Craft Academy

Overall, I can honestly say that the Craft Full Stack Developer experience was a great one. 

I knew nothing about coding before joining this course and it was not an issue. The course begins with the basics, and at a pace that is completely maintainable. Starting with a prep month that is extremely necessary to help start building solid foundations. The instructors are always available to help throughout the day and can be reached at certain office hours later in the evening. I never had a problem getting help when stuck, even at 8pm. 

The pace does pick up relatively quickly and it is extremely important to stay on top of the subject material if you do decide to invest in this course as all later weeks build on what you have previously learned. The working environments are individual and in teams.

As for the material, I am quite happy with what they have chosen to fit in in only 12 weeks. The libraries, frameworks and methodologies taught are all relevant currently and I have seen demand for all in the active job market. 

I have solid confidence now when creating my own apps, frontend or backend, with Rails and React and would like to thank all my coaches at Craft for getting me started on this path to an excellent new skill, in an ever increasing online world. 

My experience at Craft Academy is not one I will soon, if ever, forget. There was much blood, sweat and tears that went into the program. That said, I had an amazing experience and feel that I came out prepared to go out into the workforce as a Junior Developer. You definitely get back as much as you put into it. 

From the beginning, the coaches push you to be self reliant. At first I was frustrated with this approach, but now at the end of the bootcamp I am grateful that they so strongly enforced us being able to troubleshoot ourselves through our issues and questions. As a coder it is imperative to be able to dig yourself out of what ever hole you dig yourself into. You never want to fear experimenting or going down an unfamiliar path, that is where the creativity and fun come in, so having the ability to research, troubleshoot and backtrack is a must. And I am grateful they instilled these into us. 

I believe that most everyone can learn to code, but I do not believe this program, or rather bootcamps in general, are for everyone. You must be ready and willing to dive into the unknown, step out of your comfort zone everyday, move at breakneck speeds, and be able to put your life on hold for 3 months. Given the nature of a bootcamp, you have to be able to take to heart, quickly implement and make a habit out of EVERYTHING that they tell you. 

One of the parts that I appreciate most about Craft Academy, is that they take a real life and practical approach to what they teach you. You will not come out a Javascript or Ruby expert, but you will understand how to employ the Agile mindset to project planning and execution, how to work effectively in groups, how to pair program, how to discuss your code in a concise and precise way, how to write up good Pull Requests, how to use Github, etc. Basically, I now have a very clear understanding of what a software developer does on a daily basis, and how to see projects through from beginning to end. With the wonderful foundations Craft Academy set, I can continue to self learn and grow my coding skills within a job.  

If you decide that Craft Academy is right for you, you will go through a roller coaster of an experience facing every human emotion. But if you fully apply yourself, listen to everything they tell you to do, code, code, and code some more; then you will come out at the end surprised at how much you learned about yourself, about coding, and about this industry in such a short period of time. 

Would I do a bootcamp again?
Ask me again in a few months once I've caught up on sleep! But generally speaking, yes. And I would definitely recommend Craft Academy to others who are serious about making a career shift in a short period of time. The coaches care about and invest in all their students, the curriculum is ever in flux to improve and adapt to changing technologies, and the approach is well balanced between coding, soft skills and project management. 

The one negative I would say, is that there was sometimes a shortage of coach availability because of the larger cohort size of 15 people. 

This boot-camp teaches you a lot about code but even more about yourself. It's important to make time, give it your all and keep up with the pace. If you do not you will not get the best out of this boot camp. You will not get extra help if you can't keep up. Remember that these coaches are not teachers they are coders, great people who love code and love to teach but in THEIR ways and methods - forget what you know from school. Most importantly - have realistic expectations, compare only to yourself and code more than you read.

This is by far the most well spent money and time I ever invested in myself.

I expected in the beginning of this journey that I would somewhat know how to code when I was done with the bootcamp.
What I didn't expect was that I would sit here and write this review and fully honestly say that I know how to build a responsive frontend that consumes an API, I can also build that API in a restful way and as the cherry on top I have good flow with version control and I know how to in an agile way start, build and finish a software project. I forgot to mention that I also have some knowledge about how to create a mobile app.
I expected it to be hard core, and it was. But I didn't know that it was possible to learn this much in three extremely short months.

Is the bootcamp for everyone?
I would say no. I think everyone can somewhat learn how to code, but this bootcamp is about so much more. You learn how to work agile, how to take a software project from start to finish and how to collaborate in a team to make progress.
But to get the most out of it you need to leave your ego and comfort zone at home and come to 'work' everyday as an open book. You need to put yourself a side to work with people that maybe is clashing with your personality, you need to put your own ego and previous experiences aside to accept and absorb that you are a beginner who is learning something and you have to give it all.
If you are not willing to do all that, I hardly believe you would get the amazing experience I had.
 
Would I do it all over again?
I definitely would. (But I am not sure my boyfriend would stick around if I did another three months like this, lol)
This was such a life changing and amazing bas ass journey that has changed my life.
I have learned so much about myself and what I am capable of if I just put my head into it and dare to push my comfort zone further and beyond on a daily basis.

Craft Academy is all about pushing your own boundaries and learn from your failures. 
I have failed, I have been frustrated, I have cried and I have been doubting if this work field is something for me, more than once. 
But I have also succeeded, celebrated, solved difficult problems, pushed myself beyond my comfort zone and came out convinced that this is the best business a human can ever get the pleasure to work with.
If you never fail, you will not know what success is and if you never fail you won't know how to solve the problem when you end up there. And Craft Academy teaches you just that, how to fail and how to dig yourself out when the tunnel collapsed. And the better you get at digging yourself out, the better you get at digging from the beginning so the tunnel won't fall in over your head. 
Everyone can learn a programming language but that is not enough to be a software developer. 
Craft Academy gives you the right tools to become a software developer, and along the way you will learn some javascript and ruby. 

But this bootcamp gives back what you put into it. I put everything in and I got twice my input back in knowledge. 
 

When deciding on joining the bootcamp or not, I believe the most important thing to keep in mind is to really listen to the fact that you need to drop everything around you. The rest you can't really prepare for, just do it.

A big chunk of the coding part of the course is done independently, or together with your programming partner, the hand-holding phase blows over pretty quickly. If you've grasped some of the basics before starting the ITP course even that's a big plus.

The best thing about Craft Academy is that the further you delve into the bootcamp, the more it's starting to become a simulation of a workplace. By the end you know the drill of how to plan, work on, and make dynamic changes to the project as efficiently as possible. This is your selling point when graduating.

This bootcamp is not for the weak, you'll be taught to be independent quickly through finding your own information och solving your problems which is something you do alot when codeing. It's a high intensity education where you get to know 2 programming languages in the course of 12 (16 if your count the part-time introduciton to programming course) weeks. The coaches support you but also make sure you stand on your own feet very quickly so prepare to not have that much hand-holding. 

For me it was a great way to change careers quickly. The focus on using automated testing and SCRUM/XP was a huge selling point for me. 

What is this?

The process spans 16 weeks, starts with 4 easy going weeks and moves into 12 not-so-easy going weeks. Looking back, I would probably recommend that people try to learn as much as possible during the first 4 weeks as possible. Try to learn as much Ruby and JavaScript (look into ES6 syntax) as you can before the actual bootcamp begins. It will allow you to focus more on the concepts and the big picture instead of the details when they turn the heat up.

The coaches are good people and they all want you to succeed. It's important to keep that in mind, especially when your "code" gets an ass-chewing.

I think it's important to keep in mind that this isn't just a coding bootcamp and you can learn to write code pretty much anywhere. I would say that this is a place that prepares you for a certain work environment and hopefully enables you to land on your feet once you enter the real world. That is why they put so much emphasis on the soft skills. In my case it was the "how to work as a developer" part of the bootcamp that I was after. Of course my coding also got a lot better during the process and the whole testing aspect of the bootcamp had an enormous impact on my way of thinking. Now there is no going back from writing tests. I think I would feel very weird about having a job where I write software with no tests. I would probably start writing tests as a skunkworks project.

Would I recommend the bootcamp to other people?
Short answer: Maybe
Little bit longer answer: When they say that you have to put your life on hold for a couple of months, they mean it. I had just moved to Sweden with my family a few weeks before the bootcamp started. My kid is 8 years old and he had a tough time adjusting to the whole thing so the timing, in my case, was sub-optimal. In hindsight, it was probably the wrong time to do it because I often felt like I wasn't able to fully commit and there for I didn't get as much out of it as I could have. It's difficult to come home in the evening, ignore everyone and get back to work. I was unable to do that but if we had been settled in a bit more, then I think it would have been a bit easier. Also, you NEED approval from your spouse. It's a tough process for them as well.

Would I do it again?
Yes, I would.

I also look forward to attending future Coffee'n'Code events and staying in touch with the coaches and my cohort.

Okay, so if you're reading this you're looking for a change in your life. Maybe you want to change fields and work in tech, maybe you want to change city or country and open your horizons, or maybe you want to meet new people and create new professional and personal connections. Now you found CraftAcademy but you're a bit reluctant to spend almost 100k of your hard earned money on a new adventure. That was exactly where I was 4 months ago.

And was it worth it, you ask? Yes, it was.

Would I go throught it again? Oh yes I would.

Did it change my life? Read the review's title again.

I started the course with 0 experience in any type of coding. From the beginning of the course I had the feeling I was in waaay over my head. And the beautiful part is that that feeling hardly goes away until the last couple of weeks.

You'll be pushed behond your limits. You'll run distances you never thought you were capable of running. You'll learn so much stuff so fast you will feel desoriented.

But you'll reach a point where you'll realize that you're not that coding newbie anymore. You'll be able to code your own solutions for the milions of problems and challenges you'll face. And how rewarding that feels!

You'll learn Frontend and Backend technologies as well as our beloved Test Driven Development, always following the Agile and Scrum methodology. It's amazing how much you can learn and grow in just 12 weeks.

As a personal reference, one week before finishing the course I was already in contact with some companies in the great tech hub that is Stockholm, and they were really impressed with the skills we aquire in such a short period, being able to solve recruitment tests designed for Senior Developers. And a week after the course was over I landed my first job as a Frontend Engineer.

Apart from that, I made so many great friends in the bootcamp that I'll carry with me throughout my entire life! Shout out to the Brogrammers!

So, to sum up, don't even think twice. Just send that email, and join the course. Once you do that, just give your all, work hard and work smart and at the end you will be collecting the fruits.

Thank you to all my colleagues and all the CraftAcademy team! Noel, Faraz, Adi, Greg, Oliver and our fierce leader Thomas! You guys are the best!

Want to become a web developer in 12 weeks? The Craft Academy bootcamp is how to do so, if youre ready to bring on the challenge.

Learing by doing is the motto here. Instead of spending hours and hours reading and talking about code and concepts, you will be thrown into the deep side of the pool and then you’ll have to learn how to swim. But not only does the course prepare you with pure coding skills - by taking agile methodologies into great account, you will develop and improve many soft skills that go along with coding, but are also applicable on other aspects of life. 

Test driven development and version control is the true core of Craft Academy. During these 12 weeks you will also learn how to learn new concepts, and thus feel comfortable enough to head on to other programming languages later in your career if needed. However, the course curriculum is continuously revised in order to deal with the most trending frameworks and libraries. 

For anyone intrested in this adventure, I’d like to give some advices and reminders:

• Keep in mind it is a bootcamp - you’ll only do it once, so be ready to put in a great amout of work. In practical terms, don’t be afraid to cut down/out movie nights, workouts and long cooking sessions.
• Challenge yourself and stay curious - the course material is often written to guide you to a certain point in a project, and from there its your choice to go that extra mile or not.
• Are you a lone wolf? Well, you do have to work in teams/pairs 80% of the time, so you just have to put up with it.
• Prepare well -  Retrospectively, I wish I had put in more effort during the introductory course prior to the bootcamp, and preferable even before that. Not because you really need to, but things will go much smoother if you do so.
• If you’re used to university stuides, you’ll soon experience that this is different, maybe not because of the written curriculum particularly, but the way of teaching. A bootcamp means it does come with a lot of mental stress and the coaches do their best to impose this on the students.

Towards the end of the bootcamp, you will be offered to attend a series of career talks to prepare you for possible job hunting, but they are also a great way to sum up what you’ve learned and then you will realize how far it is possible to go with the right guidance and hard work!

Oh man! This bootcamp...

This bootcamp was one of the most unique, intense and nerve-wracking experiences I've ever had. And I would do it all over again!

I was a complete and total newbie when I started at Craft Academy. And when I say newbie, I mean that I could barely scroll up and down the page on my computer. I was curious about programming though and the idea of creating something out of nothing has always been appealing to me. I was at a point in my life when I really needed a change and was commited to walk the mile but still needed someone to guide me in the right direction, so learning to code on my own wasn't really an option for me personally. 

I took a chance on Craft Academy fullstack developer bootcamp and boy, did it pay off! 
The course material is very well thought throgh. Even when you find yourself in doubt about how is everything connected, you soon get to discover that it is and a fair amount of "Aha" moments become part of your every day experience.

This is not, by any means, an easy ride. Be prepared to invest all of your time and put your social life on hold. Be prepared to make friends with frustration, exhaustion and having your way of thinking challenged on a daily basis.

This course will teach you how to work in a team and collaborate with different people, with different backgrounds. This is the closest simulation of a real work life you will get, because most people in the industry concur that pair-programming is one of the fastest ways to learn new concepts and troubleshoot errors, so if you are a lone wolf this course might not be the best choice for you. 

As far as support, I have nothing to express but my gratitude to all of the coaches. These people are dedicated, knowledgeble and commited to help each one of the students to reach their goals. 

If you are looking for a way to invest in your future, I would say from experience that CA is the right place.

Craft Academy: A whirlwind, once-in-a-lifetime experience for any wouldbe programmer interested in a full-stack programming curriculum.  This no-frills course is designed to get you a career in the IT realm as fast as humanly possible.  It worked for me; I left this course 2 weeks early because I landed a job with a local Stockholm tech company as a Front End Developer.  They weren't looking for a junior, but because I had learned so much at Craft, they brought me in anyway.  Don't believe me?  Check my employment details here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-nejame-b02039183/ . 

To be clear: this is a bootcamp.  This course is not for the faint of heart.  This is not for people who are 'playing with the idea' of becoming a programmer.  This course is for people who are hungry for knowledge.  This course is for people who are ready to make a drastic change in their life.  There is no handholding, there are no friendly pats on the shoulder, and there are no participation trophies when you fail.  You will be challenged, you will be pushed outside your comfort zone, and you will question your sanity.  But if you stay the course and graduate, as the founder says, you will have the skills necessary to reboot your life as a programmer.

Frankly, the cost of the course was a put-off for me at first, but compared to other courses I checked out in Stockholm (and also in the states), it ended up being many thousands of dollars cheaper.  Combine that with the fact that the course is literally paying for itself within weeks of graduating, and the invaluable skills that I've acquired, I'm grateful I took the chance.  Forgive me if this sounds like a long-winded advertisement, but I cannot overstate the value of signing up for this program.  I strongly recommend CA for anyone with the money and the time to invest. . .just be sure to clear your calendar and let your friends and family know that you will be off the map for a few months.

The staff (Noel, Faraz, Oliver, Adi & Thomas) are all great guys and eager to elevate your coding chops and work tirelessly to ensure you are absorbing the knowledge you need to become a dev.  Shoot them an email or give them a call and see for yourself.

Craft Academy builds holistic software engineers capable of working and growing in the software industry. I joined Craft Academy right after graduating university with very little programming knowledge and experience. During bootcamp, we built products that enabled me learn as much as possible with regards to software development best practices, version control, TDD/BDD and many more skills while adhering to industry standards. It all did not make sense while at bootcamp (I was a bit of a not so good student) but later on I have got to appreciate the opportunities attending craft academy has brought my way. The instructors are really experienced and professional too. I commend Thomas Ochman, Raoul Diffouo and the whole Craft Academy team for the great work they do and the knowledge they give us at bootcamp. Trust the process. It's surely worth it.