| | Spencer Nelson | I attended the Immersive Full Stack Web Dev Bootcamp at the Draper Helio Campus in the Spring of 2020. I graduated at the end of April and accepted a job offer as a Software Developer at the end of May.
Background
To get the most out of my review, I think it is important to understand my previous experience. At the time of taking the class I had an engineering degree and had been working as an Environmental Engineer for two years. I was always interested in programming, I took a Java programming course in college and had dabbled in many different programming languages. I wanted to change careers, and I knew I needed a immersive experience.
What I Liked
Our instructor, Kevin, was awesome. He not only had the expertise, but had the patience and took great care to make sure everyone had the experiences they needed to be successful. It is hard to keep the class going at a pace that is good for everyone, and I think Kevin did a great job.
What I learned was useful. The technologies learned in the class should get you a job or allow you to learn other technologies quickly. The job I was offered uses C# and .NET and I learned all of that outside of class. If you put in the work, you will have the skills and knowhow you need for any tech stack.
The Draper location is great. It was a great learning environment.
Classmates were awesome. All the classmates I had were there to learn and were respectful.
Career services did an excellent job preparing me for networking and interviews.
Helio had an excellent response to COVID-19 and did their best to provide the full experience online.
Improvements for Helio
Resources and requirements could have been communicated better to the students. Many students, including myself, were unaware of several learning resources until midway through the course. Several things were hard to find, being in separate locations (LMS or Teams). These resources weren’t vital but would have been nice to have on hand.
Curriculum - The curriculum was a bit chaotic. This is something they were working on at the time, and I am confident that they ironed out all the wrinkles.
Tips On Being Successful
Do the pre-course work! Do it!
Set aside the time. The 13 weeks you are in the course should be dedicated to the course.
Ask Questions. Everyone at Helio is eager to help and they are super nice! Don’t be afraid to ask.
Both Windows and Mac will work fine. Come with the computer you are the most comfortable with.
Start with simple projects that check all the requirements. When it comes time to make your own apps, start small and make sure you have the basics covered.
Apply to all the jobs. I had to apply to 40+ jobs before one stuck, be prepared to work hard after the class is over to get a job. |
