Makers Academy

It is not only the quality of code knowledge that you can be sure to find here, it is all the many things you will need to be ready for your first role as a developer. I knew Javascript pretty well before Makers, and turns out didn't learn more Javascript... Read More then I already knew during Makers - but I hadn't written a single test in my life! And I doubt I would have talked about 100% code coverage if I stuck to Udemy and YouTube. So TDD, OOP, SOLID, Agile, Pair Programming, Git, EQ (emotional intelligence curriculum!) - all of it ... everything you need to hit the ground running as a reliable and promising junior dev is what you'll find at Makers. Put as much in as you'd like to get out and the absolutely AMAZING Makers coaching team will be there to support you every step of the way, from "Hello World!" to hello first job!

I loved my time at Makers bootcamp! I hardly knew any code before Makers, only a bit of Ruby that we needed to learn before joining. The curriculum covers a vast amount with exciting group projects, and is mainly self led learning and pair programming.... Read More The experience after finishing the course and joining the careers bootcamp was AMAZING!! You receive loads of support, and they are there to support you until you find a job! I can't thank Makers enough for helping me with this career change and successfully finding a job so quickly!

Makers is a well refined, well structured, intensive coding bootcamp. The coaches are super knowledgable and ready to help, and the curriculum is well curated and structured. The job support after is *excellent*. I initially got a job through Makers at... Read More a company that ran out of funding, and Makers added me straight back into their job support network without hesitation.

Within 6 months, I have gone from very novice coder to getting my first job as a developer and that is thanks to Makers. And although an intense learning experience, it has also been a refreshing and revitalising break from the world of work where my... Read More learning has been the priority. The course is 16 weeks long and starts with 4 weeks of pre-course material to do as self-study. This helps provide a good intro and basics needed for the main course. I like that the course starts with Ruby and then you learn JavaScript and get to build web apps in both. I think this leads you to feel more language agnostic and not daunted when looking at jobs that might use different tech as you know you can apply the principles and knowledge you already have to learn new languages. There is a big focus on pairing and also working on group projects, which is great for helping to prepare for life in a tech team as well as aiding your learning. There is no spoon-feeding, you get out what you put in, but you also gain the tools to continue to learn and grow your knowledge as you head on into your career. And to get there, there is good support once you finish the bootcamp and start out jobhunting, with a team of coaches rooting for you to get a job and then celebrating with you when you do. :)

I did the Makers Apprenticeship in 2019 and after more than 3 years I can honestly say that it has changed my life. The bootcamp is demanding, and you will find that there is no easy answer to any problem. What you learn at Makers on top of basic coding... Read More skills is how to approach these problems, break them down and deal with them as best as you can. Don't expect to be taught how to do everything but rather you'll learn how to pick up new skills quickly and put them to use. The coaches were super helpful, they are knowledgeable and they support you to find answers yourself. After working in the industry for over 3 years, I find that I still use the tools I was given at Makers to learn about new tech in my day to day job. After the 3 months bootcamp I started working as a software engineer as part of the apprenticeship program and completed my level 4 software developer certification within a year with the support of my placement coach. This bootcamp and preparing the assignments for the level 4 certification while working was probably one of the most challenging things in my life but it was 100% worth it.

I decided to change career after moving to the UK, after doing some researches I decided to go for tech with Makers. I will start with the pros. Pros: - Pair-programming: we did pair-programming almost every day. It gave us the opportunity to learn from... Read More each other. It also allow me to get used to working with other people. - good cirriculum structure: It saved me a lot of time trying to figure out what to learn first. It allowed me to learn step by step and progress with a good speed - 3 group projects: we worked with Agile, which gave me some taste of working in a team with high speed. I was surprised how the group projects helped me grow as a developer. - demanding workload: yes, I do think it is a pro. We had weekend challenges at the second half of the course, so expect to work really hard even on weekends. But it helped me to learn quick. Cons: - Full time and expensive. It's actually quite expensive, adding the fact that you have to study full time, you need to be sure tech is really what you want before joining. - Sometimes it is quite self-paced, so nobody can promise you that you are able to learn everything fully by the end of the course. You still need to pay a lot of effort to really absorb everything. Overall: Yes, the course is demanding. It provides a good structured cirriculum. You can get prepared to join the tech industry in a relatively short time - if you are willing to work very hard.

I was always skeptical about doing a Bootcamp, as coding has such a wide and deep range of free material that's readily available and free! However, the most valuable skills I learned at makers were not ones that could ever have been picked up through... Read More an online course. Not only do they teach you to code, but they also teach you how to work in a professional development environment and how to think as one! would highly recommend to anyone seriouse about taking up a carrer in software.

Had a great time at Makers. The coaches are knowledgeable and make it a point to always be available for feedback or review. The pace of the course is rigorous but it echoes the sort of problem solving under tight time frames that will occur on the job.... Read More There is a lot of emphasis on EQ learning and the job support after completion is incredible.

Pro's: - Met some amazing people who are great to be with, and having the web of contacts is almost as valuable as the course itself. - I really liked the coaches, I learnt a lot in a short space of time. - Learnt to code!!! - A great way to kick off... Read More a career. Cons: - I felt a bit out of my depth at times. I felt when I embarked on the course I wasn't quite ready, and it was so easy to get on the course I didn't think hard enough about how intense it might be. It was worth it in the end but it was a bit like: if you can write a line of code, you're in. A good idea would be to introduce an opt-out at the end of the precourse - because when I did the course I had to pay the fees and commit by the start of the precourse, which I felt a bit pressurised by.

Makers is intensive and will take over your life for the 12 weeks you're there. You have the support of a peer group, both online and in person social events and EQ sessions to balance out the wealth of technical learning. The coaches are supportive and... Read More will make time to help you if you're stuck, although you shouldn't expect to be fed solutions as there is a heavy focus on learning how to work things out and where to look for the answers. If you aren't willing to throw yourself into it and try then I don't think you will get much out of this course and may be better off choosing something with a more guided approach. I felt really drained and burnt out at the end of the course, and honestly couldn't have imagined anything worse than having to start job applications, but the careers team had so much energy it raised me up. In a month of finishing I've got my first tech job. I would definitely recommend Makers, it's a brilliant course and a well recognised one. Knowing what I know now about my experience, I would choose Makers again.