Bloc

I was very pleased with my UX experience because I was making a major career change (from manufacturing/quality to UX design) and have been self taught up until joining the Bloc program. I wanted an experience that would give me some technical skills as well as provide me some personal 1x1 feedback. The curriculum and mentoring experience has done just that. I have a great mentor and we stay connected while I continue to build my business. She offers valuable and honest feedback on how well I'm doing and where I can improve. I received a tuition reimbursement for this course which fit perfectly in the price range of the UX design course so I can't recommend Bloc enough for those who are trying to get started in this industry. Since I'm not quite finished yet, I will have to see how the portfolio and job search components are, but so far, I'm very pleased.

I love the Bloc Frontend Wed Dev curriculum and method of educating and training. More than just learning syntax and negotiating tutorials, Bloc gives you the opportunity to apply what you've learned into real world applications built using the tools that develpers utitlize daily. Having a real world, experienced Mentor that works with you pair-programming is beyond valuable in picking up best methods for conceptualizing and actualizing your application builds. Being completely green to programming, I was intitially intimidated until I got into the program and realized that having questions is commonplace and encouraged and is ultimately, the key to learning development. Bloc has great resources to take advantage of with the Bloc Student's Slack channel and the Bloc Hacker Club too. I learned a lot at Bloc and , most importantly, I learned how best to learn development at Bloc. 

I'm extremely impressed by how current Bloc's curriculum is. I also love how the course builds a slow and steady foundation, breaking every step in the process of designing and coding a web product into bite-size, easily digestible pieces. I think the method of teaching in the foundation course is perfect as you don't have to make a ton of decisions but focus on learning as many new skills as possible (ranging from software, coding to processes). I think that's a great approach, because a lot of designers tend to cripple themselves very early on, bogged down by needing to make multiple decisions, and Bloc solves that problem. It makes it easy to keep moving forward. Also, the mentors here are SUPERLATIVE. They are extremely well-rounded and great at helping you sort through ideas, framing problems and explaining things to you. I can't say enough good things about my mentor. He's been awesome. 

I joined Bloc back in April of 2015, before the Full Stack Web Designer track went down for awhile and came back as Full Stack Product Designer track.

I decided to join Bloc as a way to completely change careers, and as a replacement for attending an in-person bootcamp. While I was living in Chicago, I had applied to and been accepted by General Assembly for the Full Stack Developer course. However, before I could start that course, my boyfriend and I moved to Japan. We moved because we acceoted a one-year teaching contract near Tokyo, and I decided that during that year, I would work as hard as I could to gain the skills in order to start a new career once the contract ended.

Before joining Bloc I did a lot of research on different online bootcamps and free courses. I am a highly motivated person, so at first I thought free courses or monthly subscriptions would work well for me. However, I am completely new to the tech field, and I read about how hard it was to work at something without a more experienced person at your side giving you feedback. That's what appealed to me about Bloc. Working one-on-one with a mentor, getting feedback on my designs, and pair coding (when I was in the frontend course) really helped me grow, stay motivated, and feel more accountable for my work.

I am now finished with the program (a few weeks ago) and have already snagged myself some in-house freelance UX design work. For someone who was not previously in the industry, my effort and experience with Bloc was enough to get people to notice me and consider what I've done valid! I really owe it to Bloc for helping me start new CAREER and not just help me get my next job (which is what I've been doing for the past five years).

My only criticism is the lack of real, tangible, products to show potential employers. In all of the interviews I've had for full-time positions, the main criticism I've walked away with is that I don't have enough experience with designing real products. A portfolio full of beautiful (fake) projects is nice, but if future employers can't google even one real-life example, it really kills your chances at succeeding in the interview.

I went into Bloc's UX/UI track with no design experience at all. After finishing the course I can honestly say I am confident in my abilities as a Designer. Bloc teaches you the fundamentals in their curriculum phase, but the student gets to enhance the experience with his/her selected mentor. Not only will you come out of this course with good design sense, but you'll also increase your HTML/CSS and JS skills. Other UX courses out there focus on only one or a few aspects of design, but Bloc hits on all of them: research, UX, interaction, prototyping, and development. You can find a lot of design bootcamps that guide their students to building a portfolio through a website builder only. At Bloc you'll be given that option, but you'll also be pushed and challenged to design and develop your own portfolio from scratch. So basically if you put the time in you can be skilled enough to be on your way to becoming a Full-Stack Designer. 

I would like to start out by saying that I had no prior design or coding knowledge before attending Bloc. I can say without a doubt that attending Bloc has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I wanted to make the transition into design and web development, but I didn't want to travel to go to a bootcamp. I did some research and decided to attend Bloc. The mentors I had were above my expectations they knew their stuff. I could see myself over the months start to think like a ux designer. I made amazing projects with feedback from my mentors and I made a portfolio. Which I'm proud to say landed me a full time job as a UX Designer. I would reccomend this to anyone who wants to make a career change. It has been one of the best decisions of my life.

I joined Bloc, in October of last year; I did a lot of research on coding bootcamps before choosing Bloc (General Assembly, Hack Reactor, Coding Dojo, Iron Yard, Fullstack Academy, Flatiron School and Thinkful) just to name a few. The main reason I joined Bloc was the fact that you are allowed to work with a mentor, I really needed that one-on-one time bouncing ideas off of a more experience developer as well a venting my frustrations to. They are also super helpful, caring about you and they want you to succeed. I also needed a program that was flexible, online or had to be local to where I was (Atlanta).

I was already in the industry before I joined Bloc. I started out as a graphic designer in college and slowly moved into the web. I was able to quickly pick up CSS and HTML but struggled a lot with learning the programming dynamic with JavaScript, It was always my Achilles heel in job interviews. 

Now that I am nearly finished with my program, I can say that I have a lot more confidence when I am writing code than what I used to have. I believe in my new abilities to research and find an answer to a complicated programming issue that I (and you) will undoubtedly encounter, which I find much more valuable. Everything you need to succeed in this program, you already have within you and that is the desire to learn. Just like taking on anything new in life whether that be playing an instrument or going to the gym and getting in shape, the best way to achieve your goals and get better at it is constant repetition and consistency.

I enjoyed this program so much that I will be looking to join the Software Engineering program once I've completed my current Frontend program.

I started at Bloc about 3 months ago, and I have to say that it is a very challenging course.

Your life as a developer won't be easy, so your commitment building habits and daily routines is the most important difference between a good outcome and a bad one.

I personally felt discouraged and lost more than once, coming from a completely different background, and while having a daily job that more than often changes my working hours and weekly days last minute.

Even so, the team has been open to any request, allowing me to extend my course and spread it more in time; my mentor is tough and prepared, and so far he is a good fit for me.

The course, as I said, is challenging; but it is well explained and prepares you for your life on your own in this field.

Just this: don't expect a team of distant people that will not be there. I can message my mentor at any time, and have a skype session with my student advisor if I need to.

I cannot speak for the job assistance so far, but I will update my review as soon as I get to build my portfolio and deal with the career prep team.

I live in a middle eastern country and I could adjust my mentor sessions according to my timezone.

Kind and passionate people.

I recommend it.

PS

Might have some grammar mistakes as I am Italian, hope you get the point tho :)

I am currently enrolled in the 72-week part-time Software Engineering Track and love it! My background is a business degree and experience in banking and insurance so needless to say... Coding is completely new to me. I started with working through some Codecademy courses to see if I liked it and then decided to get serious and that is when I started to consider a bootcamp. Unfortunately I have financial commitments, a life to live and just can't quit to go somewhere for an intensive course like that... and I'm very glad I couldn't because that led me to Bloc.io

The program itself allows me the flexibility to make this big change in life but at my own pace, on my own terms. And through the Software Engineering Track specifically, I can make this change in more depth than some bootcamp would. In short, this program gave me hope that I can find a new career and get out of my current situation through hard work and their help. The curriculum is excellent, my mentor is knowledgeable and personable and I couldn't be happier with both. And on top of that, the customer service has been top-notch. Any minor issues have been quickly and professionally resolved. 

In the program you work through foundation courses and then move on to a pre-set project list you can choose two from or even work on your own idea for a capstone project if you want. Once that has been completed you have career-prep work and can build a portfolio. Overall it is a very comprehensive system and I would recommend it to anyone interested.