Le Wagon

I graduated from Business Administration a few months ago and over the last few years, I got more and more interested in entrepreneurship, especially in the tech industry.

After an internship in a start-up in Montreal, I decided that it was time for me to build on some tech skills. I wanted to acquire the skills that will allow me to join a start-up with a product that resonates with my interest or to build my own product/projects.

As soon as I began Le Wagon batch #125, I felt that I was at the right place to build on those new skills.

As a matter of fact, Le Wagon's program was perfect for me as I had no previous experience in web development. Therefore, I needed a supportive environment to make my first steps in this challenging world.

The 9 weeks were challenging, but with the incredible support of the teachers I made the most out of it and learned full stack web development. The project weeks were incredible as all the learnings from the past weeks finally aligned in my head and suddenly I realized that I was capable of doing much more than I would have thought.

In only 2 weeks we built a functional web-app that I can use as the first major piece of my portfolio, but more importantly, I now have a clear vision of the process and challenges associated with building a web product.

I now have the keys to grow as a web-developer or product manager and I am already working on side projects while searching for a job where I will put to use my recently acquired tech skills.

Last but not least, Le Wagon is a wonderful human adventure and as a member of the family I have not only made great friends but I also have access to a strong network of mentors/business partners.

I had finished university and was unsure what to do with myself, when someone recommended trying out coding. After doing lots of online research, I decided to sign up to Le Wagon because all the reviews were very positive. I was quite nervous because it seemed like a big commitment considering I was still a bit unsure.

 

It was in fact a great decision! The teaching and the resources were amazing, and after 9 weeks I feel confident going in looking for a job in coding. Each day we were taught a new concept and then given tasks to complete to reinforce the learning, a style that really worked for me. The teachers are helpful, and the community itself is strong and supportive. I feel that even now I have finished I could always reach out and ask for help and someone would very happily give me that help.

 

I was suspicious about the lack of bad reviews of Le Wagon, but it is just because it is a really good coding boot camp. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

The period I spent in Le Wagon was an amazing learning experience. My background is in healthcare. I am a physician and practice in the field of Family and Community Medicine. I always had special interest in technology, and thought that learning to code would be a useful skill for life - both professionally - as the applications of technology in healthcare seems to be promising - and personally, as I found out that I enjoy coding and solving problems.   The bootcamp period was intense. The people that I met there were amazing. The volume of information we learnt was huge. It was challenging, satisfying and fun. If I were to give advice to anyone that considers going through the process, that would be to prepare in advance. Learn the basics beforehand, do the prep work. It really pays.   During the last weeks of the bootcamp, our team developed 2 applications. The first was a Airbnb-like platform in which healthcare professionals could lease, rent or share consulting rooms. The second was a web-based tool aimed to reduce paperwork and provide meaningful data to healthcare providers working in basic health units. I feel really proud of what we did there.    As I am writing, 3 and a half months after the bootcamp, I consider that this learning experience opened many opportunities for me. Since last month I am working in a project in which technology is applied to make the healthcare system of my country more efficient, and the skill of knowing how to code was considered a great asset in my job interview.   I keep studying coding in my spare time, and as a side project, I shall start prototyping an idea, coding a MVP, soon.   Before Le Wagon, all of this would be unthinkable. I am grateful to all the Le Wagon staff, and believe that it really did change my life for better.

People asked me, you go to Bali to do what? Coding??? That’s right. I spent the first 2 months of this amazing year of 2018 coding with Le Wagon Bali, and it literally Changed My Life.

Graduated from UC Berkeley with an Industrial Engineering degree, worked in Silicon Valley for a few years, and then moved to Shanghai to learn Mandarin, I’ve been constantly surrounded by tech geeks and gradually exposed to the increasingly popular “digital nomad” lifestyle. The idea of traveling the world while working remotely as a web developer appealed to me, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon (see what I did there). I was thrilled to hear the best coding bootcamp in the world was opening its first batch in my home Bali, Indonesia and even more thrilled knowing the timing was perfect for me to join.

I have three reasons why Le Wagon Bali is the coding bootcamp you should consider.

First, the curriculum. I don’t need to explain why Le Wagon is currently the best coding bootcamp in the world. You will not only be able to code in five highly-marketable programming languages (Ruby, SQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript), but also have your own very first MVP built at the camp (take a look at mine: www.wearewaterfall.com). As the old Chinese proverb says: 授人以鱼，不如授人以渔, give a man a fish to feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish to feed him for a lifetime - at the camp, you will get to acquire new skills every single day and more importantly, learn how to work independently.

Second, the people. You will meet people from all walks of life. My batch consisted of 16 people from 10 different countries and 5 instructors and leaders from 4 more, and each carried their own stories, skills, and perspectives. We get to know and work with each other intimately through the buddy system and later, in the team projects. Le Wagon have developed an amazing learning culture that encourages everyone to respect and help one another regardless of proficiency level and learning speed. My favorite thing about this is the fact that after the bootcamp, I would have buddies from all around the world that I can potentially work with in the future. As digital nomads, you live far away from your family, but you will have families everywhere you go. We are in this together.

Third, the place. I could be biased, because Bali is my home, but you can ask a million other people who have visited this tropical paradise on how fun it is to live here. Two months in Bali was not nearly enough to fully get the most of the island, let alone only a week that most people spend when they visit the island. Therefore, I can’t think of a better reason to choose Bali for a coding bootcamp of a global reputation. Our classroom in the Canggu area is a 5-minute walking distance from a popular, quiet surf beach and surrounded by a huge variety of gastronomy from around the world, including fusion and vegan (some would even say it is a vegan paradise). The mountains are merely an hour car ride away, or you can also rent a yacht to the nearby islands to swim with manta rays. Follow our Instagram (@lewagonbali) if that was not enough to convince you.

Now I am back in China, finishing my language study while building my portfolio and pruning all the skills I have learned from a bootcamp. After this, I want to travel the world, build impactful web applications, and potentially even teach at Le Wagon one day.

Coming from the creative industry working as a freelance fashion photographer for the last 7 years, I was pretty worried about my ability to learn something as ‘technical’ and ‘right-brain’ as coding.

But, the super well thought out structure of Le Wagon coding bootcamp meant that I was able to learn far more than I ever imagined. The program is fast paced but thorough enough to get the core concepts hammered in and have you ready and confident to take on projects by the end.

As I was coming from a zero-tech background I made sure to complete all the pre-course work which I would highly recommend if you want to maximise your capacity to absorb knowledge during the course. Regardless of your abilities, everyone is nurtured and catered for by the wonderful teachers and assistants but the more you can prepare before starting, the more material you will be able to cover during the lessons and therefore the further along you will be by the time you finish.

For anyone considering the leap from a creative or otherwise less ‘techy’ field or anyone in general who wants to skill-up as fast as possible in Web Development, Le Wagon is your ticket. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this fantastic programme especially in the blissful location of Bali with Dirk and his fabulous team.

When I applied for Le Wagon Montréal I wasn’t sure what to expect.   I decided to do it because I wanted to learn how to code to become a good project manager and be able to speak the same language as developers. Coming from a web marketing background the only thing I knew about code was basic HTML and CSS.  I really wanted to know more about how things really work on a website but the number of information online can be really intimidating when you’re on your own.   That’s when I heard about Le Wagon Montréal. The program seemed to fit perfectly my needs with a nine weeks intensive program where you learn how to code a complete web application, so I applied.   As the bootcamp approached, I was a bit afraid. I've heard a lot of good things about it, but pretty much all the people said that it was hard and really intense. I wasn’t sure about my capacity to do it and if I would enjoy coding as much as I wanted to.   Now that I finished it, I won’t lie, it is intense. You don’t learn how to code a web app in nine weeks if it’s not. But even though it’s hard on paper, everything is done in order to make it as simple as possible for you. So you work hard, but you enjoy every moment of it!   Every day is so much rewarding, you learn something new and you practice immediately, being helped by amazing teachers but also by the other students. You really learn a lot about yourself during those nine weeks seeing that your brain can work on problems like you didn’t expect.  Coding can get really addictive, and the way it’s done at Le Wagon Montréal has a lot to do with it!   In the end, le wagon gives you the ability to build pretty much any web app you can think of and it’s really amazing to see what people can achieve during the final project knowing that no one knew how to code two months before.   All in all, it was really a once in a lifetime experience for me and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to learn how to code.  It was really the best investment I did on me, the only regret I have is that I didn’t know about it earlier.   I loved so much coding that I now want to do it as my day job as a web developer. So if I have only one advice to give to anyone doing Le Wagon Montreal, it would be: Take the time to enjoy every moment of this amazing experience as it passes really fast!

I applied to Le Wagon for two main reasons: I wanted to be able to build my own ideas, and acquire a skill that is becoming more relevant in each and every sector. 

With the bootcamp prep being my only technical experience, the fast paced program took us from Ruby basics to building our own ideas in the last weeks of the program. You learn something new each and every day, and only in the following weeks after the program you comprehend how solid the set of technical skills you have acquired are. The course is empowering because you learn a new language, you are enabled to build your own product, and understand how developers work, think and create. In addition, you meet a ton of cool people!

After Le Wagon I have returned to Norway to finish the last year of my bachelors degree, while working part-time on a startup idea I have been wanting to realize for a long time. Even though it is impossible to learn everything in nine weeks, you will learn what skills you need and how to acquire them in order to reach your goals. Le Wagon does not only open new possibilities, Le Wagon also helps you reach the reasons for why you wanted to get into coding in the first place.

I started coding about 3 years ago purely out of interest and loved it. Whilst at Oxford Univeristy, I got involved with lots of start ups in non-development positions due to my very basic skills. I came to realise that it wasn't really possible anymore to start a modern technology company without being a coder because even business roles require you to oversee other technology based workers. 

Le Wagon has helped me tremendously at solving this issue. They focus on teaching you the core skills you need to learn to code so that you can continue to learn quickly and effectively after the course. 

Also, the entrepreneurial twist in the last two weeks of the course is great at letting you specialise in areas of interest and provides a new way to learn that breaks the mould of repetitive exercises. For anyone who wants to start a company one day or sees themselves working in the technology industry, I would highly recommend doing the course!

After deciding that I wanted to pursue a career as a developer but not being realistically able to return to university for a full length CS course, I started looking for an avenue to learn skills that would make me job ready in a short period of time. After investigating the options for bootcamps in Tokyo, Le Wagon stood out for both its English language curriculum and high satisfaction ratings.  The level of support I received during and after the program far exceeded my expectations, and I was working as a developer within two weeks of graduating the program.

While the curriculum is comprehensive and the pace intense, working alongside a group of other students who are equally committed to learning is an extremely valuable experience. Concepts that would have ordinarily taken me years to grasp through self learning were learned through practical problem solving tasks and teamwork.

I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in learning to program with a focus on real world applications in a short amount of time. I can honestly say that I would not have the level of career satisfaction I do now had I not chosen to join the program.

I'm going to start this testimonial with an undeniable fact - Le wagon has completely transformed my life in the most amazing way possible.

 

As a guy in his mid-20’s with an Engineering career for the best part of a decade, I finally decided that I needed more from life. I wanted to do something creative, engaging and current; but, most importantly, I wanted to do it quickly. With a life-long passion for all things tech, a strong creative background and good logic skills gained from my former career, I landed at coding. After tonnes of research Le Wagon was a strong contender. But their glowing reviews made my decision easy - and one of the best I’ve ever made.

 

To try and relay my experience in mere words is difficult, but I will try to sum it up:

 

First of all, the course is not easy. It’s super intense and at the start, it may feel a little overwhelming. Fortunately, all they ask is that you turn up, stay attentive and put the work in. Rest assured, day by day it becomes easier.

 

You learn the basic concepts and start gaining knowledge and confidence. Slowly but surely, as a collective group, you learn together, at a pace which is quite remarkable. Before long, you will be writing code and building applications you never thought possible.

 

Learning how to code, however, is only one part of what you gain from Le Wagon. The other part is what makes the experience so special. It's the people. My batch was filled with some of the most intelligent, forward-thinking and all-round lovely people I've ever met.  And, the teaching and management staff are nothing short of inspiring. Right from day one, a very warm and supportive, family-like vibe is created; for me, this is the best thing about the course. Even after you’ve finished, the Le Wagon alumni network is always somewhere you can look for advice, support and opportunities.

My course ended at the beginning of December 2017 and by January 2018 I landed a job as a front-end JavaScript Developer. All in all, it took around 3 months to change my life. I owe it all to Le Wagon.

Dear Readers,

 

For the sake of UX in reading my testimonials, I will write in bullet points.

 

Degree:

            BA in architecture and economics

 

Work experience before joining Le Wagon:

·      teacher

·      account manager at SEO optimization firm

·      operations specialist at two global fast food chains

 

Coding experience:

            0

 

Main reason for joining Le Wagon:

·      I want to create social innovative projects and not be blindly and entirely reliant on outsourced developers

·      I want the freedom to create my own websites and express myself on the digital canvas as I wish

·      I believe being able to code a language will be as important as knowing how to speak English in the global market in the upcoming decade.

·      I took a few online courses but upon completion, I still didn't know how to implement what I just learned and didn't know how to troubleshoot by myself.  

 

The 3 big takeaways for me:

·      the understanding of core structure of coding languages

·      the ability to read error messages and able to find solutions online

·      the workflow required for a tech team to work efficiently and effectively

           

The best things about Le Wagon:

·      the mentors genuinely want to help prepare you for your next career goal

·      the diverse backgrounds of the mentors and classmates made the learning experience more valuable

·      if you ever want to revisit your course materials, you can revisit the lecture slides and the video - lifetime access!

·      when you graduate, you become part of an ever growing network of Le Wagon alumni. Also, when you travel to another city, you might be able to find someone to have a drink with!!

 

Lastly but most important note:

THIS COURSE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. It is very intensive. I strongly advise you not to juggle your job in the evenings or on the weekend. You will need your rest after a week of staring at screens all day. 

Don't join the program if you don't intend on prioritizing the learning experience as your #1 priority. Last two weeks are the project weeks where everyone will get to pitch an idea. Even if your idea doesn't get picked as one of the final projects, I assure you there are so many things you can learn in whichever role you end up with. During the 9 weeks, you are there to learn, NOT to launch a business. 

 

I wish you the best. 

Prior to joining Le Wagon, I was unsatisfied with my current job and unsure about which direction I wanted to go to in my life. Having previously had the chance to study coding but being unable to take it because I was moving out of the Philippines, I feel like I had missed out on the opportunity until I found Le Wagon in Tokyo. It was definitely one of the best decisions I have made.

Upon starting the bootcamp, I was honestly very nervous and unsure. I had never had coding experience beforehand and I was afraid that I would lag behind everyone else. True, at the beginning, it was a struggle but when they say “at some point, it will click,” it really did.

Being with so many other motivated individuals in such a diverse class with people from all over the world, it had become this fun adventure everyday. The challenges we were given throughout the bootcamp were indeed challenging but also taught me how to think logically and create good code. If there was something that I didn’t understand, there were always people there who could help me out and teach me.

Towards the end of the bootcamp, we were tasked to create a working website. That was probably the best part of the program. Here, we were able to apply everything we had learned throughout the camp. Not only that, we were taught how to work as a team, together with the use of GitHub and Trello to simulate a real working environment. I feel like that in general was an important aspect of the camp.

Overall, Le Wagon was all and more that it had promised. With a great curriculum, amazing teachers, and amazing students, it was the most fun I have ever had studying. From intense mornings and afternoons of coding to the late night drinking and karaoke sessions after a long week, to the hilarious Slack chats and the party parrot, there was never a dull moment when I took this camp.