DigitalCrafts

Digital Crafts is a 16 week full stack immersive bootcamp.  It is time consuming, but definitely worthwhile.  The covered material is interesting, and will be needed by job seekers when entering the job market.  The instructors are dedicated and knowledgable, and there are a lot of resources available to you throughout the duration of the course.

If you are looking for a career change I would definitely recommend Digital Crafts.

P.S. Don't worry if you have little coding experience!

I went into DigitalCrafts knowing close to nothing about web development, and before I had finished the course, I had accepted a job offer. As had many others in my class.

This course is not easy and will take a lot of dedication, but will pay off if you work hard. The instructors were very knowledgable and did all they could to make sure the students were successful. While at the same time they don’t hold your hand, and will teach you to work past your own technical roadblocks, which will benefit you in your career. They also offer good career support and advice to help you get a job.

Overall it was a great experience that helped me get a foot into a new career and would I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a coding bootcamp.

Having done most of the pre work to prepare for the class, I found the first part of the class very easy. Once we got to node.js, the work became very difficult for me to the point I thought I would never understand it. However, during the end of our back end project with the help of the instructor, TA's, and other students, it all finally started to make sense to me and I now really enjoy using node.

Although everything we learned in class could be self taught, I think the best part of this class and what made it worth taking is having so many people around for support when you get stuck on a problem.

I had a good experience at DigitalCrafts and gained a great deal of knowledge that I did not have despite holding a "Software Development Degree in Java" prior to joining the bootcamp.

It is really smart that the program is not stricted to teaching students coding only, but other essential skills that every software engineer should know including: pair and team programming, interviews' practice, logic and problem solving, and also learning other technologies that are being used in the industry like github and its git commands, AWS and many other things.

They also provided students with lots of help in finding jobs and keeping them posted on the job market. Serviced the students to have and reflect a professional image in order to land a job.

If there is one thing that I'd like to see differently at DigitalCrafts! that would be providing another stack to teach such as .NET, C# & Angular. And that would give the enrolling students more options to choose from.

Lastly, DigtialCrafts was probably the best choice I have ever made in my professional career as it helped me in landing my dream job on my last week of the course.

The course is worth the dollars required for more than just the technical knowledge that you leave with. While anyone could theoretically take the time to learn the curriculum presented in the course on their own (albeit at a slower pace than you would in the course) the extra benefits of Digital Crafts are as follows.

1. Learning how to work with a group. You might be good at coding, but most employers want to see that you work well in a team, because on any big project your code isn't worth much if it doesn't work with everyone else's.

2. Portfolio review. At about the two-thirds mark through the course, the student coordinator reviews your social media, Linked-In, and Github accounts, as well as your resume and any portfolio website that you may have created. This is instrumental in helping you be ready to apply for jobs.

3. Mock interviews. If you're anything like me, even if you know how to code, you have no idea how to properly solve white-board problems while talking through your process to the interviewer watching you whilst also answering behavioral questions in a manner that best displays your talents. The mock interviews you are given access to really help you in your job search.

4. And when you leave, on top of all the coding that you've learned, you have access to a messaging application that consistently updates with jobs that have been found by members and alumni of Digital Crafts.

TL;DR - If you're on the fence about whether or not to take a camp like this, I had it explained to me like this: learning to code is like learning a language. Learning on your own is like trying to learn Spanish out of a textbook-- it can be done, but it will take you a while and it will be a lot harder than it would be if you moved to Mexico for half a year. Immersing yourself not only in the language but the nuances that come along with it and the culture that the language evolves in will ultimately make you more proficient than you ever could be on your own.

I finished a Full Stack Immersive Program in May 2018 in Atlanta.

It was an awesome experience. The stuff was very helpful and supportive. Of course, it was challenging, but the instructors were always there for me. If you're committed and ready to put some extra work after class, you'll find this bootcamp an amazing learning opportunity. Highly recommend!

I would genuinely like to thank everyone in DigitalCrafts, but especially Jonathan Martin for answering all of my 'WHY?!'

If you’ve spent a good amount of time preparing for a coding bootcamp, and know exactly what you’re wanting to get out of it, then don’t think twice about signing up. Put both feet in and you won’t regret your decision. Realize that nearly any bootcamp across the country will expose you to similar technologies and that you’ll only scratch the surface of each topic. There's only so much you can cover in 3-4 months. What you’re mainly getting is the structure of everyday practice in a collaborative, supportive, and social environment.

There were times during the program that I questioned my decision of enrolling and what value I was actually getting out of it. Most if not all that we learn is available to us online for free, but the momentum to keep going is not. Sometimes that’s all that I needed to continue pushing through roadblocks. Additionally, the opportunity to work with other classmates on projects was a valuable experience that is difficult achieve through the self-taught path.

It can’t be stressed enough that preparation before enrolling will only multiply what you get out of the program. Additionally, don’t expect anyone to hold your hand. The lecture is barely 2-3 hours and the rest of the day you’re primarily on your own. Learning to become independent is only going to make you a stronger developer. Your level of success is strictly determined by the amount of hard work you put into it.

Lastly, a lot of prospective students I met were concerned that they didn’t have the background appropriate for this sort of a program. I studied Anthropology & Philosophy as my undergraduate degree which has no relation to software development whatsoever. However, what every successful student at DigitalCrafts has in common is the willingness and determination to work hard and succeed.

No review is complete without some feedback on the program:

• I would make the pre-course work more challenging, and use the first month to cover more in-depth topics instead of covering the same material as pre-course work. The first three weeks were sort of redundant after having prepared for this program.

• Incorporate daily algorithm toy problems. I believe this is covered by the CS elective, but it would still be good to warm up before the day starts with a short toy problem sprint. This would also make a great opportunity for pair programming.

• Offer more electives that focus on UI/UX, and spend more time on GitHub, and launching/hosting our projects.

• Help students establish coding best practices. Writing clean code is something prospective employers will look for in a candidate, so knowing the good and the bad of clean code early on would have been helpful.

• Offer more diverse assignments. The majority of what we practiced building were to-do lists.

• Consider changing ‘Career Week’ to ‘Career Days’ that are incorporated throughout the program. This would give us more time to polish our resumes, portfolios, etc. throughout the entire program instead of cramming it all into one week.

• Lastly, I would encourage the instructor to be more involved in the students success. The instructor checked in with us during the first few weeks during lab hours, but throughout the rest of the program they were just made available to students for questions following lecture. I think there's a lot more to gain from having an instructor there full-time. Learn and connect with your students to understand who they are and what their professional goals are.

My time at DigitalCrafts was mostly interesting and fun. There were a lot of hurdles and and bumps in the road along the way but the experience gained was worth it. The curriculum is fast paced and you will have to put in a lot of hard work in order to succeed. Make sure you do the prework! There is a reason calls to do the prework is written in a lot of the reviews. Overall, my time at DigitalCrafts helped me gain friendships with my classmates and set the foundation for a career in web development.

The job support is decent. They will review your resume and portfolio along with other facets of your online presence and give you helpful tips so that you can maximize your exposure to potential employers. However, the Houston area isn’t as in demand as other places with tech job markets. If you are willing to relocate you will have an advantage in possibly finding a job sooner so it is something to consider before starting the course.

In closing, I would highly recommend DigitalCrafts as a way to launch your career as a Developer. Jason is easy to talk to and my instructor Azam has many years of experience and will give a lot of helpful tips on how to prepare better for the job search as well as teaching the different technologies and languages.

I just graduated from DigitalCrafts Atlanta full-time in-class immersive web development cohort, and I have to say it was not an easy, drop in now and then experience. It was hard. It was time-consuming. It was worth it. I haven't gotten a job offer yet, but I'm not too worried. I have every confidence that I have the skills to get a job as a developer now. I'm still finishing my portfolio.

I can't say enough good things about the founders, Jake and Max, and the instructors, Chris, Rob, and Jonathan, and the staff, Liz and Zakia. They were fabulous and supportive and helpful every single time I needed anything. They modify the curricula with the change in the marketplace, and in response to the feedback from their classes.  They're an impressive bunch. It was an amazing experience. The class formed a tight knit group all working hard toward the same goal, and they/we still keep in touch daily on Slack. (Also, the building the school is in - Atlanta Tech Village on Piedmont Rd in the heart of Buckhead - is an amazing experience all on it's own.)

I tried to do online classes first, and eventually admitted to myself that I needed more help. I could do an Android class, or a JavaScript class, etc., but I couldn't fit it all together and know what was needed to become a real full-stack developer, and I needed to be able to ask questions. Why is it done that way? Exactly what do I need to do on the command line to set that up?  How do those modules fit together?  I also did better with the structure of the daily deadlines in order to push myself hard enough. It was fast-paced, and we learned a ton very quickly.

A college class would have taken too long and cost too much without teaching me the current skills I need in the work force. An online boot camp wouldn't have been enough support for me. I researched every avenue and evaluated cost/benefits very carefully. I'm glad this is what I chose, because it was exactly what I needed.

If you don't plan on going every day, and doing the assignments after the all-day class, don't bother. And you really have to learn some basics before you can qualify to sign up, if you want to be successful. But if you want to learn the skills you need to to get a job as a developer in the current market, I think this is a great way to do it.

I found DigitalCrafts to fit the bill for me very well, all-in-all. The end results are these. First and foremost, I am getting interviews with companies that I'm actually, genuinely interested in working for. Secondly, I feel competent as a programmer and web-developer, and ready to grow even more. Thirdly, I know from experience now that I have the attitude, skills, and talent to go forwards and start a career for myself.

This course required a whole lot of hard work, and if I would have given it more, it would have benefitted me even more. I'm not just saying that, either. There were nights that I stayed up really late working on projects, just to get it done, and woke up early the next morning to keep on working on it. I found myself wishing for more hours in the day to complete assignments, and to continue to take on extra work outside of class. There's plenty to learn, and I readily will tell you it was delivered very accessibly to my eyes and ears - this course has a great curriculum.

In the months leading up to graduation, the career-readiness team helped out a lot, often recommending jobs that we could apply for, and giving us plenty of opportunities to network with recruiters. The critiques on resumes and portfolios that they gave us were invaluable, and I really found myself appreciating them and implementing them. Jason and the other campus leaders were always there to give advice, lend an ear, or work with you on finding solutions to the problems that you had.

If you devote yourself to this class, and find that you do really well in classroom learning, I believe it will prove to be the piece you put into place on your road to becoming a developer. My only critique would be that, while I never thought it was too compressed in its curriculum, there were times where I really struggled with managing my time.

It was really tough to balance being sociable with friends and family, or to have very much personal relaxation outside of the class. Be careful that you truly do allot as much time as you need for this course outside of classroom hours (and get enough sleep!) and you will thank yourself in the end. You should code daily, push to your Github daily, do a little extra networking/online-presence-building daily, and study for whiteboarding interviews daily. That's a tall order, yes - but if you keep to it, you'll be an A+ candidate for the right job. Come truly ready to work, and you'll go far.