| | Krzysztof Czarnecki | This is definitely a bootcamp that no person without basics of programming should take but luckily the recruitment is very selective. I'd say I was one of those people who had very little experience coming in, having taught Python myself over the few preceding months and familiarizing myself with basic methods used in data science and deep learning. The first few days were intimidating. I was just a graduate with a bachelor's degree in biotech (as relevant to data science as Ewoks to the dark side of The Force). The rest of the team had years of experience in various quantitatively-intense fields of science or software engineering. But it's really easy to bond with great people who happen to be interested in the same things you are, even if they are light years ahead. I feel like I scored a few good friends for life.
As much fun as it was, we were on-site pretty much every single day for three months (including weekends, no kidding). This kind of experience really makes you realize whether you love the gig or not, but you better find out before because this course is mucho expensive (10 000€ is on the line, you could literally buy a car for that). For me it was a no-brainer given the financing options for EU citizens were more than fair and I knew right then and there that if I want to get into coding seriously and do things that are cutting-edge in my professional life later, I had to go with a bootcamp that included a lot of material about deep learning and AI. Bottom line: worth it.
Most classes were taught by different people, all of them are practitioners, actually working with the stuff that they teach about, so there was little fluff like there is in academia and most of the things presented were close to the industry standard. Given limited time, many of those topics were covered maybe a little too generally but I find it an advantage because it gives one a broader picture of the topics and most of the details can be brushed up by going through relevant material.
The key point for completion of the bootcamp was a capstone project. People before us had crazy ideas and many of them worked so well that they actually morphed into real products or services. Now, that's compelling, but unless you're lucky and/or godlike building a full-fledge data product in 3 months is simply not possible. That said, building a showable prototype is entirely possible and most of the alumni you'll get to connect with will have done exactly that. But beware (!), combining the classes with the project, you'll end up working around the clock on your own success and it's best if you team up with someone reliable (shout out to Alex and hats-off to his godmode dedication during our long nights of tireless coding). If you feel you are unable to deliver that amount of effort, better sign up for something else. This bootcamp holds high standards for a reason.
Now, the most burning question most readers are looking to answer: will it get me a job? It's a yes but also a no. Relying solely on the bootcamp to get employment will be far pushing it, albeit if you have years of industry experience in software development it will be an amazing statement of skills. In my case, the bootcamp and the capstone project was pretty much the only "big thing" on my CV as I transitioned from my miserable-pipetting-flesh-robot background to coding. I spent many months looking for a job directly as a machine learning engineer or a data scientist, as my biggest love turned out to be computer vision. I did not get a job in computer vision (surprise, ain't it?) and will need to get way more relevant experience to be treated seriously for these kinds of professional roles. But did the bootcamp help me find a job within the branch? Definitely. In a few days I am starting out in Munich as a Junior Software Developer, a role that is still a godsend to me, it is a gateway to all the cool things I wanted to do and a place to improve skills. And if HR specialists in 41 companies I applied to (of which at least 19 were data science/deep learning positions) cued me that I am not cut for the role of a machine learning engineer (yet?), they must have a point and more work is required on my part.
As for the job support from DSR's part, it is what they can give you. CV workshops were a huge disappointment for most of the people in our batch but it was solely the fault of the job agency that was supposed to take care of these classes. DSR cannot guarantee you a job but according to their data, all participants find a job within the first few months. With that being said, when guys know you are still looking for a position, they will keep referring you to contacts that might have a position right for you. I had a few instances where I got offers forwarded from the team and during the demo day I was also approached by one of the recruiters that scored me an interview. If you are by any chance like me, a total beginner who happened to be just good-enough to make it to DSR, don't worry, you will find a nice job afterwards but be advised that this process can take up to a few months. It took 5 months in my case.
The people behind DSR work tirelessly to bring you the best bang for the buck and will ask you for feedback many times. When you decide to take the bootcamp, be sure to weigh in as often as possible about anything concerning to you. They really make sure to maintain top-notch quality of everything that's going on.
TL;DR: had fun, learned tonnes, made computers detect bike locks, made computers show what it sees when looking at bike locks, worked 10h a day, got a job |
