Makers Academy

Pros:
- Emphasis on pair-programming which gets you ready for the real world.
- The support for job hunting after graduating was really good. Job search workshops to find relevant jobs. TDD process reviews to make sure your ready for tech tests. Interview prep with a coach to make sure you're ready what what might be asked in the interview. All of these make it easier to feel confident in the interview processes.

Cons:
- The course is self-taught for the most part.  This actually is also a pro as it helps you in the long run. After graduating, you'll be pleased you learnt how to teach yourself as this is a key skill as a developer.
- There perhaps could have been more support offered on certain topics such as APIs and deployment of apps.

Overall - I would recommend Makers Academy if you enjoy working with others and are serious about changing careers. It is an intense learning experience that is challenging and takes you out of your comfort zone. Coding with like-minded individuals gets you ready for the world of work.

I had a great time at Makers. I was a bit scared of pair programming with someone different every day, and didn't think this was a good idea, but it ended up being one of my favourite things about the course. Makers gave me a very solid foundation to develop my engineering skills on, including concepts like TDD, OOP, and solid principles. The community is great, a very positive environment, and people really get out of their way to help. The career support team after the course is also amazing, and I still can't believe I got a job in less than three months after the course.

It is challenging and intense, but so rewarding to reflect on how much you have learned within 12 weeks. I was really impressed at the efforst Makers puts into mental wellbeing and peer support - with EQ workshops, peer group sessions, meditation etc. Most importantly, what has really struck me after reaching the end of my Makers bootcamp is the opportunity to meet a whole new community of incredibly talented and interesting people - a rare opportunity as an adult. You share an intense 12 week learning experience together, you learn together, work together, share intense challenges together. Not only have you come out of Makers with an entirely new technical skillset, but you have come out with a new professional network of incredibly talented people who are going to be working in the same industry as you. The alumni community is also brilliant. Would recommend it!

My experience at Makers Academy has been nothing short of awesome. Sure, I could have taught myself how to loosely code, but I wouldn't have made the connections, friendships, or solid coding practices without them. They provide you with fantastic resources, coaching help, practices that you can take into your career. The after Makers support has been better than any of the other courses I've taken. The mentorship program has been an added touch that has helped me keep from getting overwhelmed. If you're unsure, just do it or talk to a past Maker! There isn't a person I've met, who has said they should have waited or not taken the course! 

Pros

Makers has a very supportive, progressive atmosphere and culture. I started last year and had to defer because I got ill, and the coaches were really helpful. I started again later in the year and completed the course last week. 

The coaches are fab. You do have to reach out to them if you need something but once you do, they are very supportive. If you have any health issue or you’re finding the course stressful – speak to a coach!

 I have some health issues and they were really helpful, kind and proactive in their support. 

I got a job immediately the end of the course through a personal contact, so I cannot speak for the careers side from personal experience, but from what I can tell from the cohort I started with last year, everyone seems to have good jobs that they enjoy. The careers service seems very comprehensive too, and I had CV support as soon as I asked for it. 

The pairing and team work that you do at Makers is a real strength of the bootcamp and this cannot be replicated by trying to teach yourself coding. I feel much more relaxed and confident working with other people because of all the pairing and groupwork. I’ve met some amazing people through Makers and I hope I end up working with some of them sometime during my career. We had a lot of laughs as well as bonded over seemingly impossible problems (which all got solved in the end).

Cons
Some of the materials need proof-reading and can be a bit difficult to understand when they don’t need to be. I can imagine this might be an additional challenge if English is not your native language.

Sometimes it can feel a bit like you’re on your own, working through self-led learning materials. There isn’t a great deal of teaching (a couple of coach-led workshops most weeks) which can sometimes be frustrating. The idea is that you learn to figure things out for yourself, but I think Makers should hire some more coaches to be able to answer learners’ queries more quickly as there was sometimes a bit of a wait to get coach input. I cannot fault any of the individual coaches, but as a course provider, it feels like there needs to be a few more coaches. 

Conclusion

Makers was a great experience and I’m delighted to have finished it. I definitely feel ready to take on a junior developer role, and I’ve been offered a decent paying job the week I finished. As a way into a career in software development, I would recommend Makers. It can feel a little frustrating sometimes during the process, but the course gets you job ready and in a good position to apply for junior dev roles. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Makers, and was able to land a job as a junior software engineer 5 months after starting the course. Certainly worth the money in my eyes.

Course Content - There was a lot of bespoke content, but sometimes it was unclear and took a few re-reads and research around the topic to fully understand. Be prepared to do A LOT of research independent of the course materials. Sometimes recommended tech to use resulted in unnecessary banging heads on desk, due to it having stopped being supported several years ago. 

Course Support - Makers focuses on Holistic learning with a wing of emotional wellbeing. The coaches and the support groups provided by Makers are one of the most important resources, and the patience, approachability and knowledge these coaches have are simply outstanding. Makers focus less on teaching, and more on teaching you how to teach yourself - which is an incredibly powerful skill that I think is often overlooked with classic education techniques. I've done GSCE's, A-Levels and a Masters Degree before joining Makers - and I've learnt more about myself and how to learn in the 16 weeks of the course, than the 10+ years of education I've had in traditional bodies. 

Post-course support - CV writing tips, CV reviews, GitHub cv reviews, how to find a good job via which job boards, job advert breakdown, networking, LinkedIn profile reviews, cover letter guidance, cover letter reviews, interview preparation, mock coding tests, mock interviews, 1 on 1 support. There is a lot that Makers have to offer in the post-course, and honestly, I believe this all was enough to offset the imposter syndrome and provide enough confidence to be able to land my first job. A lot of the tips I learned here I will remember for the rest of my tech career, and I believe that Makers has given me the best start possible.

I decided a year ago that I would like to become a software engineer, as I had yet to start a job I would consider a career. Makers helped me to structure my learning and drive me towards positive change, both technically, and personally. This was achieved through a well developed and focused curriculum that taught essential web development concepts, as well as learning how to learn. In addition a big shout out to Dana Svobada for her excellent emotional quotient lessons, which taught key soft skills such as: Empathetic listening, receiving and giving feedback and different work styles. Whilst the process was overwhelming at times, if you are willing to commit yourself to change and growth, you will inevitably gain a lot from this program. 

The course itself was tough. It's worth saying that straight away. Not just because of the coding but because there are 20 of you, all suddenly out of work with limited money, all stressed and all trying to keep your last lesson in your head. It really does make for a tough time. Makers do their best to give all the support they can and I can't fault them for that but be ready for some tough weeks! After that you will be glad you did it and the support in finding jobs is pretty top notch!

If you're considering a career change, I would highly recommend joining Makers.

I joined in September 2021 and from the start, I could sense how highly intensive it would have been. 
Learning how to code in 16 weeks is no joke, but I was positively shocked by how fast I was progressing with my skills. I started with a little bit of background but I definitely polished my skills and learned a lot about fundamental concepts like TDD and BDD which I had never heard before. 
 
My cohort was amazing, I made friends for life during Makers and I really treasure that, especially in a  critical moment like a career change, it's amazing sharing it with other people that can help you and be there for each other.

After the course, during interviews, many employers had heard of Makers and they were really enthusiastic about it, so it's a great experience to have in your CV as well! ;) 
I've found employment after one month from my graduation (with Christmas holidays included in that period of time).

Joining makers was the best decision I made for my career. 

Before I jump into reviewing Makers, a little context.

I'm older than most people embarking on a technical career - I had just turned 39 when I applied for Makers. I had been aiming at a musical career since I was a teenager, and despite some success here and there, I was still temping in universities to pay the bills. I was no stranger to tech but hadn't coded anything other than a few childhood ZX Spectrum experiments. Perhaps it was my age, or the fact that my daughter was starting to ask what my job was, but things had to change. When my wife told me of Makers, I quit my job immediately to focus on getting in.

The pre-course was a great was to get to grips with the basic tools of the trade - IDEs, the command line, github and so forth. At this point, the Makers student is already at an advantage over someone with a book about JavaScript.

The course itself is very intensive and requires your full attention, all day. This tricky when your sleep is interrupted every single night, and I am pleased that Makers have started a part time version of the course - this would have been my preference if it had been offered at the time.

The curriculum structure is great. Makers mainly teaches Ruby, which is not the most popular language professionally - however its simple syntax allows you to keep your focus on learning the basic patterns that underpin all mainstream coding languages. This emphasis, combined with a couple of weeks' introduction to JavaScript, provided a great impetus to jump in and learn something new whenever it is needed.

Your time is divided between classes that highlight the key concepts, self led learning and pair programming on increasingly complex challenges that neatly demonstrate that week's pertinent topics.

The course's first two group projects are in Ruby and Rails, and the third is a free choice. These allow the student to experience what it is like working on a professional software team.

The general atmosphere is very warm. The Coaches and other staff are friendly and approachable, the building itself was well organised, smart and generously stocked. Thoughtful inclusions such as basic food supplies, games and musical instruments really made all the difference. The presence of a dedicated yoga/meditation/counselling practitioner was absolutely invaluable.

Obviously Makers aren't responsible for this, but all the other students were lovely. The course was pleasantly feud free.

Makers' support doesn't end when you finish the course - you are instead ushered into the Makers Alumni online community, where they help you get a job. They support you through the process of putting together a CV, writing an application and interviewing for jobs. It's great for getting to know other developers and networking to get jobs, and this has been vital during the pandemic. The job board has a special place in my heart as it's where I found my first coding  job!

To sum up - if you want to become a software developer, definitely go to Makers. But if you can't be sure of a good night's sleep every night, do the part time course!