UNC Charlotte Boot Camps

Having been a student of and having worked for the UNCC Coding Bootcamp as a teaching assistant I can honestly say that it has changed my life for the better.

The instructors and TA's that I have worked with are all very knowledgeable and willing to go above and beyond what is written in their job description.  If they notice that you are putting in the effort and not just asking for the answers they will be there to help you 100% of the way.

The curriculum is very tough and extremely fast paced, which makes sense given it's a 3 month course which teaches you 10+ languages.  I came out of the course with an amazing foundation to continue my self learning after the bootcamp.

Job Assistance was the one area that i was underwhelmed.  Very little was offered to me and the first real contact I had with career services was after I had found a job on my own and them wanting to take credit for placing me.  I understand that they have made a change in staff since I graduated from the bootcamp in 2017 so hopefully this area has improved greatly from when I attended and everything I have heard has pointed to that being true.

One thing that needs to be made perfectly clear before enrolling in the bootcamp is that you get out of it what you put in.  If you are not passionate about learning and not willing to put in the time outside of class then you will struggle to find a job after graduation.  No one is guaranteed a job after graduation and if you don't put in the effort to seperate yourself from the pack you may struggle.  If you work hard and continue your learning after the bootcamp is over you should have no problem.

I recently graduated from the UNCC Full Stack Program and had no real web development experience prior to beginning the program. I decided to attend the UNCC Coding Bootcamp at the recommendation on one of my co-workers at the financial company we worked for. I started working with him toward the end of his program and personally watched how he was able to finish the boot camp and turn that into a job offer with a local financial company as a QA Engineer testing their platform all with no prior experience with development. This proved the effectiveness of the program and from that point, I was convinced to start the same program in the next cohort. 

This program while very rewarding is difficult. It is intensive and will require an extremely large investment of your time but once finished you will have learned or been exposed to the full spectrum of tools necessary to be a full stack developer. This program moves extremely fast also and you must dedicate time to develop your craft even after you graduate (Even after graduating I am working just as hard if not harder on learning other tools and reinforcing what I learned in the boot camp) Always Be Coding should be your mantra. The boot camp does not guarantee you a job once finished but if you go through the process of not only learning the technical aspects but also developing your portfolio and following the steps advised by career services you will put yourself in a position to gain employment.

The instructors have over 50 years of real-world experience in the industry and know their stuff. They are always available and truly want you to succeed and find employment after the program is over. 

I am currently freelancing and hope to land a permanent position soon and will tell you that I have multiple degrees including an MBA and will say that this program is the best decision I have ever made. What you learn you can apply immediately and will be the best decision you could make for your future as well. 

I signed up for the full time UNCC Coding Bootcamp because I was looking to start a new career quickly. It is a very fast-paced course, which was perfect for my career goals, but was a struggle at times as you would barely have time to learn a concept before moving onto something new. The instructor, Jeff Hoffman, was amazing. He answered all my questions in great depth, and put in time before and after class to help his students with their homework, on top of making sure he was prepared for each and every lesson.

I would advise anyone interested in this course to be aware that taking it does not guarantee you a job. While developers might be in high demand, there are a lot of junior developers out there. Be prepared after this course to continue learning and developing on your own, improving your skills before you find someone willing to hire you.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at UNC Charlotte's Full Stack Coding Boot Camp, I was actually the first class to graduate from the program. I was working full time, and taking the course at night, so I did have some difficulty getting all of the homework and assignments done. Please be aware this is a VERY INTENSIVE COURSE. You truly get out what you put into it. That being said. you definitely learn a lot in a short amount of time, the MERN Stack (MongoDB, Express, React, and Node) is something that I see a lot of employers here in Charlotte looking for (Angular is also another framework that is highly sought after). In terms of jobs, honestly, you will most likely have a lot of difficulties finding one. I myself struggled to try to find a new job after graduation (originally was an entry-level web developer trying to transition into a Jr. - Mid Level position) and ended up starting my own company, Bright Digital Solutions. 

Overall I would highly recommend this boot camp for anyone who is looking to take their coding to the next level and land a better job. Just know you REALLY have to apply yourself. You will essentially have no life for 6 months, spend each and every waking hour coding, but you will learn to love what you do and will have a very fulfilling career afterward. This program does not guarantee you a job by any means, but if you continue to improve your portfolio, work on as many side projects as possible, and constantly commit code to your Github account, you will be alright. The creator of this boot camp gave us some wise words of wisdom upon graduation, and I hope I am not out of line by saying this here. Make sure to follow your ABC's - always be coding. There should never be a day go by where you are not writing at least one line of code. 

I wanted to give a shout out to my instructors, Kevin Fauth and Terra Taylor, as well as Steve CaChat. I wouldn't be at the place I am at now, both in my career path and coding skills, without you guys. To anyone reading this, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn if you have any questions about the boot camp!

This full stack web development course was great!!! I was looking for a career change, and I looked into this program. It had great reviews. I spoke with the rep and did the screening interview and assessment, was approved to apply, and before I knew it I was starting class. I had ZERO prior knowlege of coding or computers in general. And 6 months later, here I am eligable for hundreds of great dev jobs in the city. Kevin and Darin were amazing instructors. I honestly couldn't have gotten better. Their intellegence and level of experience is off the charts.

As for the TAs, they were the cream of the crop. All of them graduates from the program so they KNOW what we go through, how to help, and what works. They were all available before and after every class and always available on the Slack channel. They really do care, want you to succeed and go above and beyond to help you get it. Be sure to let them, and the instructors that they are appreciated, they all work so hard.

All in all, it was one of, if not the best choices I've ever made. I've only been out 2 weeks, and am getting ready to being the job hunt. Some fellow classmates had jobs before the course was even over. I did thte part-time program being that I work full time. Those 6 months flew by! My only advice is time management. We are all busy, but make time for class, homework, reviewing class lectures, redoing activities.

I won't lie, it is A LOT OF INFORMATION that you cover in 6 short months. THere are times when you will want to give up, want to brush off an assigment, but don't. I promise it's with sacrifice and time. It's hard. It is a HUGE commitment, and your dedication is the only way to succeed. You get out of it what you put into it. So make the effort, you will thank yourself.   

The career services has just changed leadership, as of today  as I'm writing this review, so as of now my review of them is not flattering. At all. It has been a joke to say the least. Just networking through class has yielded more results. BUT, hopefully the new leadership will make the very much needed changes and improve the services for the next cohort, and for our cohort from here on out. 

I enrolled in the Full-Time (12-week), Full Stack Flex Web Development bootcamp in October 2017 and finished in February 2018.

There wasn't a whole lot of information available about this bootcamp but I decided to take the plunge anyway --  I was really hungry for a life change.

Overall it was a great life changing experience.  My instructor, Jeff, was a fantastic teacher and a really fun guy.  The TAs in my class were super helpful and available.

I highly recommend the full-time bootcamp if you can swing it.  You can totally immerse yourself with 30 other students all trying to accomplish the same thing ... a life and career change.  The energy and anticipation in the room is really great.

One of the cool things about my experience is that I not only rekindled a love for coding that I had in high school, but I also found that I like teaching code almost as much as I like writing code.  Realizing this, I jumped at an opportunity to become a Teacher Assistant for the bootcamp part-time ... something I wouldn't have imagined I'd be doing a year ago sitting in my cubicle as an engineer.  I now not only have new coding knowledge, but a lot more confidence with public speaking!

A few notes:

• I had taken a C++, Java and Visual Basic class in high school and so I had a fundamental understanding of programming prior to this class which was very helpful.  My fellow classmates  who had no coding experience definitely struggled with the pace of the class.  
• When they say that you will be spending 20+ hours a week out side of class... it is 100% true!  I sometimes sat down on Saturdays and coded for 12 hours straight. 
• The curriculum for this class is all about exposure.  It sets you up and points you in the right direction.  I found though that unless I sat down and crunched through things on my own, the concepts would not stick.  You have to write your own code, even when you feel like you have no idea what you are doing.

Ultimately, this class is a shortcut to becoming employment ready in the coding world.  Where as it might take somebody 2 years of learning on their own, this class can chop that in half ... and like I said a fair number of my classmates landed a job in 3 months after the class ... which is a total turn around time of 6 months (3 months of class + 3 months after class).  Not bad for making a complete career/life change.

I joined the Bootcamp with no knowledge in web development or any sort of coding at all, with exception of some prior C++ from high school/college. I took a break from University a few years back, and was absolutely terrified to go back into the classroom again. However, the transition of going back into the classroom was not a struggle whatsoever. 

The instructors and and TA's were absolutely INCREDIBLE. They were all extrememly helpful, and 99% of the time they were available to help with any issue I had. The student success advisor, as well as our career services advisor, were VERY helpful as well. Anita gave all of us the necessary tools to find a job in the always growing job market.

The program itself is tough, that's for sure. It's not for everyone, but if you're willing to put in the time, effort, and work, you'll come out being an incredible developer. You come out of the course being knowledgable in both front end and back end development, which will give you the upperhand when applying for jobs, as well as building applications! 

Yes, it might take some time to find a job afterwards, but you just have be patient and keep coding. Yes, I'm still seeking employment, but it's only been a few weeks since I've graduated, and I already have some job interviews lined up. So to look back at how I was when I first started to now, I think that says a lot about this program. 
 

I highly reccomend taking this course. It is WELL worth the money. Think of it as an investment for your future self!

I enrolled in the second session of the coding bootcamp after a lot of hesitation and was given a good sales pitch about future employers lining up at my door and all of the opportunities we would have to get involved in the tech scene in Charlotte. 

I felt very much like we got a very broad base of knowledge that many employers don’t think is enough, and now there are hundreds of us with the same education so every resume gets sent back with a “Sorry, we just have too many junior developers with the same credentials and no experience.”

The instructors were great but I think it was a waste of money as I am now in debt and still can’t find a job. 

I went to the UNCC Coding Bootcamp without any knowledge about code or programming. It was the best experience I ever had, the teaching and student support staff is amazing, the program is unique and constantly getting updated to fit the current market need in Charlotte area. The Bootcamp gives you tools and skillset to become a great Full Stack Web Developer. However, it is not easy, you have to put in a lot of time to reach your goal.You have to be prepared to work in the team, learning, Google-ing and have fun!