterans of the industry and understand what it means to produce code for a production level product. Hands down, the most valuable resource in the boot camp model are these instructors. They make the program worth every cent. You just cannot match that sort of unfettered access to industry knowledge and troubleshooting. Day in and day out, you have these instructors with you every step of the way to leverage on your journey towards becoming a developer. The things that you learn here get you to the root of what it means to write effective and efficient software, and that's not something that you can necessarily learn through self study or get from a CS degree.

The professional aspect to the program is also incredibly well structured. From day one you are starting your journey towards becoming a software professional, which means learning how to navigate that landscape. This means building your resume, setting up a LinkedIn, going to meet-ups, crafting an elevator pitch and much more. The professional development experts coach you through these steps the whole way. Make no mistake though, you have to be proactive about your learning and about your job search; you will not be handed a job, you earn it through hard work and determination. You are however, given a ton of support throughout this process and that sort of guidance and reassurance is priceless.

This program isn't just about the material and the professional development though, its about taking control of your own life. The best part of this experience asides from the knowledge and professional success were the changes I saw in myself. If you think you have an aptitude for coding and you've experimented, take a chance on yourself and look into Tech Elevator, it's amazing what in investing in yourself can do.

I learned about Tech Elevator just a few weeks after learning some basic JavaScript and utilizing online tools such as freecodecamp.org. Even though I'd read their great reviews online and even heard from associates of former graduates, I was hesitant... Read More to join a program off the beaten path of attending a 4 year institution coming from the hospitality industry, but after visiting an open house event and speaking with the instructors, I was convinced that Tech Elevator was not only the smart choice for someone like me, it was the best choice.

The staff at Tech Elevator are genuine and supportive no matter what their role or daily interaction with you. Kelly, the Pathway Program Director was such an integral part of my education and preparation for entering the field of software development despite not helping me write one line of code. She worked tirelessly with me as well as 35 other students in my cohort to craft clean, polished, and professional LinkedIn profiles and resumes that highlighted our experiences and new skills.

I was in the .NET class of Cohort 8. Our instructor Josh was literally the best teacher I have ever had. He explains all of the concepts in a way that makes you feel like you knew them all along. Everytime I stepped into his classroom, the energy and dedication he put into each of his lessons motivated me to learn more.

This was by no means an easy 14 weeks. At times I was unsure I was going to learn enough to get a job after graduation. With lots of help from Marty, the campus director, Kelly, and the instructors, I honed my skills and recieved a job offer after the first round of Matchmaking interviews.

I'm so grateful for all the help and support I received at Tech Elevator and I highly recommend anyone who's interested in a career in software development or even software in general to attend.

Tech Elevator was an awesome experience. In my time there I acquired the skills necessary to transition into a career as a developer. I had a slight background in programming Java but had only worked as an IT specialist. After reading the reviews online... Read More about Tech Elevator and hearing of their extremely high job placement rate I ended up leaving college and attending this boot camp on a whim. It was definitely not a mistake. I was fortunate enough to have a job offer a month before graduation after the first matchmaking event.

If you get accepted I HIGHLY recommend attending the next available cohort. I was in the .NET class and I can say Josh is an amazing instructor. He had a way of explaining things which made things clear and easy to follow. That being said you will spend a lot of time coding over the course of the 3.5 months you are attending and it will be very challenging. However if you work hard each and every day and have the drive to keep pushing yourself you will have no problem completing the program. Don't be discouraged. Although it's a lot of work it's also a lot of fun. You will meet a lot of great connections, both students and employers / developers.

Kelly, the pathway director, will also pave the way for you to find a great career. She works very diligently and honestly cares deeply for the students to pursue work in the IT field. A HUGE part of their very impressive job placement rate is because of her hard work and dedication. She will help you build an amazing resume / LinkedIn profile, set up mock interviews for you, or even just give you a pep talk if you need it.

I came from a 10-year career in HR and had the opportunity to work at a few different tech companies, being either directly or indirectly involved in hiring software developers at three.
Long story short, I knew for a while that I wanted to move from... Read More HR into software development, but it wasn’t realistic for me to go back to school for another degree. Eventually, my family was relocated from Atlanta to Columbus and after struggling to find an HR job here that aligned with my experience and values, I came to the conclusion that Tech Elevator would be my ticket into software development.

Like a lot of people, I did a ton of research and talked to former TE grads and ultimately decided to do it. The program is designed to set you up with the tools to graduate as a junior-level full stack developer and I feel I got exactly what I paid for in that respect. I started at zero and learned so much but truly, the thing that sets Tech Elevator apart from other bootcamps is the relationships they have forged with employers, which as I’ll explain below, wouldn’t be possible if the curriculum wasn’t legit. Those relationships aren’t just the result of marketing, they are built on the reputations of the students who graduate and get hired.

I applied to TE and was set to start mid-January this year when a family emergency pulled me out of state and a subsequent job offer in my old field came up that would allow me the extra time I needed in January to handle my stuff so I accepted it. I was already regretting my decision when my Director of Engineering told me how awesome the 3 guys he hired from Tech Elevator are (each had been in place for about 6 months) and that he’d absolutely look to TE for his junior developer needs going forward. Those were the final words I needed to hear, so I reached back out to the team to see if there was a seat left for me in cohort 5 and thankfully I got back in! If that director’s words weren’t enough, on my first day of class, I found out that one of Columbus’s large employers who also happens to have hired a large number TE grads over multiple cohorts was actually sending a group of their current employees to learn Java alongside us. That fact speaks for itself; employers believe in what they get from Tech Elevator.

In terms of my experience during the program, Brian was my instructor and is truly, truly awesome. He is so dedicated to his students, so supportive, really organized, incredibly smart, has a ton of work experience, and can figure out where you’re going wrong very easily. He’s also available way beyond class and office hours to help over TE’s internal messaging app. All of the instructors are around after class for office hours and are available to help all of the students, and will try to help you out even if they are teaching a different language. Everyone is so helpful and supportive and they all really care about your success.

The Campus Director and Pathway Program Director are a former HR professional and technical recruiter respectively and as a former HR professional myself, I can tell you that they both absolutely know what they are talking about when it comes to the elevator pitch’s structure and importance and the guidance they give on resumes and interviewing. The Pathway Program is spot on.

During matchmaking I met with 9 companies and received offers from two before graduation. I believe I was really close to an offer from a third when I removed myself from the process after having accepted one of the offers I received. A fourth company I met with was interviewing for a future hiring class (as many large orgs do for junior roles), and judging by the reaction I got when I informed them I accepted an offer, I feel that I may have been a strong candidate for that future class as well. A fifth company is still in touch with me to keep our relationship warm as I gain experience (although I am super happy with where I ended up). In terms of the types of positions available, all 9 of the companies I interviewed with were hiring software developers, although the third company was leaning toward a database maintenance position for me, I think because they were looking for more of a heavy hitter for their developer role.

In summary, it was an awesome experience and very, very much worth the money. I feel great about what I have learned and I feel awesome about my new career and my new company. Thank you, Tech Elevator!

So I’ll start off on a positive.

The instruction and the instructors are incredible. These are truly some of best people I’ve ever met. The information was outstanding and the course work was challenging, yet fair. They’re committed to helping you become... Read More the best you in such a short time frame.
You’re also bound to meet some really cool people in your fellow classmates. A lot of individuals with different backgrounds that have been everything from stay at home moms, to teachers, to self-taught mobile app developers.

That being said, I don’t really have exceptional comments to make about this program. I’m not going to fill your head with fru-fru nonsense like you’ll read below. It’s very possible that this program will change your life in a positive way but it doesn’t mean that it’s worth the $14,000 (or now $15,500) to get in. So I’ll get on with it.
At least half of my matchmaking participants were not actively hiring. In speaking with six individuals from the Summer 2017 cohort, I was told that all of their matchmaking companies were hiring and they were having to turn down jobs regularly. Of course, in a year, things can change, but the thought of having to spend an entire afternoon doing interviews with companies that aren’t hiring is counter-productive. Sure it gave us some additional behavior interview practice and you can never have enough of that, but the point of matchmaking is to get you in front of hiring managers, rather than having to get weeded out by the system when you apply on the website. This was a failure, and not what I spent $14,000 for.

The focus of the program is to get you A job, not get you your desired job. This included pushing Report Writer/Analyst positions and low paying internships or Configuration Support Specialists. When you’ve just left a salary of $50k+, you’re not looking to go back to making $10 or $15 an hour. Also, when you complete a coding bootcamp, the last thing you want to do is work as a report or support analyst where you do virtually zero coding. You’d be paying $15,500 to learn a new language that you’re never going to get any practice in.

Don’t buy into the comments that “You’re the best of the best” and “You’re the top 10%”. After speaking with 11 individuals in my cohort after the program ended, we had all agreed that we were not the best of the best. There were individuals placed in this program that were not top tier, rather they had diverse backgrounds and were feel good stories. The individual that sat next to me on the first day asked me where the browser was. That same individual admitted to crying to get out of whiteboarding in one-on-ones and admitted to copying all work from GitHub. By the way, all of the solutions to the exercises are posted on GitHub. I found that several individuals used them throughout the cohort to just copy the material and complete their work to satisfy the course “requirement”. I even used them, in rare cases, to help check my work or to get a better idea as to how to approach a problem. If they’re used as a resource to help you get unstuck, great. If you’re using them to skate by and do the bare minimum, what value is really being gained?
Speaking of exercises – there is absolutely no accountability to be held for not doing your work in a timely manner, or even for not doing it. Several individuals, including myself, did not even attempt the last week of exercises due to how busy their schedules were. There was no penalty. My neighbor frequently had 1’s and 2’s on exercises and wasn’t held accountable for correcting them.

They also preached on the first day how important attendance was and that there were penalties for missing more than two days, being more than 30 min late on multiple days, and also penalties for not going to enough events. The reality is, if you have a good enough excuse to get out of going to class, there will be no penalty. Individuals were sleeping in class or just not showing up on multiple days and there was no penalty. The director also did not follow up with people who neglected to attend events. You’re supposed to go to at least two in any given month, and many individuals didn’t even attend two during the entire 14 week program.

So at the end of the day, you’re told that you’re the best of the best, even if you’re not. You’re preached to about attendance and getting your work in on time, yet nothing happens if your work is not done or you miss multiple days or are late consistently. You’re told that you will get a job when you get out of this program, but it doesn’t mean that you will get a programming job and they don’t seem to care, so long as you have A job to satisfy the grad rate and employment rate numbers. Also, if you want to work for Chase or Nationwide, be sure to put them in your top two for matchmaking, otherwise you won’t be guaranteed to get matched with them and you’ll have a tough time getting in without having to send several emails to recruiters just hoping for a response, regardless of how well you do in this program.

That is something that bothered me was that there was nothing really to be gained by doing well in this program. You can really just do the bare minimum and come out with a high end Chase job making $68k+. I guess that’s not really a bad thing, it just promotes laziness and really emphasizes that you don’t really need to spend the money for this program because it can all be done for free online if you have enough drive.

Save yourself the $15,500 and teach yourself to code on FreeCodeCamp, StackOverflow, W2Schools, CodeWars, etc. Then apply for jobs and email recruiters and forge solid LinkedIn relationships with them. If you do those things, you can save yourself the cash and still come out with the same opportunities, if not better. Otherwise, you’re dropping a fair amount of cash to write an elevator pitch that you’re never going to use and get a better resume, which you could just go online and find help with for free. Also, the tension between the old Pathway Program Director and the new one was so blatantly obvious and did not help matters and honestly made several of us uncomfortable. You likely won’t see any other negative reviews because most people are too afraid to stand up for what they believe. However, I’m an individual who stands up for accountability and wants to ensure that people aren’t just jumping into a money grab. I felt that I did enough research and talked with enough people to gauge how they felt about going through a cohort and I do not feel that I gained the same experience as individuals from past cohorts. This program wasn’t a waste of money, per se, but if you have any amount of self-motivation and drive, you can accomplish everything that this program brought to the table on your own. If you’re somebody who needs some direction and maybe some new friends, go ahead and drop the cash to do so. I at least came out of the program with a few good friends that I’m very happy to have met.

If you are looking to join a coding bootcamp, I would highly recommend Tech Elevator. I graduated this August and had a very good experience. I was even able to land a job before graduation. The instructors are very knowledgeable and extremely helpful.... Read More The Pathway program does an incredible job of helping you learn how to present yourself to future employers.
If there is a catch to the program, it is that nothing is handed to you. As good as the numbers are for job placements, if you do not put in the effort, you will have a very difficult time. Tech Elevator gives you all the tools you need but you have to personally put in the work to succeed.

I had a fantastic experience at Tech Elevator. I was in Columbus Cohort[5]’s .Net group and would (and have) recommended it to anyone looking for a career change who is remotely interested in a career in tech. It’s a major commitment of both time and... Read More money, but if you’re up to the task it’s an incredibly rewarding experience that opens doors you wouldn’t usually have access to. In my case, the return on investment was absolutely worth it as well. I spent ~$15,000 and 14 weeks on Tech Elevator and came out on the other side with a valuable skill set and a salary $30,000 higher than what I was making beforehand.

If I had to sum up my experience at Tech Elevator in one word it would be “support.” 14 weeks is a long time to be bombarded with new information on a daily basis while getting ready for – and then going through – the job-search process, not to mention balancing your personal life. Perhaps unsurprisingly, pressure and stress can mount, and you can feel like you’re beginning to fray at the edges. It will be frustrating, your cohort-mates will get on your nerves at times, and it’s not easy to find people who get what you’re going through. People will discount your experience, friends and family will think you took a 3-month vacation to learn how to play with computers and that your stress is “nothing compared to the stress of a job.” I can tell you that when I went through all of this, the instructors and staff at Tech Elevator were there Every. Single. Time.

I came in with no technical experience and when I was stuck on something instructors, in my case, primarily Andrew Frank and John Fulton, patiently sat with me until I understood what I was doing. During the job-search process, whenever I had questions, or was confused or frustrated, Ben Knisley and Katie Detore were there with whatever I needed, whether it was guidance or just someone to talk to. I wrote earlier that friends and family may not understand what you’re doing or the challenges that come with the bootcamp experience, but the instructors and the Tech Elevator staff absolutely do, and they couldn’t be more supportive.

You will learn to program at Tech Elevator, but more importantly, you will learn to be a professional programmer – a distinction I didn’t know existed until I enrolled. I always thought that if you could code, there would be companies begging to hire you. Wrong! There were several people in my cohort who were incredibly talented and knowledgeable programmers before they enrolled but couldn’t even get an interview with a recruiter – not to mention a hiring manager – because they didn’t have experience. Tech Elevator solves that problem because they have great relationships with companies who are looking for just the sort of person who is willing to leave a career and dive headfirst into programming. Better yet, Tech Elevator will bring those companies to you and GUARANTEE that you get an interview with them through the Employer Matchmaking event.

If the previous 514 words weren’t enough for you to know that I was extremely satisfied with my experience, let me be very clear – I was extremely satisfied with my experience. But, I wouldn’t be a very good reviewer if all I did was gush and there were some things I wish had been done differently. The first is actually not a “complaint” of mine, but one I heard repeated a few times by cohort-mates and it’s that certain aspects of the technology stack we learned on was a bit outdated. But, do you know how many interviewers brought that up as a problem? Literally none. You learn to program and think like a programmer – that’s what matters. What interviewers were looking for was an understanding of underlying concepts and a willingness to learn. In my cohort, people ended up in positions doing languages they had no exposure to during the cohort. I know one cohort-mate is doing PHP and at least three who are doing Ruby. I myself took a Java job after completing the .Net course.

One critique that I do have is that I think the approach to actually teaching the technical side of things should be reevaluated. The format of the instruction was that we were in the classroom from 9 am – noon-ish most days. In general, the last 70-90 minutes were spent doing Lecture Code, which is watching an instructor talk through completed or mostly completed code. It is terrible. My instructor, John, is an incredibly engaging and passionate instructor, who made many boring topics interesting. Even he couldn’t make lecture code bearable. I can confidently say that of the 18 (I think) people in .Net with me, maybe 5 actually paid attention during lecture code. Most of us used that time to apply for jobs, search the web for the spiciest of memes, or nap with our eyes open. I have never studied pedagogy, and certainly never tried to teach anyone how to program, but there has to be a more effective way than lecture code. Personally, I would have preferred to have our assigned daily exercises (i.e. homework) be a bit longer and have the instructor walk us through a few problems as we coded along. Alternatively, I think breaking us into pairs or small groups, try to solve a problem, then whiteboard our solutions in front of the class would be an extremely valuable and effective replacement for lecture code. Not only would students be forced to actually think about the material, they would get the added benefit of forced whiteboarding and having to explain their code – something that many people struggle with come technical interview time. Additionally, they could see the different ways their classmates thought about/solved the problem.

Another critique I have is a lot broader and not actually as important, it’s more of a time saving technique. I wish that me and my cohort-mates had been put on different “tracks” based on our skill level from a technical and career-prep perspective and then had events be mandatory or not, based on our track. For instance, there were some people in my class who already knew every technical topic that we covered. I’m not exaggerating when I say that they didn’t learn a single thing from being in class, not because we weren’t being instructed well, they were just already very knowledgeable. Those same people, on the other hand, benefited greatly from all the Career Pathway events. They generally were lacking some soft/professional skills and learned a lot at all the Pathway events. On the other side of the coins were people like me, who needed the classroom badly, but didn’t get a whole lot out of most of the Pathway events because we’d worked in professional environments before and could handle non-technical interviews well. I think it would be an improvement if I had been in a different, technical-skill focused “track” than my already technically proficient classmates. Class, but not all the Pathway events, should have been mandatory for me and the reverse for my classmate. Again, this isn’t a big deal, just a subtle improvement and I only bring it up because at times, I could have really used extra time with an instructor or just time in general to work on a project, when I had to go and sit in on a Pathway presentation that I, personally, didn’t get much out of.

In conclusion, if you’re considering Tech Elevator, just do it. It was an excellent experience and more than worth the investment of time and money.

Last year I was stuck in a dead-end job, working in hospitality as a waiter in a little family restaurant. I was at a point where I was ready to dedicate myself to a career but I felt like I simply didn’t have the right piece of paper to get started working... Read More in a field that interested me. I had always loved tech and I wanted a job where I would be able to apply myself mentally but I felt like the only way to do that was to go massively in debt, going back to college to pursue a degree in a new field. Luckily, I wasn’t the only person who realized that there was a significant subsect of society that was underemployed but willing to put in the work to make something of themselves if they were given a chance.

Tech Elevator was the opportunity I didn’t know was out there but I was waiting for the whole time. From the industry professionals that are there way too late every day to stick around and answer your questions to the whole staff of the Pathway Program that also work way too late every day to help you build your resume and polish your interviewing skills, and of course all of the administrators who do the most important job of keeping the lights on and the pretzel bowls filled, the entire staff is dedicated to the single goal of helping you succeed in a challenging and rewarding industry.

But the final piece of the puzzle is you. You will have to work very hard to learn concepts they teach, and you will stay up late every night for 3 months creating some amazing projects and struggling with your peers to learn some difficult concepts. But, if you are willing to put in the time to learn how to code, you will have taken the first step to an extremely rewarding and fulfilling career with some of the best people you will ever meet.
I guess to sum up, all of this is to say if you are willing to put in the work, you have found a place that’s willing to work right alongside you and will be at least as excited as you are when you succeed.

Note this website wouldn't let me select my actual cohort which was the .NET course in the Spring of '18. Clearly this page wasn't made by TE grads :)

If you're looking into a coding bootcamp, attending one, or have already graduated, you probably know the "One Question" that I'm talking about. Maybe your friends and family asked it. If you're still in the looking phase, you're probably asking it of... Read More yourself. The question isn't "which bootcamp". The question is, "can't you just learn that online for cheaper?" I'm here to put that question to rest.

There are plenty of resources online, including educational videos, practice problems, volunteer and paid tutors, competitions, networking, job boards, you name it. You can learn anything online. But when it comes to making a career change, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When you can learn anything, what should you choose to learn? When are you going to start, when are you going to put your hours in, and how do you know when you’re done? How do you prove to an employer that you’ve got the right knowledge for the role they need to fill? What even are the job titles and companies that you should be looking at for this skill you want to use?

Enter Tech Elevator. Sure, they teach you to code. Sure, they have highly qualified, talented instructors available full time to teach you, coach you, review your work, and answer your questions. But again, that’s the tip of the iceberg. Tech Elevator’s goal isn’t just to teach you how to code, it’s to get you a job in the field of software development. Whatever skills the local job market needs, those are the skills that Tech Elevator is teaching its students. You know that you’re learning the right material at the right pace, because the reputation that TE is building and looking to maintain with area employers is that their graduates are ready to fill the roles.

And that’s not all. While you’re a student, you’ll be practicing how to communicate your skills with peers, instructors, and potential interviewers or employers. You’ll attend workshops and panels about building your own brand, including talking about yourself, building your resume, and having a good linkedin profile. You’ll learn more about the industry, such as having potential employers come in and talk about their company and openings. You’ll learn about various jobs in the industry, including roles that focus on the database or on a website aesthetic, but beyond that also to project managers, quality assurance analysts, business analysts, and more.

Finally, there’s Matchmaking. This is where Tech Elevator proves their reputation with the local industry by cramming interviewers from local industry into every square inch of the facility. Students get interviews with small companies, large companies, and everything in between. The employers generally count these interviews as a “phone screen” or “initial interview”, getting students on their way towards employment.

This reputation that I’ve mentioned is what it keeps coming back to. It’s a virtuous cycle. Tech Elevator needs to train students well in order to make employers happy, and they need to make employers happy in order to attract new students. And, they’re succeeding all around.

I hope that answers the “One Question”. It’s worth going to Tech Elevator. There is no substitute for a good school that cares about the success of its students.