| | Calum | I recently graduated CodeClan and also wanted to offer my views on the course after reading some of the reviews from the cohorts before me. I find it staggering how different their experiences seemed to have been to mine.
I made the decision to come to CodeClan in November last year. I’d recently graduated university in graphic design and had been freelancing since then, it had gotten to the point where I wasn’t enjoying the reality of that line of work, so decided to make the switch to a different industry where my current skills would also be relevant.
I’m not going to lie to anyone thinking of undertaking this course, it’s hard. There were some difficult days but I never felt alone or lost, the support network was always there, from members of my cohort to the fantastic instructor team, by the end of the week things made sense and even felt trivial the week after. You just start doing the things you found insanely complicated without even thinking about it.
I read the complaints about the speed networking and lack of getting jobs immediately after graduating and couldn’t help but laugh. If you think that you are guaranteed a job just from attending CodeClan or employer partners will just hand out jobs after talking to you for 10 minutes, then this course will not be for you. CodeClan never gave the impression that a job would be handed to me upon graduation but I did feel that I had gained the confidence and skills to actively seek them out, with the support from the careers team to build my CV and LinkedIn to best reflect the skills I've gained and what I have to offer to potential employers.
There’s no doubt in my mind that you get out of this course what you put in. If you just listen to the classes, don’t code along and put the bare minimum effort into the homework then you’ll just have wasted £6250. CodeClan doesn’t hold your hand, they just give you the tools and resources to develop the skills needed to become a software developer, with an amazing group of instructors to help you along the way.
My cohort was in week 10 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the UK. We started going remote during week 11 and by week 12 we were fully remote and the building was shut, in line with government guidelines. I can do nothing except praise the instructors and staff for how smooth the transition to remote learning felt and it was so clear how much extra work was being done behind the scenes to ensure our learning was impacted as little as possible. I don’t feel that any of the skills I learned after going remote and any weaker than the ones I gained before, reinforcing how smooth this transition was.
The reality is that there just aren’t many jobs at the moment, but that’s no fault of CodeClan’s. Everyone is struggling, and the tech sector has weathered it a lot better than most. A few of my cohort have already received jobs, that proves that they are out there. It’s an unfortunate time to be seeking employment but that’s the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. I’m certain that I’ll find a job and until then I am strengthening my skills gained at CodeClan to build my portfolio and learn new technologies.
I don’t regret a single thing about my decision to come to CodeClan. I’ve learned more than I could ever have imagined, made some amazing friends and feel confident in calling myself a Software Developer. |
