Tech Elevator

I joined Tech Elevator in November of 2020 after being laid off from my job of 21 years as a Director of Operations for a small local restaurant company.  The great people at Ohio Means Jobs offered me an opportunity to join their re-skilling program and make a career pivot.  While the work of learning not only how to write, read and code was difficult in this fast paced environment.  The structure of the program combined with the passion of the staff helped to make it manageable.  The instructors are very knowledgable, the Pathway team does a wonderful job getting you ready for job interviews and the Campus Support team truly cares about your experience.
My experience was only available online due to Covid protocol, I understand that they have opened up in person learning now as well in several midwest cities.
For anyone interested in this program, they have a vast array of information available on their website to help answer any question.  There is an online aptitude test to see if coding is right for you.  They also have online open houses and how to pay for coding bootcamp seminars available to attend on line several times per month.  

My time at Tech Elevator was life changing, and I mean that in every aspect possible. I joined Tech Elevator after graduating in the middle of Covid with a Business degree and no job. I was unsure at where my life was going to go at that point, and I decided to take the challenge and go after this opportunity. I would like to emphasize that this was the greatest decision that I made. Not only did I find the passion for what I want to do with the rest of my life, but I also met some incredible people along the way. My instructors, Margaret Green and Andy Chong helped me learn so much in the world of software engineering! They also helped me grow as a learner and person and were so supportive along the way. They were excellent teachers and mentors, that supported us all so much through the good times, and also the times when I struggled. Peggy Kachevas and Laura Coffee, our pathway instructors, put us in such a good position to land a career in tech. They helped me navigate the interview process, both technical and non-technical, and gave me the keys to success in my interviews! They also helped us with Resumes that would stick out, LinkedIn Profiles, and helped us during the matchmaking process to potential employers. Rita Stall, the National Live Remote director, was the first person I talked to before being joining Tech Elevator. She gave me such a good insight into the program and she's the one who gave me a chance to join the program and for that I am so grateful. She was also instrumental in guiding our careers with resumes, social media profiles, and interview prep. All of the people I mentioned above were so helpful and supportive of the new transition I made. I would not be where I am without them, and everyone else involved in the tech elevator program, and for that I am eternally grateful. I have highly recommended this program to my friends who are also looking to transition into to tech, and I would say the same thing to anybody else. This program will you give you the technical skills to land a job in tech, and also the ability to navigate the career transition through resume workshops and interview prep. They also will give you connection to potential employers and you will land an interview to a few of these employers towards the end of the program. That is actually how I got my first job! There was an employer who came to tech elevator and interviewed me, I was able to land another interview and the rest is history! Finally, you will also be able to meet so many great people in your cohort and keep in contact with them. I'm always amazed to see what my cohort is doing and what they all have accomplished since graduating. This program changed my life, and I would not be where I am today without it. This has BY FAR been the best decision I have ever made. If you're reading this, I highly recommend you take the big step and join Tech Elevator. I promise you; it will be worth it!

Tech Elevator was amazing, I will try to outline my experience in hopes that it will help future students make a choice:
The Bootcamp is mainly split up in 2 parts, Pathway and Coding.

The pathway part is led by a group of talented pathway directors that help you fix your Resume and your linkedin profile as well as provide you with a space to practice your behavioral interview skills. You will come out of the pathway knowing how to present yourself, be confident talking about your newly acquired skills , and how to land and ace your interviews.
The directors also work hard to set up two matchmaking days where they will have a group of hiring companies matched with students depending on student's interests/choice or suitability with location/relocation/remote requests. If you have not landed a job offer by the time the camp ends, you will have the full support of this team and the network of Tech elevator Alumni to fall back on for resources and referrals.

The Coding part is structured in a way to make things simple at the start and then build on top of those first principal knowledge. The instructors are extremely talented and versed in the education material. They will take the time to stop class and make sure that everyone is up to speed and that no question goes unanswered.
You will start the first week with setting up laptops (provided by Tech Elevator) and jump straight into Java or C# depending on what your choice is, the main focus will be learning how to code using OOP (object oriented programming) techniques.
Next part will be learning about SQL and how to manipulate data, and for the 3rd part you will learn Javascript (VUE).
For every part there is a milestone project were you are paired up with another student to work and test your skills. The third and final project is a combination of everything you learned, you will be responsible for creating the Front-end , Back-end and everything in between.

I consider myself lucky to have chosen Tech Elevator for my switch from Civil engineering into Software development. If you are thinking about changing industries or you've just had this curiosity to learn how to code, Tech Elevator is worthy of your consideration. 

During the early months of the pandemic I came to a crossroad of continuing down my existing path or making a career change. I can say without a doubt that attending TE has changed my life in more ways than just professionally. I joined TE with limited knowledge about software development, however the instructors and pathway directors guided all of us through the program and assisted in finding jobs (which is ultimately the goal right?). They provided us with the tools, the knowledge, and opportunities to succeed. 

If you're reading this you're likely looking for experience/feedback and I can tell you that I did my fair share of researching many bootcamps, had many conversations with other bootcamps and none of them passed an initial call for me, that is until I spoke with the knowledgeable intake folks at TE. Join one of their panels for an opportunity to ask personalized questions and see if it's right for you, who knows, maybe you'll see me on there!

If I just think about what I was and what I am now - it seems like a dream to me. And the boat of that real-life dream is Tech Elevator. It helped me to reach my goal. It just not only taught me coding but built me for the coding world. Starting from building my resume, Linkedin profile, mock interview, and whiteboard session to lot and lots of motivational words make my landing in the coding world very smooth. I already referred lots of students to Tech Elevator and will do it again and again. Love you Tech Elevator NLR.

When I started looking into coding boot-camps, Tech Elevator rose to the top of my list due to their belief in transparency regarding graduation and placement rates. Jumping into a boot-camp is a large time investment and costs a lot. For me, this meant quitting my job to focus on the content, and taking a large financial risk. Not for one second did I ever regret it!

My time at Tech Elevator was difficult, but the knowledge and experience I gained was certainly worth it. From day 1, everyone really made the effort to make the students comfortable. The concepts you will learn at TE are difficult, but the staff was there every step of the way, and always made sure help was available if needed. The staff and teachers really do seem to care about you as an individual, and want to see you succeed. I never felt like just a number that they wanted to add to their success rate statistics. Everyone was invested in us actually succeeding.

I will say that even though TE does give you lessons, you will still need to invest some time into outside of the classroom. Programming is simply too broad to learn everything in 14 weeks. They will tell you this upfront as well, and it is true. The teaching definitely provides structure while you are trying to learn, but you will need to look some things up on your own.

Speaking more to the Pathway program, which prepares you for the job hunt and interviews, I felt this side was very important as well. While attending, it may feel like a side note to the actual programming lessons, but it is just as important! You can know everything related to programming, but if you can't interview you won't find yourself employed. I would highly advise to take this part of the program just as seriously as the technical side. The pathway program instructors are all wonderful people, and they really do go above and beyond to help you in the job hunt!

Overall, I am very happy with my time at Tech Elevator, and I whole-heartedly recommend it if you are trying to break into the tech field and need some structure to your learning. One week after graduating, I received a job offer and I am starting on my developer journey!

I can’t say enough about Tech Elevator in Cleveland. Best decision I ever made. From the moment I stepped in, I was treated exceptionally. The instructors were talented, kind, and extremely patient. It felt like everyone there wanted you to succeed. The interview training was fantastic. They guide you every single step of the way. The companies they work with are tops. And I am now employed at the best company I have ever worked for. Stick with it, listen to them, and follow every step. It’s worth it.