Tech Elevator

I attended Tech Elevator’s 14-week Java Development Bootcamp from January to April 2016:

I can say with 100% confidence that deciding to attend Tech Elevator is the most positively impactful decision that I have ever made. The staff of Tech Elevator could... Read More not have been more friendly, professional or helpful.

The course is structured in such a way that it is challenging and difficult, but not completely overwhelming. Although the in-class portion of the program runs only about eight hours a day (which requires your undivided attention), it requires a significant amount of work outside of class and the instructors are always ready and willing to help if you are stuck.

After the 14-week course I was employed full-time and was making almost triple what I had the previous year working in a machine shop.

So if you’re ready to make a change and are willing to put in the work, go for it! Highly recommend!

Before starting Tech Elevator, I felt dissatisfied and under-utilized in a marketing role. I did some self-study of HTML, CSS, and other basic programming concepts online, but I got to the point where I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I interviewed at... Read More Tech Elevator, and I was impressed by David Wintrich’s experience and his vision for the bootcamp, along with the structured aspect of the career development program that runs in tandem with the technical curriculum.

Tech Elevator did an excellent job of teaching the technical skills AND the soft skills that you need to land a job. The technical skills they teach are directly relevant to what a junior developer needs on the job from day one, and they provide a great foundation for learning other languages. As an example, I enrolled in the Java program at Tech Elevator, but I am now programming in C# at my job. They teach you how to learn quickly, since languages and concepts are continually changing in tech.

For the soft skills aspect, they prepare you through a series of exercises, self-assessments, and practice interviews that not only get you ready for the arduous job search process, but also expose you to industry experts and networking opportunities.

All of this being said, it is called a boot camp for a reason. If you bring your best self to the program every day, put in the hours necessary for the job search and the technical curriculum (which could be 60-70+ hours a week), then you will get great job offers on the other end. Like any pursuit in life, if you expect a job to be offered to you on a platter without putting any work in, then you will be disappointed. Tech Elevator’s staff and curriculum are there to support and invest in diligent and ambitious learners from all walks of life. It was a great experience from start to finish, and I now enjoy an alumni network of bright and motivated friends and colleagues. I highly recommend Tech Elevator.

I chose Tech Elevator because of David Wintrich's experience. He was the architect of Pay.gov (the government's paypal), which deals with $10 billion every year. I knew he had to be good at what he did, and I knew that he had also hired tons of junior-level... Read More software developers. He's an excellent teacher and leader.

Course breakdown:

4 weeks - Java Fundamentals (or C#/.Net, if you're in that course)

3 weeks - Web Apps

2 weeks - Databases

2 weeks - Client-Side Apps

1 week - Security

The pinnacle of the course, however, is the matchmaking event. TE has employeers come in, and you get a 25-minute interiew with each of those you're assigned. They take recommendations, and you'll get your top 3-4 choices plus other randomly assigned companies. This event makes the whole course worth it. I received 8 on-site interveiws from the matchmaking event, and I had a few job offers to leverage against one another before graduation.

I now make 3.5x what I used to every year.

I learned a ton, made some great new friends, and switched into an exciting new career. The course is smart, exciting, and overwhelming at times, but it really paid off, and I'm grateful I extended the time, money, and effort. It was worth every cent.

Short Version:
If you want to pursue a career in software development/programming, Tech Elevator is a great place to help you reach that goal. It’s not cheap (no bootcamp really is) and it’s not easy (harder than any semester I experienced in university),... Read More but if you put in the effort, you will succeed. At the start of the course, I had very little technical experience. By the end of the course I had 3 job offers. For the first time in my life, I was able to choose where I wanted to work. I didn’t just have to take whichever job was offered to me. Now I’m working for a great company and I have a career that has a lot of growth opportunity. I mentioned that the course is expensive, but my annual salary increased by more than the cost of the tuition. Everyone’s situation is different, but chances are that it won’t take you very long to break even.

Long Version:
First off, I’ll tell you a little about myself (Skip to the next paragraph if you don’t care about me…it’s fine…I get it.) in hopes that you’ll see that you don’t need to be a computer whiz with a technical background to be successful in the bootcamp or to break into this career field. I took 2 years of Computer Aided Drafting courses in high school, so I was comfortable with technology but I didn’t know anything about programming. I went on to college where I earned a bachelor’s degree in business. After graduation, I spent a few years as a Transportation Manager. After doing the same thing for a while, I reached a point where I got the urge to learn something new, so I enrolled in a Web Development course at a community college. I really enjoyed it, so I started looking at ways to make a career out of it but all of the educational routes looked like they would take 2-4 years since I was a business major and didn’t have many of the pre-requisites. I didn’t have the time to start college all over. That’s when I learned about coding/programming/dev bootcamps. I’m from Cleveland, so I was really surprised when I found that there were multiple bootcamps in the area. I visited Tech Elevator and another bootcamp in the area and came to the conclusion that Tech Elevator was the best fit for me. The deciding factors for me were the instructor and the focus on developing the soft skills needed to land a job (no matter how much I hated the soft skills…I knew that it was a weak point for me that I wanted/needed to work on).

Now let’s talk about the bootcamp. First of all, I think it’s really important to visit a bootcamp in-person so you can actually meet the people that will be teaching you and guiding you through this change in your career and to see the space where you’re going to be learning. You’re going to spend a lot of time in this facility with these people. With that being said, I felt very fortunate to be taught by an instructor that was so knowledgeable and experienced (lookin’ at you David Wintrich). There was also great support from Josh, Craig, Terry, Andria, Anthony, and Carol. The facilities and equipment provided at the Cleveland campus were great and I’m sure that quality will be continued in Columbus.

The course itself was great. We would start the day with a quick quiz so that the instructor could get an idea of our grasp on the previous day’s material. After reviewing the quiz, we would review anything else anybody had questions about, whether it was from the day before or 3 weeks ago. After reviewing, we would typically have lecture until lunch time. After lunch we would have hands-on work for the rest of the day. Sometimes we would work on our own, but we usually had a partner and did a lot of pair-programming (“Pair programming” is a practice where two programmers sit next to each other and work on code. The “driver” does the typing and the “navigator” watches over the code as it’s typed. The two programmers bounce ideas off of each other and they frequently switch roles.) Along with the hands-on work, you’ll often be assigned reading. Sometimes you’ll finish your work by 4:30 or 5:00pm, but you should really expect to put in more hours at night and on the weekends. The course was broken up into “modules” that were a few weeks long. After each module, we would complete a “mini-capstone” project where we would have a chance to build a small application that would encompass the material from that module and any previous modules. This was a good build up to the final capstone project which we got to work on for the final 2 weeks of the course before presenting them to our peers and families at the graduation ceremony.

I went to what I consider to be an academically strong university before I attended Tech Elevator. I’m not saying that to toot my own horn, but rather I want to give a baseline to others who have already attended a university. This program required more time and effort than any semester I ever experienced during my undergrad studies. They say that this program is like “drinking from a fire hose”. Sometimes it’s going to make you feel like you got hit by the fire truck after you’ve had your little drink. If you’re like me, you’re going to be uncomfortable, but it really is a good test of mental toughness. It shows you how much you can really do when you push yourself to the limit.

A great benefit of the program was all of the career assistance that was provided. Each week we had an employer come in to speak to us about their company and we frequently had guest speakers talking to us about topics ranging from LinkedIn profiles to emotional intelligence. The biggest benefit to me was the technical interview practice and the Employer Matchmaking event. The technical interview practice starts with a mock technical interview with one of the instructors and then moves on to a mock technical interview with a volunteer from a local tech company. The reason this was so great for me is that I felt like I flopped on this mock interview, but it was ok cause you’re being given a safe place to fail and the person interviewing you will give you a lot of feedback. After that practice interview, I pretty much knew what I needed to focus on and I felt so much more comfortable. I know that it helped me because I had nothing but positive feedback from all of my real technical interviews. The Employer Matchmaking event was a day where 20+ employers came in and held 30-minute interviews all day. I had 9 one-on-one interviews in a day and while it was kind of scary at first, I had a lot of fun and ultimately met my future employer (we’re doing great, thanks for asking).

Here’s the part you are probably most concerned about… I ended up with 3 job offers (2 before the bootcamp even ended). I actually had to end the interview process with another company and I had pretty much stopped applying for jobs after I received my first offer (I’m not suggesting you do the same, I’m just saying I wasn’t struggling to find people that wanted to give me a shot). One of my offers came from a company outside of Tech Elevator’s hiring network and the company wasn’t even aware of the bootcamp, so I think that’s a pretty good indicator that I was equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to land a job. Another interesting point is that although I was in the Java cohort, I ended up taking a C#/.NET job. So you’re going to learn the language for the course you enroll in, but that won’t necessarily pigeon hole you into that language because you’re going to learn the principles of Object Oriented Programming and you’re going to “learn how to learn” programming languages. You’re not just buying a fast-pass to a job though…you’re going to have to put a lot of blood, sweat, and coffee into this.

I realize this is a lot of information and that some of it might sound intimidating, but if you put in the work and you really WANT to do this, everything will be just fine.

My Advice:
Do everything. Read every page you’re assigned to read. Complete every project. Keep up with the work… you don’t want to fall behind. When you get stuck on something, set a limit for how long you will spin your wheels before asking for help. You’ll learn a lot by trying to figure out problems on your own, but there’s no point in spending 4 hours on one little problem. Take advantage of being surrounded by really smart people. Stick around or meet up after class with classmates to do work together. Do your own work, then compare with your classmate and talk to them about how/why they solved the problem the way they did. Give yourself some time to relax. The class material is important, but kicking ass on the ping pong table is also important. Enjoy the experience, because you probably won’t ever do anything like this again!

Fourteen weeks of intense instruction at Tech Elevator led me to a great opportunity as a web developer in the industry. After 18 years, this was a risky move on my part, but to gain a marketable skill that allowed me to pivot into a new industry, it... Read More was the right one.

The experience David Wintrich brings to his instruction, along with an experienced staff, and a space that fosters collaboration and learning, for those who choose to venture through this boot camp, the tools for success are available and present.

The boot camp model isn't easy. But, Tech Elevator is structured for each student to get out of the program, what you put into it.

If you trust the process, focus, work hard, ask questions, and work together, then Tech Elevator will help you gain that marketable skill that will get you a great job in the industry.

Over the several years I worked as a scientist for a large corporation, I grew increasingly dissatisfied with my job, largely because I was doing more administrative work than problem solving. After beginning to learn a little programming on my own, I... Read More read about Tech Elevator in the newspaper and attended an open house; I then talked with alumni and spoke with people in the tech industry about Tech Elevator. I decided that a Tech Elevator bootcamp would be an economical, pragmatic way to learn an in-demand skill and find a fulfilling career.

My classmates came from a variety of backgrounds, levels of education, and professional experience; Tech Elevator is designed to meet anyone with the aptitude and desire to become a programmer where they are and help them succeed. The instructors break down technical concepts into essential components that can be easily digested by all. Daily quizzes, daily coding exercises, and frequent one-on-one check-ins help the instructors quickly identify if the class as a whole or an individual student is understanding the material. If you need additional help, a roaming instructor is available for study sessions. The curriculum builds upon itself, so each project gives you a chance to practice and solidify previous topics. The instructors, all of whom are accomplished software developers, are respectful, passionate about mentoring, enthusiastic about their craft, and available to answer questions at nearly all hours of the day or night.

The other half of Tech Elevator is the Pathway Program, which consists of soft skills development and career coaching; I think this program really sets Tech Elevator apart from other bootcamps. The Pathway Program helps you craft the narrative about why you want to get into software development and what transferable skills your past experiences give you; with this narrative in hand, the Pathway Program takes you through a series of workshops that help you write your resume, build your digital presence (e.g. LinkedIn), practice interviewing (both technical and non-technical interviews), and make meaningful connections with industry insiders. Several workshops focused on the soft skills that are valued in the tech industry; while technical skills are important, good communication and team dynamics are just as valuable. The Matchmaking event, when dozens of employers come in to interview students, is a highlight of the program; I had several follow-up interviews that resulted from this event and ultimately accepted a job offer from a company I “met” through Matchmaking.

The bootcamp is challenging but rewarding - you will get out what you put in. I learned a new technical skill set, improved my soft skills, expanded my professional network, and even made some good friends along the way. I started at my new company a week after finishing at Tech Elevator and am now several weeks into my new career; I can attest that Tech Elevator prepared me well and I hit the ground running. I encourage you to explore Tech Elevator as your next step!

Going to Tech Elevator was one of the best experiences I have ever had, and was a very wise choice. I was in the food service industry and really wanted to do something greater for work, I heard about Tech Elevator on the radio and after visiting I was... Read More sold. I started my bootcamp May 16th and recently graduated in mid-August.

I was in the .NET cohort and was taught by their lead .NET instructor, Josh Tucholski. Josh is extremely patient and is very knowledgeable about software development. The pace of the class was just right and it is very satisfying to leave everyday with more knowledge. Craig, who is on site just to help students, has over 30 years of professional development experience and is always very willing to help anyone who wants to understand the content better, or just wants to practice solving problems on the whiteboard.

I felt more than prepared to do technical interviews, and was able to answer any question that was thrown at me for junior development roles. The Pathway Program is great and they are always bringing employers into the space, which allows you to network and get first-hand accounts from people in the field.

Tech Elevator would be a great choice for anyone, you will learn a large amount about software development that will leave you extremely prepared for the career that Tech Elevator will allow you to get after your 14 week program is over. You will make a lot of friends, have a lot of laughs, and ultimately be putting your life in a much happier place. The team, atmosphere, pace, and career prep at Tech Elevator is very unique and would be extremely hard to find anywhere else.

You’ve probably read countless reviews and stories involving people who have changed their careers and lives as a result of a coding boot camp. That wasn’t my case. My review is aimed primarily at those who may have a little background in IT but, for... Read More whatever reason, aren’t satisfied with where they are professionally. I worked for a Fortune 500 company for years on the database side and got “pigeonholed” into maintaining dead end proprietary applications.
A personal injury sidelined me and I looked into Tech Elevator’s Java program while recovering. I had already had some of the standard self-exposure to the language ( books, online tutorials, community college courses etc.) but what appealed to me when I visited at an open house was the opportunity to learn relevant, real world practices in coding. If you think that things will be limited to “Hello World” and a calculator app, then you might want to sit down.
I had already done some coding so I thought that most of it would be a piece of cake. WRONG! Throw out any preconceived notions that this will be “just another class”. You quickly learn advanced principles, proper techniques, how to apply them and most importantly, why. No need to fret, though, because the instruction is top notch and there is always support available when you struggle.
As for things not related to coding, the facilities were great and we had everything that we needed as far as laptops, software, books and other resources. I’d also like to stress that they went to great lengths to prepare you. This included having many professionals in the community come in and share experiences, answer questions and give advice. Invaluable.
Lastly, the payoff. At the end of the boot camp, I received multiple offers and actually chose to stop interviewing. I opted to work for an industry leader in healthcare involving data analytics for an increase in salary of more than $20K with potential through the roof.
I apologize for the length of this (there’s still so much more I’d like to share) but if you’ve read this far, you owe it to yourself to at least attend an open house and get a feel firsthand. Best of luck to you.

After making the decision to move from life science research into software development (without prior experience), I realized that a 4-year degree was out of reach; however, the bootcamp model of education taking less than 4 months appeared to gain traction... Read More nationwide, and I looked into the Cleveland area's options. Tech Elevator stood out as a spacious, friendly environment, run by an enormously qualified and engaged team who sincerely cared about moving their students' careers upwards.

I signed up and never looked back. 14 weeks of hard work during bootcamp included lectures, exercises and homework, but also the "Pathway Program", which makes you generate a proper resume, a professional LinkedIn presence, includes one-on-one interview practices and, importantly, involves a network of local employers who come in to showcase their company and to interview all students during matchmaking events. The latter events is what led to several follow-up interviews at companies for me, ultimately leading to my graduation on Friday and having a job offer on the following Monday, a pretty common outcome for our cohort.

The bootcamp provided us with a well-rounded set of skills needed to build a complete web application, using Java, SQL, HTML/CSS/JavaScript as main languages, and included unit testing and security aspects. In summary, I learned a lot about learning, in that I feel able to not only build web applications but also acquire additional programming skills as needed. What a great experience!

I graduated from the .NET program in April 2016. I was previously working in advertising technology but knew that I'd need further education in order to pursue the more technical roles I was interested in. I attended an open house at Tech Elevator and... Read More was immediately sold.

The staff at Tech Elevator is incredible. Every member of the team is knowledgeable, supportive, and committed to your success. The .NET instructor, Josh, has a teaching style that makes difficult concepts easy to understand while keeping class engaging and exciting. In addition to learning more than I ever have in a 3-month time span, I truly enjoyed coming to class every day, even when the material was frustrating.

The Pathway Program provides career assistance through resume and interview workshops, employer networking events, and both technical and behavioral interview practice. I owe the two job offers I got before graduation to the Pathway Program and the team's willingness to go above and beyond to make sure I felt prepared for interviews.

I couldn't be happier with my time at Tech Elevator and would absolutely recommend the school. If you're curious, start with an open house.