CareerFoundry

I started the User Experience Designer course at CareerFoundry in February 2018, completed the course in October and got my first UX job in December. The course gave me the knowledge, experience and portfolio I needed to confidently apply for UX jobs. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience with Careerfoundry, I chose the course as I needed a flexible part-time course to complete alongside my full-time job. The content and the structure of the course is excellent, broken down into manageable chunks to gain an in-depth knowledge of the UX process, the best part of the course is the support provided by the tutors, mentors and the course advisors. The course also provides support at every step of the job application process, I felt fully confident and ready when I started applying for jobs. 

I would like to specifically mention my tutor Matt Kollat, my mentor Pia Klancar and my career specialist Richard Learthart for being three of the most supportive and inspirational people I’ve met.

If you are considering a career change into the world of UX I highly recommend CareerFoundry.

I have a Bachelor in Communication Studies and English is still a big obstacle in my career. So when I realized that I can not become a journalist in my new residence country, I start looking around for other options.

I did my research and I start thinking about programming and web development. I had no idea what is what and what do I have to do, so Google became my best friend for the first weeks.

I started several free tutorials but without having someone to show me and a real path to follow, it was pretty hard to do it. This is how I decided to register for the Career Foundry Web Development course.

I was amazed by the structure of the course: you have around 10 assignments for each unit. At the end of each assignment, your personal tutor is going to review your work and give his feedback. At the end of each unit, you will have a video feedback from your mentor, reviewing your entire work and suggesting you any improvements.

In the beginning, it was hard as I knew nothing about web development but slowly-slowly, with a lot of work from my side and a lot of patience from my tutor and mentor, I went through the entire course in less than 6 months, meanwhile working a fulltime job.

I knew nothing about websites, how are they made or how they work, but the course thought me everything: a bit of front-end, a bit of back-end and hocus-pocus: at the end of the course, I had an entire portfolio that I used at my interviews.

At the end of the web development course, I had a job preparation course where I learned a lot of tips and tricks specific for this field but also practice for job interviews. My career advisor was amazing and she helped me to overtake my fears and to be confident with my new skills.

Less than 6 months after I finished my course, I've got not one, but two job offers. One of which was an internship from a company where I was dreaming to work at, but with a year before I wasn't able to pass their coding interview. Now, not only that I got the internship, but at the end of the internship period (4 months) I received a permanent, full-time job offer from them.

Web development is a competitive field and the learning never really stops. I am so proud of myself to say that I am a developer and I suggest to anyone who wants to change their career to follow their dreams and to start learning. Career Foundry is definitely a very good start and teaches you not only the basics but also some advanced techniques. Plus, you have their full-time support both for assignments and job preparation.

So what are you waiting for?

Certified UX Design: As a career changer with a degree in Graphic Design, I am very happy to have taken this course to become a Certified UX Designer. I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience with Careerfoundry.

During the course, I designed a Task Management app, by conducting a case study to define users and pain points. I learned tools such as sketch (and others) from scratch and greatly enjoyed this learning process. At times the course was a test in perseverance, but the step by step approach to the material really helped me to stay on track, together with the advice from my very helpful and positive tutor and mentor. Both of them readily gave me feedback and support, whenever I needed it, material to read up on, work with or in order to understand certain concepts in more depth. It was a pleasure and an honour to work with both.

Furthermore, it was valuable to have such an enthusiastic student community, that provides useful advice and support.

Job Prep: This course I took after the completion of my UXD course and I can really recommend it.

The course not only gives you valuable advice on writing the essential application material such as your CV and cover letter. It also helps you introspect on your transferable skills and the broader picture of a job-hunt process, as well as encouraging you to design a professional portfolio website. That way it structures your 'job-hunt phase', which is naturally not always easy. I continue to stick to the structure in this course throughout my current job search and have had several interviews already.

I would like to add, that the calls with my career specialist were really valuable, as she gave me great advice, adding the perspective of an HR specialist. This experience I wouldn't normally have had the chance of gaining.

Also, I would like to mention that all CF career specialists are very helpful (and continue to be, even after course completion) and always get back to me with advice and feedback on my interview material, great links and video sessions.

In total, my experience with CF has been a very positive one. I took my UXD course from Jan-Aug 2018, Job Prep from August to September 2018. 

It is great enthusiasm that I recommend Danielle Sander as a Career Services Specialist for any Career Foundry course. I worked with Danielle for a few months while completing the Web Development course. I thoroughly enjoyed my time learning from her and valued her feedback and assistance throughout the course. She is dependable and hard-working. Beyond that, she is tactful in finding the right jobs for people upon completion of a course.

Her knowledge and expertise surpassed my expectations; if it wasn’t for her, I would not have been placed in the job I love now. I feel challenged but confident in my current position.

Without a doubt, I confidently recommend Danielle to be anyone’s mentor in this program and an aid in searching for the next move in a person’s career. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely, Kevin Meldau

Software Engineer
Polar Notion Atlanta, GA

I signed up for the CareerFoundry's course to become a UX professional after my bachelor degree. Now, I am almost done with my specialization 'UI for UX Designers' and will start my first job next week! :) I can really recommend CF for someone you want to deepen his/her skills as well as for career changer who start at zero.  
The course is very well structured and since it is an online course you are completely free when and where to do it. You will have a mentor and tutor who prepare you with helpful feedback, answer any questions and discuss problems and solutions with you. You will have a project which you build step by step through the course. This practical orientation is the reason why I have chosen CF. In the end of your course, you will have a great portfolio which demonstrates your skills and is often required when applying for jobs. Moreover, you will be able to take a Job Preparation course for free which I can recommend as well. It helped me through the whole application process.

Changing careers is not easy and it would have been very hard if it wasn't for CareerFoundry's course. I did the Certified UX course and it actually took me forever to finish because of my job (12 months instead of 10) so it was great that they gave me a 2-month extension for free. The course is well structured and the platform is very easy to use. I'll suggest for you to talk to your mentor and do a project of your own instead of the projects suggested by CareerFoundry, because it will not only look better on your portfolio, but you will also enjoy the process a bit more. My tutor and my mentor were pretty good. ​

Job preparation: I started looking for a job before I finished the course, and I landed my new job as a UX designer after a couple of months of seeking. In terms of the job preparation course, I think it's a good start but needs to be more way more tailored to the specific needs of UX designers i.e.: whiteboard challenge preparation, portfolio walkthroughs etc.

Overall, I'm very happy with the course, I don't regret the investment. Speaking of, if you want to get a 5% discount (from 200€ to 500€ depending on the course) I have an ex-student discount code, just use this link to buy it: https://careerfoundry.com?referral=V7W58x0g

I could not be happier with my time at Career Foundry. I have just finished my UI Design Course and I am currently  finishing up my job preparation course. It took me longer than 6 months to complete my course but thankfully they offer 2 free extensions. It was a lot of work completing the course while working full-time but totally worth it! I would definitely recommend this course to anyone trying to change careers or looking to advance their knowledge of UI design. The reading material and tools were extremely helpful. I still use them for reference. 

I really lucked out with my tutor and mentor. They were very responsive (would usually get back to me within a day). My mentor sent me helpful feedback for each one of my projects and also helped me out with any questions I had about future employment. My tutor always sent great notes on my achievements and provided additional helpful resources. 

Although I'm not finished, the job prep course has been very helpful as well. I am looking forward to applying for jobs and starting my new career in UI design! Hoping I land a job in the near future!

I want to start by thanking CareerFoundry for helping improve my career and putting me on the first step in my new path, all ready and equipped with an impressive portfolio and new skills set.

I took the best decision when I enrolled in this program and made the best investment.

The course provided the essential information that I need, to understand deeply the user experience and user interface differences, process, research, best practices, designing, handing off files, and much more.

I appreciate all the help and guidance that I got from my tutor Francis and my mentor Dana. They were there for all the questions and issues I had and provided constructive feedback and critique that pushed me to give more and polish my work when I thought I am done with a task and I can't improve it.

The CareerFoundry team was very supportive throughout this journey, the advisors were helpful and provided assistance whenever I had a question regarding the course.

I recommend CareerFoundry to anyone who wants to improve or change his career. The well structured courses put us on the right path and arm us with outstanding set of skills and get us ready for our next journey.

You can check the apps I worked on at hibasultan.myportfolio.com

Thank you so much again!

Pros: Course and teachers are good. The website is very user-friendly. By the completion of the course (if you are already an intermediate developer) you feel that you can develop a simple application and can control many important parameters related to frontend and backend and this make you happy like adding a plugin and modifying website by modern tools. Career advisor helps you in preparing your CV, LinkedIn, and other social profiles. They really help with job applications and interviews. students learn a lot about polishing resumes and importance of social contacts. job preparation exercises are excellent. 
Cons: This course is not for beginners. Job guarantee is a trap. They have not mentioned the term and conditions for the refund on the Job Guarantee page. ( https://careerfoundry.com/en/job-guarantee ) rather this is mentioned somewhere on the website. ( Please read paragraph 15 https://admin.careerfoundry.com/en/terms ) 
This course does not prepare you for the job market as a developer with PROGRAMMING skills. In the job market, most of the companies are looking for a candidate with sound programming skills(even for junior). You can develop web apps without being a programmer by watching Udemy courses. but in the real world, the demand is opposite because the companies are looking for more of a programmer type candidate with the knowledge of developing tools. Its like (70% programming and 30 % other tools) In my humble opinion, an average student cannot learn all skills required for a job in six months (programming and developing tools). Hence Job guarantee and the course do not meet the reality. 
1. The course does not show the ability to prepare students for programming skill with tutor assisted exercise. 
2. Terms and condition should be mentioned properly without moral corruption.

I came across Careerfoundry through another colleague who was also about to enroll in the course. The website really spoke to me - I was feeling stuck at my job and had no sense of where I should go. I decided to speak to  CF's Career Advisor (Sam), who helped me to set aside my anxieties / fears of changing a career. I am so so glad I made this decision. I signed up for the UX certified course (June 2017), completed the immersion course early (Feb 2017), and spent 2 months prepping my UX portfolio and interviews. I applied to a total of 15 jobs, got 7 call backs and 2 offers. It really was a dream come true for me. 

Careerfoundry is an amazing platform to help you go through this transition - learn new skills and get into the exciting field of UX. I know CF foundry tries very hard to offer the best support and have the best mentors from the industry but it doesn't always happen in real life. My UX course mentor and tutor were both incredibly amazing. Always reachable, helpful and got back to any of my inquiries really fast. However, my experience with my UI specialization course was the complete opposite. The mentor was not very engaged with the course, didn't offer much feedback (ex. your design is perfect, on to the next) and also wouldn't read my comments properly). Though I had unlimted Skype call with him, I really didn't see much point in calling him, as he really wasn't helpful at all. This is why i only gave a 4 star under "instructors". 

Careerfoundry would be the perfect platform for you if you are looking into changing your career and start working as a UX designer. As long as you are motivated and wiilling to dedicate the time and hard work, it's going to pay off. I was working 40 hours a week while studying UX on the side so it was extremely tough but i am glad it's all worth it in the end. 

I started learning web development course on Nov 15, 2017 and graduated on Mar 27, 2018. I found a job at GTA area on Apr 19, 2018. It's not web developer, but network administrator.

The course is well designed and I think I'm a qualified junior web developer after completing the course. However, it's still not easy to find a job by just completing the boot camp. Most jobs require degrees or years of experience. The only opportunity is small start-up companies with low salary, but you cannot expect too much as a rookie. Right?

Career foundry helps me in multiple aspects.

1. Job guarantee reduces my anxiety which is the biggest headache for me. 

2. The community of mentor, tutor, career coach and other alumni makes me feel that I’m not working alone.

3. Although my job is network administrator, my skills in web development helps me to win the job.

(1) In order to configure the Linux environment to run Ruby on Rails, I learned linux system and I was experienced with virtual machine, SSH connection etc., which is useful for a network administrator

(2) Interviewer asked me some details of my web development skills. Basically my web development skill let them believe that I’m a fast learner and I understand how to make different software work together.