Devslopes

Ever since I joined Devslopes the way I see and use technology in my day to day life has changed as I am continually learning to create and improve software that I make myself. The Devslopes Community has many members who currently have software developer roles and they are happy to  provide valuable insight into the best technologies and practices to  help you create the software you are trying to build either for yourself or for business clients.The mentors are where the value of being in Devslopes really becomes noticeable. Communicating technical needs,  limitations and recommendations to my business clients as well as executing those needs is very difficult since I don’t have many years of experience in the field. So not only do the mentors help me pass my Devslopes assignments, they also mentor me on how I can create the technologies that will help my clients meet their business needs. I started off making simple apps for myself like video music galleries and games, but where I learned the most was my first professional business client. That is due to the fact that the business requirements of the app exceeded the scope of what I had learned at Devslopes so far,  but thanks to the mentors and experienced members of the Devslopes community I was able to not only meet the clients requirements but far exceed it.Thanks to the help of the Devslopes mentors and community I made $2000 working on that project part time. Not only that, he also recommended me to his client and I am in negotiations to build him something as well. It won’t take long to make a return on the Investment I made into Devslopes and I am not even finished yet!

I joined Devslopes in  2022 looking to make a career transition as a software engineer. The goal was to get a job where I can work remotely while making a decent income. Their freelance program sold me on the idea that you can "earn while you learn" and was the determining factor on why i chose them. I'm not a natural salesman so when I started freelancing my communication skills werent where they needed to be to attract clients and land projects. However after following the guidance within the program for a few months I became more fluent when I pitched my skills and eventually landed a few paid gigs. The mentors in the program were able to help me with my specific challenges and hangups and gave me personalized advice and suggestions when I felt stuck and needed a boost. The most important thing Devslopes taught me ironically enough wasnt Javascript or backend development  because I'm pretty sure I'll need to upskill as the next new technology comes along. Deveslopes helped me most by nurturing a problem solving mindset, the idea that you have to choose "the right tool for the job" and the ability to verbally communicate my ideas effectively. For example when I landed my first freelance project I thought i had bitten off more than I can chew. However after bringing my project (custom website buildout) to one of the meetings I learned about a library and other extremely valuable resources  that was pivotal in helping me complete the project and giving the client 5 star service.
Fast forward a few months later and I've made thousands freelancing, recently switched to doing it fulltime and have plans to start my own agency in the near future. You do have to be accountable when you join and put in effort to learn on a consistent basis but once you get that down thats another life skill you have that you can take with you regardless of the industry that you work in.

I 1st heard about this company on TikTok and decide to reach out on their Web page to schedule a meeting with one of the representatives that works there. So the day of the call the representative I was talking to 
Rushed me off the phone. Before he  Rushed me off the phone,I believe he stated that he would give me a call back but he never did. Ever since then I have rescheduled the call Because they refuse to call me. I have had to reschedule the call 2 Times and still no one is calling me.I'm not sure what kind of business this is but it's disappointing to know that someone is reaching out to further their career or at least make a change in their career and People are not following up on me when I reschedule a call..

Most importantly there are two facts that will not be presented to you until it is too late:
1) you can "sample" the academy to determine if its a good fit for free.
2) if you sign up and finance, the contract is specifically worded to juice you for all you're good for. It states in the contract that you can't escape through bankruptcy. You cannot get a full refund at any point. You cannot get any refund after 10 days. The amount you are refunded starts at like 80% on day of signing, and reduces until the 10 days pass. 

The sales team can be shady and potentially even lie to you. They absolutely don't care about anything but getting the sale. They will say whatever it takes to make you want to join up. They will amp things up and tell you things that are just absolutely not a reflection of the truth and most likely never were. "There are live classes at all times of the day." False. The live sessions are held at whenever is convenient to the instructor and that is subject to change with little time for the changes to be communicated. (The day one of the instructors was going to be gone for 2 weeks is when we were notified that instructor would be gone for two weeks) There is one course that is only held at 10:30PM CST and no other time of day for example. 

Next, the coursework is lackluster. You are referred to other free resources because they do it better. Its old enough material to be considered outdated, and the way the guy does it is so cringey. You can say rad and skate too much. The material is not incorrect, and it is not explained poorly. If there was less of a constant tie in with painfully cringey 90s skating culture, first 10 second intros reminiscent of youtube "hey guys its _ and today...", and it were updated to still be relevant, then I could say it was good. Only 1 project per "module" is graded. Modules are basically chapters of learning. They contain around a dozen or so exercises. The exercises are not graded unless you specifically ask for them to be graded in the community discord. The projects are graded at high speed on loom.com. 

The live sessions are a mixed bag. They depend heavily on the quality of the instructor. One instructor see's coding as cool, really enjoys it, and tries to help you grow. One instructor seems to be showing up as its a job requirement. I think he is interested in helping, but I don't think he is really qualified for what he is doing. The recruiters told me the live sessions were intended to be Q&A format, happened regularly throughout all times of day (he even said every hour... that was a lie). The Q and A approach leaves much to be desired. Sometimes, there is a question asked that the instructor can expand upon and turn into a really informative session. Sometimes the instructor waits 20 minutes to start, nobody shows up still, and then the instructor has no idea what to "teach". Its very clear that there is no plan or organization for some instructors classes. Some instructors have a plan of what will be happening for the next month. I would say of the 6 regular instructors 2 are very disorganized and appear to be put into a position to teach without enough preparation and varying levels of professionalism, and the other 4 are usually very professional.

If the only reason you join is for the "Freelance support", then I would suggest waiting. I don't think the value is there right now, but I do think the company is working on building it. They are trying to do more to help students develop confidence and portfolios. Its not enough yet, but I think it will be and has potential. 
If the reason you join is because you want access to a community of resources, then I do think the value is there. If you have a question, then it will get answered. It will not get answered as fast as you want or how you want, but it will be answered in a way that makes you learn more and improve your coding ability. 

I am rating 3/5 as I believe the marketing suggests a significantly greater program than it is, and the blatant lies from the agent who sold me on the program. As a whole, its not a bad program. 

random gripes: the communication entirely being on discord is garbage tier. the class schedule in the student handbook not being updated, and updated versions not being distributed is garbage tier. jake the brogrammer is also garbage tier. his whole schtick as a brogrammer is just cringey. we don't want to be "brogrammers". we aren't 19 year olds living with our parents hoping to get into a frat. we are people who want to develop the skills to be working professionals and his persona is insulting to be considered something we might want to aspire to. The recurring marketing emails and not having any ACTUALLY relevant communication outside of discord is garbage tier. 

I debated on joining devslopes because I've already been to school for computer science and software engineering, but I'm glad I did because it brings a different experience than going to school. I learned a bunch of theory in my classes, but I don't remember coding much. In devslopes, you are constantly working on projects! One thing that I enjoy a lot is the online learning hours with the mentors. You join their scheduled zoom calls where you can ask the questions you're stuck on, and they're always helpful. There are a lot of students to connect with as well in case you would like to build your network

This is simply a money grab.... They will tell you that you have a 10 day cancellation period when your signing the contract. Thats even IN the contract.. But they ghost you for your first 10 days when trying to talk to any employee to cancel!! (the coding mentors will just tell you that not my job, talk to someone else ) 

So then on your 11th day you'll get hit with a response saying "Sorry, your past your cancelation period !!"   

If you even MENTION this being illegal or unethical, they KICK YOU OUT of the program, AND YOU STILL NEED TO PAY BACK THE LOAN.

So now you don't get ANY thing you were sold on , AND your still stuck paying over 12K for something you'll never get access too :( 

Be carefull of the sales staff!!! They are really smooth talkers, and will say ANYTHING to convince you that this is a great opportunity for you.  

Devslopes is your final stop. Look no further! As a current student I have learned more in the past three months at Devslopes than the last 3 years studying on my own! The professors are amazing, they have classes scheduled literally all throughout the day, and their Discord community is exactly what you want on Discord. They thoroughly talked through the program before I enrolled, they gave me clear payments answers(also gave me a few options,) and their Empowerment specialist(Shawn) is a literal gift from the universe. I was in a funk when I first enrolled and she was able to help me work through my issues and jump right back into classes. All in all my experience with devslopes is wonderful, I considered many other bootcamps but after a Live student tour, I was sold.. Do yourself a favor and give them a call! Maybe I'll see you in a class! 

Do not waste your money and time with this scam of a bootcamp. They pressure you on the phone when you have your interview to sign up and quickly coerce you into taking out a loan, which is red flag number one. Then everything they advertise with their super supportive “mentorship” and student run Discord chat is not helpful at all. No one can answer your questions on Discord and the mentorship’s availability is limited and do not provide good or helpful advice. You’re basically left to your own devices for a rigorous program. It’s mostly just a bunch of videos with information you could find online. Don’t get in debt with them. It’s not worth it and feels a little like a scam to me.