Full-Time (12-week) Software Engineering Program

As you can tell from the ratings, I really enjoyed my time at Hackbright. I'm more of a list person, so let's make some lists.

Pros:

Excellent structure. First five weeks: lecture in the morning, lab, lunch, lecture in the afternoon, lab. Homework. Weekend assessments. Weeks six through ten: lecture in the morning, work on your projects the rest of the time. Weeks eleven and twelve: lectures and guest speakers on career things (interviewing tips, negotiations, whiteboarding, field trips). It's a very professional setup and I felt well cared for. [Side note: I also felt like I probably could have learned all the things I learned at HB on my own, but it would have taken at least 4x longer and be much more frustrating, so that alone justifies the tuition for me.]

Lots of feedback mechanisms in place. After every lecture / talk / event, there's a survey. And they take the survey results seriously and implement your feedback (if warranted). HB is not perfect, but they sure do work hard and constant improvement.

The network. Besides the people who work at HB, you become a part of this amazingly supportive alumnae community. I was actually really afraid of being with the same classmates all the time and also with a lot of women who may want to socialize a lot, but the end result was that I could put in however much effort into socialization as I wanted. I didn't feel pressured to grab lunch or talk. And regardless of my lack of socialization investment, I still felt like one of the team. And it was a great team. I really miss my cohort. And HB. 

The mentors. I had varying degrees of closeness with my mentors but they were all amaizing and oh-so helpful! So cool that HB has this in place to further support us.

Career support. The career services team is resourceful, encouraging, and supportive. We updated our resumes, LinkedIn, wrote cover letters, ... we basically had everything in place to hit the ground running for the job search as soon as the program was over. I lucked out and landed a job with a partner company about a month after the program ended. I was prepared to allot myself 3 - 6 months for the job hunt, as that is a more reasonable / likely amount of time.

Cons:

It's not cheap. Plus, you'll be doing it full time (plus!) so you won't be able to get a job. I feel really privileged to be able to take this leap, but I understand that not everyone can do it. Definitely consider your personal financial situation thoroughly before leaping.

It's tough. The program is tough. Software development is not easy work. It requires attention to detail, problem solving skills, patience, teamwork. This is a double-edged sword because I was thinking back on my old job where I knew most of the things to know and was not very challenged and made decent money. I definitely could've stayed on that trajectory. But I love challenges, so I went to HB and I know now that I'll be challenged for the rest of my life. Know this before you choose this path. :)

If you have any questions about my experience, feel free to read my blog post on it and reach out to me with questions. Happy to answer them!

Hackbright provided a safe, inclusive environment to learn in.  This makes it easy to pick up new topics and, for my cohort, gave us space to ask a lot of in depth questions.  That being said a lot of topics are being served up at once, so being able to focus on the program while you're in it is essential to success.

The women I met are wonderful, smart and incredible human beings.  The alumnae network provides access to jobs, events and support, but it is up to the individual how much they participate in this after Hackbright.

I was incredibly lucky, in that I had three wonderful mentors.  All of who were there to encourage me and even now, in the job search, are valuable assets to have.  That being said, not all my cohort mates were so lucky and often felt disappointed in their mentors ability to provide support.

For me, Hackbright provided materials to have solid understanding of Python, but significant studying after Hackbright was necessary to access jobs and have successful interviews at companies that specifically didn't have programs made for bootcamp grads.  Having a thick skin after Hackbright is essential as getting rejected from jobs becomes the norm.  Also, if you need to return to work after HB while searching for a job can be a taxing balancing act.

That being said, Hackbright was empowering and provided materials to set up a solid base for one to compound on. 

TLDR: I came to HB with 0 coding experience. I tried 3 different online courses to learn coding in my previous non-programming, non-tech career with no bueno. Based on my experience and what I have gathered from my classmates, friends from other bootcamps and tech companies, do not expect that "omg! I'm going to be a programmer after this bootcamp!" Expect that you'll know one way to build a website. That doesn't make you a hot Mission burrito in this town. It makes you a Chipotle buritto at best. 

Disclaimer: This review is sarcastic and can come off as harsh; in complete opposite to HB's practice of being encouraging and believing in oneself. If you'll get angry or bitter reading negative reviews, skip this one. Also, this is meant for those who are career switching with no prior tech-industry experience.

Classroom experience:

I agree with many reviews who say that the instructors are knowledgable and are good teachers for basic programming techniques. You'll learn the basics of how to write code. You will NOT learn how to write good, scalable, or smart code. If a good CS degree holder can write it in 10 lines, you'll probably use 20-50 and your run time will be poor. When whiteboarding in interviews (or mock interviews), you'll be trying to use recursion to traverse the tree when a while loop is sufficient and then stutter, "I don't know..." when the interviewer asks for the spatial complexity. But, you'll be able to write code.

Social experience:

I understand that HB is now multiple classes per session. Each class has it's own personality. I met great ladies whom I am close friends with till today. We mainly commiserate about the state of our morale, bank accounts, and job search prospects (all dangerously low, if you're wondering). One thing that really impressed me was the diversity of women I met. Great women who work hard and deserve so much more.

Career Services:

They are great people in the career services. But I personally find them to be emotional roller coasters. They build your expectations up and then when you come head to head with reality and crash, they are nowhere to be found. Everytime they're told how difficult it is, they say, "aww, that's too bad. You need to keep trying!" After the 4th email saying that, I stopped giving them my weekly updates. I can now program my own bot to wish me good luck by text if that was all I wanted.

Go and study with your classmates and use the online resources (someone here linked a bunch of awesome sites). Besides, with the new intakes being so large, I have no idea how they expect to provide sustainable support.

Oh and those partner companies? Isn't great to go on on-site visits and talk to REAL engineers and get interview practice??!! Come job application time, you'll be told they're hiring people with 3+ years experience which is not surprising considering the funding situation now.

Post-HB:

HB is a safe place. After you leave, most of you are going to go feel effing terrible and great at the same time. You'll meet alums who are still job searching 6-months in and think, "Oh, that won't be me" but then wonder a week or two later if that'll be you. Go out with a clear mind and no positive expectations about how fast you're gonna be a legit programmer. That is the best start you can have. 

Personal note:

One advice I will give you if do end up going to HB: Your personal project is your own. A friend from the other class (same session) had to fight tooth and nail to get her project approved. Even then, HB refused to help her with the aspects "they warned her is over her head" but are basic things we should have learned about Python. Fortunately, her mentor helped her sort it out.

I wish I had made something other than "[popular website] but for [another everyday item/hobby]". I am now working on a less-bootcampy project to put on my resume.

Come project seasion, keep this in mind: Everyone is making a website/webapp. If you are front-endy, by all means, make a beautiful website. During the early years of HB, projects were augmented reality, compilers, large data sciency things, actual programs, etc. Do something to stand out from the sea of websites. Own it. Fight for it and don't give up cuz this is just the begining of the battle of entering the tech world. You'll be fighting to prove yourself even after you get your first job. Might as well get some practice in now. 

Dear Reader,

If you're reading this, you're most likely considering attending a Dev Bootcamp of some kind.  Awesome!

It's almost surreal to look back on the time when I was deciding between bootcamps -- having just graduated Hackbright in December '16, there's no doubt in my mind Hackbright was the best option for me, and the best option for anyone with determination, dedication, and grit looking to transition into the software engineering community.

Around the time I was looking at reviews in my own DBC search, I was reading these reviews thinking "Yeah, it's great to see happy reviews, but seriously tell me why this is a better option than staying at my paying, comfortable job." TLDR version: The return on investment (skills/experience, network, Hackbright name/brand, career services support) is absurdly high.

The longer version:

Before I start the longer version, let me state in glorious but brutal honesty that this is not a cakewalk. There will be days (or even weeks) when you wonder why you ever thought this was a good idea. You will be so tired and/or pressed for time that you seriously question your own ability to make good life decisions for yourself. However, you also get out of this program what you put into it. Simply showing up does not mean you'll be granted all the benefits the Fellowship has to offer. In order to get the most out of this program you must be ready to persevere through exhaustion, overwhelming amounts of information, and your own self doubt.

With that Surgeon General's Warning having been clearly explained, let's jump into all the reasons you should *definitely* do this: skills, network, Hackbright name/mission, and career services.

Skills: There are a ton of different ways to build or do or learn anything -- your own experience in life will tell you this is true. That being said, you can certainly have an opinion on the HB curriculum. Whatever your opinion, the point of this curriculum is to give you the skills to be a hirable junior developer, and it does. I loved how they paired the lecture with a lab where you could really dive in and get your hands on a topic...because having been in a classroom for 5 years I can tell you that listening to a lecture about it does not skills provide. You have to get your hands dirty and they provide you the time to do just that. You will also gain skills no matter your starting skill level -- the lectures and labs are designed to take you from your own point A to a new point B. How far your point B is from your starting point A is largely up to you -- remember, you get out of this what you put into it.

Network:

Your classmates become part of your network. This is like Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring quality bonds here. They support you even when you're being pelted by all of the job-rejection arrows. (Side note: I don't usually make friends with women -- I've always been one of the guys. I was really concerned when I made the decision to come to Hackbright that the "sorority" piece you hear talked about negatively in other reviews would be an obstacle for me, but nothing could have been further from the truth. My cohort is my tribe, and I am just as delighted by that as I was surprised.)
Hackbright sets you up with two or three mentors. Not everyone in my class had great experiences with their mentors, but this was definitely the exception rather than the rule. Most of the women in my cohort are continuing their relationships with at least on of their mentors, even through the Fellowship is complete. ALSO: The Hackbright Alumnae Community becomes part of your network. SERIOUSLY. I have nothing in common with these women other than that we went through the same program, and the amount these relative strangers are willing to support me, no matter my request, is worth so much.
Demo Night. Hackbright sets up a time for you to showcase yourself to a room of potential employers. Terrifying? Absolutely. Value? Priceless.
Hackbright coordinates field trips and other networking events outside the HB campus that allow you to make connection with beyond the Hackbright community. PLUS Hackbright gives you tips on networking, so if all this networking seems like something you can't do, they give you tips so can be better at it and make the most of it.

Hackbright Brand and Mission: Hackbright is serious business, and the employers who work with them know they have consistent results. You can certainly argue that bootcampers are not the "favored" employee picks, but no more so than learning on your own. Hackbright is a well respected name in the DBC community, and that goes a long way. Hackbright is also fiercely dedicated to their mission to #changetheratio. This is empowering at many levels -- I had only briefly considered the social impact of what I was doing when I signed up for Hackbright, but the mission is A Big Deal and brings together employers that you actually *want* to work for.

Career Services: This team organizes field trips and networking events, they work tirelessly to bring job opportunities to you, they give you 1:1 and coaching sessions to help you update your resume/cover letters while you transition careers, they tell you of opportunities (Hackathons, conferences, workshops, panels) in the broader engineering community, they aid in connecting you to the alumnae community, and they genuinely care for your success. 

So let's get back to ROI for the program and why it might actually make sense to give up a paying gig to go back to Hackbright.

Many things you could do to switch careers or get up that professional chain also include mean back to school.  Hackbright is across-the-board cheaper than an MBA or other schooling -- it's the clear winner in terms of time, overall cost, and opportunity cost.

Not convincing enough for you? Let's undervalue everything and crunch some more numbers:

At their root, most new jobs are gotten through connections. How much are all these connections worth? Let's say you're in a cohort of 20, and you value each of those connections at lifetime value of $100. That's $2000 of benefit you're getting right off the bat. High value networking events often charge admission, and Hackbright sponsors consistently high-value, free-of-charge networking events. Plus you've got connections to a growing network of alumnae -- let's call that a lifetime value of $3000.

It's not like going to Harvard, but recognition of the Hackbright brand and mission is also valuable. Let's say $1000 lifetime value.

How can I even begin to put a lifetime value on the support career services offers? The value there is stunning, but I said we'd undervalue everything, so let's go with $3000 lifetime value.

Given the value of the intangibles above, you're now looking at getting all those skills we'd discussed for about $8000.  For a twelve week course. That will make you infinitely more marketable in a growing career field. And you will gain those skills at a pace you simply could not manufacture independently with support that is quicker and more tailored to you than anything you could get online with free tutorials or books.

I dare you to argue with me that you could do better for the money and time than you could at a Dev Bootcamp, but especially at Hackbright.

P.S. I'm not one of the magical HB unicorns that got employed right out of the gate. I'm unemployed while I'm writing this, but I'm still confident that it was the right choice for me, and the right choice for any gritty woman looking to get into tech.

TLDR;

enroll if you really like coding, learning new things all the time, working hard; join the surprisingly awesome coding community

_

I'm in my last week of Hackbright, and looking back I see that Hackbright has been a place where I've been really empowered and inspired to try my best.  It was a great learning environment to ask questions, be surrounded by curious and hard-working people, create personal connections with people who really care, and met industry leaders who were happy to join in our learning journey because of the name Hackbright and its alums have brought for themselves.

It was a risk, but I quit my job and enrolled in Hackbright because:

I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of coding (I had previously taken some computer science courses and was studying independently in my free time)
liked what I saw of its curriculum (more so than other bootcamps)
the ‘challenge’ aspect wasn’t available in my current job trajectory

The people I've met here are some of the most resilient, tough, mature, disciplined, and admirable people I've met.  From what I've seen of the students, education team, career services, marketing, admission, the rest of the staff: Hackbright attracts diverse and phenomenal people.  You probably need to talk to one of us personally to realize this, but the more I get to know each person (especially among the students), the more amazed I become at how much each of us have overcome in the past and throughout the program to have gotten to where we are now—software engineers and leaders in our own right, but even better, with the humility, stamina, and motivation to keep on learning and improving.  And the curriculum itself is pretty demanding—10am to 6pm every day we’re learning and trying out new things, and afterwards we’re studying, even after arriving home late.

One thing I did not expect but super duper appreciated: mentors.  From the Hackbright education team, you have an advisor who you really come to trust and admire and a whole group of instructors who help us understand the concepts and care about how you're doing.  And career services has the best advice and plan dang cool events for us.  Hackbright assigns three mentors for you who are currently working in the field, from software engineers to VP's of engineering, to even CEOs who volunteer their time to help us at the start of our software engineering careers.  They’ve been really helpful, each in their own ways.

I would suggest that you don't apply if you're not that interested in coding/just having trouble finding a job after college.  Think of it long-term: it’s going to require a lot of work and personal initiative, not just in the three months of this program, but even after, while you’re a software engineer.  After graduating Hackbright, there shouldn’t be a point where you say “okay, I’ve learned enough.”  There are too many cool things to learn and do to become complacent.

If you’re stuck because you really like coding but you don’t think you can do it, reach out to Hackbright and see if it’s right for you.  Even though it’s a lot of hard work, there’s a magic of excitement that comes from doing what you really like to do that makes it all worth it.  Good luck and ada ftw.

The first day we started at Hackbright, we were a mix of people from both STEM and liberal arts backgrounds, previously working in tech (UI/UX designers, QA, etc.) and a huge, fascinating variety of other careers.

Fast-forward to Demo Night, when we presented our projects to a room full of prospective companies, and we were all Software Engineers, all so impressive in our achievements, all equally capable of taking on the tech world by storm.

This can be credited to what and how we studied.  The curriculum has been fine-tuned over the years, very responsive to tech trends and the almost-constant student feedback.  The instructors cater to our huge variety of backgrounds, getting us up-to-speed prior to the program with preparatory studies and by presenting the material in a fast-paced, but inclusive way.

This can also be credited to the support system they have in place.  In addition to having a Career Services advisor, we had an advisor from the education staff, and both advisors checked in with us regularly and provided us the support we needed to catch up on difficult Python topics, prepare our resumes, and transition from student to developer.  They also encouraged us to lean on each other for support throughout the program, which has resulted in a tight-knit group that genuinely wants to see each other succeed.

Following Demo Night, I've heard of many of us having interviews with companies that attended, and Career Services has gone above and beyond to ensure we all end up somewhere we will succeed.

I went back and forth for ages on whether I should do this program, but I am so happy with my decision.

Hackbright is such an amazing, supportive, wonderful place. I did a lot of research when choosing a bootcamp, and fell in love with Hackbright's mission statement, curriculum (cats, Harry Potter, and memes? yes please), supportive alumnae network, and Python curriculum.

They also do a fantastic job at matching each student with 3 mentors, taking you inside of companies for informative panels, and giving you a strong network upon graduation. I am so glad I chose Hackbright, and my life will truly never be the same.

My only negative feedback has to do with the admissions process. It was hell, took way too long, and there was very little timely communication. I have talked to many other women who experienced the same issues. Choosing a bootcamp is a huge life changing decision- timely communication is key!

After SO MUCH research and many other options, I decided to go to Hackbright. I'm so glad I did! Remember - this is a bootcamp and not some fairy land where someone holds your hand while you learn to code. They will kick your butt but it will be worth it. They have a 3% acceptance rate for a reason. If you are even able to get in, just do it. The team is very well connected and you will find a job. Work hard, don't stop learning and show the tech world that women are amazing!

I am a current student at Hackbright and will admit there are some good and bad things about this academy.  The entire operation feels more like a community center than an institution that charges students $16,000+ for the 'education'. The majority of the ed staff lack professional training and do not conduct themselves professionally. There are a few great people on the team, but there are staff members who are very unprofessional and immature. Not something you'd expect for the price you are paying. Aside from the instructors who actually have CS degrees and professional experience, the ed team consists of Hackbright graduates who act as if Hackbright is their special sorority. Highly unprofessional. The career services and other teams conduct themselves professionally, however, as a student, my interactions with them have been limited. You can tell they genuinely care about what they do. I would strongly suggest you weigh your options before attending Hackbright. They have a lot of work to do, especially with their education team. Students are not here to be judged, we're here to learn. If you can't do that with a positive disposition, you should take a lesson in client relationship management because we help fund your salaries. For an organization that claims to be inclusive, it seems to cater to one specific type of woman. The curriculum itself needs a lot of fine-tuning and they need a system that will make grading more consistent. As stated, I am disappointed with my experience at Hackbright and will say that this is solely because of the experiences I've had with the Hackbright graduates on the ed team. Tighten up and be more professional its the least you can do for the cost of tution. 

Getting in was hard. Getting through the program was hard. But was it worth it? YES. I see a lot of inaccurate posts on this website and I've got to address some of them.

Instructors: 

The instructors have all had industry experience(seems that some people don't know that). TAs and lab instructors are mostly grads from the program who were exceptional enough to be able to assist others beyond their cohort end date. But all of them bring passion for teaching and coding that I have never seen anywhere else. They are constantly trying to give individual help and make sure everyone feels supported. Clearly, some people think they should have 24/7 assistance--but that seems like overkill. (I hear HackReactor has 24/7 support...but talk about overkill overall...). I found advising to be useful check in times with someone who wanted to listen when I had concerns or wanted more instruction on a subject. They cheered me on and seemed to deeply care.

Tech Stack:

The stack that they teach at Hackbright is less about the content and more about HOW to learn. About 50% of my cohort is NOT working in Python but rather in Ruby/PHP/JS. How cool is that? I didn't feel like I was an expert at Python at the end of the cohort but I think I learned as much as one could of a programming language in 3 months. On top of that, I've heard from the people I work with along with others who have worked with HBers that we write the cleanest, best documented and tested code of any bootcamp. Badass!

Career Services:

Ok, here's what career services does for you:

- They meet with you during the program to get a feel for what your strengths are and what you can leverage as well as what you want to do post HB.

- They have weekly meetings with your cohort to talk about making a great social media profile, how to identify Series A, B, C startups, how to evaluate your past experience, etc...

- They coordinate 2 weeks of talks from industry experts in how to whiteboard, soft skills interviewing, how to negotiate, as well as field trips to partner companies for meals and whiteboarding, and introductions to partner companies who were interested in you from career day.

- Every Monday they have job club to talk about our experiences and give more tips and tricks and keep you on track. Also, every Wednesday they have whiteboarding practice. You have access to these two nights forever.

- They talk and work with you indivually trying to find opportunities and recruiters for you. If you get an offer, they'll coach you through your responses and negotiations.

That's a lot, right? No, it's not a silver platter--but no bootcamp has that.

Overall, it gave me the best launching pad for my career. I met the most amazing women who are inspiring and intelligent along with a great alumni network who want to hire other HBers, and the faith that even a for-profit company can be mission driven and have a heart.

Oh, btw, only 3 people from my cohort don't have jobs as software engineers(or data engineers or security engineers) 3 months after graduating. I graduated in 2016.

If you look closely at their statistics of "90% employed", they are actually from 2014. I graduated from Hackbright in June 2016, and almost 4 months later, I would say about a quarter of my group of 43 is employed. So simply, those statistics don't apply anymore, and sadly that 'quarter' of our group would include internships, non-software tech roles (like support engineer), those who went back to their old jobs, and those who had years of experience in the industry already.

Hackbright sold out to Capella, and now the VP of education, the only truly experienced software engineer out of all the education staff, is leaving at the end of this year. All the TAs, Lab Instructors, and basically all the teachers are Hackbright graduates with no real world experience as software engineers. They only know what they've been taught at Hackbright, and when you need your questions answered, they will tell you your questions are outside of the current project or lecture. It seems a little silly to pay $16,500 for a program where the education staff can't answer your questions, which is the point of paying for more experienced mentors/teachers.

Another thing to note is that what Hackbright teaches are some of the easier languages/techs to learn. Python, Flask, jQuery, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap - these you can learn on your own with all of the free resources online.

Here are some resources for learning (there are dozens more, these are simply what I’ve used):

https://www.codecademy.com/

https://www.udacity.com/

https://teamtreehouse.com/

For learning about Computer Science Fundamentals, I recommend MIT OpenCourseWare (https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm), and 'Cracking the Coding Interview' (you can find it on Amazon). For MIT OCW, you can scan through their list of courses, but going through their intro and algorithms classes are all you need. 'Cracking the Coding Interview' will teach/review all the Computer Science Fundamentals, give you problems to practice on, and it has great interview advice. It is considered to be THE book for beginners and experienced engineers who are trying to get a software job.

Here are a couple websites where you can practice coding:

https://www.hackerrank.com/

https://www.interviewcake.com/

If you are studying on your own and you think going to Hackbright will get you a job, that is simply not true - or at least it is not anymore since they sold out to Capella. For my cohort, it will probably take more than 6 months for most to get jobs, if they can even find a job within tech that is remotely connected to software. And I mean that seriously. We are all out of a lot of money, most quit their jobs and/or moved to SF for this bootcamp, and now most of us can't find a job. Paying this much money for a bootcamp is a huge decision, and can be crippling for many if it doesn't payout. And sadly, Hackbright hasn't paid out for most of us.

Overall Experience

Overall I really enjoyed my experience at Hackbright. As the only all-female coding bootcamp in the San Francisco Bay Area, they do a great job of creating a welcoming and supportive environment for women, and the curriculum was challenging enough even for those who may have been dabbling in programming for a while before the program. It may be a cliche to say this, but students do take out of the program what they put into it, and to get the most out of Hackbright you need to be ready to put in a lot of extra work to land that first engineering job.

Students

With the expansion of the class into two cohorts of ~25 students each since March 2016, it's my hypothesis that the quality of the student body has deteriorated somewhat. I thought everyone in my cohort was lovely and friendly, but only half of the class were very sharp with a strong interest in coding, keeping up with the assignments, and pushing themselves to complete a challenging project that stretched their limits. The other half seemed to lag behind during lectures, asked questions that made it obvious they weren't keeping up with weekend assessments, and in some cases would act the most entitled when it came to expecting a job to be waiting for them upon graduation.

Instructors/Curriculum

The VP of Education and our lead instructor were both excellent, and the teaching assistants were all helpful during the lab exercises. The teaching assistants are mostly recent Hackbright Grads with no real-world engineering experience. TAs were knowledgeable enough in terms of teaching basic topics, but their limited industry experience became apparent during project time when they were not really able to provide a lot of value-added feedback or address my tougher questions and blockers.

Job Assistance

A lot of the negative comments from peers that I heard RE job assistance seem to come from a somewhat entitled mindset, with some believing that just because they got accepted into a competitive bootcamp and paid $16k+ in tuition that they deserve to be handed a job upon graduation. 

I do think that Hackbright (and probably any other bootcamp) gets you 60-70% of the way to your first junior engineering job, by teaching you the basics of coding and computer science concepts (e.g., algorithms, etc), but it's up to graduates to put in the last 30-40% of sweat and effort in doing coding challenges, practicing whiteboarding, and networking your way into your first coding job. 

From what I know, Hackbright is the only (?) coding bootcamp that assigns 2-3 industry mentors, who are all engineers with a few to many years experience who are excellent resources during final project time, as well as during job hunt time for technical interview prep and general introductions to other folks within the industry. 

TL;DR

Hackbright provides you a great network and gives you a good starting foundation. It's up to you to continue your learning post-Hackbright and to find a job.

Curriculum

A good amount of topics were taught during lectures. You have to realize because it's a bootcamp, only so much material can be covered during the program.
Hackbright provides you the tools to have a basic knowledge of programming and computer science fundamentals. Post-Hackbright is where you really understand the material because you have time to review on your own time.

Instructors

The instructors for my cohort were great. Each instructor had their own sense of humor and it made lectures fun and interesting. 

Project time

I wished there was more staff available when it came to the queue. On some days, the queue was so long that by the time I was next up, the queue would close because it was already the end of the day. 
It's important to seek help from mentors at this stage of the program. 

Career Day

The key with Career Day is to not expect an interview. I went in with a mindset of networking. 
It was a great opportunity to talk about my app and I enjoyed getting to know about different companies. 
Again, you may or may not get an interview with some companies. Don't go in thinking that this is your only opportunity to get a job.

Cohort

I was super lucky to be part of such an amazing and inclusive cohort. 
It's not a competition. These women will become your family. 
It was great being surrounded by like-minded and motivated women. 
Don't worry if you're introverted. Hackbright hosts Friday night socials to give you an opportunity to bond with your cohort. 

Career Services

During Hackbright: Career Services was beyond amazing. They hired a new member and she was phenomenal. You could easily set up an appointment with a member of the staff. 
Post-Hackbright: I didn't find myself utilizing the services much. When I did have questions, the response time would vary greatly from within a day to a week. 

Mentors

Hackbright provides up to three mentors per fellow.
Your mentors will be your saviors. 
They have great insights and they offer support whenever they can. 

As a recent graduate, I was fascinated to stop in and read the reviews here. Having so few reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, especially given that this bootcamp has been going strong for several years and has an alumnae network of more than 500 incredible women upon which to draw support and inspiration.

To set the stage: I have a Bachelor's in Psychology and Masters in Marketing. I spent years providing data analytics, workflow and reporting for a non profit, and then worked as a consultant providing online brand development. I have very little coding experience behind me outside of Wordpress and oh yes, MySpace in the 90's -- but seriously, I had seen little code prior to stepping into the belly of Hackbright.

I applied to 5 bootcamps and was accepted 4: but I held out for Hackbright. Their interview and application process was simple, though their admissions team was a power of (an amazing) one and they took several weeks to give me an accept/decline. I was down to the wire, my second choice start date was a week later! Since then, they have brought on a second admissions staff member so I imagine it's now more streamlined.

I chose Hackbright Academy after doing an on-site visit and talk with all five of the bootcamps I was considering. Each has their own flair and flavor, offerings and perks. Your mileage will vary, your needs & desires are different than others: do your research just as you would choosing a college. I did, and I'm thankful for having done so.

Key differences that steered me towards Hackbright Academy:

Women-only while still being inclusive and accepting of those not constrained to the standardized binary of genderization. I personally value their understanding and appreciate their care around this subject matter.


They are creating community and want to see us support each other through time. They encourage the cohort to bond and recognize that we are in the act of solidifying a network of other women that (for the most part) are going into the same field. Networking is the key here!


Hackbright respects that you have a life and appreciates work-life balance. Unlike the other bootcamps that warned me of late nights and pointed out their nap rooms, our instructors encouraged us to step away and refresh. Studies show that quality, not quantity, facilitate greater learning potential and productivity.


The subject matter is vast while making space to really develop a strong foundation in the basics of Python, Javascript, CS and more. Project time is perfect for really digging in the dirt and finding what calls to you and/or practicing those areas that you may have struggled with previously. I believe the lead instructors are professional and highly capable. They are personable and try to cater to student needs - but there are 25+ and each with their own struggles. This brings me to a KEY point:


You NEED to be your own best advocate. Step back and consider, then step up and state your needs! They genuinely do try to allow space for everyone's voice, but this is usually done in a group setting. For me, I found that the advisor format is full of holes: it depends who you get, if you are comfortable speaking up, how experienced that person may be, how involved that person wants to be, and other such factors that fluctuate on a per person basis. This was the weakest point in my Hackbright experience, by far; if I had one change to make, it would be in this arena!


The education team is warm, supportive, helpful and encouraging. Lead instructors are killer. They know their work, they know this program, and they want to know you as a person in order to better assist your growth. That level of interactivity can be difficult in such a large group, and I believe that is why they assign you an advisor.


You create an app independently, rather than in a group. The majority of bootcamps have you walk away with several little projects and/or a large project done within a group. Creating your own app serve many purposes: my favorite being that I got to choose for myself which curriculum topics called to me, and then dive deeper. Note that TAs do not have a lot of coding experience under their belts, and this really began to show during project time. Some are more comfortable than others at saying, "I'm going to need another set of eyes". My advice: practice timing your entrance into the help queue.

I'll speak of Career Services directly:

There are two ladies that handle this arena whilst you're within the program. They are outstanding in so many ways. I have been totally shocked to see people complaining about their job search! For each of the other bootcamps I was accepted into, I spent the majority of my on-site visit, grilling (one employee actually used that word when handing me off to their employment search staff for further questioning) them about this aspect of the bootcamp.

Learning the skills is one piece of the puzzle, but as a queer woman stepping into the bro-world of tech in San Francisco, I knew without a doubt that this would be the most difficult piece of my career change. At BEST, other bootcamps offer a week of support at the end of their program, to prepare you. Then a single point of contact for their alumni to help with the job search. Not so at Hackbright.

They started at Week One. And each week they gave us lots and lots of information to digest and action items to begin preparing ourselves, our online presence, and our networks. They provide "fieldtrips" to tech companies for panels, discussions, whiteboarding and even yummy meals. Then, the last two weeks of the fellowship are JAM PACKED with speakers who talk about negotiation techniques, product management, how to work with recruiters to maximize your potential, etc. I was shocked to see so many people not attend these informational talks. Even after week 12, you get an entire month of twice weekly whiteboarding sessions, job leads, and more.

I attended two Hackbright information sessions before applying: I was told point blank that most people find a job within 6 months, some within 3 and those typically already have ties and networks within companies to begin with. In my notes from the first week of career services, I can see that I asked about this and received the same answer. Throughout the fellowship I believe they have repeatedly told us that they are here to help, to support, to provide resources and help facilitate connections, but that it is up to us to really make the job materialize.

Is Hackbright built for underserved populations? Only just barely but really. Do they bill themselves that way...sort of yes. It's a sticky point for me, and has been since the day I came across their website. They are trying to make a change from a very specific angle: those women that already have the financial, educational, physical, etc. capability to take 6+ months out of their lives. Others are working to support women that have obstacles not accounted for here. If that's what you need: proceed on in your search. But if you are able to swing the commitment, I happen to think it is well worth the money, time, energy, and care

The last reviewer did a good job in summarizing my unhappiness with Hackbright. I only have the below to add:

I graduated with the June 2016 cohort.  Only 5 girls out of our graduating class have been able to find jobs and it's been 2 months since graduation. One of them went back to Hackbright to be a lab assistant, another already had a job lined up outside of Hackbright, another picked up what she'd been doing previous to Hackbright, and I'm not sure what the remaining girls are doing. 

By the project phase of our cohort, many of the girls were expresssing malcontent with the program. In particular, career services. If you are struggling with the material, they turn the onus onto you. Meaning, they said that you weren't doing well because you weren't working hard enough or something like that. But seriously! My advisor and my instructors never had time to answer my questions and I got the same, "We don't support tutoring." They didn't give me any personal attention. If a girl wasn't doing well, they would say that it was failure on her part. Not the instructor. And! There was never any personal attention given even if so to help that girl out. 

They have unusual and almost unethical practices at Hackbright. At the end of every cohort/class, they offer jobs to the girls with the caveat that if they accept a job at Hackbright - they're not allowed to participate in career day. 

And! During career day, companies are not allowed to ask the girls technical questions about their projects. This seems really shady as it would be the perfect opportunity for the girls to show off what they had learned during the Hackbright 12 week class. It serves to do two things: 1) cover Hackbright ineptness 2) protect Hackbright reputation in case the girls don't do well. I was raised to believe that the student's faults were that of the instructors. Hackbright does all sorts of things to cover itself. It doesn't stand up to the things it purports to do. 

What really upset me the most is that career services told us all sorts of things about being able to find a job within 3-6 months of graduation. Then, a month before graduation, she tells us not to expect to find jobs soon, but it would take about a couple months of study to really 'get it down.' Some of these girls cleaned out their savings to attend Hackbright! They're owed more than the inflated marketing!!

And! Hackbright was recently acquired by Capella University. This is an online centred learning business that 'takes advantage' of women and minorities. Much alike University of Phoenix that went down for marketing cheaper and more convenient sub-standard MBA programs and catered to women and minorities. When these demographics went for jobs, they were told their MBAs were not competitive. So now the graduates owe money from tuition and they are jobless. 

Take your money somewhere more deserving! Hackbright is NOT!!!!

I was deeply impressed by the community at Hackbright, and the structure and support was invaluable to starting my new career. My understanding is that as a young program, Hackbright is still changing form cohort to cohort, and with the recent acquisition, more changes are likely on the way -- I would encourage you to attend an in-person event if at all possible to help inform whether Hackbright is the right choice for you. For my piece, Hackbright gave me the tools and support to break into engineering, and I do not doubt that I would not be where I am today without them. I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn at Hackbright, and even more so for the opportunities that leaning at Hackbright opened to me.

Hackbright is an incredible program.  While it has already changed a lot since my time there, there are a few key aspects which feel central to the Hackbright experience:

1. Hackbright fosters a supportive, respectful, creative, and fun environment where students are encouraged to push themselves and make mistakes to further their learning.

2. Work/life balanced is highly emphasized and students are encouraged to not only focus on coding but also build relationships and take care of themselves mentally and physically. 

3. Hackbright students and staff are amazing people with a diversity of backgrounds and interests.  In my cohort alone there were lawyers, librarians, financial analysts, artists, folks who had worked at non-profits, startups, and large corporations.  I met incredible people and made wonderful friends with some of the most interesting, smart and hardworking people in tech.

While I had a great experience at Hackbright, everything wasn't perfect.  I thought the job finding process was the weakest part of the program.  I did most of my job searching on my own.  I do know that a lot of the students found it worked for them, especially if they wanted to work with a partner company.  Additionally, Hackbright is still in its growing phase so sometimes lessons were chaotic, or things wouldn't go as smoothly as planned.  However, the team was good at receiving feedback and adapting to the needs of the class.

I am so glad I decided to attend a coding bootcamp, especially Hackbright. I didn't fully believe it was possible, but I was able to successfully transition into a software engineer from a non-technical background prior.

Hackbright, like most programs, will have challenges, such as leveling differences between students. You'll set yourself up best if you complete the pre-work beforehand and start picking up some interviewing practice about midway through the program. The most challenging part of the program is definitely the job search, but it also happens to be the part where we had the least support. Instructors are already ramping up for the next class, so I think that there is room for improvement here.

With that said though, the experience, instructors, and classmates throughout the program were exceptional. The women who choose to attend Hackbright are motivated and bright, and that continues with a very supportive alumni community after graduation. The environment is extremely encouraging, as instructors will help you both if you are ahead or behind. Most importantly, Hackbright has built up a great reputation and has the added benefit of being all-women in a field that is severely lacking women. This shows in the highly reputable companies that attend Career Day.