Tech Elevator

I went to TE during the fall cohort of 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. It could not have been better. I was in the .net cohort and we were completely virtual. The instructors there are some of the most caring people you can meet. Matt and John are so sincerely invested in every student's success. They are available for way more hours than they have to be and they always give 100% effort. They will work with you until you get the concept and give you advice for how to succeed. The curriculum is so good. I have a friend who just went through another columbus boot camp (i wont say which one) and she did not get nearly the detail or attention and was underwhelmed by the curriculum.  The pathway program is the secret weapon of this bootcamp. I had 7 interviews lined up for me all thanks to the amazing pathway directors. Of those 7, 6 asked for a second interview. I decided to move ahead with 3 of those, and all 3 made an offer two weeks before school ended. Dont try to save yourself 2 grand by going with that other bootcamp, TE is more than worth the money. They even help you find a job after school is up, if you didnt get one during bootcamp. Just ask them for the statistics, out of the 18 in my .net group, i think about 8 of us had offers 2 weeks before school was up. Its been nearly two months since bootcamp ended and all my friends have jobs I would be excited to have myself.

I began my journey into software as a self-taught developer in January of 2020. In three months, my passion for software had driven me to learn the basics of QA automation, basic object-oriented programming, and to develop appealing web pages. I had secured a software engineering internship to begin in April 2020...we all know what happened next (I lost my position due to the pandemic). I continued my job search for months, going from weekly interviews to dead silence. I'd lost hope to continue on my own.

Tech Elevator was the best career decision of my life. Although extremely rigorous, we covered nearly 3 months of my self-taught journey...in as little as 3 weeks. The curriculum covers object oriented programming, followed by databases, then API's, and finally web development. These are the skills need to build any full-stack application. They helped me refine my software development skills as well as my professional soft skills, capitalizing on my strengths and patching my weaknesses through practice and mentorship. 

Everyday, we'd have 3 hours of instruction followed homework and projects (this would consume the rest of the day until sunset). Every couple weeks, we'd meet with our Pathway Directors, who were responsible for helping us refine our job search, soft skills, and interview skills. I had the most fun during our four capstone projects, which were big projects that our skills (and mental durability) to its limits. After 14 weeks of lectures, Pathway, and capstones, I graduated Tech Elevator with some job offers in-hand. 

TL;DR: Tech Elevator is extremely rigorous but rewarding and efficient. This is a good step to finding a career in technology as a software developer.

P.S. Andy Chong Sam is a great instructor. His lectures are clear and concise and he has no issues with changing the way he teaches. However, what makes Andy a superstar is his ability to teach 1 on 1. I promise you, things will click in no time with him around.

The staff at Tech Elevator are amazing.  Our instructor had many years of relevant experience and made himself available to help when we needed it.  The course content was difficult and really pushed me past what I though my limits were.  The job placement portion was top notch also.  Throughout the cohort they had several high level people from major companies speak with us.  They also had technical and behavioral mock interviews with real companies, and help match making sessions to get us in front of companies that were hiring.  

The program was hard for me!! But, the whole team was EXCELLENT!! TRUST THE PROCESS!! No one gave up on me and I appreciated that!! The fellow students were great too!! Searching for a job was frustrating. I had a good share of interviews and rejection. I was not confident about going directly into a coding job. But, one day, TE contacted me for the perfect job(and it was for me). By now, I was probably the last student looking for a job, so I felt good about it. Well, one phone interview, one onsite interview, I was hired!! I got exactly the salary I wanted. I got a 15-minute commute. I got a great start-up to work for. Co-workers all seem very nice and professional(i start tomorrow)! So I am excited. I  decided to change careers and have to pinch myself that I am actually starting a career in tech! I owe this to the TE people! 

Tech Elevator is something that seems too good to be true. I personally dont think I would had believed it myself until I had seen first-hand someones life change for the better in 14 weeks. After personally seeing someone go through the process and graduate Tech Elevator and earn an outstanding job, I decided to take the chance and I do not doubt it for a second. Tech Elevator teaches you technical skills, improves your professional development, and surrounds you in an overwhelmingly supportive environment. If you are looking to enter a career in software, Tech Elevator is an outsanding opprotunity to pursue.

If you want a job as a programmer, this is probably your best option, except for actually getting a degree. The technologies covered in the curriculum were a good selection for full stack web development for the most part. I believe they have added more discussion of front end JS framework recently. The classes are taught by experienced instructors, not TAs, which is what makes Tech Elevator stand out, and experienced tutors are always available.

The jobs program was helpful because you get the chance to interview with companies. Some of the advice given, however, was questionable, such as requiring students to build a social media presence. I also was disappointed that the environment created by staff was at times less than professional and was not always respectful of students. Additionally, if you are serious about becoming a programmer, you should know that basically zero computer science topics are covered at Tech Elevator. When you go into the field, your colleagues with degrees will be working with background computer science knowledge that you don't have unless you seek it out yourself, and eventually, you'll be at a disadvantage.

Overall, basically everybody from my group got a good technology job and a career path -- although not everyone got a job as a programmer. Despite the downsides I mentioned, I think it is probably the best bootcamp in the region.

A little about me. I did my undergrad in biology thinking I would go do some research. I was feeling uninspired, but still felt some pressure to make a decision about what to do. It's no doubt that I'm a procrastinator, so after a long time (about as long as this long essay) I decided I wanted to be a software developer. Once I had my mindset, it was no big deal. I joined Tech Elevator in August 2017 and, after graduating, I've been working happily ever after as software dev for almost 4 months.

Maybe a little about you. Are you passionate about technology and a career in software development? Maybe it inspires you to create something that's never existed before. Maybe it's one of the few fields you view yourself being challenged and inspired to learn everyday. Or maybe a career in software development provides a lucrative opportunity for a stable income and financial independence. 

Software development checks all three goals for me, and yet when I started, I was intimidated by the mountains of knowledge that lay before me. I tried free code camp and other free resources. I read through MDN documentation and none of it seemed to make sense. I felt like I would have to drown myself in minute details before being able to write my own application.

Suddenly, I got a suggestion. Maybe if I was serious about breaking into this field I should attend a bootcamp. I remembered reading about bootcamps before, but I had my suspicions. What ultimately made me take the plunge was that I knew I really liked programming. I was determined to break my own path even if the bootcamp provided me nothing else but more time to learn. 

I'll admit that I had just looked into one other bootcamp before calling Tech Elevator. Although I had made the cut there, it just didn't feel like my interviewers had any interest in me personally. In fact, I could immediately see a difference when I interviewed at Tech Elevator with Andria. I knew by her questions that she was actually interested in my success. 

And I think that's an important thing to consider. If you are determined to go down the bootcamp route, allow yourself to be selected, but also be selective. In fact, the more exposure you can get the better. See if you can't talk to the instructors, current students, and past.  Evaluating the people you'll be with for the next few lifetimes of your life is an important skill to hone. It'll also come in handy when evaluating companies that interview you.

The interview went well and I got selected for Tech Elevator. About a month before the program was about to start, I had a lot of doubts. Do I really need a bootcamp? What will my friends think about me if I don't get a job? Will my parents laugh at me? A real man does everything on his own right? Wrong. Sorry for the vulgar language, but I would tell whoever that guy was to get stuffed. 

Then the program started, and I'll be honest, I was pretty relaxed. I don't think everyone was, but for me, I was about to learn some really cool things and I was excited. There are two separate curriculums (that do overlap on some fundamentals): one for C# and one for Java. I was in the Java group and I made this choice by flipping a coin. 

I actually don't think it matters which language you choose for the bootcamp, as you can work for a company that uses a completely different language (eg. I currently work in python). But for the long term, I think it does matter. It depends on the language your team/company will use, your personal coding style, and the level of interest you have in learning the dirty details of a language. The article here, https://www.learneroo.com/modules/12/nodes/94, explains something you might consider when choosing a language.

Anyway, once you're at the point of attending classes, at some point the days and weeks might seem to go by in a blur. If that ever happens, then its time to pause and slow things down. Don't become a zombie! It's important to have your own vision and take actions to make it a reality. You'll find that if you look, there are plenty of opportunities to 1) have your own side projects, 2) explore the tech community through meetups, and 3) hone in on what you love/hate about software development.

The bootcamp is really there to be a broad introduction of the field. The instructors are great and they will really leave you with a sense of how the different tools fit together to make a complex web application run. But they won't be with you forever (unless you develop an intimate friendship with them. Then maybe). You'll have to learn how to teach yourself, so seeing why the instructors chose what they chose to teach is also important. A lot of my first couple of months at my job were learning the tech stack and not getting bogged down in the details. The more detailed investigation of the tech stack will also happen, but it's better to schedule that later when you already have some xp under the belt.

Finally, a major advantage of Tech Elevator is the pathway program. All I will say is that listen to everything Kelly or ${currentPathwayDirector} tells you to do and implement it well. Don't question the status quo. Bow down in submission. It's the only way. I was always late to class, but never with my pathway program homework. It's important.

Anyway, thanks for reading! If you have any questions or would like to get in touch, feel free to send me an email at IAMNOTAROBOT010111@gmail.com.

Tech Elevator is a bootcamp that helps you get the base knowledge needed to start your career in computer programming. The most important thing to remember is that you get out what you put in. I cannot stress enough to put in the work to learn the concepts, even if it means giving up something you enjoy temporarily. You may see your friends and family less for a few months, but the pay off will be worth it.

The instructors are readily available during the day and throughout the night as well, just shoot them a message! They genuinely want to help you succeed!

Before starting Tech Elevator, I felt dissatisfied and under-utilized in a marketing role at a company with a toxic culture. I did some self-study of HTML, CSS, and other basic programming concepts online, but I got to the point where I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I interviewed at Tech Elevator and in learning more about them, I was impressed by David Wintrich’s experience and his vision for the bootcamp, along with the structured aspect of the career development program that runs in tandem with the technical curriculum.

Tech Elevator did an excellent job of teaching the technical skills AND the soft skills that you need to land a job. The technical skills they teach are directly relevant to what a junior developer needs on the job from day one, and they provide a great foundation for learning other languages. As an example, I enrolled in the Java program at Tech Elevator, but I am now programming in C# at my job. They teach you how to learn quickly, since languages and concepts are continually changing in tech.

For the soft skills aspect, they prepare you through a series of exercises, self-assessments, and practice interviews that not only get you ready for the arduous job search process, but also expose you to industry experts and networking opportunities.

All of this being said, it is called a boot camp for a reason. If you bring your best self to the program every day, put in the hours necessary for the job search and the technical curriculum (which could be 60-70+ hours a week), then you will get great job offers on the other end. Like any pursuit in life, if you expect a job to be offered to you on a platter without putting any work in, then you will be disappointed. Tech Elevator’s staff and curriculum are there to support and invest in diligent and ambitious learners from all walks of life. It was a great experience from start to finish, and I now get to enjoy and learn from an alumni network of bright and motivated friends and colleagues. I highly recommend Tech Elevator.