Tech Elevator

Before coming to Tech Elevator, I was working in the non-profit sector. I felt like I was reaching the ceiling of my career and wanted to pursue software development because of the opportunities, the creativity and the challenge. My opportunity finally came when my position was eliminated at my job and I decided to take the leap and apply to a bootcamp. I decided to go with Tech Eleveator and it was the best decision career decision I have made to date. 

I didn't have any experience coding, but my instructor Frank broke down the concepts so that I was able to understand them much more clearly. You will learn a lot in a very short time. You will be amazed by what you can do when it's all said and done.

The Pathway Program sets Tech Elevator apart from other bootcamps. They help you with your resume, LinkedIn profile, interview prep, and so much more. Valerie, the Pathway Director, is great! If you do what she says and trust the process, you will be on your way to a new career!

When I think back to the decision of choosing Tech Elevator, I remember feeling nervous. Worried. Excited. Skeptical. Lots of different feelings. I thought, "Fourteen weeks to change my life for the better? Double my salary? Take the next step in my life? This sounds way too good to be true. This sounds like something that I'd have to go back to school for at least 4 years for... What's the catch?" At the time, I was unhappy with my current job, my career status. I felt unfulfilled. I felt like I was capable of more. I knew I needed to do something, so when I discovered Tech Elevator, I did what most of you reading this are doing right now -- researching, scouring student reviews, looking into the graduation/placement statistics, etc. I was convinced, and I took the the chance.

That chance came to fruition on September 16, 2019. I had my first day of class. I was thrust into a new city, a new building, surrounded by so many new faces. It only took a day or two until some of those new faces became new friends. Our class clicked in a way that I've never experienced before. Not in elementary school, high school, college, a workplace, a sports team, anywhere else. Our class had this unity almost immediately. We all knew we were in this together. We all had each others' backs. We knew what the end goal was and we wanted to see each other make it through. That comradery was there the whole time. I'll be the first to admit that I needed help with the lessons, and I had a network of great people, great friends to lean on when I did. I'd ask my friend next to me, or my friend across the room...

Or... we could go to the instructors who would stay all afternoon if we had questions. Our technical instructors had our backs, they took joy in seeing us pick up these new skills. They're friendly, wonderful people and they brought our classes together and helped facilitate the learning experience. I'm currently a couple weeks into my new job and I've already had a couple conversations with my .NET instructor about how great everything has been so far, and he seems so genuinely excited for me. 

Our pathway instructors were equally on that same page. You could see it on their face every day how much they loved what they did, and how much joy they got out of seeing us succeed. It was apparent. Their positivity and encouragement was contagious. It takes a special kind of person to be able to manage a huge group of people, with various backgrounds, various social and technical skills, and be able to bring them together for a common goal and ultimately get us there. They celebrated with us in all of our victories, and picked us up when we were dealing with our struggles. And at the end of it all, they will do everything in their power to put you in position to get that job. They did it for me, they did it for my friends, and they'll do it for you too. They are amazing people.

I'll never forget the relationships that started thanks to being a part of this program. I'm so excited to see what happens to all of my friends I've made here. I graduated just a few short weeks ago and I've already told several people that going to Tech Elevator was one of the best things I ever did. That it was one of the greatest decisions I made in my life. It opened the door to a future with so much potential and opportunity. It gave me another chance.

If you're considering attending Tech Elevator because you want to make a change in your life, take the chance I took. You won't regret it.

Before coming to Tech Elevator I was working in automotive sales/costing. I was not very interested my work and knew I wanted to make a career change. I always had an interest in programming but was hesitant to leave my job and commit full time to a bootcamp with no guarantee I would have a job at the end. What changed my mind was all of the positive reviews and recommendations about Tech Elevator. 

Upon joining Tech Elevator it was clear all of these reviews were correct. Their instructors are excellent and love teaching new students. Also on top of the cohort instructors they have plenty of tutors and staff to make sure that all students understand the material and no one falls behind. But what really sets Tech Elevator apart from other places is their Pathway program. Their dedication to finding every student a job is incredible and they provide you with every skill you will need in your job search.

I was able to get an entry level developer position upon graduation and I owe all this to Tech Elevator's great instructors, pathway program, and their reputation in the area. When you join Tech Elevator, you become part of the tech community that helps each other not only in the bootcamp but for the rest of your career. I met a lot of the alumni while I was there who had changed careers like I had and could offer advice on how to handle the bootcamp as well as tips on finding a job and what it's like starting out when you switch into the tech field.

In summary, having completed a bootcamp I feel that anyone who attends and is willing to put in the work will find a new job and a more rewarding career. My only regret is that I did not make the decision to attend Tech Elevator earlier.

I was in the business world for several years before making the pivot into tech. After thoroughly researching as many Bootcamps that I could find, I took a chance on Tech Elevator. I chose Tech Elevator for a variety of reasons- I spoke with alumni, I toured the campus, a read online reviews, I scoured the internet for any other information that I could find and everything I found was a glowing review of the program.

Tech Elevator gives you the education you need to learn the fundamentals of coding while simultaneously giving you the tools you need to find a job in the field. Both of these are equally as important so it's paramount not to overlook that fact on your Bootcamp search. I would highly recommend Tech Elevator to anyone who is serious about doing a Coding Bootcamp. I say 'serious' because they will push you. They will challenge you. There will be times you may have to stay late or come in on a weekend to get an assignment done. You have to put in the effort. But at the end of the cohort, it will all be worth it because you will be prepared to be a software developer. AND you will have the interpersonal skills to find a job in the field. 

I went to Tech Elevator with absolutely no degree and no experience and I left with a career in tech! My biggest fear going into Tech Elevator was that I wouldn't be smart or good enough to succeed in what is advertised as such an intense environment but honestly, I think this program is exceptionally manageable for anyone as long as you understand that you get back what you put in and at times it can be a little overwhelming. At least from my experience, it never felt "impossible" or "unreachable" to complete what was assigned. I could always finish what I needed and have time to spare to keep up with my social life and hobbies.

 

What I feel isn't advertised nearly as much as it should be is the amazing staff that will support you through your change in careers (or in my case, the start to a new one!). The staff at Tech Elevator are some of the kindest most genuine people I've ever met and they really do care about finding you a job doing what you love doing. I honestly wouldn't trust anyone else with something as important as my career then these guys and gals. If you are interested in having a career in technology and are shopping around for bootcamps, look no further, this is the place to go.

A lot of bootcamps have very flashy websites, and they've all got inspiring stories and exciting rhetoric. What is less clear is how many of them are genuinely concerned about education, or how many have competent instructors, or how many are just VC-backed vampires looking to get your tuition and shove you out the door into a cold and unfeeling world. What first caught my eye about TE were their extremely high placement levels as reported through CIRR. They seemed to be substantially better than the numbers even some of the oldest San Francisco bootcamps were reporting, which I found extremely promising. Given that CIRR reports are externally audited, I had a reasonable degree of confidence that the statistics were accurate, but I must admit I was at least a bit skeptical. And beyond that, the big question: were they humans, or vampires?

In any event, I decided to apply and at least see what this place was like. I filled out a relatively straightforward online application that covered my background and motivations, and took an online aptitude test. Within a few days I was invited to the campus for an hour-long interview and a longer, more complex aptitude test. From the moment I walked in I felt comfortable. On a superficial level, the space is well-designed and feels friendly rather than sterile. More importantly, the staff I interacted with that day could not have been more courteous and engaging. Every person seemed genuinely concerned that I have a good experience, and Marty, the campus director who conducted my interview, set me at ease in what is fundamentally a stressful situation. We discussed my background and motivation at great length, and we both tried to get a good sense of whether I could thrive in the program. I left confident that Tech Elevator was run by people that genuinely cared about their students, and happily enough, I was admitted a few days later.

I enrolled in the Java cohort, one of two courses TE offers; the other covers .NET Core/C#. In my case, I had had some prior exposure to Java, which influenced my decision, but plenty of my classmates had no prior experience at all, I hasten to add, so don't let that limit you. We dove in on day one with the basic concepts of programming, and continued for four weeks, culminating in a multi-day pair-programming capstone project. The capstone gave us the opportunity to stretch our newly-acquired skills with a bit more autonomy and freedom than we were able to in our daily exercises and quizzes, but it's important to note that our instructor and several other staff members were always available for help and guidance. This basic pattern continued through three more modules covering SQL/data abstractions, Spring MVC server-side programming, and front-end (HTML/CSS/JS, RESTful APIs, and Vue.js). By the end of the program we had a very good understanding of the overall architectural principles of software, and enough knowledge of the details to actually implement them. Our teacher, Frank, had a fantastic sense of humor, immense technical knowledge, and most of all, cared deeply about our success.

The other half of the program, and something that would be easy to underestimate in one's excitement about learning exciting new technical skills, is Pathway. This, essentially, is a career-skills bootcamp interwoven through the program. Several times a week we had Pathway workshops covering every aspect of job-hunting from elevator pitches to resume best practices, LinkedIn to networking, interviewing to negotiation. They even gave us clear guidelines about clothes and grooming! Outside of the actual workshops, they helped us through multiple resume drafts and brought in endless companies to speak about their business and give us the opportunity to practice pitching ourselves. They even brought in outside interviewers to give us practice in both behavioral and technical interviews. I could go on forever, but I have to say that Val, our Pathway Director, was deeply, personally invested in each of us, and worked incredibly hard to prepare us to find jobs. Give it your all and your effort will not be in vain.

Near the end of the cohort came an incredible opportunity: Matchmaking. Essentially interview speed dating, TE brings in companies that are actively hiring for two days of interviews. I personally had nine interviews in total, and eventually got a job from one of them. Even if you don't find the right match (and plenty of my classmates found jobs from outside of Matchmaking), it's invaluable real-world practice. I can tell you from experience that by the end of the process almost all the anxiety had been removed purely through exposure.

Another thing I haven't mentioned yet: my classmates. I have never met a group of people that I got along with better, much less one that was so incredibly friendly, open, collaborative, and brilliant. Obviously they've all graduated now, but if my cohort is any indication, you can be confident that the admissions decision-makers know what they're looking for, and that if you're accepted, you're going to have a great time around hard-working, like-minded people, just as I did.

The overarching theme in all of this is that Tech Elevator has managed to bottle the unique magic of genuine humanity, what the Jesuits call cura personalis, or "care of the person." You are not a number to them, you are not a potential placement statistic, you are a person that they want to know and teach and help in any way possible. Everyone is available not just for technical help or career advice, but also for just plain encouragement and conversation (and sometimes ping-pong). I have rarely encountered this in any educational or professional organization, and I cannot tell you what a joy it was to find it here, and to find it so totally pervasive among everyone involved. The fact that I worked at a bookstore before Tech Elevator, and fourteen weeks later I'd received three job offers as a software engineer, is just gravy (OK, no, it's not just gravy, but you get my point). If you're ready to work hard, that's all you really need to know.

Tech Elevator was the best risk I took. I was very skeptical at first. There have been so many for profit school scams that have left people broke. When I learned about Tech Elevator I did a lot of research. I was trying to find the disgruntled mutterings of a scam. I could not find it. The fact that Tech Elevator voluntarily reports to a third party watchdog agency that monitors for profit schools was instrumental in making me realize it's legit.

Unlike other boot camps that train you up in the latest fad Tech Elevator gives you a core education in languages that have been part of the tech industry for decades. They give you a taste of all the components of a web based program. Learning Front end, back end, databases, and javascript gives you the ability to be a confident coder with a wide variety of job prospects.

There are no catches with this education. You don't owe them a percentage of your salary, no one is forcing me to write this as a condition of graduation. I won't lie it's hard work. You get what you put in. If you follow the process do the work, not just the coding but the career prep too, you'll have a job by graduation.

The student to teacher ratio was about 13 to one. There were instructors available after class for one on one tutoring. The instructors are not graduates of the boot camp, they have had long successful careers in coding before choosing to pay it forward and train the next generation. The investment and compassion of the teachers and career counselors was apparent. They care deeply that their students succeed. Nothing I've had experience with in colleges and universities comes close to the kind of career counselling you get here.

As someone with a master's degree in music I didn't think going back to school to re-skill myself was possible. The length of the boot camp and the success of student job placement made it seem possible that I could improve my life. I've never been in the position to consider several job offers and pick a career I want. I'm excited to start my new job just weeks after graduation.

 

Self context: Military Veteran, University Graduate, live 45 min from campus and have a 9 year old and 4 month baby at home (started bootcamp when she was 1month).

Plan on really dedicating yourself to this program if you want to succeed. Required hours are 9am to 4pm but It was not uncommon for me to be there from 8:30 to 6pm. 

Do not miss class. I was there everyday and still felt like I was 2 days behind because the pace of the course is very fast. Make sure you understand every concept before moving on to the next. Everything is compounding and you cant afford to move forward without laying the propper foundation.

Both instructors have 20+ years of experience ranging from IBM to Microsoft.

The Pathway program is not a job placer. They are a tool that is meant to train you to be the best version of yourself. Interview prep, Resume building, Self Advertising. You have to do 80% of the work including job searching. If you do they will open up oppertunities you couldnt even imagine. Before tech elevator I went 9 months without a job even though I have a tremendous amount of professional experience. Tech elevator put me infront of the right people and  iam now a fulltime app developer for the biggest IT department in Ohio.

Trust the process, never give up and never be afraid to ask questions. 

If your struggling to choose which language. .NET is a wonderful option, alot of the clevaland job space involves this language. Mike Morell is a wonderful instructor and I wouldnt have changed my choice.

This course is not for everyone. I will say that the people and relationships will last a life time. They truly want to elevate you.

 

Tech Elevator is/was one of the better decisions that I have made in my life. Their approach is catered to each student pending on the feedback of the student. In addition, the support given by the staff is at an exceptionally high level (especially Laura in the pathway program and John the .Net instructor) and does not simply end when you are finished with the cohort. I did not anticipate coming to such a fast paced bootcamp (14 weeks) would result in such a sense of community for those that you graduate with and the alumni that went prior. Highly recommend, changed the trajectory of my career.

Yep. Got chapters and everything. Pages held together by glue (At least I hope that's glue). 

That was just a book review from an assignment! This program was great. Our instructors were personable and stayed almost as late as we did each day. The team's commitment to our success was obvious, both on the technical and behavioral skill sets. I can say that I have developed skills in all of the technologies they mentioned, aside from the Selenium Tool Suite, and I have tools they have provided to continue to develop my skills for fun ( Seriously, I mean fun!). As someone with no development experience beforhand, nearly all my unstructured time from Monday to Saturday was spent working with code. They call it a bootcamp for a reason. I was not able to hold a job in the meantime and the few people who were quit to focus on our material. I do reccomend that all students do the same and focus on learning skills for their new career path.

Our cohort was a bit of an outlier, but I did have a job before finishing the program. Take that as you may, but you should attend Tech Elevator if you want to become a full stack web dev. 

.NET!

Enrolling in the .NET Bootcamp at Tech Elevator in Pittsburgh was the perfect choice for me. When first reading about it, I was concerned it might be too good to be true, until I read various reviews and then ended up knowing someone who attended the cohort previous to mine. The whole experience was very professional from beginning to end. Every member of their staff really cares. They definitely come through on their commitment to set you up to receive a job. I took advantage of every opportunity they gave to groom us in this way and sure enough- it worked. I had a job offer before I even graduated and got my 2nd job offer just days after. I absolutely LOVE my career and the company I'm with now. I am SO GLAD I did it. Due to my personal circumstances I needed a solution to learn tech skiils quickly and then actually get a job doing it-- not years from now, but NOW. This did just that. It is an intense experience that requires intense commitment. For anyone that is willing to make this level of commitment, then this can truly be a life-changing opportunity. For me, it was BEYOND worth it. It feels good to be doing something I love in a field that's respected and brings financial stability. I am so happy I took the journey to get to this place. If you choose to do it, you will be in GREAT hands!