Hack Reactor

Hack Reactor is by the far one of the best boot camps you can now attend. If you've considered a career switch to Software Engineering than I highly recommend that you take the leap of faith and enroll in Hack Reactor.

During your time at Hack Reactor... Read More you learn not only how to code like an engineer but to think like one as well. Being autonomous and a self learner is a must to succeed in Hack Reactor. You will be expected to put in a lot of work to grow as an engineer. It will be challenging but once you land your first job all the time and money you invested into the program will be worth it.

I have no regrets. Enrolling in Hack Reactor helped me become a Software Engineer and I encourage that you do the same.

Hack Reactor was the second online boot camp experience I had, and while I would not recommend the first which I will not reference by name I will fully recommend Hack Reactor. It was a great experience. The curriculum was fantastic, the pair programming... Read More and group project structure prepared me fantastically for the job that I have started (a job the Hack Reactor Alumni network helped me get). I was VERY worried about finding a job even at the completion of the course. Terrified to even apply for fear of my skills being inadequate. However, once I started I found that I was more than prepared for my new career path. If this is what you want to do, I suggest this is the course you take. And the remote programming is also excellent training and proof to a potential employer that you could work remotely as well.

Hack Reactor is a great program. I really enjoyed attending and spending time with the helpful and supportive staff and students. It felt like the only place where I felt motivated and encouraged enough to ask questions, try new things, and continue to... Read More "climb that mountain". I spent 3 months studying my butt off, literally slept for 3-5 hours a day ( 7 days a week ) and living on a $25,000 loan rather than attending schools for 4 years, working, and owing over $100,000. I didn't talk to any of my friends, family, or even my fiancé for that time. That's ok though because now I am back to my normal life, with a good job, and no longer have to worry about "The struggle" as often as I did. Do I regret it? No. Would I do it again? Yes. Should you do it? Yes!

I attended the 12-week Hack Reactor remote cohort for full stack development which started in June 2018. Prior to Hack Reactor, I was attending the University of Texas at Austin with little prior coding experience. At first I was definitely skeptical... Read More about the program, but also the outcomes. Seemed WAY TOO GOOD to be true that in 12 weeks of the program grads on average made $75k+. But this was the industry I wanted to be in and after doing research, Hack Reactor seemed to be the best fit for me. The program was INTENSIVE... no surprise there. It is split into two phases: a "Junior" phase which is a 6 week long crash course on coding filled with a variety of topics split into 2-day sprints. The junior phase was fast paced but definitely manageable; with alot of content thrown your way and you have to be on your A game to keep up. After the junior phase is the 6-week "Senior" phase which is mainly project based requiring you to create full applications using the knowledge you've learned, while encouraging you to learn and implement new technologies on your own. Overall, the cohort was intense.. and at first it was very overwhelming. But as you progressed through the program and honed your skills in the senior phase it became apparent that this model was a product of constant refinement and led to amazing growth in knowledge and experience. Within this short span, I felt as if I had learned way more than I had at college, and the skills I gained were not only a strong foundation as a developer, but made me a stronger candidate than most college grads during my job search. Towards the end of the cohort, the focus shifts to outcomes and recruiting, to which Hack Reactor's support to getting you hired was a huge plus. They went over everything from resumes, job search, interview techniques, salary negotiations, the works. Even after I completed the program, I was assigned to a career counselor who serves as your goto for anything job search and interview related. The career counselors at Hack Reactor were phenomenal: they met with you every week giving you constant support and advice while navigating through the job market as well as interviews. My career counselor was even available for quick calls outside of our normal schedule and served as constant support. Hack Reactor normally recommends 3-6 months for the job search but I was able to get my first offer within 6 weeks and it far exceeded their normal outcomes. Without a college degree, I was nervous as I entered the job market but with the tools and knowledge I gained at Hack Reactor as well as the support from my Career Counselor, I was able to land an offer for $100,000/yr six weeks out of the program! Would definitely recommend the program to anyone considering it.

So let me give you some context. Before attending Hack Reactor in 2017, I was unemployed for an extended period of time. And before then, I was employed in a job that wasn't satisfying. During my employed tenure, I was doing simple HTML and CSS copy pasting,... Read More but I knew I could do better and wanted to take my game to the next level. So I left my job and for the next few years, I tried learning software engineering all on my own.

I learned a lot by myself because I have that tenacious growth mindset, but it wasn't enough. While I learned bits and pieces here and there, I didn't have the high level overview and understanding of how you build a piece of software both from the frontend and the backend.

So I made the decision to attend Hack Reactor. I felt that by applying, I could actually get to the next phase of my career, up my skillset, and be better prepared in the job search.

There's no secret to the tech stack that they teach you at Hack Reactor and you could probably get the same info without having to attend. BUT... getting accepted and going through the program is one of the most valuable and rewarding experiences because for 13+ intensive weeks:

-You're learning about software engineering and computer science fundamentals by implementing full stack applications using JavaScript and Node.js;

-You get a higher level understanding of building full stack applications (both the front and backend);

-Get a great baseline for computer science fundamentals;

-Build a portfolio of projects you can showcase to future employers; and

-Learn the soft skills of partner and team collaboration.

One thing I never took for granted are the 36-hour sprints where we're required to learn a new technology or computer science concept on the fly without any prior training or experience.

As a Hack Reactor graduate, we're trained to learn new skills and technologies in a pressurized and time sensitive environment to the point it develops into a growth and learning mindset. Once you graduate, that mindset never leaves you and only serves you well in the job search and later in your career.

After graduating Hack Reactor, the job search is the HARDEST thing you'll ever do. It's a long and arduous process filled with studying, filling applications, getting rejected, learning from your rejections/mistakes, and passing the coding challenges and interviews before you get an offer.

Everyone's job search is different, but I was lucky enough to leverage the wonderful and amazing career counseling services Hack Reactor has to offer post graduation. My outcomes coach deserves special praise and lots of credit for teaching me to be methodical and tenacious about my job search, as well as being a good friend for all the rejections that almost resulted in a job offer.

And the alumni community is nothing short of supportive and caring. All you have to do is ask for help, and somebody is always willing to answer your question or give you a heads up about a job opportunity at their current company.

Looking back on my time and what I can look forward to in my career, I can honestly say that attending Hack Reactor was one of the best decisions I ever made, and I'd do it again.

I came into Hack Reactor SSP with 0 experience in computer science or coding of any sort and have learned a great deal about the subject in such a short amount of time. There is a great support system and structure to SSP and I enjoyed being apart of... Read More it.

I just completed SSP37 and would absolutely recommend this course to anyone willing to put in the time and effort. Hack Reactor's SSP program provides all of the exercises necessary to be fully prepared for their technical interview, as well as a "helpdesk"... Read More that provides help if you get stuck on any of the exercises. I definitely took advantage of the helpdesk throughout the course, but just know that while this support is there, the mentors will not give you any easy answers or quick fixes - they will help point you in the right direction and encourage new ways of looking at the exercises, but you need to do the work of researching, trying different strategies, etc. If you're a driven student that is motivated to succeed, this is the program for you! Shout out to Kevin, Heather, Maurice and Mario for their motivation and support :)