Le Wagon

I’ve been doing a masters in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at LSE this year and decided to take the Le Wagon course (batch #240) during my exam period as a supplement to my studies. Previously I worked in NGOs and social science research, but always felt a pull to gain technical skills and learn how to build things on my own. I wasn’t very confident I would be able to do it, and even during the first few weeks of the course I felt slow and behind. But thanks to the thorough lectures every morning, the individualized support provided by TAs throughout the day, and  - crucially - the daily reassurance from every staff member at Le Wagon, two months later I graduated knowing 1000% more than when I started. Coding still isn’t easy, but Le Wagon gives its students the tools to be able to continue learning the material and honing in on certain areas depending on the project - so it doesn’t really feel over. I never would have been able to do this on my own and would retake it in a heartbeat.

I'm Paulo, 25 Years old, I was not able to finish secondary school in my country but I got lucky to work as a customer service representative, after that moved to Japan and started a new life in Tokyo with my wife.

After some time working in the construction sector in Japan, I realized that it was not what I wanted, since a kid I've been in love with tech and interested in programming. So I decided to look for new opportunities and change my life, so after some research I found Le Wagon Coding boot camp and decided to enroll for the next session.

I'm part of Le Wagon's Tokyo Batch #252, that started back in April 15 2019, it was an experience i never forget because really helped me to learn what i always wanted.

1. The teachers: They are amazing and well-prepared!, The main Teacher was always ready to answer questions and to help you, if you have a problem they will figure it out in matter of seconds. They will sit beside you and help you to reason the problem until you understand it. Is very difficult to ask something they don't know. And that is for the other TA's too, All of them are really experienced developers. And of course when is time to chill they are really nice people to have a nice chat too!.

2. The Program: I'm did not study programming before, and I'm impressed that after only two months I can call myself a Full stack developer. All the program is really well thought, made to help beginners understand, but of course you have to be prepared if you have no experience in coding, so I recommend finishing all the Preparation work they provide before the boot camp, This is a very intense program and you have to be really interested in learning to keep going. All the valuable experience I gained working with awesome teammates and with my teachers is really helpful after the boot camp.

3. Job Assistance: Le Wagon staff is still sharing Job opportunities and organizing events to help us find a Job. It's been a week after my batch finished and still searching for a Job, But I'm pretty satisfied with the help they are providing us to find a Job.

I feel like my life has already changed after Le Wagon and I hope to keep growing as a developer finding a Job in a good company in Tokyo, Keep in touch with my teammates and teachers. This is an experience I will never forget!.

I am 29 years old, I graduated from Rennes Business School and started working for Neslté France just after my studies. I worked there for almost 5 years as a digital manager. I really enjoyed my career there.

In October 2018, I decided to quit my job and start a new life in Lille. I took advantage of this break to develop technical skills through the Wagon Coding Bootcamp Lille. https://www.lewagon.com/fr/lille

I'm part of batch #257 started in April 2019 and I really enjoyed my experience at The Wagon!

> The staff is great: very good explanations, great attention to the progress and the feeling of each - the courses are well developed and explained. => I did not know anything about code but I never felt lost thanks to the teachers and the teaching assistant.

> Educational program: quite intense (you have to be prepared!) But really well built. I liked the rhythm: classes / exercises / projects. I had the impression that I had not learned so much in a long time! In April, I did not know anything about coding. Today, I feel able to develop myself a basic merchant website or to speak with a developer with the right words.

> Friendly atmosphere: each day you work with a different budy, there is a lot of support between students.

My plan for the future: My goal is to find a job in a company where I will be able to use the technical skills I have acquired, for example: working as a Product Owner.

After spending 9 weeks at Le Wagon Paris, I got a lot of skills and enjoyed every moment of the bootcamp. Teachers and the staff were always making sure that each student is moving forward and has a rich experience both on the human and professional level.

The pedagogical platforms provided by Le Wagon are exhaustive and easy to use. It helped me to push my own limits and gave me confidence in my future projects. Building a project from scratch in 2 weeks within a team made us apply our new skills in real-life situations and trained us for our future jobs in tech.

I was head of supply at Le Collectionist, a brand of luxury villas rentals and bespoke experiences, for 3 years, and decided I needed a change in my life. My desire was to learn again, and to be able to work closer to the tech team in the future jobs I would have. Aware of Le Wagon’s existence for a while, I decided to try and apply for it, and was convinced automatically once I step a foot in the offices at Le Villa Gaudelet in Paris.
The experience was amazing, as well in their learning format than in the community they created, and maintained so well. I didn’t see the 9 weeks passed, and it gave me the ego-boost and the motivation I needed to start something new. On the human level, Le Wagon is such a rich experience; it’s rare to be able to meet all those people with different backgrounds, motivated to give the best of themselves throughout the training.
On the teaching level, it’s based mostly on the practice of code (70% of the day), and enables you to also work on your personal skills (skills that will be great assets in any job). I entered Le Wagon wanting to be a product manager, and now I am actually a freelance in front web development (which I never thought would be possible before). I am learning everyday with my projects, and I am really happy I made this turn of carrier at this moment of my life.
As a bonus, I continue on being in Le Wagon’s community because I’m also Teaching Assistant in Paris - the best way to keep learning while continuing to spend crazy moments with the team and the students!

Before joining Le Wagon, I was working as a video producer and had purchased some online coding classes but due to lack of self descipline I never completed any. Therefore, it's safe to say that I went into the bootcamp with close to zero experiences. 

Campus: 
Apart from its unanimously sterling reviews online, I've always been quite fond of Japan so when Le Wagon Kyoto opened its second batch, it was a no brainer. There were eight people in my batch, 4 boys, 4 girls and I loved the classroom size. We would hang out during lunch and go to Izakaya after class. We would study together on the weekend and one of our classmates who was a Kyoto local even organized a couple sightseeing day trips around the area for us (a huge shout out to Aya! thank you!). Smaller classroom size also meant being able to spend more time with teachers and TAs asking questions. On top of everything, Kyoto was just a very nice city to live in. A short 20 mins walk to class everyday, nice weather, and plenty of things to do on the weekends. Loved it.

Curriculumn:
It was solid and was quite challenging for me at times. I had no experience in coding so everything I learned was new and since I'm a pretty slow learner, it would take me a couple tries to get the concepts down. Doing challenges could also be quite frustrating at times but when you finally figured it out it was SUPER rewarding and you'd be craving for more. One thing I did that helped me tremendously was watching next day's lecture the night before or the morning of and reviewing all the materials on the weekend. Here is also the perfect segway to my next point, teachers and TAs.

Teachers & TAs:
I'm not exaggerating when I say I enjoyed EVERY single teacher and TA we had for the entirety of the program. Apart from being extremely knowledgeable about the subject, they were all just wonderful humans in general. They were all extremely patient with us and would guide us through every question and made sure we understand every concept every step of the way. I would know becaue I was one of those students who needed extra attention and without fail I always had help. 

Conclusion: 
I started Le Wagon with zero knowledge in coding and am now confident enough to start creating my own projects and will also start looking for web dev jobs in Japan soon, something I wouldn't even dream of in the beginning of this year. Even after the bootcamp finished, Le Wagon had great support and resources for its alumni to keep them up to date on the latest job offerings, new courses, etc. As cliche as it might sound, Le Wagon isn't just a "bootcamp", you're introduced to a network of support the second you joined and you'll have it for the rest of your life. 

After finishing my masters in London in Computing and also running my small business on the side, I felt it was the time to learn the foundational coding skills needed to develop full products. As it will help me run my business easier and it will give me a more in-depth understanding of the best and most efficient process for software engineering.

The experience was amazing! Especially the project in the last two weeks where we were able to develop a fully functional prototype and see how software teams work. Le wagon team did a great job facilitating this program and I’m really thankful for this experience!

I'm Frederic, I'm 40 years old and I started my career as a former civil engineer and worked in audit and finance for many years. Within the last 5 years, I launched 2 startup projects. Through my career, I've also been working as a bloodstock agent (I buy and sale race horses).
As I was looking for new projects in the start up world, I heard about le Wagon FullStack bootcamp. At the beginning, I was not looking for a school or something like that a all.But after some researches and talks with friends, I realised that it could be perfect for me. I never had the ambition to become a fullstack developer, even when I considered doing le Wagon but I always had this little lack of technical knowledges that made me thinking I wasn’t speaking the same language than the developers. I found out that Le Wagon could be the answer and it was indeed.
If I have to sum-up my experience at le Wagon, I will say that:
-    It’s 9 full intensive weeks, but he program is perfectly size for this time
-    The methodology is very good/innovating and everybody enjoys both the curriculum and the rythme.
-    You meet a great bunch of people with different experiences/ ages/ backgrounds and Le Wagon's network increase the value of the program.

Long story short: if you are thinking of doing le Wagon do not hesitate, go for it.

In England I was an Engineer, it was a good, stable job but I was bored. I kept thinking ‘it will pick up’ or ‘I’ll get that promotion next year’. One day I woke up and realized I had been waiting for years for something to happen. After an embarrassing amount of time I decided to take the plunge into coding and after a good bit of research, I choose Le Wagon - specifically Le Wagon Bali. Firstly, the Le Wagon syllabus is masterfully set out – they give you the arduous approach to a problem first, and then teach you the simple/succinct approach so that you know what is ‘going on under the hood’. This sounds painful but it works perfectly! It gives you an understanding of a concept in a matter of days, whereas otherwise, it would take weeks.
Secondly, the way each day was structured forced you to think like a developer from day 1. The days starts with a lecture (with Q&A etc) and then moves onto daily challenges with the full (and completely invaluable) support from the teachers, and then ends with a live code session where the whole class completes a task together. This structure immerses you in coding – think learning another language while living in the country of origin.
Finally, the resources Le Wagon provide during and after the course pay for themselves. I finished the course a month ago, and thanks to free members-only Le Wagon course on React, I am now a freelance fully remote React Developer; I spend my days bouncing around Asia, living in flip flops and drinking coconuts (I know, the dream right?).
Three months ago I was sat in a cubicle waiting for my life to become interesting, and now I’m sat in a cafe in Vietnam wondering whether to move to the Philippines or Taiwan. Le Wagon, quite literally, gives you the tools to change your life.
To anyone reading this, stop waiting and take the aforementioned plunge. Stop sitting and waiting for your job to interest you, or waiting for your employers to appreciate you – take the plunge. My only regret is that I didn’t get involved with Le Wagon 3 years earlier.