Tech Talent & Strategy

First of all, I feel my situation is not typical. I have been working in the Maritime industry since 2012, and finally came to a point where I knew a change was needed. This whole coding thing kept popping up everywhere, such as research on high income... Read More skills and podcasts, so I started off with some free online resources to get my feet wet. After a while, I knew I had to seek out people already in this field, and pick their brains about the best ways to learn and ultimately land a job. I jumped on meetup, and came across a group open to anyone that gathered once a week. Once there, I noticed a pattern almost immediately, everyone I talked to that had the type of job that I was seeking out had attended a bootcamp. After some research on bootcamps, turns out there's only 2 in-person bootcamps in the New Orleans area. One was thousands of dollars, and required about 6 months or more of dedication, full time, and no guarantee of a job after all that. There's even a point where you go 6 days a week for 12 or so hours a day. Having a mortgage and other commitments, it just wasn't in the cards for me. Tech Talent South was other school and was much more reasonable. Instead of months on end, without the ability to work, they have different classes, so you can basically go in the direction of your choosing. The basic class is called Code Immersion, and they have others as well such as Javascript development, Rails development, UI/UX, etc. Best part for me, the Code Immersion had a part time option. So, my full time job in the Maritime industry requires me to work on call 6 days at a time, but I was able to negotiate with my boss and have a schedule that allowed me to take the part time class.

Having said all of that, the class was only 2 nights a week and 8 weeks long. For me, the benefit came from dedicating the time to learning the subject. Had I tried on my own via online, I would never get as much done as I wanted to. The curriculum is good for beginners. The class revolved around Ruby/Ruby on Rails. The instructor was very approachable and knowledgeable. Ultimately, we didn't finish the project we were working on during class because we ran out of time. I think the class needs to be a bit longer. The best part, however, was the community part of it all. They set us up with tours of some of the best Tech companies in town, and had guest speakers regularly. This is where the pay off was. I made it a point to attend anything and everything. And every time I went to an event or tour, I made sure to get a couple LinkedIn connections out of it. This alone led me to get several interviews. None of the interviews led to a job, but it got my foot in the door, and they now have a face to my name.

With my particular situation, the only class I could take was the part time Code Immersion. After 8 weeks, my boss at the full time job needed me back on the same schedule as everyone else, so I couldn't take anymore classes. However, I kept attending the tours and events that I could make. I also kept attending the weekly meetups from the beginning of my story. I kept meeting other alumni, past and present, and through these alumni connections, I landed a job as a QA tester.

My whole point is no bootcamp is going to be a magic bullet. As with anything in life, it comes down to what you put into it. Some people may just want to learn a little bit out of interest, but I was looking for a career change. As for Tech Talent South, I would absolutely take more classes, if my schedule had allowed, but after class I kept learning all that I could and had to rely on other online sources. The people were great, I really enjoyed class, and I love being plugged into the Tech scene now in New Orleans. If you're thinking about trying Tech Talent South, go for it. Compared to other schools, if its not for you, at least it didn't cost you $15K - $20K to figure that out, and if it is, you can build your own path. Stay connected, put in the work, and go to all the events!

Took this course in 2018 when i wanted to make a transition into I.T. The course then covered Ruby and RoR but has now switched to a Java based platform (so jealous!!). The support from the TTS team was amazing, and their dedication to helping with the... Read More job search was reassuring. I was employed, and am still, within about 6 weeks of graduating the camp and am now a software consultant and manage infra and release for my project. Follow up has been constant without being overwhelming. I can't say enough good about them.

I have always had an interest in coding and started searching online for available options and came across Tech Talent South.

After submitting a request for more information on their Code Immersion Program I was contacted promptly by the staff. They answered... Read More the many questions I had and offered guidance to help me to understand what is was I was looking for.

It is a Bootcamp so it fast-paced, however many topics are covered and while it is challenging for a beginner in web-based development, it is also informative. It has helped pique my interest and has encouraged me to pursue further.
At this time it is more for personal interest development, however, it may lead to further training in this field.

The part-time code immersion course seems to well with my full-time job, which is a plus for me.
A team environment is also encouraged in the classrooms.
I would recommend this course for anyone that is interested in this field. The staff is supportive, encouraging and bring real-world experience to the classes.

I had no experience in coding or programming but decided to sign up with Tech Talent South after researching the organization. It was the Part Time Code Immersion with Ruby on Rails. It was indeed immersive and difficult for a beginner such as myself,... Read More but overall a fun and growing experience and I made new connections along the way. I would recommend the TTS organization to anyone who wants a community based organization that cares about your career growth in the tech field.

I really enjoyed the classes I participated in, they were challenging but there was always support to help you get through. There are plenty of classes to choose from and they have day and evening classes to work with all types of schedules. I feel like... Read More the balance of lectures, hands on projects, and at home homework was fair.

I plan on taking another class with TTS shortly to refresh and refine my skills.

The code immersion course was very useful in teaching me the latest on Java and web programming. Great hands on experience with knowledgeable instructors. I hope I can take another course in the future. TTS also follows up with there students to see how... Read More their careers are going. In addition, they provide resume reviews and LinkedIn profile reviews.

This course was very helpful in covering all of the necessary components to be able to create a useable site with some functional pieces. Overall the course was not as well organized as it could have been. There was not enough emphasis on the code concepts... Read More as I would have liked. The examples and projects that were taught were sloppy and in most cases difficult to understand. However, there was a lot to cover in the short amount of time available and the instructor did the best with the resources available.

I would recommend Tech Talent South to any age, 64. The instructors, class settings, and atmosphere is just divine. I had a fear of technology before attending TTS, but I soon overcame that fear, and learned the new tech language and world before I even... Read More knew it. UX Design piqued my interest in a way that I did not expect. Presently, I am working on a design for my new small business venture, here in the city of New Orleans.

I wish classes were 12 months a years no breaks in-between...

Pros are you get placed into the environment of your choosing. Cons are sometimes the program is a little sped up and a lot of information if thrown at you in a small period of time. In our course the material was good it was just hard to grasp harder... Read More concepts because of how fast we moved on to the next topic.