Tech Elevator

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.

I did a lot of research before choosing to attend Tech Elevator. I met with at least four alumni of Tech Elevator, as well as alumni and staff from all the other local coding bootcamps. I decided to go with Tech Elevator because it was clear each and every member of the staff fully invests themselves in their students. Their priority is on the individual success of each student, not on their marketing or next move.

Two things sealed the deal: 1) they ask for feedback on a daily basis and actually make positive changes based on what students say (change you actually SEE), and 2) career coaching starts DAY ONE. 

My expectations were exceeded, especially in the quality of education in my instructor. He picked up on my preferred teaching style from the get-go and tailored each interaction with me based on how I best learned. I felt challenged, but never overwhelmed. 

More importantly, my confidence soared. I feel confident in my decision to change careers and pursue sofware development, and know I'll go on to do amazing things because of my education. 

I also know I keep amazing company in the alumni network. Each and every fellow student contributed to each other's success, whether in doing homework or interviewing with potential employers. I'm going to miss all the interesting, fun, and philosophical conversations I had sitting around the kitchen island.

If you're on the fence, go to one of the open houses or learn-to-code meetups and get in there. Meet people, start a conversation, and get a taste for coding. If you decide to join, commit 100% and you'll get more than that in return.

Tech Elevator deserves a lot of credit in ensuring a seamless transition into IT domain even for people with non-IT background. Their course material design is perfect. The expertise in offer from their staff is top notch. Josh Tucholski was my trainer for the 14 week course. I'm grateful to his methodical approach and his excellent mentorship skills. Pathway program also helped me in facing mock interviews which gave a sense of what to expect in a real interview and the match making event was a great source for networking. My career change wouldn't have been possible without Tech Elevator.

Tech Elevator was right for me because of the high caliber of instructors as well as the nationally recognized professional development offered through the Pathway Program. 

My instructors were experienced, brilliant, patient people who truly wanted every student to understand the concepts.  They were dedicated to my success.  Individual tutoring sessions were available when I needed extra help.  Because of the small class size, you get a lot of one-on-one attention and learning opportunities.

A lot of bootcamps can provide a student with the necessary coursework, but some of those camps aren't dedicated to helping students land that first position in the field.  The Pathway Program at Tech Elevator is dedicated to helping students find employment upon graduation.  The program is very comprehensive for developing and perfecting soft skills needed for today's tech professional. Tech Elevator is committed to bringing top employers to meet and interact with students on site.  In fact, the Match Making event toward the end of the program allows students to participate in on-site interviews with up to 10 employers in two days.  A lot of those initial interviews result in call backs for many students.  I was fortunate enough to have three additional interviews with highly respected companies because of the connections I made during the Match Making event.  It was not only an incredible experience, but a highly valuable networking opportunity that wouldn’t have been available to me otherwise.

I attended Tech Elevator's Cleveland-campus .Net cohort in early 2017. Prior to graduation, I had already secured a great job and couldn't recommend the program highly enough. My experience throughout was phenomenal - the teachers are extremely talented and friendly, the school is well-provisioned and equipped, and the career assistance and placement was above and beyond my expectations.

The teachers are for sure the highlight of the program, and are unto themselves enough reason to choose Tech Elevator over other boot camps. They are all highly knowledgeable industry veterans, but on top of that they really put effort and care into their teaching. The classes are well-structured and designed, and having spent several months on the job post-graduation, I can say with authority they are indeed relevant and prepare you for actual development work.

The workspace at TE is great. It's available 24-7 for student use (everyone gets parking and building keys), and is a great place to hang out. I especially enjoyed coming in on Saturday or Sunday, hanging out, grabbing lunch, and just leisurely studying or working with other students in a relaxed environment. Code for a few hours, maybe do some white-boarding then catch a few games of ping pong. Every student gets a powerful laptop for the duration of the course, which is nice as it puts everyone on the same level and ensures everything "just works." There are large monitors available around the classrooms and work spaces, a full kitchen and facilities, and couches to relax on (or fall asleep on when you're just exhausted).

In addition to the teaching staff, the career assistance staff at TE are again reason enough to choose their program over others. There is a distinct lack of soft-skills/career training in most boot camps, and TE combats this with ongoing work throughout the program. They help with resume building, cover letters and LinkedIn work, introducing numerous local companies throughout the program both in-person at events and lunches, and really put you in touch with potential employers in their expansive network. At the end of the program is a large career faire where each student selects and interviews with a handful of companies (generally 5-10 a person) and many students received job offers as a result. Long story short, they really put powerful connections in your hands that make the job search a significantly easier process.

At the end of the day, there are several boot camp options in Cleveland, and dozens more online. However, I can honestly say I believe none will serve you as well as Tech Elevator. I had worked for almost a decade in business prior to wanting a career change, and without a doubt coming to TE was the best career move I've ever made. 

I have always been into computers and found that developing Applications was a definate passion of mine, but wanted to learn more efficiently and believed that a bootcamp would provide a better learning experience then I can have just reading books(taught myself Python). So after looking for a bootcamp that I believe I could excel in, I picked Tech Elevator. Mostly, for the reason of the main Java instructor David. He has done a lot in his career and thought that he would be a great instructor. For the most part the classes were decent. They had too many students in a class at once and that should have tipped me off that they are just about the money then, but I still participated and felt that the course material was taught pretty well. The problem is the money back guarantee is nonexistent. If you don't get hired within the two days of the company's coming in to interview you, then you are out of luck. They will not do anymore to help you in finding a job. They say they do but I have never seen this to be true. I have even called the supposedly people they have contacted and not one of them have said that they have talked or discussed anything to anyone. Then, after graduation they really became nonexistent. I had to chase them down and basically send multiple emails and phone calls before I got anyone to respond and at times it could take up to two weeks or a month before anyone would finally respond.

Lets go back to the money back guarantee, (again nonexistent) I made it very clear that I was on a leave of absence from my current job (in which I was not getting paid) so I can take this bootcamp. The CEO told me that I could go back to work and still be eligible for the money back guarantee. Unfortunately he lied and said that he would never have agreed to that. That right there told me that they don't care about the students and they are at the end of the day looking for that check and nothing else. I am a father raising two boys, cleaning out my life savings to take this class and provide a better future for my boys and instead I got cheated by this school. Plus while we were discussing this, he tried to play it off as I was stupid and not intellectual enough to learn the criteria. What he doesn't realize is, it wasn't the programming I wasn't getting, it was the job help and pathway program they had that wasn't doing their job. The sad part is all I wanted was to find that dream job. If they truly would of done what they were suppose to and help me find that job I would of had one a lot sooner, not a year later and I got a job where I'm not even doing anything they have taught me. Overall be wary of the founder, he is like a used car salesman and will tell you everything you want to hear just to take it away when you need it most. I would not recommend going to this school.

The staff at Tech Elevator is what sets them apart from other coding bootcamps. Every member of the team is knowledgeable, supportive, and committed to your success. The Java instructor, Casey Borders, has years of experience and a teaching style that makes difficult concepts easy to understand while keeping lecture engaging and exciting. He was always available and happy to help. 

The Pathway Program exceeded my expectations in every way. It provides a roadmap with resume writing and interview workshops, employer networking events, and both technical and behavioral interview practice. I owe the two job offers I got shortly after graduation to the Pathway Program.

I couldn't be happier with my experiences at Tech Elevator and would absolutely recommend them to anyone looking to start a new career in the tech field.

I couldn’t be happier with my experience. When considering other bootcamps, you might find framework-specific models that seem more advanced; learning Android development, for example. Tech Elevator’s focus on foundational concepts is what sets them apart. This way, students have an understanding of what the new technology is, but they also know how to work in the older technologies that businesses still rely on. I was pragmatic when deciding on Tech Elevator; some online-only bootcamps offer more advanced technology stacks, but I considered it more realistic to complete an in-person bootcamp. I’m incredibly happy with my experience.

I especially want to recognize my instructor, John Fulton, for his tireless work ethic throughout the cohort. Tech Elevator’s .NET curriculum is expansive, and you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody who could teach all of it. Since this was his first cohort, John had some serious learning to do. All of my doubts were eliminated after receiving John’s messages on nights and weekends. His innate curiosity drove him to follow up with answers to the smallest and most insignificant questions no matter how full his plate was. After teaching this cohort, I have no doubt that John will lead many more students to successful development careers.

I also want to acknowledge Tech Elevator’s Columbus career mentor, Katie Detore. Katie ended the bootcamp by giving all 28 students her personal cell phone number to ensure they stay in touch throughout the job search. The 98% job placement rate is no surprise after seeing how invested she is in each student’s career. Weeks after the bootcamp, I remain in touch with Katie, and she’s still invested in finding me my dream job.

Maybe I’m overly optimistic, but I couldn’t be happier with my experience. 

Tech Elevator is an exciting game changer for anyone looking to make the leap to get into software development.

Before attending Tech Elevator, I was struggling to make progress in teaching myself how to code. I tried things like Codeacademy, Udemy, and countless youtube tutorials, but was never able to get to the point where I felt confident applying to a job as a developer. I knew about the growing demand for people with programming skills, and wanted to bridge the gap as quickly as possible. After a ton of research, I applied to Tech Elevator, and looking back, I could not possibly be happier with my decision to enroll. 

The instructors at Tech Elevator were all incredible. Having been through four years at Ohio State, I can still say that my Java instructor, Casey Borders, is without a doubt the most effective, brilliant, and inspirational teacher that I have ever had in my life. He is extremely dedicated to making sure that you are as prepared as you can possibly be for your first job as a software developer. He truly has a talent for taking incredibly complex material and breaking it down into lessons that everyone can understand. He gave me a very strong foundation in coding and the more importantly, the confidence to walk into job interviews and nail any technical exercises with ease. 

Along with the intense formal technical training that Tech Elevator offered me, I made drastic improvments to my professionalization skills. Very important details about what specificially to put in a resume, how to build a linked-in page that catches employers' attentions, and how to prepare for interviews are just three of the many skills that Katie and Terry helped me perfect over the past 14 weeks. I had the opportunity to meet with over fifteen amazing companies and was able to build my network in ways that I would never had dreamed of doing by myself. As someone who really struggled to have confidence in stressful behavioral interviews before Tech Elevator, I can look back with a sense of pride when I see how far I've come, all thanks to the countless hours of hard work that Katie and Terry put in to doing practice interviews with me. I owe my success landing my exciting first job as a software developer so quickly to their hard work. 

Tech Elevator blew my expectations out of the water. It is everything that a coding bootcamp should be and more. I would reccommend it to anyone who is excited about technology and is looking to make a career out of it. 

If there is one thing that sets Tech Elevator apart from any other educational experience I have had it is the People.

And for me, the people that set Tech Elevator so far ahead of it's competition came in three forms:

1. The Instructors

2. The Staff

3. The Students

The Instructors - During my time at Tech Elevator I was given instruction by highly skilled professionals who took the time to meet with me individually, who helped me in areas where I was lacking understanding, and who pushed me to try to solve problems in different ways to develop new skills.  It wasn't just the my in classroom instructor who worked with me either, the classes are small enough that all the instructors at Tech Elevator knew who I was, the types of things I was working on, and could jump in to help when I had questions.  Working at Tech Elevator and helping students is what these instructors do and they were always available (even late at night) to look at something with you.

The Staff - The staff at Tech Elevator went beyond all my expectations for availablity.  From the CEO on down the people who worked there knew who I was, what I was working on, what companies I was interested in working for what, and were always willing to help.  There Career Services are second to none, they seem to know everyone. Furthermore, you simply can't ask for more than having a team that is wiling to pick up the phone to call personal contacts on your behalf to help you get an interview.

The Students - Unlike a lot of environment it never felt like I was in competition with my classmates.  Whether we were working on projects or individual assignments I knew I had a 15 other people I could turn to if I had questions.  The students in my class freely shared there notes and diagrams and worked together so that we all moved forward.  Additionally, I felt very confident in my decision to attend Tech Elevator, when I found out there where students attending their classes from as far away as Colorado and Texas.  While it may not be typical, I certainly liked that when I came in on a Saturday to do some reading or to complete an assignment I could expect to see at least a couple other students there working on various projects. I never felt alone in this journey, and it was really nice to be able to count on my classmates when I had questions. 

I had a great experience at Tech Elevator.  I highly recommend the course, and at the very least you should look into the Tech Elevator program so you can use it as a measuring stick to see how other boot camps measure up. This experience is first class and it shows.

Fantastic program.

I had been trying to become a developer for about 18 months before Tech Elevator landed in my back yard. While that helped contextualize what I was learning, it was by no means necessary. Several of the people in my class of 12 had never coded beyond a few things on Codecademy, and all 12 of us received offers. 

Casey was a great instructor - able to dive deep into just about anything we asked him (and we asked a LOT of questions), but also up front when he didn't know something. He was caring, supportive, 100% engaged with the students, and went through the first few weeks with a nasty cold but still showing up every day ready to go. I did a practice interview with the current .NET instructor, and between the two instructors there is something like 40-50 years of experiences in the field. 

While the technical instruction was great, from the first day of the program the focus was on getting that first job. Katie and Terry put in an incredible amount of work for us. Columbus was new for Tech Elevator, which meant potentially an uphill struggle for TE to get recognition and respect with area employers, but those two killed it. They both have a background in HR and recruiting, and not only did they know right people to talk to raise awareness for the program, they also were on hand to answer all our (my) slightly panicked questions. After many rounds of practice interviews, LinkedIn and resume reviews and personal branding workshops, I was able to walk into an interview feeling like if I wasn't hired it was the interviewee's fault. I got that much confidence in myself and what I had to offer.

Finally, I am working in Vermont. There was a tech conference here, during the program, and I flew out to attend. For anyone on the fence about TE, wondering if you'll be able to get a job outside Ohio, the answer is yes. While I wasn't able to utilize the network TE has built, the staff helped me navigate the long-distance job search. 

Two final points: in my current job I'm using none of the technologies I learned at Tech Elevator, and the same is true for many of the others students. So don't worry too much about what your first language is. Finally, for anyone long hair and a beard - you don't have to shave to get a job! (I wish I had known that earlier)

I quit my high school teaching job of nine years at the end of last school year to pursue a career in technology.  I was enrolled at Ohio State part-time but was not looking forward to a 2+ year process.  My mother heard the Tech Elevator ad on the radio and encouraged me to apply.  They had run several cohorts in Cleveland but this was the first one in Columbus.  I checked them out online and everything seemed legit - lots of positive reviews and students who landed real jobs.  I completed the online assessment and was invited in for an interview and second assessment.  I liked the staff members I met during the interview (on a Thursday), and was excited to find out I was accepted the following Tuesday.

The program is intense.  I have multiple graduate-level degrees and this was as challenging if not more than all of those programs (including law school).  The good news is that it's over quickly.  The bad news is that it's over quickly.  I loved everyone I met there - both staffers and fellow students, and once we got into the groove and got to know each other the 14 weeks flew by.  The Java instructor, Casey Borders, is amazing.  Patient and knowledgeable.  A true coding wizard!  You will be there from 9-4:30 most days.  If you're like me and aren't always the best about getting things done at home, you should probably stay until you get all of your homework finished.  Try not to fall behind as things can pile on quickly.  The reading may not seem as exciting as the coding but it will help you be a better programmer and pick up the language and vocabulary to be an effective communicator.

Around week 10 is the Matchmaking Event and this is where the job-hunting really picked up for me.  Before the event, we worked on our resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and interviewing skills through the Pathways component of the program.  Each student has 8-10 interviews back-to-back.  I was so nervous, but it was so helpful to be forced to get over the nervousness.  After the event, I received 5ish follow-ups from employers who attended and tons of promising feedback.  One of my second interviews was about 10-days after the event and I received a job offer about 3-4 days after that (a full 2 weeks before graduation).  It is at a large national bank and the pay was at the top end of my anticipated salary range.  Today was my first day of work and I'm excited for everything in store for the future.  And so thankful to Tech Elevator for their expertise and assistance getting my foot in the door.