Le Wagon

My brother is a programmer and has been telling me for the past 12 years to start learning to code. Right. So I could have learned to code years ago but would I have liked it as much as I do now??

I attended Le Wagon in Tel Aviv Batch #150. Before that I worked for 3 years in a marketing company as an affiliate manager, and finally decided to quit. It was the right time to look for a new direction, to learn something new that I will love doing. I suddenly gave a second thought to learning to code. I started a few online courses but it wasn’t enough. I felt like I needed a learning environment.

After 4 months of self-learning, hours spent in coffee shops with friends, more Netflix that I could ever watch and numerous researches about coding courses, I stumbled upon Le Wagon website. I watched videos on Youtube about project pitches and I was very impressed by the result after only 2 months. After checking all the possible reviews - all very good - I decided to apply. My advice: do not waste your time and go to Le Wagon even if you have no skills whatsoever in coding.

In the first few weeks of the bootcamp, it’s hard but the teachers and TAs are super clear, really helpful and thorough. The lessons are super clear. Every day you get to practice what you’ve learned the same morning via multiple exercises. On top of that, you get a Live Code session at the end of the day that helps the knowledge acquired sink in. Towards the end of the bootcamp, you also have 2 projects to build in teams. My team and I created a project called www.CoinTrail.io, a platform that helps you track your portfolio across any exchanges. We are still working on it!

To sum it up, my experience with Le Wagon was a life changing one. I’ve learned in two months more that I would have alone in one year. I have met wonderful people from all around the world, from teachers to students. I’ve learned to work in teams, under pressure (get ready for the Final Project!!). Le Wagon gives you great tools to learn: video lectures, challenges, flashcards, course slides, useful links etc. The best thing is that you still have access to all of it once you’ve finished! As I’ve said before, do not waste time! Change your life, start coding!

During my previous career in *communication* & public relations, I had the chance to collaborate with creative coders and I got really curious about coding. Back then, I decided to learn the fundamentals of code (HTML / CSS) with e-learning platforms. I began to build several websites for small companies or for relatives (using wordpress) but I got quickly frustrated *on the technical plan*. 
I decided to enroll *in* Le Wagon Bootcamp to have the big picture and finally understand how apps & websites are built. 
Joining Le Wagon was definitely worth *it* and was an amazing experience, both for the knowledge, the fantastic pedagogy and teachers, and for the encounters with my *fellow* alumni! 
Even though the courses are really intensive, there are plenty of *group* work, great events, inspiring talks and funny drinks organized during all the bootcamp and this makes it a truly exciting journey!
During the bootcamp, I really got passionate about front end and design and decided to work as *a* freelance web designer but I’m also thinking about joining some alumni and help them *work on* their startup projects. 
Thanks again to all Le Wagon team !

I’ve attended Le Wagon in Paris in batch#146. I had a law and history degree and after a last internship, I was supposed to begin my career in a law relative job or in administration. But you know what? It was boring!

Some of my friends told me that I should consider learning to code. And I tried alone with online courses, but it wasn’t enough, I had no real support and was really alone in my journey. Then I heard about boot camps and I chose Le Wagon due to its excellent reputation in the startup ecosystem and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my short life.

The teaching and course structure were excellent. The course is really intense and challenging, but worth it. I really appreciated the entrepreneurial and the product-first approach. The teachers are 100% committed, always friendly and helpful. Le Wagon staff is fantastic and they are all really nice human being. Le Wagon taught me how to code, I'm able now to build my own web project, to work in a startup as a developer or go freelance. But especially Le Wagon prove me that with hard commitment you can learn anything.

In addition, Le Wagon helps me to connect to an amazing network ( startups, VC, entrepreneurs, dev ) which helps me to gain insights. More importantly, I met a group of new friends from different backgrounds who share common interests.
Now, two months after the end of the camp, I work on a SaaS business project with some friends. In addition to that, I am building stuff ( bot, website...) for fun to sharpen my skills and I read a lot to go further in my computer science knowledge.

Hi future students of Le Wagon, I am Sonia and I attended Le Wagon Milan 2018 and I am not scared to say that It is the most important carreer shift I made  !

I have a marketing background and noticed how important it is to get skills in web programming. Of course I tried to learn by my own but I learned slowly and wrongly. I advice you to not waste your time learning on your own and go to Le Wagon even if you have 0 skills in coding. 

Le Wagon strategy is learning by doing 
You will learn by doing exercices and projects. The courses are super clear and everyday you get to do exercices and live code. In the end of the bootcamp you get to do projects with your team. This was an awesome experience that I shared with my team mates, you get to code a project from scratch and this is the period where you realize how you leveled up and how much you did with no previous experience before Le Wagon. 

The unique power of Le Wagon is that you are never left alone.
In the beginning this is really hard but the teachers are motivating (In Milan : Francesco Ecclesie, Angelica Vanni and Arbi Velaj), they will always be really patient and improve your skills. Appart from the staff, there is a buddy system which allow you to code with another student each day. Day by day, you get to know the other students and in the end it is like a big family. 

Now I left Le Wagon 2 months ago but in the end what did I get from that ?
-Coding Skills : i  can code, read and see the mistakes in RUBY HTML CSS JS ~> A huge differentiation professionally and personnaly
-A portfolio (Github, Two projects)  ~> this is really useful during interviews and change everything
-I can code my own project ~> amazing experience and could not do that if I did not attend Le Wagon before
-A huge network with Le Wagon where you can share info with other students from all over the world, improve your skills and find jobs in front end/back end/full stack/marketing....
-Many Friends because even if It is a serious bootcamp you will play hard, lots of dinners and drinks on weekends !

Many thanks to Le Wagon :)

Before LW, I was working as a cybersecurity consultant in Paris. This was a nice job. Bright people, reasonable hours, high salary, good working conditions. After four months I validated my trial period and suddenly the name of my contract hit me hard for what it was: “permanent”. A permanent life of boring suits, gloomy subway, consulting lingo and fake smiles. Nope. I freaked out, resigned and decided I needed something new. I had put coding in the back of my mind for a while. I talked to a friend who had done LW before and went through all the reviews I could find online. Change your life they said, alright, this seemed cool. 
I had no background in coding. I had tried once or twice to learn by myself and watched the first two lectures of Harvard CS50 course but that’s pretty much it. On the first meet-up right before the bootcamp, I remember meeting alumni and getting a little anxious. There were almost only ex-engineers. I had done business and my previous job consisted mainly in preparing PPT, writing reports and shaking hands... In the end, it is not about what you did before, it is just about how much time and effort you’re willing to put into it. Everyone can success. 
Looking back, I can say that Le Wagon has been, by far, the best learning experience in my life. It’s about coding of course but it is also much more than that. These guys entirely rethink the whole teaching process to make it as stimulating, challenging and rewarding as possible. In just 9 weeks, you become alternatively a student, a teacher, a teammate, an interviewer or a speaker. It completely changed my view on learning and motivation. I enjoyed every second of it.

What you pay for:

You've read around 500 5-stars reviews, you’re convinced. Now you want to jump in. There’s just one thing… 6000€. What can possibly justify that price? 
Everyone experiences the bootcamp differently but IMO the following is what made it more than worth it: 
-    Resources: The hardest part about learning to code, especially on your own, is probably to sort through the huge amount of materials you can find online, to distinguish between good sources and bad ones, between essential knowledge and useless bs. LW does all the job for you and organizes it so that it makes sense. The good thing is you get a lifetime access to everything: video lectures in French and in English, challenges, corrections, course slides, useful links or documentations, flashcards… Even months after the bootcamp, alumni keep using the platform to go back to the basics or review a specific concept. 
-    Teaching Assistants: The lecture takes place between 9:00 am and 10:30 am. Afterwards, the whole day is about coding and solving challenges. You’ll get stuck. A lot. The TAs are the guardian angels that will prevent you from repeatedly smashing your head against your screen to try and make your code work. They’ll walk you through the process step by step without giving you the answer until you solve the problem by yourself. They’re all alumni, they know what you are going through, they all did the bootcamp, sometimes a few weeks before you. They don’t know everything but they’re probably your best source of knowledge. Call them a lot and every time you do, take some time to summarize what you’ve just learned. 
-    Network: LW has an exponentially growing alumni community. Unlike many other alumni communities, all the people there took a huge step to join LW. So everyone feels engaged and the community is all the more active. The different slack channels are alimented daily with news, new resources, job offers etc. By joining LW, you get a direct link to more than 3000 bright and open-minded people all around the world. It is invaluable.

Now, after 5 years groping around with different courses, internships and jobs I’ve finally found something I can think of as a career path. Thank you Le Wagon!

I joined the Le Wagon coding bootcamp in Amsterdam to take a deep dive into the world of coding. As a Product Manager, I had a good understanding of tech and had some experience coding in css but my knowledge was basic. I tried many online courses but never really closed the gaps, Le Wagon changed all of that. At best I hoped to leave the bootcamp a technical product manager but I left a developer armed with more technical knowledge than I ever could have expected for 9 weeks.

Apart from learning syntax, Le Wagon’s teaches you to think like a developer, a systematic approach to solving complex coding problems. This has given me the tools to continue my learning and exploration and I feel confident that I can pick up any coding language going forward.

The course structure is fast-paced, challenging and exciting with the final collaboration with teammates on building an mvp product to show off all you have learned. They provide detailed resources to help you over the hurdles, teaching support throughout the journey and enough exercises to ensure that you are comfortable on every topic.

By far the best investment I’ve made in my own personal development and a course that I would highly recommend to anyone!

I’ve attended Le Wagon in Paris three years ago. When I look back now, this is the best decision I have ever made. The 9 weeks program is really well shaped: you start with painful days of Ruby programming, doing everything from scratch. Every week you add a layer: database, front-end, rails, until the last three project weeks. The teachers are 100% committed, always friendly and willing to help. Students are super international and the network brings you great job and after-bootcamp opportunities. What could have been better: Back in the days, we didn’t have so many community events. But this is something they worked on really hard. Now I am proud to be a Le Wagon alumni! What I loved: The content, the product and entrepreneurial approach!

I was working for Apple and realise that I wanted to do something that would allow me to be more flexible with location. I decided to quit my job and join the January batch at Le Wagon in London. It was highly recommended by friends and family members who work as developers.

It was the best decision I made and the best investment I made in my life. You will learn so much and the team is fantastic. Great fun and definitely worth it. I cannot recommended enough. I was worried about leaving a job but I would do it all over again in a heart beat. Thank you so much.

I’m an Olympian and former professional swimmer and I finished Le Wagon London’s bootcamp in March 2018 (batch #123).  I had taken one coding class at university almost ten years ago and forgot everything with that bad experience. I moved to London to explore new careers and find a job and it was hard to find the right fit when lots of industries require some sort of technical skill or relevant experience. Le Wagon solidly put me on a path towards achieving that and solving this problem, and it was up to me to take it where I wanted. I think Le Wagon is a great fit for any entrepreneur wanting technical skills. If you want to get a developer job after, you will also be in the right place to achieve that. I just got a job as an Associate Engineer at BCG Digital Ventures and couldn’t be more pleased with what has happened!

Goals

Before Le Wagon, my goals were simply to learn and obtain technical skills that I could rely on as hard evidence for finding a job. What this job would be, I didn't know. But, I knew I wanted to equip myself with skills to be able to launch a digital product myself in the future and be a better entrepreneur. I never intended to work as an engineer and still can’t believe what has happened!

Why I chose Le Wagon

Le Wagon was a great fit for me because they teach beginners from non-tech backgrounds with a bigger picture business perspective and with a purpose of making you a self sufficient developer. Le Wagon is much more interesting than a developer factory and they don't make money from recruiting fees when you get a job. They don’t force you to be a developer or pressure you when you finish to find a job as one. It is up to you to take your different background (from a tech industry point of view), your new skills and use it as a strength and get what you want in true entrepreneurial fashion.

Curriculum and teaching

Le Wagon’s curriculum is designed to teach you something hard very quickly, so inevitably there will be growing pains on the course and some aspects prioritized over the others. There is no such thing as a perfect curriculum; you will always have to fill in gaps yourself, as with anything. However, I thought Ruby/Rails was such a great choice by Le Wagon to get me started with software engineering. Given the course is nine weeks, the curriculum makes sense and its now unsurprising why such companies like Airbnb and Github used Rails in the first place. You’re trying to learn something hard like coding (or launch a fully fledged webapp/business like Airbnb) very, very quickly. This curriculum (and Ruby/Rails) teaches you to do that in a fun and entrepreneurial way and not to be a developer who will just build what they are told to build without questioning (no problem if that is what you want!).  

Having the opportunity to pitch product ideas to your classmates and teachers was amazing. It's a very product driven bootcamp; awareness to keep your ideas or features in line with the value proposition you seek to deliver is drilled in to you. During the project weeks, this was really important to be mindful of. There are not many better ways to learn than by creating a product you like, getting your creative juices flowing, feeling ownership over it and blowing yourself away with what you can build in ten days.

All of the teachers were great and most of the TAs were as well. They didn't just simply give me the answer or code it for me. They were all patient and tried very hard to explain in multiple ways so that I would understand. There was a holistic approach to learning which I appreciate a lot - "remember to eat properly, get enough rest and sleep" etc.

You will spend less time on some things (like testing and javascript), but in my opinion you leave Le Wagon with a solid core foundation that you will then be able to decide how to add to yourself (as is in life or on any job). If you compare this to other bootcamps, less impact on learning testing/javascript is a bit of a drawback, but Le Wagon is different to other bootcamps in a very creative way. You will leave Le Wagon with knowledge on how to go fill in the gaps, what to look for and with a big community to back you as well. Le Wagon is great value for money and time. I still cant believe 9 weeks jumpstarted the process and eventually lead me to land an awesome job.

Before joining the Le Wagon bootcamp I was working at a company called TicketSwap, a tech company in the ticketing industry. There, I managed the support team. I joined TicketSwap as the first employee, so during the first years I witnessed a lot regarding the development of the product. I liked talking to the developer colleagues and figure out how things, technically, work. After 4 years my time at TicketSwap came at an end because I wanted to change course and learn more about coding. A good friend of mine told me about the bootcamp and after a short holiday I hopped on board the Wagon. During the 9 weeks I learned so much. It’s incredible to see what you can do in that period. Even though I shouldn’t, I tend to compare it with my bachelor degree. I wonder; why did I need 4 years to get this diploma while I only needed 9 weeks to learn how to code and set up a working web app. In our final project we created a platform where people could recommend podcasts to their followers through donations. It’s like a Twitter on steroids where your feed contains the recommended podcast (not sure if it’s still online: mendio.co). Working together with other people was a great experience as well. Now, after the bootcamp, I’m doing a traineeship of 3 months at a company called Ace & Tate. I’m working on the back-end of this webshop, not only maintaining the webshop but also things like inventory and order management. Pretty complex stuff, but I know my why around thanks to Le Wagon.

I’m an engineer, 6 years of prof. exp, with previous knowledge in algorithm theory and a quantitative mindset. I wanted to learn code the way entrepreneurs do. Not the old style, theoretical code I learned in school

Pro: - Fast pace - Excellent ratio teacher / student (about 1/6) - Amazing fine tuning of the cursus: each daily lesson follows exactly the previous. Zero redundancy! - Great community & alumni network

Cons: - Warning, you will not be satisfied at the end: you will want to keep learning ;)