About Me - Graduate of the Full Stack Web Development on-campus immersive course, 2019 - Found a Full Stack role (React and C#) with an above-average salary 4 months after declaring a job search - Bachelor's degree in a non-traditional background (not tech-related) The Flatiron Experience in a Nutshell Expect Flatiron to prepare you to be a shoo-in for an internship, to land a lower-paying full-time gig after some additional self-directed study, or to land a higher-paying role after some moths of dedicated study. The Good - Knowledgable instructors who cared about my success - Inclusive, fun and supportive culture in a fast-paced, immersive learning environment - Gained practical industry skills for a solid foundation The Not-So-Good - Flatiron is not (at this time) set up to bring graduates' technical skills up to par with industry expectations for higher-paying full-time entry-level roles - Career support did not provide even the most basic job-search optimization tactics What You Can Expect I loved my Flatiron on-campus experience. But after graduation, I realized I wasn't prepared to reach my personal career goals and expectations without months of additional study. Technical Expectations In my job search, I've found what I learned with Ruby, Rails, SQL, Object-Oriented & Functional Programming, JavaScript and React/Redux are no doubt essentials for grads looking for Junior Engineering positions; But that isn't all you need anymore. Instructors expect interviewers in 2019 to ask us questions like the FizzBuzz problem. That may have been the case 3 or 4 years ago, but with so many bootcamp grads getting churned out the bar has been raised much higher. In interviews, I was asked to create algorithms implementing data structures including linked lists, binary search trees, heaps, stacks & queues and sometimes even graphs. To land a job at a top company like Hulu, Amazon, Facebook, etc. you need a solid understanding of system API design (I believe this will soon be the norm for less prestigious companies as well). Regardless of what may be advertised online, Flatiron does not teach data structures or system design. Career Support Expectations My career coach gave some solid advice on cultural interviewing. However, through my own study, I found there are a lot of really cool ways to optimize your job search that Flatiron career counselors should be sharing with their grads. I really could have used a job-finding expert on my side. Flatiron has a partnerships team that sends mass referrals out to graduates, but most of these were for low-paying contract work. I met with my counselor almost weekly at the beginning, but most of my one-on-ones felt a lot more like emotional support meetings than focused tactical strategy sessions aimed at getting my resume in the hands of decision-makers and nailing the interview. The great news is you can check out the resources listed below to fill in those gaps. Is Flatiron For You? All things considered, if you're a dedicated self-starter willing to put in the hours after graduation Flatiron could be an excellent option for you. I know grads from other noteworthy bootcamps experiencing similar struggles, and some that didn't have a positive on-campus experience. Flatiron can help get you where you want to be, but you have to set yourself apart from the thousands of other bootcamp grads looking for the same job opportunities. Resources Technical Leetcode (consider the premium option. check out the problems broken out by data structure) Udemy - Data Structures & Algorithms Masterclass (JavaScript) educative - Grokking the System Design Interview Job Search Optimization Cold Emailing Mail Merge Clearbit Connect Hunter.io | 