The Iron Yard

I recently graduated from the Front End Engineering program at The Iron Yard Austin in September. The staff is simply amazing. They are extremely supportive and the instructors are so knowledgeable and helpful. The first time that I met the Karly, the Campus Director, I knew that this was a place I wanted to be. When I started, I knew very little about coding. Now, I can say I feel fully confident in my programming skills and entering the work force. This is a challenging environment so you do have to push yourself and persevere through frustrations. In the end, it is worth it. This was an incredible and life changing experience for me.

As many before me have said, I will reiterate - "You get out of it exactly what you put in to it".  The tight-knit staff and students felt like a group of friends getting together on a daily basis to try and attempt something great which was a feeling and experience I will never forget.  Being part of the first Minnesota based TIY Course felt like there were still a few kinks in the system to work out for scheduling purposes but other than that it went very smooth. Like others have said, you can't go into this expecting a job to magically fall in your lap before you graduate or right after you do, but this course does all it can to help you transition into the world of job hunting. 
Overall I am glad to have been a student and to be affiliated with The Iron Yard, now I feel better equipped to dive into the tech scene on a bigger scale than before.

I absolutely loved The Iron Yard. The teachers were very knowledgeable and had great teaching styles. They were also very willing to help and answer my millions of questions. I really enjoyed the structure and class schedule. It was very relaxed and laid back.  There were definitely times where I struggled but the instructors had a good way of helping without doing the work for me. I also loved the class atmosphere and my fellow classmates. We all became very close and worked together each day. I learned more than I could have ever taught myself and felt confident about my skills as a Front End Dev by the time I graduated. 

Moving to Charleston and attempting to join the tech industry proved to be quite a challenge on its own. Despite having a masters degree I could hardly get an interview and found myself working at a job making a fraction of what I used to. Then I went to the Iron Yard, to sharpen my coding skills. Thanks to the great portfolio and job search assistance, I found myself having 3-5 interviews a week and finally landed a great job within a month of starting my search (as opposed to a year of looking prior to the course). The skills I learned had me immediately ready to contribute, and I had code going into production the first week on the job. It definitely was one of the best decisions I've made. 

I've recently graduated the Cincinnati's May 2016 "Cohort" in August and I'll be possibly be starting my first professional Tech Job on Monday. I must say that a 12 week code school seems iffy on the surface, but I've never had a regret since Day One.

I was referred to the Indianapolis Campus by a family member who is part of their legacy board and, due to small class size upon acceptance, I transferred to the Cincy Campus (temporarily in West Chester, currently on E 8th St). I had a great instructor, who not only taught us everything from Git to AngularJS, but also taught us how to teach ourselves. I probably spent 40-60 hours a week learning this skill and the only nitpick I could think of is that we could have learned more. Even after graduating, I've recieved immense help with my job search as I've got into personal contact with almost all of my potential employers, rather than rely on internet job postings and job searches.

If you are on the fence, know that I went from having 0-5% code knowledge with a defunct degree in the arts that now has his foot in the door with a consulting group that is giving me work, which I mentioned above. Last piece: Techies leave the ladder down for others to climb, so start on the first rung and climb.

The Rails Engineering course prepares students to enter the job market as a junior full-stack developer. Instruction focuses on all the basics of web development, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, and of course Ruby and Rails. My class was also able to spend some time learning the React.js library.

My experience with this course, this school, and the team running the campus has been literally life changing. Over the course of 12 weeks I went from knowing some basic Python to a ready-to-get-to-work junior software developer. Immediately after graduation I built a SaaS application that is currently available and accepting subscribers. Once that was completed I went to work at a start-up working with React.js, and now I work from home as a software developer for a company in Richmond, VA. 

Before going through The Iron Yard I was an automotive technician at the top of my career and hating my job. As a software developer I love my work, and the ability to create new things from scratch is incredibly empowering. Going through The Iron Yard has absolutely been the best career decision I've made, and I'm happy to share my experience.

My only word of caution is this, you will get out of this (and any bootcamp class) exactly what you put into it. Dedicate yourself to learning the material, and learning how to learn and problem solve, and you will excel. If you are not fully committed, wait until you can be.

I graduated from The Iron Yard's Back End Engineering course at the Charleston, SC location on August 5, 2016 and accepted a full-time position eight weeks later. 

You get a solid foundation in the material you choose to study, but really you learn to learn. You learn to go out and research new technologies, experiment with them, and then utilize online resources to resolve your issues. 

That said, finding a job comes down to you, the student. Do not make the mistake of believing that completing this course and using the career support guarantees you a job. You learn marketable skills, but finding a job while you are unemployed isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Bills add up quickly when you aren't working, so my biggest advice is to potential students is to budget accordingly. 

Personally, I had a blast and learned a lot. I do believe you can kickstart a career with an education at The Iron Yard, but I do feel fortunate to have found a position so quickly.

 

I came from a medical background, and I had got to a point I was no longer happy. I decided I was going to pursue a career in the tech industry, because I've always had a hobby of tinkering with computers, playing with gadgets and being a sort of software savant. But where to start. I was lucky enough to have a friend who had gone to the Iron Yard, and he spoke very highly of his experience. I can now say it's the best decision I've ever made! The instructor was thorough and incredibly helpful, and was always willing to spend extra time helping individuals figure things out. The Campus directors were lifesavers! They were positive and upbeat, and always made me feel like they had my best interest at heart.