Zip Code Wilmington

There's plenty of other reviews here talking about the program itself, so I'm going to take a slightly different tack.

It's March 1, 2018 as I write this. I'm preparing to sleep so that I can wake up and go to work tomorrow. Like 150 million other Americans. It's really no big deal- unless it is. Two years ago I was starting a part-time job that paid pennies over minimum wage. No insurance, no hope of advancement, and no other opportunities. Yet, I was thankful because I was, in fact, working.

From October 2015 to March 2016 I had no job, and for that time period and the three months before I had no home.

I took a huge risk on Zip Code. I cannot stress that enough. I had managed to scrimp and save barely enough to pay for the gas I would need to drive from the farm I was staying on in Sussex county each week. To pay for the room I was renting in Wilmington during the work week. To pay for my wife's medical care (what the Medicaid wouldn't cover). I had to quit my job in order to attend. After being homeless for nine months and jobless for six, I was quitting my job. At the time, there was no assistance for low-income students aside from the tuition scholarships (without which I wouldn't have even been able to consider attending). I rationed food like I was back on the streets and ate it cold from the can.

I was granted the moniker, "Hobo" and I adopted it happily because I knew that when you stake everything on an all-or-nothing gamble you have to give it your all and you may still get nothing. It was an unwitting reminder of where I had come from and what potentially awaited me again if I failed.

I worked my ass off. People talk about 100 hours per week. I'm going to break that down into real numbers for you. I arrived at the classroom at 6:30am each day and stayed until 10:00pm each night, Monday through Friday. When I got back to the room I was renting I studied until 1:00am. I did this five days a week, returning to the farm on weekends to see my family and do what work I could to offset the cost of board there.

That's only 92.5 hours.

You have to more than want this- you have to be starving for it. You need to know that not only is failure not an option, but that it is completely unthinkable. You need to understand that you can give your all and still find yourself not working for weeks or potentially months after the program ends.

But if you stick with it...

If you stay the course, hold steady, and keep that hunger... if you are humble enough to internalize what the instructors, staff, and alumni say... if you are categorically unable to comprehend the meaning of quitting, of giving up...

When I filed my taxes for 2017 my gross income was roughly $6,000 for the year.

I'll have made more than that in my first MONTH working the job I've earned after going through the Zip Code program.

Reviews use the terms, "Life-Changing" and "Transformational". They're right, but those words are so inadequate. You will never forget your time with your cohort. You will make friends, and you may even make family. You become part of a group that all battled through the trenches with you. You develop your own internal jokes and behaviours that make no sense to those that didn't go through it. You have a sense of shared identity with people that you've never met. Having been raised in a military and police family, I can honestly say that it's very similar in a sense. Zip Coders, like servicemen and -women, have their own easy camaraderie.

So while I need to wake up early and drive to an office building where I'll sit at a desk for ten hours or so (which sounds like a long work day but feels like shameful slacking after the hours I pulled at Zip Code), I really can't complain. Rain is falling from the sky and winds are gusting upwards of 60mph but I'm inside, warm, and looking towards the future with an emotion that feels odd and alien.

I think it may be optimism mixed with satisfaction.

--"Hobo", aka "Fedora"

Zip Code Wilmington doesn't just emphasize a single coding language, attempting to pass you off as an expert in a short time frame. ZCW focuses on not just providing you with core concepts, but teaching you how to teach yourself with just a single thread to start with. My learning path in the course was Java, and then using a bit of react and javascript. My job after Zip Code is based entirely in C# and Angular. I was nervous at first but after my first day and looking through codebases, I realized that anything I didn't understand about what I was looking through, I knew how to learn about, because Zip Code ensured that. They do a good job of letting you speak up as you need help, rather than assuming everyone wants the same kind of assistance. In addition to the staff supporting you when you have questions, ZCW always reiterates the importance of working as a team of peers. The expectation is almost never that you can't share information, and almost always a matter of sharing knowledge you've gained with others in the course who haven't picked those skills up yet. It's a very busy 3 months, but they're incredibly worth it. 

I am absolutely amazed at this program. I went in with a lot of skepticism, but it rapidly dissolved. Before our first day in we had a meet and greet with former students (completed 3 weeks before) and half of that data cohort already had job offers.

I graduated on January 21 and on January 28 I had a very good job offer (starting 2 weeks later). This is for a full time permanent position.

The teachers were excellent, always able to both keep us on track while also indulging our questions and expanding on concepts as we were interested.

The 3 month program was very intense (I spent 8am to 10pm focused on school or eating during the week with significant weekend hours too) and broken into 3 sections each roughly a month. Part one was learning Python at a very fast pace, part 2 was learning data analysis and engineering tools and libraries with Python, and part 3 was working on a personal and a group project with daily checkins and a few classes.

Aside from the technical classes there were professional development sessions that I found very valuable. Once we were about half-way through we also had the opportunity to do mock-interviews so that we were ready to show our best selves and get hired at the end of the course. Most students had at least 5 mock-interviews and there was the ability to have significantly more.

The week after classes is reserved for interviews with hiring partners of the school in which I had 4 interviews that would credibly lead to job offers (one of which did, one of which I flubbed, and two of which could have gone somewhere perhaps). These were not interviews that were just to show effort, they were legitimate interviews with local companies or remote positions from places that had a relationship with the school and had hired past students.

The people in charge are constantly in touch with industry making sure to cover the skills that are in demand. The curriculum is fresh, and I have the impression that it is constantly evolving rather than getting stale and then being updated.

If you can dedicate the time and put in effort, Zip Code Wilmington provides both in the education and the job support.

Before Zip Code Wilmington (ZCW), I had a background in Accounting with little to no coding experience. I was considering a change and like what you may be doing now, I looked into many different coding bootcamps to get a feel for the topics covered, time commitment, and the overall costs. The work is challenging and consistent effort is needed to really make the most of the 12 weeks. This will look like 80-100 hours every week attending lectures, working through labs and group projects, practicing for mock interviews. You might be thinking, well gosh, is it really all worth it?

Having completed the program, I can say ZCW is 100% worth the investment. What you get out of it are the fundamental skills to be successful in a tech role. You learn how to learn, how to communicate with people from all different backgrounds and experiences, and how to put in the effort to succeed. The program's curriculum is designed to give students exposure to relevant technologies used in the industry. The professional development side helps you create a stellar resume and enhance your interviewing skills through workshops. In addition, not only do you get a chance to connect with experts in the field, you also gain access to an invaluable network of alumni. Many of the alumni take the time to give back because of what the program has helped them achieve.

The staff and instructors also truly care about each and every student's success. They work tirelessly to help students land their first job in tech. I am so grateful for the support as well as the wonderful connections I made with my fellow cohort members. I can more clearly see myself achieving personal and professional goals that I did not think were possible any time soon. If you have the drive and are willing to put in the effort, Zip Code Wilmington is the place to be!

To say that Zip Code Wilmington was a life changing experience feels like an understatement. The program is intense, as the word 'bootcamp' suggests, however you will get back every ounce you put into it and then some.

This program teaches you more than just how to code. The faculty (who are all absolutely wonderful) support you with programming fundamentals, professional development, and networking, in addition to teaching you the tools and mindset to become a successful software developer and work on a professional team.

I personally began the program with zero coding experience, so if that's you, please know that you truly do not need experience to succeed. However, you do need the drive and passion to want to make it through all the way. Expect to spend more time coding with your cohort than doing anything else in order to get the most out of this program.

Education-wise, it's the perfect mix of instruction and self-learning, since in the professional world, you'll need to learn most new things on your own. If you think about learning to ride a bike, it was much like that. More guidance towards the beginning while you're still very new and then the instructors slowly take off the training wheels. By the end of the program, I felt like Zip Code gave me the tools that given enough time, I could learn any new programming language or try out any project I wanted to. 

For professional skills, they help you with your resume, hold interactive lectures with industry professionals, and prepare you for interviews. Even if you tend to be shy or quiet, this is a very safe space to practice those skills and will help you out immensely in the long run.

Overall, the program is incredibly well-rounded and filled with people who genuinely want to see you succeed. I absolutely cannot recommend it enough.

This coding boot camp is the best one to join in 2021 and beyond. Before joining I did a lot of back ground research on all the coding boot camps available in the tri-state area and I encourage you to do the same. Every other bootcamp I spoke with was trying to hard sell me. They're always saying "dont think about it! put money down and join now before spots run out!". It felt like they're just trying to make a quick buck off of me. Not Zip Code though. The first questions they ask you are "why do you want to do this and why do you think you are the right person for this". This alone sets them apart from the rest because they have certain criterias for who they're looking for because they want to ensure that you're successful once you've joined.  

Joining this boot camp was one of the best decisions I ever made. The staffs really care about helping you grow as a person both professionally and coding skill-wise. The program consist of 12 weeks of training and broken down into professional development and coding. The coding portion teaches you the right way to code (yes there are right and wrong ways to code) and many other skills you wouldn't learn in even with 4 year degree from a university -- like how to set up your backend, how to structure data, design patterns, which database to use, frontend, version control, git, how to deploy your application, etc. They give you a ton of projects and labs to put on your resume. The projects are structured to work exactly the way it would if you were at a real job.  The professional development side teaches you how to seek out current professionals in the field and make meaningful connections with them that can lead to future job prospects. We are introduced to top level executives in the field every week to learn about what they're doing, how they got there and how you can get yourself there. The connections that you are exposed to here is priceless in terms of getting your foot in the door with some of the biggest tech and finance companies anywhere. 

I began my boot camp in June 2021 and have just graduated in Sept 2021. Full disclosure, this is not something that you can cruise by and expect to be successful. I put in 10-12 hours of work everyday including the weekends and if I had to do it all over, I would. Your success is your own, no one can give it and no one can deny it from you. I am proud and happy to say I landed a high paying job one week before graduating. I also know of other people in my cohort who landed 6 figure jobs as well. If you are trying to make a change in your life and are trying to decide which boot camp to join, look no further, this is the one. 

My time at Zip Code Wilmington would have definitely been a lot easier if I had some prior coding experience. I found most of the instructors to be unhelpful. Outside of the structured lessons we had each day, the instructors were either unavailable or got annoyed when asked for help. On the other hand, the bootcamp was great at providing job assistance due to partnerships with nearby tech companies . I also got lots of help with resume writing and interviewing tips. I thoroughly enjoyed the "Soft Skills" sessions lead by Melanie Augustin. 

I hope this helps a future developer! 

Zip Code Wilmington is a life changing experience. I had no previous software development experience prior to attending Zip Code. After three short months, I am now starting a new career as a software engineer.  The workload for Zip Code is intense and packed into 12 weeks. It’s hard. They were not kidding when they said you will be spending 80-100 hours a week. You will be attending lectures, doing homework assignments, working on professional development and collaborating on projects. The instructors are experienced professionals who have many years of experience in this field. They will teach you to think computationally and promote curiosity. The most important skill you will learn is learning how to learn. Zip Code also have a great network with many alumni coming back to connect with and tutor the current cohort. Zip Code is more than just teaching students how to code. They also prepare you for success in a professional environment with their professional development program. They will work with you on your resume, prepare you for interviews and teach you how to network. This is what really set Zip Code apart from other boot camps. They spend an enormous amount with you to make sure you are ready. You can book one on one appointments with the staff if you feel you need more help. If you are driven and dedicated individual, then Zip Code is right place for you. It has changed my life for the better and will do the same for you.

In addition to being much less expensive than even online-only bootcamps, the experience beyond coding (professional development, connections with partners and access to first-round interviews, many mock interviews, lots of group coding experience, etc.) is worth so much more than the cost. 

It's hard. It's a mountain of work, but it all helps, and I apply almost all of it every day in my new job. You have to say goodbye to your family for a few months and really buy in. If you do, you'll be in a good spot coming out the other side. 

There's no guarantee of placement, which is true of college CS programs, too. According to everybody that I've heard from in industry, ZC grads perform competitively with those CS grads in the workplace. Not bad for 3 months' training. There's a reason that so many grads come back to tutor for free; we got so much more out of it than we paid for.

A year ago, I had never even heard of Zip Code Wilmington. I had never taken a computer science course, had zero experience with coding aside from very basic HTML and CSS, and thought that it was too late for me to get into the field of software development.

So when I first learned about Zip Code, I was admittedly skeptical. It just seemed a little too good to be true.

But after the first week or two, I understood why the program has been so successful for so many people. Three months may seem like a short amount of time -- and, relatively speaking, it is -- but the intensity of the coursework will push you to learn at a breakneck pace. So you have to be 100% willing to keep up with that pace... and whenever possible, go beyond it.

Also, the instructors are very smart and very talented, but they are also very aware of the fact that you need to be able to handle problems on your own. A huge part of being a successful software developer is the ability to look at something you don't understand and figure out a way to understand it. The Zip Code instructors are there to guide you, but you need to be ready to dive into the code and resources on your own as well.

Maybe even more valuable than the actual learning, though, are the connections that you will make at Zip Code. If you are truly invested, you will definitely spend more time with your classmates than your family or roommate or pet or even self. You may not physically be in the same vicinity as your peers, but you will almost always be in contact via Slack, either discussing a lab or sharing resources or just helping each other stay sane.

Aside from teaching you about software development, Zip Code also teaches you how to succeed in a professional environment. They help you improve your resume, work on your interview skills, and make networking connections. Many might focus on just the technical part of the program, but the professional development aspect should not be taken lightly at all. Based on my experience, most interviewers already know that you are a hard worker and fast learner if you've completed the program, so you will most likely be able to pick up any technical skills with relative ease. But being professional, agreeable, and articulate will make them view you as someone they actually want to work alongside.

A year ago, I had never even heard of Zip Code Wilmington. Next week, I will be starting my new career as a software engineer. 

 

TL;DR: Zip Code Wilmington worked for me and many, many others. If you put in the time and effort and have a little patience, it will work for you too.