Bloc

I am not far along in my part-time web developer course on Bloc, however, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience so far. Everyone I have worked with at Bloc, including my mentor and my assesment instructor at the end of Module 1, has been extremely helpful and kind. I was completing the Bloc course at the faster pace, however I did end up slowing my program to the 12 hour/week pace. I currently work full-time while I am in this program, and I felt I was not allowing myself the amount of time I needed to fully and thoroughly understand the concepts before moving to the next checkpoint. I was a little concerned at the end of Module 1 that the curriculum would continue to be mostly CodeSchool videos. I was pleasantly surprised when in Module 2 it's far more hands on involving actually creating a project and coding on my own with the instruction of the Bloc curriculum. I believe that this is what allows me to grasp the concepts and have the experience to apply them in the future. My mentor is extremely helpful and provides excellent insight into any coding troubles I am facing at the time of our mentor meeting. I can not imagine trying to get through a course like this without mentor meetings! I truly believe that is the most valuable asset for a student at Bloc. I look forward to continuing this course and learning more about becoming a web developer. 

Hello All!

Wanted to share my bloc experience so far, but wanted to give some context as to which other bootcamp types of services I had considered and why.

There were a couple of other bootcamps I wanted to do. I had recently found myself out of a job, and had to consider what to do next by doing some soul searching. I had been doing Coursera specializations in Java and Python, but they were highly academic, and I didn't have ANY git experience whatsoever. In looking to move towards a software developer role, I poked around different courses I could take online, and by chance stumbled upon the "bootcamp" style coding courses.

There were a couple that were $0 up front, and you would be charged on hire after graduation, 20% of your starting salary. These sounded very appealing, mainly because of the no/low cost up front. However, 80-90 hours a week would make it impossible to work. I have a family, and if I'm not working, health insurance costs would go through the roof every day I was without a job.

So, I found Bloc, and some other coding bootcamps that allowed a more lenient time commitment per week.

Of these, I weeded out the ones with what I considered the weaker curriculums, and the ones that forced you to choose between a slow 10hour a week pace OR an 80 hour a week pace.

Bloc was the only one that allowed flexibility to choose the pace I felt comfortable with, and even scale back IF I found myself a bit too over my head. That is, I signed up for the 30ish hour a week pace. Before starting, I asked if I could scale back to 15 hour a week pace if I found that whatever job I found myself in would require me to. They said that it was OK and totally doable. So, this was also a + in my favor.

I decided to go with them down the Software developer path. They seemed flexible, and also had a curriculum that would go in the direction I wanted to. 

Once I started, they did use some 3rd party company for the basic "get to know Javascript", "get to know git", "get to know HTML/CSS", "get to know HTML5", which was interesting in that I didn't expect to get a redirect for this. Don't re-invent the wheel I guess? :)

However, I looked at it as the "Intro" part of the course where the foundations were laid to move on to the more valueable, interesting, portolio building stuff.

So far, I just finished the first Angular section. Not sure if this is indicative of the following sections, but from my experience, it was good. Let me elaborate.

Initially, after the foundation/intro section, there were some projects that were easy in the sense that there was a certain amount of hand holding, and walking through the project. This was great in the sense that it gave you a feel for the code, for angular, for JS, for jquery, as well as building your GIT chops via github, without really having to majorly bust your brains, getting stuck, as well as getting frustrated. There were some places in the hand holding section that I would get stuck, but it was nothing major.

Then came the second section, which was an abrupt awakening. Basically the equivalent of being thrown off of the deep end and given some checkpoints to do on angular.

Here, you test out how much you learned previously. Of course, you realize that you didn't learn a dam thing because you were being guided, and your recourse is to dig through documentation, dig through stack overflow, dig through your previous work and lessons to find hints, and ask your mentor for some help to get unstuck.

Definitely more frustrating because there is the potential to get stuck, and that is never a fun feeling. It's like being stuck in the middle of the ocean with a life preserver that is getting slowly waterlogged. You feel like any direction you swim is not giving you any returns.

But you have to keep at it. I've gotten myself unstuck, and then it's glorious. Why? because after you do this, you'll be dam sure you learned. :)

I have also gotten help getting unstuck from my mentor as well, and... after some really difficult sections, we've had a debrief, and he gives me some perspectives/tips on how to look at the section/checkpoint that had just been conquered.

Also, in between these sections, there have been career checkpoints where you're not coding, but rather are looking at the market, at your preferences, and start to prepare you little by little towards landing a job in software development.

It helps to start to think about this stuff early, given that it starts to give you direction, even though you're not actively thinking about it. That way, you're coding, and thinking of projects that you can develop that are in a direction that you want to go in.

As far as mentors go, I've only had 2 so far. For the foundations section, was enthusiastic and excellent. Always on time, always above and beyond with regards to helping out, giving context, and explaining things.

My second instructor I chose because he had a lot of real world experience, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was in the same life stage as myself (married). In fact, a bit further along than myself (he's got a wife and kids). I thought it would be good to get a mentor who would understand not only working with code to earn a living, but also understand having a family and get direct or indirect feedback on how to balance as well as possible. As for him as a mentor, he has gotten me unstuck with certain problems, and can point me to very good material to get some more context. Because of his experience, the added value that he's been able to give me is that he tries not to repeat things that I can read on my own, or that have been explained many many times in classical programming material. He gives me his take, from a perspective that is not really found online, or if it is, it is hiding in between the lines & behind the bushes of a stack overflow thread. He gives me a different take from a different angle, and this helps in understanding things in a broader sense.

Ultimately I did get a job somewhere else, and Bloc's pace is perfect in the sense that I can work and learn, without having to give up the quality in the time I put into it for either.

I can't really rate job assistance yet given that I haven't gotten to later within the program, however job guidance so far has been great in setting the context to why I'm coding.

I started the web developer track 8 weeks ago and have really been impressed with the program so far. Before I started, I was nervous about doing an online-only bootcamp. But  Bloc's checkpoint system makes coursework and challenges simple to navigate, and will get you coding in no time.  Having a mentor has been key in helping me through my weak points and also keeping me accountable and on track.  Beyond programming, they make sure to incorporate checkpoints that keep you career-focused from the beginning.

   I did a lot of research on dev bootcamps before I joined bloc.  I chose bloc for its flexibility in time and location, giving me the ability to keep my day job. That along with the fact that this bootcamp is significantly cheaper than others makes the program incredibly cost-effective. I have been 100% satisfied with my decision so far.  There are a lot of great bootcamps out there but I think Bloc is where you'll get the most value for your money

So far the designer track has been very informative. Lot of learning and understanding. Having a best mentor to guide you makes it little easier. Glad I have one. Having 10+ years of experience in Visual effects and Animation, UX/UI including scripting languages was a new territory for me to explore. My mentor was on top of my roadblocks which gave me the confidence to move on.

The most rewarding process is, end of the day you learn new things. It gives a satisfaction when you see your checkpoint signed off. The 30mins Skype call with mentor is very encouraging. The resources and references link which is given at the end of each checkpoint is very informative. 

Some of the websites used as reference in the tutorial videos are quite outdated with the new ones. My personal thought was this inconsistency might put a layman in ambiguity. 

Kudos to Mr.Joey who I hear on every videos. His explanation is very clear , easy to understand and follow.

I will write another review once my program is completed.

Thank you

 

I joined Blocs web design program in October. So far, I am absolutely thrilled. The curriculum is up to date and the coursework and resources are current and relevant. My mentor is wonderful and gives me great advice and helps me stay on track. I have learned so much in so little time, I'm really excited to see where the rest of the program will take me. 

I worked in the legal field for a very long time. I felt I needed a huge change because I was miserable. Thats why I joined Bloc. I felt like I was giving myself another chance. I get to actually be creative again. It's wonderful knowing that I'm actually preparing myself for a career that I'm going to love. 

 

 

I wrote a review at the halfway point of my program, but I wanted to write another review now that I have completed it. I took the Full Stack Web Development course while working a full time, 40 hours/week job. Overall I am happy with the curriculum and the mentor that worked with me throughout the program. If you decide to go with Bloc look to see if Ben Neely is available as a mentor, he's great. I ended up finding work on my own before I completed the program, so I cant attest to their career placement capabilities.

Ive also been keeping a blog of my experiences and what Ive been doing to suppliment school, you can find that at noelworden.com

I had a terrible time. I was getting frustrated when stuck and felt absolutely hopeless most of the time. Why five-star review then?

Without Bloc, I would not know as much as I do now. What Bloc prepared me for was this: I am now able to grab any programming book and just keep going on my own! I understand the concepts and it is now super fun for me to build stuff and just keep going and learn more and more new material. I had four mentors during this process and all of them excellent.

Bridget Landis, Levi Kennedy, Chris Beck and Ben Simmons (no, not the basketball player).

Each of these had pushed me further than I thought was possible. And those reviews that are bitching that mentors are former students, well, for one, you can switch mentors if you're not happy, and for two, my last mentor, Ben is a former student and has taken me the furthest in my knowledge. During our time, there wasn't a single question he couldn't answer! He was always able to explain difficult concepts to me and give helpful hints that helped me to find answers on my own and made me feel like a hero. During the learning process you'll be googling a lot. Everyone does, even people who have been in the industry for ages... But Bloc will give you the ability to find, recognize and apply the solution for a given problem.

Ben helped me fall in love with programming. Super knowledgable and professional guy. I wouldn't be where I am today without him.

There is no easy path to become a programmer, but if you're willing to suffer and suck it up and keep going, you'll be happy in the end. That is, if programming is trully what you want to do. You have to want to do it for that, not for the salary, otherwise you won't go very far.

I got into programming b/c a few friends were doing it and recommended me to jump on it. So I started w/ Codecademy and Khan Academy. I definitely enjoyed it and wanted to keep learning.

First I tried a coding bootcamp at a near by campus that I was hearing over and over on Pandora Radio. It was a 12 week course, 8 hour days, on just Front-End Engineering and had good reviews. But after 4 weeks into the course, it wasn't for me because working part time didn't fit in the schedule properly and I couldn't keep up with the learning. It was either quit my job and not make rent, or quit their coding program and find a new institute.

I explored more institutes and found Bloc with some great reviews and feedback. Going with Bloc was a wonderful idea. Bloc wasn't as expensive as the campus site one and I'm getting to learn more than just Frontend Engineering. 

The mentoring at Bloc is great. The teachers at the campus site location were always busy with other students who had previous coding experience and ahead of the class. The method they taught was very vague, fast, and frustrating. At Bloc, the mentors help you get thru the problem with explanations, examples, and reasonings.

Bloc is awesome for helping me out in a tough situation when I got let go at my job. They refunded my last payment and made different payment options available so I can continue my learning at Bloc and find a new part-time job. 

I'm currently enrolled in the Designer Track at Bloc. Since I'm transitioning from a different industry I did quite a bit of research on the various coding bootcamps (online & in-person) before settling on Bloc. Many other programs such as General Assembly and UCLA's in-person were appealing to me, but I ended up choosing Bloc because of the flexible schedule, one-on-one mentorship, and how the curriculum was set up. My previous background includes photography, digital media, and graphic design. 

I am now 11 weeks through the program and I could not be happier with my decision to make a career change. My mentor has been extremely accomodating so far and tailored the program so that I could focus on UX/UI design, mobile design, and visual design as my main focuses. In the beginning, you outline to your mentor what your goals are after the program and how you two can work together to meet those goals. This is extremely important especially if you are new to the field and need some sense of direction. It takes a lot of hard work and effort to self-learn by yourself and be successful, but I've found the mentorship model to hold true to the fact that one-on-one mentoring is a very efficient way to learn in such as short span of time. 

Also, the Slack community for Bloc is awesome and the networking opportunities are endless. Also, if you are in a minority group, I highly suggest you apply for the New Relic Scholarship! I was able to actually get the Directors Scholarship which helped out with the overall cost of the program. And while I can't comment on this yet, Bloc offers career support during and after completing the program. Overall, I'm happy with the skills I've been developing so far and I can't stress enough how helpful it is to have a mentor in the industry that has the relevant experience to set you in the right direction. 

I'm about a month and a half in and my experience with Bloc, so far, has been positive. What really sets Bloc apart from the competition is its mentorship program. It's great to have someone to meet with every few days or so in order to keep you accountable and on track, as well as giving you much needed criticism and support. I can't speak for for all of Bloc's mentors, but I can say that my mentor, Terry, is incredibly knowledgeable about design and genuinely cares about my journey here. 

The curriculum seems to be constantly updating and evolving, which is good when something needs to remain up to date and effective. This is an online program, and in such, a great deal of willpower is necessary to stay on track. In the "traditional" bootcamp experience, you and a group of your peers meet in a room for 8 or so hours a day, 5 days a week where you have very little option other than to just learn. Online, it's very easy to get lost on Facebook, or TV, or go out to dinner, etc. I'm sure your mentor would very quickly call you out for that, though. 

If there's anywhere that Bloc might fall short, it is there. It's difficult to translate collaboration and teamwork with your peers through an online experience. This is not Bloc's fault at all, but just the nature of the experience. 

Would I reccommend Bloc? Yes, absolutely. (No stars for the Job Assistance because I haven't made it there yet.)

I'm currently enrolled in the Software Engineering Track at Bloc. I just finished the Front-End section where I delved into JavaScript and Angular, and I'm about to start the Back-End section.  I work a full-time job during the day, so I work on the course on nights and weekends. 

My experience has been nothing short of fantastic so far. You start working on applications within the first couple weeks in the program, and Bloc does a great job of teaching concepts in the context of building applications - what we all want to do for a living after the program! I also can't say enough great things about my mentor. He's been helpful, encouraging and understanding. And those attributes are true for everyone I've interacted with at Bloc.

If you're passionate about software development like I am, but just need a solid part-time course to learn the subject, Bloc is the choice. I haven't gone through the job assistance yet, that is still months away for me, but from what I've seen, they do a great job.

It does take some self discipline, though, as it's online. For me, I've been so excited that it hasn't been hard to be motivated. But it's definitely a factor to consider. 

I'm about half way through the front-end fundamentals track right now and I've had such a great experience so far. My mentor is top-notch! He's been able to speak into my world even beyond the technical coding parts. 

I'm working full time right now, so I ended up choosing the 15/hrs a week route. With my schedule, it works out really well. My current study schedule is 1-2 hours before work each morning and a few hours on the weekend to hit my goals. I've learned way more and way faster than I expected too. 

I'd definitely recommend trying out Bloc. I did extensive research on several other front end development courses and in my opinion Bloc's is the best one out there right now. The amount of knowledge you receive paired with a great mentor makes this program a no-brainer.