| | Anonymous | Quitting my job and making the career transition to software engineering is one of the best decisions I've made. If you genuinely like to code and think you can handle a fast-paced learning environment, Hack Reactor is a great option. The curriculum is constantly changing to accommodate for a very dynamic field, and the name recognition was apparent as I was applying to jobs. Now that I have a job as a software engineer, I can confidently say the skills I learned at Hack Reactor are transferable and I gained the tools I need to learn on the job. It could be frustrating at times with the vagueness of directions and the level of autonomy they expected, but learning how to learn in the dark is one of the most important skills they teach you.
The job search support is another way I think Hack Reactor stands out. They have you thinking about your resume and practicing interview-style problems very early on, and throughout the second half of the program you have one hour in-person whiteboarding interviews every week. After you graduate, you have access to career counseling for up to 6 months with a weekly check-in to hold you accountable. There are also office hours with the tech mentors for mock interviews and the alumni network is very extensive. Any alumni I reached out to was more than happy to talk and help me out.
Although Hack Reactor was great for me, I think it's important to note that I don't think full-time bootcamps in general are for everyone. They are extremely fast-paced and challenging, and if you can't learn under that kind of pressure I would recommend doing a part time option. The job market for junior engineers, especially in LA, feels saturated and finding a job is not easy. The people who get jobs at companies like Google and Amazon right after graduating usually have prior tech/engineering experience. That being said, finding a job is not impossible if you're willing to put the work in and be persistent. |
