Xccelerate

4-week course covered a lot including web scraping, data cleaning in Excel, Power Query, Power BI and more. Steven was a knowledgeable instructor. I think the course would benefit from using a capstone format to pace students through a real project environment... Read More to tie all the concepts together end-to-end. This was the first cohort and we came out with loads of reference material to set us on our way. I’m sure the second cohort will be even better and would recommend this course for those seeking an introduction to big data without requiring a coding background.

I completed the 4-month web development bootcamp and got an offer from a start-up as a software engineer within a month of graduation.
Because I do not come from tech or science background, I really feel the impact of this bootcamp. It really transforms... Read More my career.
So I recommend it to those who try to change their career

On curriculum
The program consists of learning weeks and project weeks at interval.

1) During learning weeks, we did one exercism in the morning. That is great for learning programming fundamentals through gamification of code challenge.
After the exercism, we would turn to focus on the materials of that day, reading instruction and doing mini projects.
We could adjust our own learning speed and tutors were at our disposal.
There were weekends materials but most of us could digest so much.

2) During project weeks, a 3-4 person group would be formed and we designed our own app idea. With different teammates, I made a web game using library phaser for the first group project, and a music sharing app after learning backend development, for the second project. For the final project, I made a marathon finder on my own, using angular, fireball, node js, and some more.

And I really appreciate this structure because you would have a relatively clear path of learning during learning weeks but also have the freedom to make your killer idea come true
Almost forget to mention we had ONE WEEK to take a rest after two months. This reading week is really important. We got back energy and had more time to catch up

On the job support
1) we had one hiring night and graduation presentation to impress the coming guests.
I think it would be better if we had had one more formal occasion to meet people outside. Yet you cannot say one hiring night and graduation presentation were not enough because you would want to be distracted too frequently. We had a lot to learn and make.
2) occasionally, experienced programmers were invited by tutors to share their story at day time. That is great because we knew the industry from insiders.
3) all tutors are very experienced and knowledgable! Their attitude, thinking and story would inspire you to a higher level.

On people
Accelerate team are cheerful and supportive. Most of my classmates are encouraging. very easy to pick role models and be inspired.

Overall this bootcamp is recommended

Yet for sure, there must be some room for improvement.
1) Some learning materials are not well organised and thus confusing. We got stuck occasionally. It is good that they keep rewriting the content.
2) The deposit is too high. I think 10,000 HKD is more acceptable. Or allow students to choose whether pay a higher percentage of 1st year salary or pay a higher deposit
3) not enough tutors. Around 30 students from two cohorts shared just two full-time tutors. It is understandable because they tried to select the best candidates. I heard some other bootcamps hire unemployed graduates to become full-time tutors but they did not. Just hope Accelerate could attract more great tech people to join the team!

Coming out of this bootcamp, I've learned more than I thought I could have learned. The most important takeaway from this bootcamp was learning how to learn, and that was something that the bootcamp taught really well. Going forward, I feel confident... Read More that I will be able to learn new technologies very quickly and I'm very happy with what I've achieved since starting with this bootcamp.

This course gave me the experience of conquering setbacks and helped me to instil a strong growth mindset. The curriculum at the time was focussed on Ruby on Rails which allowed me to quickly prototype my final project (a clone of AirBnb). Within a month... Read More of finishing the course, I started a web development agency with some other course mates and an experienced product manager.

Now Accelerate's curriculum is focussed on teaching the fundamentals of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, before diving deep into Node JS (back-end framework), Angular and React (front-end frameworks). This is the same stack which I use for clients projects in our web dev agency, so the technology that's being taught is very relevant for today's market.

The teaching style is focussed around the concept of learning-to-learn emphasising hands-on learning. In order to maximise the experience you'll need to be diligent and be hungry to learn throughout the course.

To me, Accelerate is a company that learns quickly and continually improves its product in order to better serve its students. I'd recommend it to anyone who has a strong desire and aptitude to learn how to code.

Accelerate's UX/PM Course really opened my eyes to new ways of thinking, revealing the many processes that go into creating a great user experience. Coming from a non-business background, the course was really useful (and accessible) in breaking down... Read More a variety of key thought processes, involving aspects of consumer psychology, marketing, design, management and research methodology.

Our instructor, April, clearly knew what she was doing, and struck a great balance between teaching us the information and allowing us to discover it ourselves in a super hands-on curriculum. What was also incredibly beneficial was that with a small class, students were able to tailor what we were learning to our own fields (with April's help).

I’d really recommend this course to anyone looking to boost their understanding of the many ways in which consumers engage with a product (whether that be a website, a brand etc.)

I took this course because I had recently transitioned to a new role and wanted to level up my marketing skills. Up until the start of this course I had been self-taught.

I'll admit that after the first session I thought, meh, I know all this stuff. Maybe... Read More I could have better spent my money elsewhere. But boy was I wrong.

The course was awesome. The level of engagement between our Instructor (Xavier) and the class was great. We had a small group which meant we could all contribute. The diversity in the group really added to the level of depth and breadth in the content covered.

In the final week, I was able to put together a solid 30, 60 and 90 day roadmap on how I would achieve my ambitious company targets. This might seem simple, but its not something I would have been capable of envisioning before taking the course.

Our course instructor, Xavier was a big part of the value I got from the course. He clearly knows his stuff, and lives and breathes marketing. He did an awesome job of teaching us the fundementals of marketing.

I will also add one last point about the Accelerate team. Its clear to me that these guys are passionate about what they do. They are committed to their vision and I'm definitely going to sign up for more of their courses.

You never know how you can improve if you don't join this bootcamp. There is no limitation on how you can achieve. There is only how well you can do. After the course, it take me not only one step further, but completely different level of coding. From... Read More an ordinary student to real developer. Thanks to all the professional teachers and assistants.

This course has provided me with the right tools to transition from a non-tech job to a developer role. I had previously tried to study and practice coding and data science on my own, but after close to a year of trying I felt I was nowhere near my initial... Read More expectations.

The main benefits I got from this course were:

-- Affordability & Accountability on the part of the Bootcamp. It was a lot easier to start on this bootcamp than any other available at that moment. And it was very important for me that I wouldn’t pay for something that I would not use eventually – I only pay for the course if I get a job. If I don’t get a job in the next 6 months, then I don’t have to pay.

-- Curriculum. Since the first cohort, which I was part of, Accelerate has greatly improved their curriculum with an in-house study plan that focuses on Node, which is also more in demand presently. As part of the first batch of graduates, I had access to the new curriculum and hence the rating is based on it.

-- Continuous Support. After the course has ended I was not left to drift on my own but I was given support on how to improve my portfolio, presentation and also find a job. I tried to apply on my own to dozens of jobs, but I was only considered and interviewed for positions on Accelerate’s referral. Their credibility helps a lot in hiring.

-- Coding environment. Honestly, it’s so distracting to learn or work at home and also motivationally exhausting to do so. Kudos to those who can organize themselves on their own and do it. For me it was a great advantage to be in a workplace environment and surrounded with other people studying exactly the same thing. This way I knew my struggles were no greater or smaller than others’ and I could communicate in real time with other students and instructors for any issues that I encounter while coding.

Everything I learned was broad enough to be relevant across different aspects of a business and user experience but not too caught up in overwhelming details. April shared many of her real life experiences, which made everything easier to relate to. The... Read More learning set up involving other people and the open atmosphere made the experience rich and rewarding.