Tech Elevator

Tech Elevator is the best decision I ever made.  I went from a dead-end industry to within two weeks of graduating from Tech Elevator making a salary 2.5x as much as I was making.

Everyone at Tech Elevator cares a lot about you, the instructors are incredible.  I'm convinced Brian never sleeps.  He'd be up until well past 11 answering questions in our chatroom, and be back in the morning to answer the dozens of questions I had come up with by then.  He even helped to walk me through a technical problem I had which was only tangentially related to class.  He was also seemingly unstumpable.  The longest he spent stumped by a question of mine was forty five minutes.

Running parallel to the coding instruction is the Pathway program, and here is where they stand out against the competition.  They spend many weeks preparing you to find a job; you learn interview skills, networking advice, and most importantly: They connect you with recruiters from dozens of companies face to face so that people get to know you.

One warning: it is intense.  Tech Elevator is 14 weeks in which time has no meaning.  You can't really focus on too many other things during the time and you get what you put into the program.  Those that stay late and work hard (in both the coding and pathway events) are the others that have jobs immediately after the cohort is done (and some before it's over.)

I highly recommend it for anyone who thinks they're interested in coding.  It gets your foot into the door of a wonderful industry.

When I graduated from Tech Elevator, I decided to wait and see how things turned out before writing this review.

I'm now eleven months post graduation, and here's where I'm at:  I've doubled my previous income, I have enviable benefits, and, for the first time in my life, I absolutely love what I do.  I get to code and solve puzzles every single day with a bunch of really smart people. On Sundays nights I no longer dread coming into work on Monday morning.  That's huge.

Admittedly, when our Tech Elevator cohort began, I was worried I wouldn't make it through.  In my early 40s, I was one of the oldest students in my class. I didn't know if I could keep up academically or on the job hunt.  However, on both fronts, my previous work and life experience ended up playing to my advantage.

Tech Elevator's program is challenging yet methodical, and they do an excellent job nurturing both coding skills the soft skills like elevator pitches and interviewing.  (And, whether you realize it or not, you're going to need those soft skills.)

Tech Elevator helped bridged the gap between where I was and where I wanted to be in a way I couldn't have done on my own.  I can't recommend it highly enough

Fans of retro video games or kids who grew up in the 80s (like me), should recoginize this headline as one of the opening scenes from The Legend of Zelda, where the hero Link is given his first sword before embarking on a wildly dangerous journey into unknown lands. Along the way Link's equipment is upgraded to include better swords, shields, bombs, boomerangs, bow and arrows, magic and potions. In the same way, a new Developer will start their programming journey with a limited tool belt. If you are seriously considering a career change into the tech field, please heed the advice we learned from our chunky pixelated 8-bit hero... Don't go alone. Go to Tech Elevator.

My education and experience prior to TE was in the construction industry where I've held titles such as Field Engineer, Purchasing Manager, and Project Manager. I began learning to code in my free time and made a few simple websites with HTML and CSS but when it came to creating dynamic, interactive web applications with JavaScript I hit a wall. This intro to development led me to two major conclusions, coding is hard, and it is especially difficult when you try to learn alone. 

I had kicked around the idea of a bootcamp for some time before getting serious about the decision.  My initial impression was I would have to go somewhere like New York, Chicago, or San Francisco to attend a "serious" dev bootcamp. I was excited to find a local program called Tech Elevator through a Google search, but my excitement was matched by a healthy level of skepticism. From the beginning I was more than impressed by Tech Elevator, the curriculum, and especially the talented, hard working people. I was lucky enough to have my entrance interview with CEO Anthony Hughes and it was the passion he displayed that sealed my decision to join the program. That same passion is shared by the instructors, the Pathway Program leaders, and all members of the organization.

The curriculum is designed to take you from zero coding experiene to job ready in 14 weeks. This is a monumental undertaking that will push you to your intellectual limits. The Pathway Program is an invalable addition to your technical skills that will boost your potential and interview techniques. You will work in close contact with dedicated career enhancing professionals, and leverage their relationships with local employers.

Currently I am working as an Apprentice Developer with an agile software development firm in Cincinnati.  I can say with confidence this opportunity would not have been available to me without the education and guidance I received from Tech Elevator. I enjoy the work I'm doing, and I'm thrilled to continue learning from some very talented individuals that love what they do. As an added benefit I've made some life-long friends in my fellow alumni and the good people of Tech Elevator.

If you are at all interested in a career in technology, or maybe you've been struggling in secret trying to learn on your own, my advice would be to go to an open house, ask questions, and see for yourself. This has been without a doubt the best experience of my career.  

I remember coming on some of these sites about a year and a half ago to learn some more about these coding bootcamps that I had been hearing about. For whatever reason I wasn't convinced and I decided to go back to school for another few years of traditional, slow-paced learning. I did the school thing for a semester and quickly realized the snail's pace at which we were learning wasn't as cool at 27 as it was when I was 20, so I decided to take the plunge and enroll at Tech Elevator instead. Now I have a developer job in a really hot field rather sitting in class for what would have been the beginning of my 3rd of 6 semesters.

The classes were really fast-paced, but somehow fun at the same time. You'll put in quite a few 12 hour days, but time almost never seemed to drag. As great as the classes and curriculum were, I actually think the Pathway Program sets Tech Elevator apart. If you don't feel comfortable with things such as resumes, interviewing, and all the other soft skills, you will by the end of the program. And I think we ended interviewing with about 15 companies by the time matchmaking was over, and that opportunity alone made the course worth it.

Most importantly, the job placement numbers have been awesome for my cohort. A few people from my cohort had legitimate, full-time offers before our capstones started and 10 of the 16 of us had jobs locked up by graduation day.

Enrolling in Tech Elevator was the second smartest thing I have ever done for myself. The first smartest thing was having 100% faith in their system (though some days this was a struggle!). The "drinking from a fire hose" concept of a boot camp really hits you in the face on week one day three and doesn't really let up. But, if you believe in yourself, do the work, and seek help/guidance/a shoulder to cry on from the instructors, staff, and other students, you WILL be successful. 

Not to scare anyone off, but for the average person (self-included) this boot camp is hard. I went to lecture every day from 9am-12pm (sometimes longer), had lunch, then worked on homework, both individually and in paired programming exercises with other students, until about 5pm (sometimes longer). Then I went home, had dinner, and started working on homework again until it was time to go to bed (sometimes longer). There was also quite a bit of weekend work. I was lucky to never fall behind on assignments using this method, but it was stressful at times. 

You learn so much at Tech Elevator. There will be certain material you get super-fast and others that you just....don't get at all. Luckily, there are instructors to help you along the way, and other students that probably "get" different things than you do. It's incredibly rewarding to help someone else learn a concept, and then have them return the favor to you later on. This brings me to the incredible sense of community I felt at Tech Elevator. Not just within my (.Net) class, but with the other (Java) students, instructors and staff!  We are all in this together and felt comfortable sharing tips, tricks, insights, successes, and failures (oh, there will be some good failures).

With the last few weeks of the boot camp comes the added task of searching for employment. The Pathway Program does an amazing job of lining up employers that actually want to speak with and hire you, and then preparing you to ace those interviews. They held resume, elevator pitch, and linked in profile workshops, mock interview practice, panel discussions with industry leaders/professionals and so much more – all leading up to the Match Making interview events with real employers. I received tons of advice and feedback from Ben and Katie at the Columbus campus both in a group setting and individually. By following their guidance, I happily received an offer on the day of graduation! It was such a good offer that I cancelled the five other interviews I had set up for the following week.  

Tech Elevator was not only the smartest thing I have ever done for myself, but also the most challenging, fulfilling, and, at times, weirdly fun thing I have ever done for myself. I wouldn't trade my experience for anything and encourage you to learn more for yourself!

I had very little programming experience before starting the first cohort of Tech Elevator Cincinnati. By the end of the course I learned so much - from fundamental Java to front-end technologies. The career development portion of the course helped me with soft skills as well. I had several job offers within 2 weeks of graduating and I ended up accepting a high paying job (nearly doubling my salary). Tech Elevator is a huge financial and time commitment, but it is ultimately worth the investment.

I choose to go to a coding bootcamp because I had been living abroad for the last ten years and was afraid of how difficult it might be to find a good job when repatriating. I also wanted to switch careers from education to IT and the bootcamp model seemed like the fastest and most effective way to do this without having to spend years in school. I choose Tech Elevator because of its location in Cleveland and because of how well it was reviewed. I was really impressed with the focus they put on career and interview development and by how much better at responding they were than other bootcamps. I have to admit that as an educator with 10+ years of experience I was a little skeptical about how well I could really learn a new skill in 14 weeks, well a new language! In case you don’t keep reading let me tell you that the program far exceeded my expectation and I am in disbelief at how much I learned in 14 weeks, I truly did learn to code in this amount of time, I learned a whole new language! This model makes me re-think everything I thought I knew about education from my decade of experience. 
I think the most important thing to do at Tech Elevator is to drink the kool-aid early and often. I was wrong, they were right, every time, remember that and you will succeed. What seems like an impossible task daily, weekly and monthly is broken down into extremely difficult tasks that when put together make the impossible achievable by everyone, at least in my cohort(class) of 16 students. You will regularly think that this is impossible and they will regularly remind you that hundreds of other people have said that and that those hundreds of other people are now employed in well-paying jobs, I’m one of those hundreds. Just do what they say, all of it. Work hard, the entire 14 weeks and shut down as much of the rest of your life as possible and you will succeed. Also remember, you’re wrong, you can do it, they are NOT lying to you, the proof will be presented to you by the fact that so many alumni will come to speak to you and tell you that they did it and we alumni are not special or better than you, we just already finished, that’s all it takes, you will be employed as a software developer if you just listen. 
On that note about half way through I decided that I wanted to pivot yet again and do something in IT that was more customer related and less coding based, the staff at Tech Elevator supported me 100%, I still learned everything, I can still code well and I could still get employed as a software engineer but instead they helped me to find a job as a Technical Project Manager, they do and will always go above and beyond if you just tell them what you want, they will give you the tools you need to make it happen. I got my job offer a few weeks after graduation and I had several 2nd interviews(and third) already done or scheduled when I accepted it. My job offer came from a company that Tech Elevator set me up with at our matchmaking event(like speed dating for job interviewing). The job the company came to interview us for was different than the one I accepted but Tech Elevator also set that up for me and few other’s who wanted something more business oriented in Tech.
The instructors are some of the best I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my life and keep in mind I was an educator. They are knowledgeable and friendly. They will teach, encourage, counsel, motivate and become your friends before you graduate. Tech Elevator has high standards for their instructors, I saw 20 candidates come and go before they hired one for their new program in Cincinnati while attending my cohort, you won’t be disappointed in them. For that matter, the support staff is top notch too, along with the management, everyone that works there is excellent. 
Just do it! You won’t regret it, Tech Elevator is the real deal, from start to finish and then even after they continue to support us as alumni. Do what they say, when they say it and you will succeed, it truly is that simple! 

I was in the .NET (C#) class in Columbus and I graduated Friday, December 1st, 2017.

I heard about Tech Elevator from my sister.  I was going to OSU at the time, working towards a Data Analytics degree, and had been feeling bogged down every step of the way.  I was a non-traditional student: 31 years old, transferred from Columbus State, and just getting to the point where I could APPLY to my major and get the reserved spots in the classes that I needed, was proving to be quite a nightmare.  I’d been back in school (part-time then full-time, mostly at CS) for almost 3 years.  And with the way things were going at OSU it looked like it would take another 3 years to get my degree.  I was feeling a little panicked, to tell you the truth, because I didn’t know if I had another 3 years in me.  I wanted a JOB already.  And so I went to a Tech Elevator open house, hoping against hope that this program would be the answer to my prayers, the Hail Mary pass to an actual CAREER, the final pivot in my working life that would deliver me from professional mediocrity/expendibility.

I was sold by the end of the presentation, probably about ⅓ of the way through, actually.  My sister works at a startup with developers that spoke highly of the program and that combined with the 3rd party verified stats of Tech Elevator graduates made me ready to go all in.  I had taken 2 computer science courses at OSU and so I knew I had the aptitude required and that probably made this a little less scary for me than most, but everything after the first 4 weeks of curriculum was brand-spanking new to me.  I knew about loops, and selection statements, and recursion, but I didn’t know jack squat about building a web application/doing anything useful.  And the vast majority of my classmates had zero coding experience, so don’t let that throw you.

Tech Elevator was a complete joy after my experience at OSU.  You’re in a small class, you get to know everyone, the teacher encourages questions and is always available to help you after the lecture.  That’s just the kind of environment I need to thrive.   Everyone’s attitude at Tech Elevator is: we are here to help you, please come and interupt me, helping students is our first priority.

Obviously, you cover a lot of material in the span of 14 weeks.. I definitely didn’t feel like I was struggling ALL the time (many days were quite relaxed), but there were definitely days (a couple times whole weeks) when I felt inadequate/ like I wasn’t mastering the material quickly enough.  And that’s hard to go through that, but if you keep at it, stuff will almost always, eventually, start to make sense. And then you can breathe again and feel like, OK, I can do this.  When you’re struggling, notice those feelings and tell yourself: “get used to it because this is the life of a developer.  If you’re comfortable, you’re not pushing yourself enough.”

Now this next part is very important: THE reason that you pick Tech Elevator (and I CANNOT stress this enough) is because of the Pathway Program.  That doesn’t mean that the Pathway Program was fun for me. You’ll never catch me saying that the Pathway Program was a complete and utter joy.  Resumes, interviews, writing up a LinkedIn blurb that is both honest and positive AND winning AND unique is not (and never will be) my idea of a good time. It’s a little less like torture for me now, but--- not by much.  But I NEEDED the Pathway Program all the more because I hate those things.  The staff give you very tangible to-do items, concrete specifications for those things, and deadlines (super important). They organize mock interviews (HR, behavioral, and technical) and guide you through the entire process of gaining employment, including assistance beyond graduation if you need it.  I can’t even describe how helpful all this is.  A couple weeks into the program I went to a Women in Tech meetup and met several graduates from another Columbus bootcamp.  They were 8 weeks out of graduation; 1 out of 5 of them had a job and the rest were still looking and I quickly ascertained from talking to them that they were out in the job market wilderness with no assistance from their program.  Hopefully everyone will end up with a good job but I’d put my money on a TE graduate every time because the extensive career assistance we receive.

So… where did I end up?  Well, I was very, very lucky.  Our graduation date was Dec 1st and the time of year made it pretty difficult to have a job offer by then.  Our employer matchmaking event was right before Thanksgiving and, consequently,  many employers moved a bit slowly to schedule follow ups and some weren’t going to be hiring til the new year.  I’m confident everyone will end up with a good job, but some won’t have that job locked down for a few weeks yet. I was, however, able to secure a position a week before our graduation date and I actually started on Dec 4th, the Monday after graduation.  I’m working at a start up where I am the 5th employee.  If I hadn’t landed this job I’m fairly confident I could have secured a position at Chase.  Chase typically hires a TON of people from Tech Elevator.  I’ve heard mixed things about working for Chase ranging from awesome/can’t imagine working anywhere else to people hating it.  I think it has to do largely with what team you end up on and the quality of your manager as a human being/mentor.  It’s a big place.  But you really just need that first entry-level job and then if you don’t like it you can move on after 2 years.  Anyways, the point is, I jumped at the start-up opportunity because I thought it offered the most opportunity for growth / learning.  It’s also kind of terrifying.  I’m expected to learn fast, largely on my own (here’s 26 hours of React/Redux video tutorials, GO!)  and be able to contribute/navigate/problem solve on a very short time scale.

But I’m excited.  And I’m grateful.  I was able to secure an excellent job as a junior developer making almost three times what I’ve ever made (most recently before this I worked in culinary and as a nanny) after just 14 weeks of training.  It’s kind of incredible.

RANDOM TIPS ( for if you end up enrolling)

-If you’re like me you will never feel like doing the Pathway Program tasks.  Do them anyways. Don't ever blow it off.  The coding curriculum is very important for once you’re working, obviously, but potential employers aren’t going to know who is kicking ass in the classroom. When it comes to getting job offers the people who have the most options are the ones who dedicate themselves to the Pathway Program.

-Research the companies you interview with (maybe more importantly: research the industry, and then you’ll be able to ask intelligent questions about what sets THAT company apart from its competitors; this is especially important with the small companies and it’ll help you stand out).  

-Catch yourself whenever you feel resistance to change (“why do I have to do it THIS way when I already know how to handle it this other way”).  To be a good developer you have to ALWAYS be open to (or better yet, actively seek out) new/better/uncomfortable ways of doing things.  When we first started doing front end programming I felt a little bit like, what is this crap???  But you have to find a way to embrace it even when it feels very, very wrong.  If you don’t become a lifelong learner you will become obsolete in this industry very quickly.  If you’re not familliar with Carol Dweck and the term “growth mindset”  I suggest you google that sh** right now.  I was very much a “fixed” mindset person for many years and even now I must whisper “growth mindset” to myself about 10 times a day.

-if 10 people in your cohort all use the phrase “I want to leverage my skills in...” in their elevator pitches, for the love of God don’t be the 11th person!!!  It probably didn’t actually hurt them but you can bet someone like me will be out there cringing.

-Be professional and tailor your message to your audience. The way I’m telling my story here in this review is not how I told it at meet-ups and in interviews.

-It’s fine to want to make more money, that was a not-so-insignificant piece of my own inspiration starting out, but you have to find a way to connect to a deeper motivation, because nobody cares about your bills or that you want to be able to afford to drink kombucha everyday (guilty).  For me it was largely just wanting a job that wouldn’t bore the crap out of me within a few months.  Then I had to take that, shellac it with positive energy, and serve it as a I’m-crazy-passionate-about-Technology sandwich.  Sometimes that felt a little fake, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

-The TE staff will cover this but just for emphasis: work on your ability to solve problems with Google, stack overflow, tech documention sites, etc as soon and as often as possible.  The teachers are there to help but don’t run to them without spending at least 10 minutes trying to figure it out on your own.  My new boss specifically told me: do not bring me questions I can google and have the answer in 30 seconds.

In conclusion:  Tech Elevator isn't magic, you can't just show up and then expect to have a great job at the end.  No company will feel like they owe you after this.  Like everything else in life, it's up to you to put in the effort and guarantee your success.  That being said, it IS kind of magical that this college drop-out/former nanny was able to finally get a promising career started (and in such a short time).  There was a time in my life when I was convinced that I just didn’t have what it takes to succeed and that I was destined to be a failure and a disappointment within my high-achieving family.  It took a lot of leg work mentally and emotionally to get to a place where I was ready to make the most of an opportunity like Tech Elevator.  If you're in that place where you're ready to work hard and do what it takes Tech Elevator is absolutely a wise investment.

I had a great experience through Tech Elevator, the space and people are wonderful. I felt immersed in technology the whole 14 weeks. I felt well supported from a career coaching perspective and a technical one. Be prepared to work hard the whole 14 weeks and be ready to go beyond the minimum. When looking for jobs during the bootcamp the things that got the most attention where not things that where assigned or done as part of the "base" curriculum but were projects I took on while also learning the basics from the program. The bootcamp won't give you a senior level amount of software development experience but it will give you the skills to be confident and move forward with a junior level role in Columbus. They also provide and have the connections you get that first job.

For seven years I was a high school French teacher.  My brother knew I wasn’t happy in education and needed to make a change, so he suggested that I go through Tech Elevator’s bootcamp.  He has been a developer for as long as I can remember, so I took his advice and I’m glad I did.  The instructors in the Columbus campus are amazing!  The ones I’ve met from Cleveland seem great as well, but I never took classes with them.  Casey, John and Brian all three work tirelessly during those 14 weeks to make sure that you get your money’s worth out of every penny you pay in tuition.  I learned more there during those few months than I had in the previous several years as a teacher.  The hands-on approach and the amount of practical tasks they give you combine to make the learning rewarding and relevant.

The other side of the program, the Pathways Program is just as well-developed and staffed by the same calibre of people as the coding portion.  You build all these new skills, but without the Pathways Program I would have had no idea how to find a job that would let me apply them.  One of my questions was as basic as, “When I’m looking for job postings online, what job title do I look for?”  Katie is infinitely helpful and willing to give solid, experience-backed advice on any aspect of your job search.  The great thing about Tech Elevator is that everything they teach you applies to your first job out of the bootcamp just as well as your last job before you retire.  They teach you skills that will serve you well throughout your life.

We all know that teachers make no money, but after 14 weeks of training and no experience whatsoever I started out making $17,000 more a year than I did as a teacher with years of experience, a college degree, and additional coursework to get my license.  If you are interested in kick-starting your career or rebooting it like me, you can choose no better program than Tech Elevator.

I, probably like you had my doubts coming into Tech Elevator. If i'm being honest even after the first week of the program, I found myself thinking, could this be real? How am I going to become a developer in 14 weeks? Am I just wasting my money?  I'm here to tell you, it is very real, I am not a paid actor. Myself, and many others are successful Tech Elevator graduates, I came in with ZERO development experience, and I recently graduated with 3 job offers. I learned more in 14 weeks than I did in 4 years of college, and they have a dedicated staff which will give each student the time and attention they need to understand the material. Absolutely recommended!

I had been in sales for 3 years and knew I wanted to do something else. At first I thought there was no way to get into the technology field without getting a second four-year degree and putting myself in a huge amount of debt. But luckily I was wrong!

Tech Elevator is definitely tough as the instructors/ staff will tell you. But if you have the aptitude and are willing to put in the time this program will prepare you for a successful career in technology (but make no mistake the learning doesn't stop at graduation!). The instructors are incredibly intelligent and patient and willing to do whatever it takes to help you along the way. Each day you will learn something new. It's a really incredible experience. 

Plus, Tech Elevator does more to get you placed in a job than any program I've ever heard of. The bootcamp model can be a tough sell for some folks who aren't familiar with it. However, the staff at Tech Elevator have put in the time to show local companies the value and skill set this intensive course instills in students. They not only prepare you for interviews, but they get you in front of companies that are bought in on the program and are looking to hire. This pathway program is what sets Tech Elevator apart from other schools/ bootcamps. I had 3 amazing job offers before graduation and that is in large part thanks to the amazing Pathway Program Director Katie Detore (Thanks Katie!).

I really can't sell this program enough. If you have any interest in a career in technology I highly recommend Tech Elevator.