Makers Academy

I had a wonderful time at Makers Academy. I've landed an incredible role within a leading AI startup, and have fast tracked my career transition. PROS - Community. I find it helpful to be part of empowering communities, and between the students and coaches... Read More Makers has put together an excellent one. This certainly helped expedite my learning. Whilst self teaching code helped me with syntax etc, after Makers I feel like I could confidently produce well written/tested/documented production code in most languages. - EQ stuff is excellent. Daily check ins, daily led-meditation and yoga several times I week. I attended all of these, and have continued most of these habits since finishing the course. - Job hunting support is strong. Good coaching sessions to prepare for interviews, and great emotional support through out CONS - Being fully remote was a bit of a con for me, as in-person classes hadn't resumed when I started - I think some students could have benefited with a little more 1-on-1 coaching time on the main course. I didn't feel like I needed anymore, but I know other students disagreed with me

Makers will teach you how to learn new things, over and over again. You'll do something new every week and it's really really full on. By the end, you can build web apps. In at least two languages. It's really amazing how far you can come in just a few... Read More months. There's a big focus on teamwork (in the form of pairing and group projects) and mental well-being (in the form of workshops, meditation, yoga, and an amazing chief happiness officer who is always there for you if you hit a mental bump). You'll need all those resources though - it's very challenging and can be frustrating. Most of the learning is self-led, you have to be willing to work really hard to find the answers to your questions yourself. You can ask coaches questions but they will also encourage you to find your own solutions first. It can also be hard to get a coach involved sometimes, at least in a remote setting. You'll spend a lot of time learning things from other members in your cohort rather then a coach - especially in the later weeks. The careers team works very hard as well to get good hiring partners and to teach you about applying for jobs. I gained a lot of confidence and knowledge by talking to them. They also provide great opportunities to get to know companies. I would highly recommend looking for a job with their help over going it alone. All in all, I would recommend it, it will get you started in software development. But it will completely take over your life for the time you're in the course.

Lots and lots of pros to this course. Great coaches, excellent syllabus, progressive outlook. The key thing for me is that I left feeling confident about picking up new languages and working in new tech stacks. You also cover lots of things you probably... Read More wouldn't if self-learning, such as TDD and doing multiple projects in teams. Another big bonus is the careers team, and the relationships they build up with hiring partners. In terms of cons, I'm struggling. It's definitely an intensive course and I did more hours outside of standard hours to stop me from falling behind that I thought I'd have to. It's definitely a lot of money. But the ability to get a job quicker will mean it will essentially pay for itself. And you'll be more confident and well-rounded when you do land that job.

For anyone considering a career change I would highly recommend joining makers. The course is highly intensive and will make your work really hard. My skills improved significantly over a very small amount of time. The real value comes from the people... Read More and the community. Everyone in the cohort had a genuine interest in tech and the overall environment was very inspiring. Joining makers was the best decision I made for my career.

I took a huge gamble leaving my full-time job to join Makers, in the middle of the pandemic no less, but I found that a lot of people on the course were in a very similar situation to myself. Makers know this too and offer incredible support at every... Read More stage to help you deal with the doubt, stress, and anxiety that can come with taking such a huge leap of faith. That said, the course is not a cakewalk. Makers do everything they can to help you along your journey, but ultimately, you are the one who has to walk the path. To get the best out of the course, you will need to put your all into the weekly challenges, workshops, and materials provided by Makers. It is an intensive course for a reason. Luckily, the coaches make this a really enjoyable and fun experience. They treat you as an individual and there is an emphasis on emotional intelligence that for me was a huge part of why I chose Makers over other coding boot camps. They are honest with you when talking about job prospects or any limitations upon course completion and have an amazing team specifically dedicated to assisting you in finding your first role. I am happy to say I was offered a role within the first 2 months of completing the course and the face time that you get with their hiring partners is invaluable in achieving this. If you are pursuing purely a front-end role, the course curriculum does not focus on this as much so maybe it wouldn't be the best for you if that was your goal - the hiring partners (for the majority, it seems) tend to be either back-end or full-stack roles. That said, some of their hiring partners are looking for front-end only devs so I wouldn't write it off completely. Look at the curriculum. Do your research. I can guarantee you will learn something on the course that can help you find a job.

Overall, a great experience that I would recommend to anyone wanting to switch careers into tech. The course consists mostly of pairing and group-work, so I recommend looking elsewhere if you don't play well with others. The rest of the time is for self-led... Read More learning, and some coach led workshops. The coaches are great, very supportive, knowledgeable and held us to a high standard of code quality. One draw back though is that the coaches will not give you much in the way of individual support or attention unless you ask for it - you may notice a small, vocal minority getting the majority of the coaches attention because of this.

Makers Academy is a place full of good vibes, which is one of the main reasons I decided to start my journey with them. Is inclusive, full of great coaches ready to help you to learn. Their motto is "Is not hard, is just new" and that is a great mantra... Read More not only for your career. Spoiler Alert: If they'll ask you to believe the process, do It, it works.

Changing careers is a very daunting and scary thing, especially if like me you have been in your career for 14 years or more. The biggest thing you are going to need is understanding the industry, coding comes after that and this is exactly what makers... Read More has helped within a big big way. Sure coding is important but it is not the be-all and end all of working in software if you can believe that. At first, it will be stressful and your way of thinking is most likely going to have to change if you are anything like me but trust me when I say it is in your best interest.

Makers teaches you how to become an effective self led learner, allowing you to pick up a new tech stack and build anything. There is a large focus on test driven development and planning which really helps you develop effective working processes. What... Read More impressed me most is their dedication to good mental health and well being. There is a big focus on mentality and understanding how to work with others in agile workflows. There is also a great emphasis on how to be patient with yourself as you learn and understanding that the course is the beginning of long term growth. Makers taught me more than just how to make good software, they also helped me discover my own strengths and how to recognize them. I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking for a new and exciting challenge.

Makers was a fantastic opportunity to make a career change. The course content was good, focussing on the important skills you need as a developer, which helps to set up for success after the course is over. The aftercare of Makers was by far the most... Read More impressive part of the course for me, the process is well managed and the hiring team is fantastic at helping you with your CV and interviews. There are lots of high-quality partners hiring through the academy and these opportunities are worth their weight in gold. The hiring market for junior developers is hard but is made a lot easier with what Makers can offer you.