Epicode

As I'm writing this review I just finished my first day working as a developer. Got hired 1 month after finishing Strive School.
I'm probably gonna write the most cliché review ever lol, but if you're looking for a way to kickstart your career in programming I couldn't think of a better choice.

First of all, besides the results, I just loved the experience. Cool atmosphere in the class, super personable staff: teachers, TAs, career coaches, Diego, everyone. 
Then the strong suits:
Teachers were great, just plain and simple very good at it, excellent at explaining to everyone and taking their time to guide you through any question you may have.
They have a thoroughly organized career team that helps you after the course, that's not a given at all in other camps.
The course itself is super well structured and I believe if you wanna learn Full Stack like I did, 6 months has gotta be the minimum, I personally wouldn't choose a shorter camp. 
The technologies you learn are the absolute most in-demand and they're chosen according to what's expanding right now.

As I said, it's pretty straight forward. Just 100% recommended top to bottom.
I'm happy and grateful I found it and did it.

My background education is in Environmental Engineering. What does that have to do with coding? Right, not much... apart from the fact that it has always been a passion for me.

When covid happened I was forced to quit my job in the Renewable Energy industry in Australia and to come closer to home (Portugal), family and friends. I started looking for a new job but companies weren't hiring much... This was when I decided to give my hidden passion a real shot. I discovered Strive School, enrolled in the Fullstack Course in April 2021 and in December 2021 received my first offer to work as a Software Engineer at an amazing company.

Strive's courses are not easy but that's what's great about them. You are pushing your own capacities every day, which also makes you a smarter person every day.

The Fullstack course is very well structured, starting with Javascript basics but quickly moving to more advanced and complex concepts. However the daily challenges/homeworks and build weeks help you keep up with the pace and practice everything over and over again while combining previously learnt concepts with new ones. The instructors are amazing and I even wondered when they slept! They seem to be always there for you: after hours, weekends, holidays, you name it...

I haven't started my professional journey yet (less than 2 weeks to go!) but I feel ready to join a company environment. This is mainly due to the fact that the course teaches you how to collaborate with others. Many of the projects are undertaken in pairs or groups which obviously is a huge part of the whole software developing stuff.

My last but not least mention goes to the job hunting support team. After you graduate from the course you never feel abandoned and the training and job hunting secrets provided by the school are really helpful!

In conclusion, whether you never wrote a line of code, are trying to change your career or have some experience with software development Strive School is for you!

Stop being a Dummy and chase your dream! 

Coding as they say it’s hard, yes of course it’s really hard, trying to get your head around the logic which happens like magic. You feel so depressed feeling like you are not good enough, attended different coding lectures online, watched hundreds of YouTube videos and still you don’t even know how to code a simple Todo App without watching another YouTube video.

I have been there, I know how it feels. Please DON’T GIVE UP. Apart from your zeal to learn how to code, at the end you have your financial freedom which is what everybody really wants.

In all the decisions I have made in life joining Strive Schools was one of the best. I enrolled for the Frontend Development Course, before then I have struggled with understanding JavaScript which is the core language of the web, Strive School made it so easy, breaking down every concept step by step. With JavaScript you can easily understand every other library/tools/frameworks. I have come to realize that being a teacher is a gift, it’s not a skill you can acquire or learn, you really need to have it in you to impact other people because you can’t give what you don’t have. My teachers (@Frontend development team) were awesome I don’t want to mention all your names here but just know you are awesome because you changed my life. 

The curriculum is well structured, there’s always a follow up by a Teacher Assistant after each homework or class exercise. They strive to make you understand, no one is left behind and above all you need to put in the work to achieve a good result. Someone can force a horse to the river but can’t force it to drink water. So you really need to know what you want and be committed to achieving it. If learning how to code is your problem then Strive Schools is the solution. I promise you.

I have come across different teachers, courses and coding bootcamps but I can assure you, You Will Never Regret Joining Strive Schools, NEVER EVER EVER EVER REGRET I promise you that. 
I landed a software developer job just few weeks after completing the frontend development course with a lot of effort and hard work put in from my side. If you put in the work you will achieve a good result.

Thank you 
Emmanuel 

I know it may sound cliché, but it really was the best decision in my life. Those tough Covid times turned life upside down for many of us. I was the one as well. Being a successful and happy Sommelier I had to rethink about my future once I lost my job. Being skeptical about this type of learning in the beginning, Ii decided to give it a try. I had absolutely no coding experience once joining Strive school in March, and couple weeks after graduating I got my first job offer. That really proves that you may indeed become “a hero from zero”.Tutors and assistants were truly fantastic. With great passion, knowledge and experience all together with the understanding that everyone learns at their own pace, they never made me have a thought to give up and quit. You will get support, help whenever you feel lost or stuck somewhere, and amazing Couch to help you get your first job. All included:) If you really want to become a programmer, you will definitely get there with Strive.

Starting the first day on September 28 was and exciting and a bit anxious experience for me. I would never would have thought that this day would be the start of the most amazing, teaching and fulfilling experience of my life. I did not learn just tech stack in Strive School which is the best and up to date but I learned how to work on a team, how to present my self, how to communicate better with others and most importantly how striving is always highly rewarded.  

I live in Kosovo so finding a job  outside of my country is harder than most countries in EU or UK but with the help of Strive I had so many opportunities and finally with the teachings of the staff I landed a job. If you just follow Strive school teachings and advises I would say being a developer as well as landing a job is just a matter of time. I would like to thank all my Tutors, TA's and career coach for the best year of my life!

Let's start from the end: I started my Strive school experience one year ago and in some days I'll start with my first job as web developer. 
I had heard about Strive School when it was still "under the radar" and it seemed a great idea and I wanted to do it already back then. One year later, during the pandemic, I could do the one-month free course they offered. There I made a decision to do a complete u-turn to my life, bringing back my passion for coding and go back to study. 
Let's put it straight: Strive School is hard and challenging but just keep in mind to "trust the process" as they know exactly what is needed in order to succeed as web developer. You need to put efforts, will to learn, to try and also to fail but in the end it will be highly rewarding. Teachers and assistants are there to help, the lessons are engaging and working with other peers allows you to understand how to work in a team and it's not just a metter of web technologies: every skill (both hard and soft) a web developer should have is analyzed and taught in the best way. And it's something which lasts way after the course ends, as the course success coordinator and the teachers are always there to make sure you land a job in the industry. 
Also, there's a great community where you can rely on peers and colleagues for questions and learning, there are interesting talks with people from the web dev and hr world and even gym class! 
Strive School is a life-changing experience!

I've started Strive School with no prior coding experience nor any formal education in computer science.

The course is really intense but totally worth it. It's a full immersion that takes you from zero to hero.
The program is well designed and there is a nice balance between theory and practice. You'll basically spend all your day coding. Teachers and tutors are amazing and very helpful, even outside academic hours, and they provide you also with the soft skill required to find a job (interview prep, CV, networking class, linkedin, and so on).
One of the most amazing things is the support the school gives after the course: you will never feel like you've been left alone.

I'm not gonna lie: it's hard. But commitment pays, and Strive is up to the challenge!

I started the course in november 2020, ended in june 2021 and I'll start my first tech job in october 2021!

I think Strive School has one of the best roadmaps to teach you software development. First of all, they give you the key points about the technology and you'll immediately practice it to see whether or not you're missing something. IF you're missing something, you'll have a chance to review missing parts with expert teaching assistants. ELSE IF you understand the topics but you want to improve your skills, teachers and teaching assistants always track what kind of developer you are and they give you great ideas on which direction you should improve your skills. ELSE you finished the course successfully and you're looking for new opportunities, Strive will be always with you.

I live in Turkey and I was trying to find a new job in Europe. It wasn't an easy situation for me to solve. Thanks to the Student Success Coordinator. She was always with me even I finished the course and I have a great job now. Thanks Strive School for being a great family for me. You helped me a lot to create a new life for myself.

I landed in strive school with little to nothing coding experience. It’s been challenging, I won’t lie to you, but the challenge you find in in there is the thing that makes you grow. You will laugh, you will cry, but with if you’re the kind of person that likes challenges you’ll find the perfect place for you! Live lectures & practice are perfectly balanced, so you’ll learn actually how to program, instead of just focusing on theory & tutorials. You’ll have super skilled & funny tutors that’ll follow you in any trouble you may find along the road! Strive literally changed my life, allowing me a career switch in my 30s -before strive I was a bartender! On top of that the job hunting part of the boootcamp is led by a superwoman which will prepare you to find a job and crush job interviews! Totally worth it!

The six months in strive were intense, to say the least. 
I came to them with previous experience and solid basics but also after 10 years of not touching anything web development related.

In six months I did learn new technologies and philosophies of development.
the hard skills were taught efficiently and thoroughly.

but in all honesty, the real value to me was in the soft skills that we learned.
they taught us how to work in a team, how to network on socials, how to write better CV's and how to present ourselves for an interview. skills that I was never taught before and that, being an introvert, I desperately needed.

this course is hard but rewarding, and it's continually evolving with the market, I've seen some of the changes myself during the course.

They also do not abandon you after graduation, Strive helps you to seek and catch opportunities, and leaves you with a community of alumni ready to help each other be it on technical or human problems.

When they said you don’t need any previous knowledge or background to join they were totally right. 

I started with no experience, looking for a switch in careers, after coming from a background in hospitality I am proud to say that only 2 months after I graduated from Strive I started working as a Full Stack Developer. 

Teachers and the whole Strive team are amazing at what they do, very experienced and knowledgeable, super patient and always there for you even if you have 1000 questions in one day and on top of it all they are still there for you even after you find a job! Lectures are very clear and to the point, applications that you will build in 6 months are going to give a great foundation to become a very decent developer by the end of the course. They offer great support while you are looking for a job and they give a lot of referrals to other companies about students (that could also potentially help you kick off your career in tech). 

They often hold guest lectures from people that work in amazing companies that give students advices and I find it very nice that they are trying to give you a clear idea of who you can also become. 

Also the community and the peers in my batch gave this wonderful experience an even bigger and meaningful impact on me that I will forever cherish. 

If you want to change careers, meet great and wonderful people, work hard and learn a lot then this school is the best investment and experience that you can do for yourself. I wish I was exaggerating, but they truly are amazing :) 

I joined Strive with a bachelor's degree in computer science and I believe it taught me a lot more than the time I was in University. I'm not saying University is pointless, it both has its pros and cons but you feel a lot more committed and connected with everyone in Strive. University teaches you a broad range of technology, from AI to maths logic to mobile applications, when trying to squeeze so much into a few years you'll only be able to scratch the surface of all of the sectors, good if you have no idea which field to go into. If you know what field you want to get into then Strive will do much better, Strive dives deep into one field and gives you what is required by the job specification out there.

It's not gonna be an easy journey but it won't be worth it if it's easy. Strive requires commitment and discipline, if you're passionate enough about what you want to learn then it won't be a problem, Monday to Friday 9 am-5 pm of continuous learning and developing new skills, if you can't see yourself doing that then don't bother. If you do join, you will definitely be impressed with how far you've come at the end of it. 

Pros

• Tutors available all the time
• Great and up to date contents
• Amazing and experienced tutors
• Spectacular job hunt assistance
• Great interview assistance
• Flexibility in learning out of scope technologies (ie: if the majority of students want to learn more about something else, it will be added to the schedule)
• Extra studies if needed

Cons

• Recorded lectures can be a bit boring but only happens about twice a month
• Can't think of anything else, all in all, an amazing journey

PS: Trust the process, you might feel left behind at some point but Strive is always there for you. Find me on LinkedIn if you have any questions, I'm always up for a chat 😊 https://www.linkedin.com/in/hungjinchong/