Makers Academy

This was a great bootcamp for anyone wanting to join the world of software development. The group work and pairing with like minded individuals made a lot of difference.

Pros
-A really helpful introduction to programming.-Uses a lot of job relevant tech (JavaScript, HTML, CSS, React, PostgreSQL, Mongodb).-There is a lot of group work and pairing, which is useful in preparing for a job.
Cons
-Unlike a traditional academic experience.-There should have been marked exercises/ assessments possibly to help steer a better learning path.

The Makers environment and community is incredible and highly supportive.

Makers goes beyond just teaching you how to code - you also learn how to work, solve complex problems and communicate with others effectively. There is also a focus on your overall wellbeing and emotional intelligence.

Makers tries to simulate a "real-world" environment as much as possible so you are fully prepared to work in the field.

You learn the core fundamentals of coding which you can apply to any programming language you wish, and you "learn how to learn" so you can go on and keep improving yourself on your own. There's a good balance between Makers guidance and working things out on your own.

Can't recommend Makers enough.

It is not only the quality of code knowledge that you can be sure to find here, it is all the many things you will need to be ready for your first role as a developer. I knew Javascript pretty well before Makers, and turns out didn't learn more Javascript then I already knew during Makers - but I hadn't written a single test in my life! And I doubt I would have talked about 100% code coverage if I stuck to Udemy and YouTube. So TDD, OOP, SOLID, Agile, Pair Programming, Git, EQ (emotional intelligence curriculum!) - all of it ... everything you need to hit the ground running as a reliable and promising junior dev is what you'll find at Makers. Put as much in as you'd like to get out and the absolutely AMAZING Makers coaching team will be there to support you every step of the way, from "Hello World!" to hello first job!

I loved my time at Makers bootcamp! I hardly knew any code before Makers, only a bit of Ruby that we needed to learn before joining. The curriculum covers a vast amount with exciting group projects, and is mainly self led learning and pair programming. The experience after finishing the course and joining the careers bootcamp was AMAZING!! You receive loads of support, and they are there to support you until you find a job! I can't thank Makers enough for helping me with this career change and successfully finding a job so quickly!

A 16 week full time intensive training course in Software engineering. Makers espoused a TDD and BDD philosophy. During my studies I learnt how to apply 'Agile working' methodology in a software development project setting. I have learnt how to adapt both self-learning and pair programme to enhance my learning. Through the facilitation of Makers, I was also able to complete several process reviews. As part of our course, we completed a total of 3x team projects and a solo weekly weekend project - 10x in total. As part of good learning, we were encouraged to complete regular constructive code reviews of our peers work. Emotional intelligence; an understanding of the needs of a team and how to support them was also a core aspect of the Makers ethos. 

I decided to change career after moving to the UK, after doing some researches I decided to go for tech with Makers. I will start with the pros.
Pros: 
- Pair-programming: we did pair-programming almost every day. It gave us the opportunity to learn from each other. It also allow me to get used to working with other people.
- good cirriculum structure: It saved me a lot of time trying to figure out what to learn first. It allowed me to learn step by step and progress with a good speed 
- 3 group projects: we worked with Agile, which gave me some taste of working in a team with high speed. I was surprised how the group projects helped me grow as a developer. - demanding workload: yes, I do think it is a pro. We had weekend challenges at the second half of the course, so expect to work really hard even on weekends. But it helped me to learn quick. 

Cons: 
- Full time and expensive. It's actually quite expensive, adding the fact that you have to study full time, you need to be sure tech is really what you want before joining. 
- Sometimes it is quite self-paced, so nobody can promise you that you are able to learn everything fully by the end of the course. You still need to pay a lot of effort to really absorb everything. 

Overall: Yes, the course is demanding. It provides a good structured cirriculum. You can get prepared to join the tech industry in a relatively short time - if you are willing to work very hard.

Applying for Makers was the best decision I could ever have made for a successful career change. 

I had been working as a product manager for many years so I had no doubt that becoming an engineer was something I wanted to do. I have spent time doing online courses which really helped me be a better product person whilst confirming coding was something that made me truly happy, but I wanted something with more structure and would give me all the tools and skills that would make me 'market ready' at the end of it. 
By this I mean that this is not just a programming course. You'll be a dev and start coding from day one,  learn how to work in an agile environment, pair with your cohort peers every day in the weekly challenges, have self organised team projects where you'll be building applications that you can show on your CV at the end, tutors there to guide and support you (but not spoon feed you the answer!), testing frameworks and the importance of TDD, fundamental concepts of software engineering etc... And a team at the end ready to guide you and give you support on finding your new dream job :) 

It is hard work though and not for the faint hearted! The course is based on self learning so be prepared for that as this is not a 'hand holding' course at all and it goes at speed and when you least expected it's demo day and you're presenting your new project to the outside world and can't believe it's "over"! But believe me it's going to be amazing and you'll love every second (ok maybe not when that test is not passing and you can't see why!) and you won't regret it!

So yes, applying for Makers was a no brainer as I had been following them and their course for years and knew they were the best bootcamp around and the better fit for me and the fact that I could do it remotely was perfect! 

Finally, I also got my shinny first software engineer job with an amazing Makers partner within about a month of beginning my job search and started it with a friend from the same cohort!  I had code in production before the end of the first week - that's how well prepared we came out of Makers! I really could not have asked for more :)  

Makers has an incredible focus on teaching you what you need to be successful in working in software development, as opposed to just teaching you how to code. They have a fantastic set of coaches to teach you during the course with an added emphasis on EQ learning.

Once you've completed the course, the support in helping you find a job is amazing, from guiding you on how to write your CV / the perfect application, to having great deals with companies who will have job offerings exclusive to Makers.

I would 100% recommend this course to anyone interested in moving into the software engineering/developing industry. Gave me to opportunity to just throw myself in the immersive experience, and learn how to self-learn, lots of different technologies, work in agile and meet lots of great people doing the same thing as me! So definitely not alone. The coaches were supportive and worked in a way in order to encourage you to find your own answers, and we very supportive at the job searching stage. 

I am writing this on my penultimate day of training to code at the Makers Academy. I had high expectations of Makers, but what I didn’t expect is that they would exceed those expectations to a such a staggering extent.

This is an extraordinary course. You will be trained to be on your feet and ready to run as a coder, not just with textbook materials – although for the academically inclined there are indeed references to matters such as imperative versus declarative code, design patterns etc. right from the beginning and throughout. The materials are supremely practical – they put you right there in the thick of development work using advanced industry-respected tools and techniques throughout.

I have found the staff at Makers to be as they say they are on their website, which is a rare thing. Every individual, in every capacity has been a pleasure to engage with. Details clearly matter to Makers. As they should. People clearly matter at Makers. As they should. Community clearly matters at Makers, as it should. Everywhere you look, high standards and quality will be found. Not to mention a palpable sense of wanting to be even better and for this to be noticeable in feedback that is frequently collected from students, and from what I have seen, acted upon with haste and eagerness. I honestly couldn’t imagine a stronger passion for excellence. I love it here.

The approach is holistic. Emotional Intelligence / Emotional Quotient is, in my view, rightly presented as a key aspect of managing one’s well-being and progress as a learner and professional. Makers’ Chief Joy Officer, Dana, who delivers the EQ curriculum, I find to be a privilege to work with beyond any quantifiable measure that I can think of. As a passionate learner of personal development for decades too, I find her knowledge, application and the training she delivers to be outstanding in its breadth, depth, authenticity and immediate effectiveness. Learn not just to code, but also about who you are, fine-tune what makes you tick, and transform and optimise yourself under her coaching.

Do I recommend this course? Well, do you want to change your life? I mean literally, seriously? If so, and you are courageous, find that it’s aligning with your values, and are ready to make a very full commitment to a very intense but supremely fun and rewarding time: absolutely – even though that single word and this whole review, possibly still falls short of articulating how whole-heartedly I mean that.

Makers is incredibly intense, as expected of any bootcamp, but well worth it. Starting out it's new, which is both scary and exciting. But as you grow and develop with the work you're doing and the coaches to support you, the confidence will start to grow. Pair programming is scary at first, but quickly grew to be one of my favourite parts. As with anything for me, it's the people who help make or break experiences, and everyone in my cohort was lovely. I got on well with everyone and have made friends for life. Having to do weekend work was not terribly enjoyable, but ultimately the whole experience was so worthwhile. Changing careers can be a huge risk, and you have to be willing to put in the time and effort. If you're willing, Makers is incredible and absolutely worth it. Within 9 months of leaving my previous company, I have walked out the other side with a new job and entirely new career ahead of me.