| | Robert | Since this was an unprecedented year for all forms of education and my course managed to be both offline and online, it's hard to say how much of my experience will apply to future applicants, but I think the general impressions still apply:
- Courses are taught by working professionals, which not only means real life insights, but also exposure to different opinions and schools of thought - something with which one will have to deal during the real career and the ability to understand the different perspectives is certainly a benefit.
- Introduction to a broad spectrum of technologies and ways of developing software. I'm still constantly surprised by how much different concepts I picked up during the course and even just being able to say "Yeah, I've heard of that and did a couple of exercises in it" is a great advantage at the workplace.
- A double edged sword of sorts: they will not make you study and test whether you have done it. On the one hand, if you want to take it easier one weekend, it's completely ok - there are no "miss one class/homework and you're out" rules here. On the other hand, this makes self-discipline and motivation that much more important, since if you expect that simply doing the bare minimum and getting the certificate will make you employable and net you a job, that will most likely not be the case.
- No requirements and skill assessment for course participants - while this certainly helps with developing soft skills, it can be frustrating for certain types of personalities at times, since the course might go faster/slower than one might like, or the motivation and goals of course-mates might not align with one's own. |
