Tech Elevator

The program at Tech Elevator as well as the staff is the best in the business. Switching careers can be an overwhelming and daunting move but the Tech Elevator team understands this and does a great job of setting you up for success. On top of the incredible... Read More curriculum and instructors, TE provides a Pathway program that walks you through every step needed to find a job once the program is done. If you are considering a career change to software development, I couldn’t recommend Tech Elevator enough.

This was a great course to be a part of, and I learned A LOT in my time here. I would recommend getting familiar with the basic concepts of the different languages you will learn, as it is a very fast paced course. If you enjoy friendly instructors that... Read More are willing to put in the time for you, even if it's after hours, then I highly recommend this bootcamp!

For several years I had been interested in learning how to code, and I was introduced to Tech Elevator by a childhoold friend who was the then Campus Director. She called me to see if my current employer would be interested in hiring junior devs, however... Read More that department wasn't in Cincinnati. In any case, she was able to give me great insight on the program, and I trusted her since we went way back. When circumstances finally aligned I applied and was accepted (I actually applied twice and was accepted twice, but timing didn't line up the first time). I can't say enough good things about the training. I felt they did a really great job even though we were still in the midst of the pandemic and everything was remote. After graduation the pandemic was still going and I felt like I was slugging through the hiring process without much success. However, I met regularly with my Pathway Director who helped me continue to tweak my resume, update my LinkedIn and offer her expertise with my job hunt. She also continued to match me with prospective employers when the opportunity would arise. And, finally it happened. I got an offer about 5 months after graduation. I come from a sales background, and I understand the importance of delivering on the expectations that I would set for new customers. Tech Elevator certainly delivered on the expectations they set. Finally, I know people from my class who still haven't gotten a job in tech. They make up that small percentage of people who it doesn't happen for in six months, but I feel pretty confortable in saying that it isn't for a lack of effort on Tech Elevator's part. Tech Elevator has the curriculum and the support to help people transition in to tech; all that is required from you is effort!

My time at Tech Elevator was a very demanding but ultimately rewarding experience. We had three 4-week modules to introduce us to different aspects of web development, and then a two week final capstone group project to create an app with a team of 4... Read More or 5. I left TE with a solid foundation to keep learning as I move through my new tech career and the confidence to know that I was capable of taking on big challenges and learning a lot of new material quickly. Moreover, TE's emphasis on paired programming and the final group project means that I got really valuable exposure to what it's like to develop software as a team, which was incredible practice for my future career. One of the biggest reasons I chose TE was because of their Career Pathway program, which walked me through creating my own unique elevator pitch, making and maintaining a LinkedIn profile, making and refining a tech resume, and interview skills (intro interview, tech interview, and behavioral interview). What was especially valuable was having mock interviews of every type with feedback afterwards. The Pathway program also brought in several employers a week so that we could learn about their companies and begin to build an idea of what kind of company we wanted to work for and make a wishlist of prospective employers. Pathway culminated in two days of matchmaking interviews where we had 7-8 thirty minute interviews with employers looking to hire entry-level developers. I was one of the fortunate people who actually got notice of an intent to offer before I graduated! I'd done a matchmaking interview with my #1 pick, and they then moved forward with me in the interview process in my last two weeks of camp. I got an email from them the Friday that I was slated to graduate, asking to meet with me Monday to present a job offer. I graduated, met with them the next Monday, and then accepted my new job that Tuesday. About a third of my class had offers before graduating, almost all of them from employers they'd met during matchmaking. And I know a lot more of us were in ongoing interviewing processes when we graduated. I'd recommend TE to anyone who can truly dedicate themselves to the program for its 14 week time span. Like everything else in life, you get out of it what you put in.

After years of taking online coding tutorials, I decided that I wanted to do a career-change and become a software developer. Tech Elevator provided me with the technical knowledge I needed and the interview preparation was fantastic. They were able to... Read More get me interviews with several software development companies in the area and I was able to get hired for a software development job before graduating. I have now been a software developer for 6 months and have Tech Elevator to thank for it.

I picked Tech Elevator because I heard it on NPR and also saw it promoted through Women of Cincy. I did further research through their website and was very excited about the job rate that TE has, it was very impressive! When I applied to the bootcamp,... Read More I was a Territory Sales Manager for a local Brewery and just looking to change careers. My job ended up getting dissolved due to COVID so my TE bootcamp came at the perfect time. The entire way the program was set up really was helpful to creating a prepared junior dev. The hours we are expected to be “on” mimicked that of a professional work environment. Our class load was overwhelming at times but I know that it is honestly for the best. WE LEARN SO MUCH SO FAST, and once you get back into learning mode, it feels easier. While I know I still have a ton to learn, that idea excites me and doesn’t scare me. I feel like I am well prepared to join a team as a junior developer and actually add value to the team. This bootcamp not only helped me prepare to join a team by learning coding fundamentals, but how to work in pairs and groups with many different types of people. One of the biggest things I learned was how important working with others is, and TE has really helped shaped me into someone that *hopefully* many people will like to work with. So many new and exciting opportunities exist in my job hunt that were nonexistent before graduating Tech Elevator and that doesn't even include growth. There are so many paths now open to me since taking this leap! The entire staff helped create a safe place to practice HR interview skills and technical interview skills (which are scarier than I ever thought!). Through practice I was able to calm my nerves and successfully navigate through multiple different types of technicals. Could not have done that without the prep Tech Elevator gave me. I am proud to say that through Matchmaking, think speed-dating but for interviews within the Tech Elevator network, and will be starting a job right after TE ends!

I was part of Remote Cohort 0 (TE's first remote program) in Java. My main worry before the program was that learning with a for-profit company meant that the coursework and instruction would be more aligned with profit than participants' best interests.... Read More Once I started, I was happy to find out that the program was intentional and fully developed in all the important ways: instruction, coursework, unstructured learning, career activities, etc. Even the course textbook was incredibly detailed, and I still refer to it sometimes now as a full-time developer. Our instructor Andy was a phenomenal instructor and a talented developer. I’ve now been working as a developer for around six months, and I can say that TE provided me a great foundation for modern, full-stack web application development.

I am writing this in hoping that someone who is like me Pre-Tech Elevator will find and read it. I was extremely nervous to make such a leap as to go into debt and switch careers at the same time, but I am so thankful that I did. Tech Elevator was a fun... Read More experience (a difficult one but fun), I learned so much, and I feel fully prepared to start my new job as a Junior Developer. The best advice is advice I received from former students, you will get out of it what you put in, and so when I joined Tech Elevator, I put everything I could into it. The program has paid off, and I start my new career as a Junior Developer in a couple of weeks. Also, I went to the Cincinnati Ohio campus, so I would strongly recommend this campus.

This program was 14 weeks long and while I wished we could've learned more in that time, I think Tech Elevator did a great job of teaching me the skills I needed to get started in a software developer role upon graduation. Brief overview of coursework/curriculum:... Read More Weeks 1-4 (module 1) we learned about object oriented programming using C# (or Java). Weeks 5-8 (module 2) we learned about SQL databases and API's. Weeks 9-12 (module 3) we learned html, css, javascript, and vue. Essentially, weeks 1-8 were backend focused and 9-12 were frontend focused. At the end of each module, we had paired programming projects that utilized what we had been learning during that module. At the end of module 1, my partner and I built vending machine software, using what we had learned about object oriented programming. At the end of module 2, my partner and I built venmo-like software, utilizing our knowledge on object oriented programming, SQL databases, and API's/MVC software design pattern. At the end of module 3, weeks 13-14, we built a web application (as a group of 4 or 5 people) utilizing everything we had learned. My team built a web-app that would generate a random workout for a user, and would also allow trainers to add/edit/delete workouts in the database. As far as technical skills go, Tech Elevator did a great job in helping me to build my programming knowledge, which made me feel confident when it came to doing technical interviews with potential employers. This leads me into another aspect of the program which Tech Elevator calls the 'Pathway Program'. During the 14 weeks in the Tech Elevator program, I would have 1 or 2 (sometimes more) meetings with Tech Elevator's career coaches. They helped me to focus on building my elevator pitch, resume, and LinkedIn profile. We would consistently practice our elevator pitches, look over our resumes and LinkedIn profiles so that we felt comfortable speaking about our past and current experiences. We also had several behavioral and technical mock interviews, which really helped me to gage how interviews would go with potential employers. Additionally, because Tech Elevator has great relationships with local employers, we were able to do 30 minute interviews with several different (well known) employers as a part of Tech Elevator's Matchmaking Events (during weeks 12-14, I believe). I had interviews with seven different employers from the Matchmaking Events (I didn't have to seek out and apply anywhere, although Tech Elevator did recommend I do that on top of having these interviews). Luckily for me, I was offered a couple different developer positions during the Matchmaking Events and accepted a role as a Software Developer during my 13th week of the program! Overall, I feel that my experience attending Tech Elevator's 14 week program was well worth my investment in time and money. And now in my first role as a software developer, while I am experiencing 'imposter syndrome' a bit, I'm confident I will do well because Tech Elevator taught me the foundational skills I need and I now know how to learn new programming languages and concepts. Pros: I loved the day-to-day workflow we had. We would wake up and be online at 845am and do lecture until 12pm (with breaks usually at every hour point). We would then take a lunch break and for the rest of the day we would work on homework/mini-projects to really help us understand what we learned during lecture. The combination of coding along/taking notes during lecture and then afterwards, coding by myself or with other classmates was extremely helpful in learning the programming concepts. Additionally, the projects we did were really great in testing our knowledge on what we had been learning. Working on these projects really helped things 'click' in my mind. Also, it was great that the teacher's were usually always available to help during homeworks/projects. The 'student book' Tech Elevator provides you is great as well. The day before a lecture you will read a chapter of the book, which teaches you the concepts you will learn the next day during lecture. I enjoyed reading the chapters the night before (when things didn't quite make sense) and then the next day, our teacher would dive deep into those topics, and most of the times things would 'click' when the teacher would do examples. The Pathway Program was extremely helpful as well. While I felt my elevator pitch, resume, and LinkedIn profile were good before getting help from Tech Elevator's career coaches, they really helped me to make everything more cohesive and concise. This definitely gave me a ton of confidence when going into interviews with potential employers. Cons: I don't know if I really have any 'cons', but rather a wishlist of what I wished we would/could have went over more. However, I understand the program was only 14 weeks and we covered a ton of topics. I wish we would've went a little more in depth on using git (the version control software). Most of the time all we ever did was pull files and push files. Whereas in my current position as a software developer, I'm required to pull the main branch, merge into my working branch, resolve conflicts, do my work, and then push my work back to the main branch, and resolve conflicts again. I wish Tech Elevator would have also showed us how to better utilize github; however, I don't think it is that big of a deal, as I have learned many things by watching YouTube videos about github. I wish we could have been able to spend more time on frontend topics with vue.js. I felt like I struggled during our final project understanding how the frontend is able to make those API calls (CRUD operations) to the backend. Also, I wish we didn't have as much starter code for each project/homework; although I understand for time and what they wanted us to learn, it made sense to have some starter code already built. I just felt it would have been useful to better understanding the big picture. Maybe Tech Elevator could consider adding this to some of those 'student-tutorials', which we did as a part of our reading homework the night before learning a new topic.