Le Wagon

I've been trying to learn coding on my own for years to no avail - picking up apps like Codecademy, Sololearn, Grasshopper (and others long forgotten), some books, videos on youtube... No matter the tool, I always ended up just doing the exercises without really understanding what they were for, or how could I make use of this in a concrete application... or what a concrete application would even be!

So one day I found myself talking with my family and listing what I felt I needed to really learn to code:

• lessons/theory on the key concepts with concrete examples
• exercises that reinforce what I've learnt
• a teacher whom to ask for help when a concept is not clear or I am stuck with an exercise
• a stable and consistent period of time to learn (not like first day 1 hour, next day 30 minutes, then 10...)

After some hesitation (mainly the price commitment) I joined Le Wagon Tokyo and was pleasantly surprised to see, that not only did they deliver in every single point I felt I needed, but they even brought something more:

• buddy system - getting paired every day with a different classmate teaches you how to better understand what you are doing by explaining it to someone else (plus you get to know your classmates)
• a great lesson flow - each lesson seamlessly connects to the following one like expanding branches. Every main topic is a major branch and when you get to the final weeks all these branches are connected in a clear tree. And you see how even that one weird lessons from week 2 that you didn't quite get the importance is a game changer when building projects!
• project building - doing exercises is fun and games, but at the end of the day a programmer is here to build apps. Having the last 3 weeks focused solely on building working apps not only gave us a better understanding of what programming really is and the obstacles we will face, but also allowed us to create a portfolio.
• project preparation and delivery - despite being a coding bootcamp, they didn't overlook the importance of planning/preparing a project (thinking out the core user journey, preparing tentative art) and teaching us how to pitch it in front of an audience

Overall the experience and the curriculum were fantastic, and I have started recommending to my friends, especially those who believe that they don't have what it takes (maths, logical thinking) to learn programming.

I had been working as a Business Analyst for the past 5-6 years, during which I always had to work with developers. I always found it somewhat frustrating when I was not able to fully understand the technical terms when trying to translate business requirements to the tech teams. During my years as a Business Analyst, I managed to self-taught basic SQL and database structures, but I wanted to learn more than that. Coming from a non-technical background myself, I always found that people with coding/ maths background tend to have a different approach to problem solving, which is a skill extremely useful no matter which industry/sector you work at.

So, after attending talks and open days organised by several coding bootcamps, I decided to enrol in Le Wagon in London (batch#240) because its curriculum is designed not just for acquiring the technical skills for recruitment purpose, but also more about personal development. I particularly enjoy the last 3 weeks of the course, where we worked as a team to create a MVP for our apps/ websites. I learned during the project weeks that you can only learn and fully understand the concepts by applying them into practices. It really pushes you out there to apply the concepts you learnt as well as to present your ideas in front of others. The teacher assistants have all been extremely helpful and patient in explaining complicated coding concepts to us. Also, after the bootcamp, you will become a member of the Le Wagon international network of over 5000 alumnis across the globe, with people who are constantly sharing the latest news and knowledges every day on slack channels. Le Wagon also provides the most updated tools and course materials to its students even post bootcamp, so I can always refer back to the course work and redo the challenges/ revise on concepts. 

I am glad that I took the leap to attend the bootcamp at Le Wagon. After attending the bootcamp, I learnt that coding is a never ending learning process, and with the support that I had been given during and post bootcamp, I feel much more confident and motivated in continuing on my coding journey.

Former Wagon student at the Batch # 246 in Bordeaux, I was very interested in https://www.lewagon.com as part of a professional reconversion. I started several courses and I had the chance to close this transition by Le Wagon, so I have some elements of comparison.

The training, very intensive, is really well thought out, the staff is very competent, in addition to being really nice and benevolent, and at the end there is no apprehension to dive into the code, we know that we won't sink. The technical skill is present and beyond that, the ability to learn, to question and to challenge ourselves is very strongly sharpened. And this is also what allows a recruiter to have more confidence in a Wagon's student.

The student profiles are also very varied and very interesting. It's even one of the main strenghts of Le Wagon. The network of alumni, through the many opportunities it can bring, is a really differentiating factor.
In just two months Le Wagon simply brings a wealth of knowledge, and more opportunities than any other organization could offer, making this training one of the best investments you can make.

If you like to challenge yourself, want to change your life or get skills that could help you in your daily life, both pro and personal (yes it is), then clearly there is no hesitation, between all available bootcamps Le Wagon is clearly a no brainer.

Très vite on se sent à l’aise avec l’ambiance et grâce au staff du wagon, toujours très souriants et présents. J’ai choisi d’entreprendre ma formation de développeur web avec le Wagon de par son programme intense et complet mais aussi de par sa pédagogie d’excellence dont j’avais entendu ultérieurement. La formation est très enrichissante, bien que difficile, mais elle permet très rapidement d’acquérir de solides connaissances. Tout au long du batch, les professeurs et les T.A sont présents, et prennent vraiment le temps de nous expliquer les différents concepts. La pédagogie est vraiment au TOP ! Durant ces deux mois, nous apprenons aussi à travailler en binôme et en équipe. Ce qui pour moi est primordial, car c’est l’essence même du métier de développeur : le partage et le co-working. Durant le batch, de nombreuses activités en dehors des heures de cours sont proposées afin de développer la cohésion d’équipe mais aussi de créer des affinités. Je suis très fière d’avoir fait partie de mon batch 246 de Bordeaux, et je le recommande sans hésitation à tous ceux qui souhaiteront acquérir de nombreuses connaissances en peu de temps. C’est pour moi la meilleure formation de développeur web à l’heure actuelle ! Je vous invite à visiter le site du wagon : https://www.lewagon.com/fr pour avoir plus de renseignements. L’objectif du fin de batch est de créer une application web en équipe, là nous réalisons toutes les notions acquises au cours de ces deux mois, quel sentiment de fierté. Mot de la fin : le wagon est le meilleur bootcamp au monde depuis plusieurs années et je ne suis pas étonnée : super pédagogie, super endroit, super ambiance … Que demander de plus ? Foncez si vous hésitez encore. - Justine Muguet - Batch 246 - Bordeaux

I spent 5 years of my life studying Psychology. After those years when I finally obtained Master’s in Clinical Psychology, I went full on into working in very challenging environments, such as prison or hostel for homeless people struggling with addictions and mental health problems. As much as I enjoy helping people and being a psychologist I felt like I’m missing something. One day I finally let myself to be convinced by my best friend to give coding a go. Next thing I know I’m at Le Wagon! I boy don’t I love it!

 

Making a decision to join this particular Bootcamp was not an easy process. The market is full of different opportunities and options to learn to code. I knew that personally, I feel much more comfortable when learning in a group and being supported both by my colleagues and teachers. So having realized that I started my research. Le Wagon was coming on top of my searches every time but then there was one thing that really concerned me. By design, I’m a rather skeptical person, so when I saw all those Le Wagon’s awesome reviews online and the fact that I couldn't find any bad ones really put me off. However, that said, I was still curious about them so I decided to give it a go.

 

First weeks were extremely exhausting for me. I have no technical background so everything was so new and so intense! Surviving this early stage was possible for me only because of the buddy system and incredible support from all teachers and TAs. I was a little bit afraid of working every day with another colleague every day as I feared being judged. As it turns out I couldn’t be more wrong. At the end of the day we were in the same boat and we were going through the same problems. That made as close and we knew we can count on each other.

 

Project weeks were the best by far! That was the time to put all that knowledge into practice. Working in my team was like a rollercoaster at moments. We really wanted to build an amazing app so there were frictions between us, however, those moments made us even closer and made our work even better. We coded together, we solved problems together and we were laughing together.

 

To sum it up, if I could give any advice it would be, don’t hesitate to ask questions, don’t hesitate to ask for help, and more importantly, don’t hesitate to admit that you don’t understand something. At Le Wagon there’s no need to pretend, that’s not a race to be the best. Le Wagon is about you learning as much as you can and to enjoy the experience to the fullest!

 

After working as an accountant for 7 years and using various softwares at work, I wanted to make real changes for the users. After an intense research of coding bootcamps in London, I found that Le Wagon had the best syllabus for me as a non-CS degree graduate with the time period and competitive price. After 9 weeks of Le Wagon, I can confidently say that it was one of the best decisions I made in my career path and it provided me a great start of my new journey as a developer. All staff are super friendly and really care about individual's success in the course. It also has very broad network and support from Le Wagon graduates all over the world! Once you attend Le Wagon, you are in the Le Wagon family for life!

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.