TLDR; It’s good idea if you have 10k spare and some background. If you have no background, no Uni, no friends, no money, maybe start somewhere else. Codeclan is nice experience, the building in Edinburgh is very pretty, have nice vibe and friendly staff. With just a 5 minutes walk from the castle you feel like you are in the centre of Edinburgh IT. The program is build nicely with good basics. Teachers, majority is alright, some of them are previous students that did not get a “real” job, and no “real” experience, so they somehow lack knowledge, but usually you can find answers in the building, even if you gonna have to ask teachers from other cohort. Coffee and fruits is a nice touch, in general the vibe is awesome. Everyone focused in their laptops, coding, and being happy because we are going for better future. There is one problem. And maybe it’s actually more individual, but I would like to warn people like myself. Statistics that they have are not saying that you will get a job. It’s just saying that majority does. But what I forgot, and some other people that I know, that your past is really important. Let’s say that you, getting a job as a Software Developer, is 6 point system. + 1 for finishing CodeClan + 1 for having any University finished (bachelor or master in any field is better than none, as it shows your employer that you can learn) + 1 for having any experience in anything even closely related to IT + 1 for having friends (someone knows someone that is looking for a developer, boom, junior position is yours) + 1 for talent and skill (I’ve seen amazing stuff people do with Front End if they have talent and skills for Graphic Design) + 1 for portfolio (more projects that are online in www, the better, if it’s something you done for local business, even better) If you have only 1/6 then your chances are small, and I think that’s what was not clear for many of us at the time. Many of us heard that you can get a job without going for Computer Science degree, not many understood what it means. They sell a dream, but sometimes you have to work for it years before, or you might as well start working for it now. My only regret would be that after finishing they told us to just keep looking, improve CV and LinkedIn, instead of telling us about importance of showing our portfolio, learning further and maybe considering paths that are not obvious. But we were given advice in difficult times, that none of them ever before experienced (Covid-19, Brexit, Job Market stopped for like 4 months). They create army of web developers (from Full stack course obviously) that are identical with Software Development skills, but the difference lays in the filling (what those people done before Codeclan, is it something interesting for the future employer?). Overall I’m grateful for the experience and friends that I’ve made, but timing was bad. | 