I had a successful career as an actuary and consultant and was looking for a change into a more technical field. I chose Galvanize for the combination of in-person instruction and the promise of career services assistance throughout and after the program ended. I ended up attending the Galvanize Data Science immersive in Austin under the instruction of Joe and Dan. The first part of the combination worked out very well. Joe and Dan are a great team of instructors with vast knowledge in the field of data science. I felt there was a good balance of breadth and depth in terms of the material presented throughout the course. I have a strong math background so was able to focus on the implantation of many techniques as I already had a good handle on the theory. I know some students struggled with this. The second part of the combination - career services - did not pan out. Our cohort in particular was caught in the middle of a regime change within Galvanize and as a direct effect, we received what I could consider inconsistent assistance in career services. I ended up landing a job with one of the companies Galvanize teamed up with for an onsite visit but I understand many of my classmates struggled in finding jobs after the cohort ended. All that to say, much like any field, the job search can be difficult and is highly dependent on individual characteristics. At the end of the day, I felt well prepared on day 1 of my new career as a data scientist and was able to leverage everything I learned in 3 months to immediately begin making an impact. I recommend this program for people who have a solid math / statistics background (or study well ahead of time) so that you can focus on the practice and implementation of the algorithms and techniques you learn in class. The program is certainly fast paced but doable and is jam packed with a ton of valid information that is presented in a usable and digestible way. | 