The Software Guild - CLOSED

The guild was definitely a good experience for me. I took part in the Akron course and met a lot of really good people.

To anyone thinking about joining I would definitely agree with the word "Bootcamp". You will eat,sleep, and drink code and may even... Read More pull a few all-nighters to get your projects done.

It was definitely stressful but rewarding to go through the program.

I will say however, that after attending The Software Guild has put me a step above my coworkers and has allowed me to bring in a lot of really good concepts that the very experienced instructor Randall taught me to my current place of work.

I would definitely recommend this course if you can be persistent and not give up when you are frustrated.

The Software Guild taught me the skills I needed to get started working professionally as a developer. I took the .NET route (I knew nothing about C# when I joined) and by the time I was finished, I was writing robust, extensible applications that could... Read More be deployed anywhere. The instructors work very hard to make sure you understand the material and are available almost anytime for assistance, whether it's a scheduled meeting or an informal chat. Also the Employer Network managers work with you before and after graduation to help you land a sweet job (I was hired by a software consulting company before I even graduated the program). And on top of everything else, graduates get access to all of the course materials after completing the cohort, so you can go back and learn even more any time at no additional cost! If you are considering joining a cohort, then do it! It will be the best decision you ever made.

**Note, I went to the Akron, OH location that no longer exists. I chose On-Line, but I was in person at this boot-camp**

--Background--
Before the Guild, I had been working in IT Support for a few years fixing computers, networks, printers, etc... I had... Read More the pleasure of watching one of my bosses write SQL queries and being able to write my own Batch Scripts on occasion, which was enough to get me interested in the logic of writing programs. I started taking a free online web development boot camp and fell in love with it. I spent a couple months spending a good portion of my weekends working on web projects and coding challenges in JavaScript. When I realized that I wanted to do this for a living, I decided I needed to get even more serious about it, and that is where there Software Guild came in.

--Instructor--
I had the pleasure of being part of the last Akron Cohort in August 2017 under the instruction of Pat Toner. I am unsure of his future with the Guild after the disbandment of the Akron location, but I can say that he was an attentive and knowledgeable instructor. He brought his dedication to the craft and experience to the table and really embodied the educational philosophy of the Guild which, in a nutshell, is to guide toward your own answers rather than give the solution outright. The other instructors were always willing to help if we had any questions or needed help whether online or in person.

--Curriculum--
The curriculum is outstanding, and it is still being improved upon even more. I didn't realize just HOW great it was until I tried to watch a few PluralSight videos in studying up on C# at my current job (I was in the Java Cohort and am transitioning to C#). After watching a couple hours of videos, I ended up back at the Guild's curriculum to learn what I needed to.The course is break-neck speed but fair. I will agree with most other reviews that you need to be prepared and read all the pre-course prep work before signing up for this course. I did hear complaints here and there that the course was moving too fast for one person or another... Do your homework! It is called a boot-camp for a reason... You will be rigorously tested during this course. My classmates and I were putting in between 70-80 hours a week. I was in the minority, but I was there 7 days a week with the exception of 3 days during the 3 months. If I finished a project early, I would come in and help other students with any questions or troubles they had. You don't truly understand a concept unless you can teach it, so I really enjoyed doing this. The last portion of the course is mostly group work, so building good relationships with your fellow classmates is of the utmost importance to being successful in this program.

A final note about the curriculum: While you do concentrate on either C# or Java, the hard and soft skills you learn through the Guild are language Agnostic. I switched from Java to C# for my current position, and it has been an extremely smooth transition... There is still much to learn, but the Guild taught so many skills that make it much easier to invest in new skills going forward.

--Career Assistance--
The Software Guild is not shy in telling you that your job search is your own, and they mean it. However, I found our career counselor Matt to be wonderful. The first mock interview I did with him went HORRIBLE! I wasn't prepared, and he didn't hold back in telling me so. He gave me a laundry list of exercises to work through and get me back on track. Just like everything else in the Guild, I put boat-loads of effort into everything he had asked me to do. The next mock interview I had with him went great. During the last couple weeks at the cohort, I had already been through 5 interviews for 3 different jobs (2 of those were followups to 1st interviews). One of the interviews was for an in-network employer, and the other two were for companies that I had connections to through previous networking from college and past jobs. Through the process, I had 2 competing job offers and ended up taking one that I am currently at. Through the process, Matt was available for any questions and told me to call him any time if I had an emergency question about an interview or call. I never felt like I was "out in the cold" with him, and I greatly appreciated that.

--Disclaimer--
We are only a month out of our program now, and I don't believe more than 5 of us have found jobs. This is mostly to do with it being December and companies not wanting to hire until the new year. I was lucky that I had a great network to fall back on... If you have a great network, you should not have a problem finding employment.

--Cons?--
I haven't been very critical of the Guild in this review, but I honestly don't feel the need to be. The most negative thing I can say is that I am bummed out that the Akron branch is closing... Coming back to visit as an alumni was something I was very much looking forward to, and I know hanging out in the online chat rooms won't be quite the same. That being said the network is great, and it is a great thing to be part of regardless of whether or not you are in person.

I did not take the on-line class, but I'm not sure I would have done well in it. It is a significantly longer course due to it being part-time, but I don't think I could have survived without having my classmates next to me. There is definitely something to be said about others making mistakes out loud and having the teacher walk them through it while you listen along. The group work was great, whether it be in designing the application or executing the functionality, and the on-line course by nature does not have this. I do not wish to say anything negative about the online course, just that I do not think I would have been successful personally if I had done it instead of in-person.

--Final Thoughts--
The Software Guild prepared me for the career I now have. I have only been at my current job for 2 weeks, and I am already making major contributions to the code and design decisions. If you are passionate about this field and are willing to put in the time, you will come out of this with a job in the field. I surprised my current coworkers with my knowledge for only having 3 months of experience, so it is safe to say they teach the right stuff for the industry.

Five stars recommended.

I had a bachelors in Computer Science and had been doing some coding on the job. I did not grasp how object-oriented design worked or understand programming to interfaces. Separating concerns into the MVC pattern, making things testable, writing unit... Read More tests, dependency injection??? All the on-line training course I had previously taken just did not help me connect the dots on how to do apply these principles. It wasn't for lack of trying. I had spend countless hours on Pluralsight but the applications I maintained were antiquated and it was difficult without seeing these concepts in action. The Software Guild showed me how to apply these concepts in a way that made sense to me. Suddenly all the light bulbs went off and I am a much stronger developer than I was in the past. I got a job where I can apply these concepts daily and my teammates are impressed by my understanding and my ability to jump into the code right out of boot-camp. I would highly recommend this program to anyone. The content was excellent and the teachers do a great job to help students learn and grow.

I attended the Software Guild Spring/Summer 2016. The bootcamp I hear has changed quite a bit, especially with cost. But during the time I attended it was great. I looked into other bootcamps in the Akron/Cleveland area, and this one stood out in a number... Read More of ways. I attained the goal I set for myself (which was getting a job) coming into the Software Guild, and I attained it faster than expected (two weeks before the end of the cohort).

Pros:

Unlike others I know who attended different bootcamps in the area, the Software Guild has quality instructors with years of experience in the field (some bootcamps hire alumni with minimal experience) who care about the students. There were multiple instructors and TAs at our disposal who did a great job of explaining difficult concepts. If one didn't explain it well enough, you could go to several others and end up with a good understanding. I feel that we also had a more in-depth education (they teach things local companies would view as pluses). I think their employer network is great. I gained employment through one of their partners.

Cons:

I feel that the flow of the program could have been better, like introducing certain concepts in a better order. I also feel that after finishing certain units in the course that there were missing pieces in my understanding. This could be a fault of my own in some cases, but in other cases things could have been explained better. Some things felt a little rushed for me towards the end, but this could be a combination of having to complete assignments, study for interviews, and continually learning new material. Though I received help with my resume and interviewing skills, I felt that it was just okay. You definitely need to apply to jobs and seek out opportunities on your own.

In the end, you code your own success. And what presupposes your success in this field is your passion for problem solving and the desire to learn new technologies. I had a Philosophy education in college, so I took courses in elementary and advanced logic. I loved those courses. The love for solving problems with logic took me in this direction. If you have a similar background or passion with a solid work ethic, you could attend a number of bootcamps and "likely" succeed. However, going to the Software Guild with that drive and passion will "ensure" success. I only recommend going into this knowing it's something you are passionate about, and have plenty of time to commit.

If you don't want to read the whole review here you go... It is more than worth it, the teachers are great, the curriculum is great, and the support cannot be beat.

Before I came to the guild I had literally no experience writing code, I was working in... Read More retail with a BA and couldn't get an employer to look at me twice. I was looking for a program of any kind that not only taught you a skill but also gave you a support network. One that wasn't going to just say "ok you're graduated now get out get a job and boost our job placement rating." I spoke to a friend that had been through The Guide and she told me it was just that. Upon further research into their curriculum I decided to give it go.

From day one the instructors are up front with you, this is going to be hard, you are going to put in 80 - 90 hours of work a week, and they are going to be there for you every step of the way. It was this honesty I liked about The Guild, they do not lie to you they will be straight up with you no matter what. That being said, I did work for probably 90 hours a week to get everything in and constantly reached what we called "stack overflow" where your head cannot take in any more information without processing what you already put in it. The course is designed to be like that but when I looked back every week I could tell you about last week's information inside out and backwards and if I ever couldn't the instructors were always there to help me understand.

The Instructors were by far the only reason I was able to understand this information. They are by far over qualified to do this job, between the two of them they had over 20 years of work with companies like IBM and Microsoft but chose to teach. They are there because they want to be. They want to work with you on that "stupid question" or that simple concept that you just don't quite get. They will stay and work with you as long as you need, as long as you are willing to put in the effort they will match that effort and more.

Finally the biggest thing to me is the net work I have gained from this course. I have met many people in all different fields of development just by being part of The Guild no matter which location you went you. Every time I bring up The Guild with someone who went they instantly want to know what language I started in and what I am working on now and I want to know the same. Where I work there are several of us from various cohorts and we all still have shared experience and know, from the way the guild teaches you, how to help each other if we ever get stuck even if you don't know the langue. The Guild not only got me experience and job but helped me earn a career where I can thrive just on what I have learned from them and continue to learn for myself.

The class had a lot of information and for me personally I think the time frame of the class was to short. If the class was maybe an extra month long I feel like I could have learned and understood more. The pace of the class was very fast for me. I also... Read More wish I had a little knowledge of coding before I took the class. We took the class through my work so maybe it had different criteria but it would have helped to have a smaller knowledge of coding for the Java class anyways.

When I signed up, they said they could teach anyone to code, I’m not sure they say that anymore, lol.

I’m older, this was going to be a second career, and I had no experience or background in coding, but I tested well and was interested in learning. Ultimately,... Read More it didn’t go too well, probably 80% on me, though not all.

What I wish I had fully comprehended
Expect to spend all your time, ALL.YOUR.TIME, working on class. I knew this and I was used to working long weeks, but this was a different commitment.
For example, I spent 2 hours a day driving to/from class while everyone else lived minutes away, huge issue, I should have lived on campus. Also make sure family and friends know you’re not available for the duration of the program.

Learn as much as possible in advance. Sounds silly and obvious, but the instructor assured me I’d be ok with my limited experience. I completed all of the prerequisite work, but I should have done more. Turns out several classmates already knew most all of what was covered in the program, but they wanted the experience and certification. The instructor tended to teach to the stronger students, so be prepared.

Make sure your computer works and speak up if you have ANY problems. We were provided computers with everything we needed, but mine was missing a driver which caused the curser to jump around when I put any pressure near the touchpad. This is horrible when there’s autocomplete. The instructor would have us follow along, typing code with him. Unfortunately, my curser would jump to a random line and autocomplete would change what I had already typed. This made me the slowest in the class because I had to fix the auto complete as well as type his code. The instructor was sure it was my typing, it wasn’t, and the class was 3/4 over before we figured out we needed to turn off the touchpad. I should have pushed harder to get the pc fixed rather than assuming it was me.

I learned a lot and it was the right decision at the time. I got a job that was a good fit for me that I wouldn’t have gotten without the program. That said, I would have gotten a lot more out of the program with just a few changes

This opportunity was absolutely fulfilling. For a relatively low price, I was able to pick up on a lot of industry relevant Java skills from the basics to more advanced material. The instructors were ok, truthfully, but I used a lot of after class tutoring... Read More to help fill in the blanks and ultimately I landed a Java developer role with a good company through the help of the guild's job placement speed interviews at the end of the course.

I found myself in my mid 30s and stuck in a career that I was unhappy with when I stumbled upon information for a programming boot camp called The Software Guild. The 12 week program was intense to say the least, but I've never been more proud to accomplish... Read More anything in my life. I have been a full stack developer for 6 months now and I absolutely love what I do. Hands down attending The Software Guild was the best decision I've ever made. It completely changed my life.