We Can Code IT

The impression I got was since its paid upfront, there is really no reason for them to care about your success. There really was no accountability for students which is fine since the students are all adults, but it felt like the instructors were accommodating... Read More those who didn't put effort in rather than those who wanted to learn. I do not recommend this bootcamp.

My time at we can code it was phenomenal. From onboarding and pre bootcamp lectures and classes, to my very first class full time where I learned the most valuable tools to date - how to set up my software development workspaces on any machine. Git IntelliJ... Read More and all of the little nuances that every experienced developer would want to know were covered in my first few weeks. These proved valuable when I secured employment after bootcamp, throughout my bootcamp experience. And in between when working on my own projects to prepare for what was to come.

I recently graduated from We Can Code it in September of this year (2021) and had a great experience. Before We Can Code It, I had relatively zero coding experience. I tried learning myself on Free Code Camp before thinking there had to be an accelerated... Read More way. That's when I discovered boot camps. The magic of WCCI, and what set WCCI apart for me, was the diversity within the program. The diversity of cultures and work experiences and the diversity of thought here is just so rich. I really wish I could replicate it in all areas of my life. I also can't say enough about the instructors. Our cohort had individuals working day shifts, night shifts, weekend shifts, you name it. And still, it felt like our instructors were always available. In addition to our classroom sessions that ran four days out of the week, instructors made time during the days and evenings each week for study sessions, and they had daily office hours for 1 on 1 meetings. It really was above and beyond. In terms of career readiness, We Can Code It had us create things you would expect, like a resume, a cover letter, a LinkedIn profile, but other things go much beyond that. We also created a list of our non-negotiables, in terms of things that we want in our next job, a list of questions important to us individually to ask in a job interview, and we even did some mock interviews to practice our skills and interviews with people in the tech industry already. Overall, I really couldn't have asked for more out of a boot camp. My experience was great.

This is a great investment in yourself. I had a lot of fun in the bootcamp and met some really great people in the process. I took the online course and while it was a challenge at first the experience was 100% worth it. The instructors are legit and... Read More will teach you everything you need to learn to become a successful software developer.

I learned how to be a developer in a program similar to how my job actually turned out to be. I learned the language skills, but more importantly I learned how to think like a dev and how to problem solve business logic. Then I found a good comminity... Read More above and beyond the curriculum.

I had only basic html experience going in. I found the weekly projects too easy. I was not prepared for the coding tests I encountered in job interviews. The school also vastly oversold our salary expectations for the central Ohio job market. At the end... Read More of the boot camp the only classmates I knew of who got job offers also had college degrees, so a pricy certificate alone is hardly a job guarantee. I ended up going back to my previous career. I’m now making double in another industry what the recruiters were talking about on graduation day at boot camp.

One of the best decisions I have made. I went to WCCI (fall 2019) and graduated December 2019. I was working as a software developer by February 2020 for an amazing startup in Columbus Ohio. I am so glad I made the change when I did. My previous industry... Read More was closed a majority of 2020 while, I was continuing to grow in my current role. I was able to work full time, during a pandemic, and have my children home with me. The education I received at WCCI was well rounded and gave me an amazing variety of real life tools. The career support was perfect, well advised, and prepared me fully for the job search and interview process. I decided to go to WCCI based on their mission and what they want to achieve in the technology industry.

I started We Can Code IT knowing little to nothing about web development, coding, or networking. For me, jumping into the boot camp was a blind leap into the depths of the unknown. I made the decision to leave my safe and familiar customer service job... Read More to pursue a new path, and to date it has been the best decision I've ever made.

We Can Code IT is surprisingly thoughtful. I expected a high intensity and moderately intimidating environment where the instructors and students were all business and the weakest links would be left behind. This couldn't be farther from the truth. All students, regardless of their experience or how quickly they learn, are given a great deal of nurture and support by the instructors and staff. Every morning and every afternoon, the instructors check in with each student as a group to get a handle on how they're feeling, what they're enjoying about the program, and what things they need help with. As a heavy introvert with an innate fear of the spotlight, this scared me for about a week before my classmates became familiar faces and the fear of public speaking disappeared. We Can Code IT also provides an emotional roadmap for what students generally feel during the course, and the instructors try their best to let the students know that what they're feeling is natural and that they are capable of incredible things if they set their mind to it.

We Can Code IT also has a career services component that teaches you everything you need to know about applying for a job as a developer. A multitude of topics are covered, like interview etiquette, networking, how to search for jobs, how to write a good resume, and how to sell yourself (all things that I had absolutely no idea how to do beforehand). You learn the do's and don'ts, you build confidence, and by the time you graduate, you feel ready to take the next step in your career. Frankly, some aspects of the career services experience were uncomfortable and nerve-wracking (mock interviews and reaching out to strangers on LinkedIn to name a couple), and to my detriment I avoided them. Taking this next huge step in your life is meant to be scary, but I think I could have used a little more positive affirmation over being nudged off of a 10 meter diving board. That being said, finally making that jump isn't anywhere as bad as I made it out to be and I wish I took more advantage of the things WCCI had to offer, like the opportunity to schedule as many one on one meetings with career services as you think you need.

The curriculum is intelligently laid out. The different modules all build off of one another without putting too much stress on the students. Every step of the way, I was learning something new and fun. WCCI also provides extra instruction time Wednesday afternoons immediately after the instructional period, which helped me learn the things I was struggling with. By the last third of the cohort, I felt like I had a solid grip on web development fundamentals and had nothing but excitement for my future.

Then covid happened.

With a little bit more than a month left in the cohort, a somber and uncomfortable meeting was had on the last day that I would go to the WCCI campus explaining that classes would be indefinitely moved to virtual instruction. All interactions with WCCI staff and students, including lectures and team work sessions, would take place by video call from home. This caused a great deal of unrest and stress with some of the students, myself included. I personally learn much better in person, as my brain kind of turns off some switches when I'm staring at a computer screen. To that end, I'm thankful that we only had half of a module left to finish by the time we made the transition. Through no fault of the program itself, this period of time is where I remember the least amount of information, and my confidence in the material I learned is substantially lower. A silver lining to virtual instruction, however, is that while the pandemic is still going on, most places of employment, including the office where I currently work, are also virtual. Learning how to use the technologies to stay connected and productive with your fellow coders is an extremely valuable skill these days, and potential employers will see the potential behind hiring a developer who already knows the hoops you need to jump through to work from home. In retrospect, it was very helpful that we transitioned to virtual when we did, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Overall, I highly recommend We Can Code IT if you're ready to put in the effort. It's a program that requires a lot of learning and unlearning, but they give you all the resources and help you need. Coding-wise, I feel like WCCI covered all the bases I need for my career future. In addition, everything I learned outside of coding has made me more confident in my ability to make big changes in my life and take initiative, two things I desperately needed. We Can Code IT was a positive experience for me, and I hope it's a positive experience for you too.

Just a brief word of advice: don't forget your semicolons and make sure everything's capitalized correctly.

WCCI greatly exceeded my expectations. The instructors are clearly passionate about clean code and helping us learn. They are very, very good at what they do, always nudging us towards a clearer understanding of concepts rather than just giving us the... Read More answers.

Ben taught test-driven design (TDD), which is not only a valuable body of skills but a rare one. Since graduation I’ve observed that TDD is often little more than a buzzword at many companies. But I came out of the program knowing unit testing and integration testing like the back of my hand, and it makes the code all the more maintainable and easier to read. (TDD just happened to tip the scales in my favor when I got my first job out of boot camp. The onsite technical evaluation was literally two hours of Jest testing as I solved a kata for the proctor. Two hours!) The career guidance is priceless—you just can’t find that kind of local information on the internet, and working with Lacey to polish my resume and prepare for interviews was an absolute joy.

One thing I should add is that the program is very much oriented towards learning by doing, and the emphasis was on building high-quality, clean apps as quickly as possible. This came at the expense of say formal knowledge testing or theory, which are by no means trivial; I say this because of the 100+ positions I applied for, quite a few employers grilled me on Java theory and object-oriented theory. This is something to be aware if you plan to apply to companies known for quizzing applicants on theory, and there certainly are plenty of those around town. JP Morgan Chase is one of them. I wouldn't say this is a shortcoming of the program, but a recruiter from one consultancy downtown said that in his experience, WCCI grads are strong on practice, weak on theory.

Anyway, the environment at WCCI is supportive, and the expert curation and guidance make this place worth every penny. I also made friends with my classmates, which was especially important since I had moved to Ohio two months before taking the course.

When I came to WeCanCodeIT, I was at a crossroads in my life.
I'd been working in a low-level tech job for a couple years, but knew I wanted to get into development at some point. I started looking around at local bootcamps and really connected with WCCI's... Read More mission to help diversify tech. I went to one of their information sessions and met some of their staff and was struck immediately by how much they cared for their students (both present, and past).
I seriously can't say enough to fully encapsulate how incredible the staff of this bootcamp is. They are smart, empathetic and care deeply about their jobs and the success of their students.
I enrolled in the hybrid-bootcamp course, so I could continue working full-time. The curriculum was excellent and engaging and I was always excited to get to work on the weekly projects and learn something new. The instructor encouraged us to be as creative as we wanted, which kept the work interesting and led to vastly different-looking results among classmates, which was so fun to see.
In addition to the development piece of the curriculum, we had sessions with a success advisor. These sessions were incredibly helpful in crafting a good developer resume, preparing for technical interviews and generally growing confidence. It was clear from the beginning of these sessions that they wanted each of us to figure out what we wanted from a job and make sure we landed at a company where we'd be happy. It was refreshing to never be pushed to interview at an enterprise company just to get the job placement numbers.
I started my first developer job roughly a month and a half after graduating from the bootcamp and have never been happier at work. I wouldn't have gotten to where I am without WCCI, and I would urge anyone looking to get into development to seek them out. My experience with them is by far the best educational experience I've ever had and I'll never stop being grateful for it.