Coding Dojo

I came to Coding Dojo with a background in Business Economics and no programming experience.  Joining Coding Dojo was one of the toughest, yet most rewarding experiences I’ve been through.  I’ve learned so much since Day 1 and the learning doesn’t stop.  If you put the time in it and challenge yourself, you will succeed.

How did I decide on Coding Dojo?  After exploring a few different Open Houses, I felt like the instructors and staff here genuinely cared for their students.  Throughout the program, they made learning programming fun and challenged you to think differently when it came to solving problems.  Another reason why I joined Coding Dojo was because they taught 3 full stacks (Python, Java and MEAN).  This allowed me to be well-rounded on a few languages and helped me decide what stack I prefer to work with.  

Coding Dojo’s career services was helpful so make sure to make use of it every way you can throughout the program and more importantly after graduation.  If you’re expecting to rely solely on Career Services to land a job, this isn’t for you.  You need to put in your part too.  As a recent graduate, I can see how easy it is to relax once the bootcamp is over.  After graduating is when the hardest part starts, searching for a job.  You need to work on your resume, portfolio, go to networking events, continue coding, etc.  It took me about 2.5 months to receive that job offer and that was one of the happiest moments of my life.  My hard work is finally getting paid off.

One thing I wished Coding Dojo emphasized on more was making projects a requirement to graduate.  It would be nice to submit the projects to the instructor and have them give feedback on it.  I think this is really important because once you graduate, you need a few solid projects on your portfolio before you apply.  After graduating, I spend about 3.5 weeks working on my portfolio before actively applying for jobs.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Coding Dojo and built so many relationships I will cherish throughout my life.  I would not have been able to do this myself. I’m grateful for all the help and support I received from my cohorts, instructors and staffs, so thank you Coding Dojo!

Coding Dojo gave me direction when I was absolutely lost. It sounds melodramatic but it really is true. I've always struggled with academics. Reading massive textbooks, writing up essay after essay, or finding focus for busy work has never been my strong suit. It's just not how I learn. So after graduating high school and trying to force college to work for me for about a year, I finally realized I needed to look elsewhere. And I'm really glad Coding Dojo is where I ultimately decided to go. The work is hands-on and no-nonsense.

This bootcamp is fast paced but with all the support from your fellow cohort-mates, instructors, and TAs, It's very doable if you have the drive. Their online learning platform makes for a very good reference but in my opinion the real magic happens with their instructors. You can tell they're genuinely passionate about programming and it makes the work so enjoyable. The demos and lectures are very informative and they take little breaks along the way to make sure everyone understands the material and is on the same page. The morning algorithms are also a really great feature of this bootcamp. You get used to thinking about how you can start to tackle a problem, polish it to be more efficient, and code more creatively since after you've taken a solid stab at it you get to look at different students' perspectives. Which are all skills that are definitely helpful for succeeding at an interview. And of course the sheer exposure and repetition of foundational algorithms and data structures doesn't hurt either!

I came to the bootcamp with a little bit of coding experience, that I got from online courses. I recommend that to anybody who's going to attend any coding bootcamp.

Time in Dojo was truly amazing. Super professional instructors with experience working in big companies such as Amazon. Awesome peers from different countries and backgrounds. Information is very well structured in the curriculum, so it's easy to pick up new stuff even for non-native English speakers as myself. The only thing I didn't like is how MEAN stack was presented on the platform, but instructors helped to fill all the gaps and even more.

Another thing which is super cool about Coding Dojo is that how they teach algorithms and data structures. Every morning you solve different problems and learn new data structures, which are essential things to pass a tech interview. These things are also very useful for people that don't have a CS degree.

Lastly, job search. Coding Dojo does not place their grads into the jobs, but they provide good career services which improve your resume, LinkedIn and job hunting strategies in general. Also, they host interviews on site with many tech companies, so students and grads have a lot of extra opportunities to get jobs.

Coding bootcamps are not easy. The more you put in, the more you get out of it. If you are focused and dedicated Coding Dojo will definitely help you to land your first job in tech!

My way or journey into software development ended with 12+ years in the Marine Corps incorporating the art and science of war including use of martial arts with a generalist or “one mind, any weapon” ethos.  Prior to joining the military, I studied Computer Science for two years then transferred into an Electrical/Computer Engineering degree program, graduated then went directly into the military.  In 2016 while waiting to depart the military I enrolled in a Java Full Stack Web Development Boot Camp with Skill Distillery in Denver, Colorado.  During this 4-month resident course I learned Java, Spring, MySQL, and AngularJS 1.6.  Following graduation multiple offers prompting me to relocate to Washington, DC initially for work as a software engineer enticed me with the allure of cyberwarfare–penetration testing, malware engineering, zombies/botnets, and distributed denial of service attacks.  However, though I had originally planned to work for a defense contracting company my first position as a software developer was with the Washington Post in 2017.  This posed a new challenge due to most WaPO teams using Python and ReactJS leading me to the Coding Dojo Online Full Stack Web Development Course.  During my time at WaPO I had also decided to go back to school and pursue a master’s degree in software engineering.  So in 2018 while working as a WaPO software developer, I was also taking my first grad class in Java and starting my second stack at the Dojo.  What drew me to the Coding Dojo was the multiple stacks (Ruby, Python, iOS, C#, React, ect) incorporating time tested techniques (TDD, web scalability, web security, data structures, cloud deployments, wireframes, etc) available and online curriculum allowing me to learn and use Python immediately on the job.  Having Java as a first OOP language also made it easier to pick up Python in an online setting.  Following the Python stack, I was then reintroduced to Angular but version 6 with TypeScript as part of the MEAN stack.  By this time I had successfully completed my Java class with an A and was now interviewing for my second position as a software engineer.  Without warning I receive an email from a Google Hiring manager who noticed the variety of stacks (Java, Python, MEAN) on my LinkedIn page and inquired if I was interested in a summer internship, to which I said “yes”.  Over the course of the Fall 2018 semester with some struggle I complete a second grad course, Coding Dojo’s third stack, and Google’s intern hiring process.  I end up getting recommended for a second round of interviews with Google, commit to learning all of Coding Dojo’s stacks and continue with my software engineering graduate program.

There have been many similarities between my military experiences and path as a software engineer through the Dojo from the mindset of a ninja–first being, master the technique then the weapon (weapons/tools will likely change before the technique).  With Coding Dojo learning multiple stacks trains you to all aspects of a full stack so that you can adapt to every unique application you will inevitably encounter during your career.  Strength through struggle is a paradigm that also includes knowing your weaknesses, resources to mitigate weaknesses, and seeking self-improvement.  Equally important is being a lifelong learner because the techniques, tactics, and procedures will likely change however your effort as a software engineer will not.  Finally like any workout regiment worth its weight–exercising the eco system of hardware, networks, cloud services, security, APIs, and analytics all function to support software as the core organism.   To avoid spoiling the book, my way as a peaceful warrior (ninja with three belts) is far from over in software engineering and like most will not end until all obstacles imagined and real have been overcome.

What attracted me the most to Coding Dojo was its curriculum. They taught three full stacks focused on web development in Python, Java and the MEAN framework. Being exposed to all three languages helped me build a solid foundation on a wide array of languages and decide on which language I wanted to further excel in.

Along with that, learning a full-stack helped me decide if I preferred front-end, back-end, or full stack development. 

These factors along with culture fit with the instructors and the campus were strong factors in my decision to attend Coding Dojo. 

Most importantly, having this solid foundation widened my approach when it came to applying for jobs. I cannot imagine being able to have applied and interview for the number of jobs I completed without the knowledge wide array of knowledge I obtained.

As a former student and now graduate, I have spent countless hours reading reviews and meeting other graduates from this program as well as others and employment post-graduation is everyone's concern. A majority of us graduates tend to place blame on the program but not very many of us take responsibility for our actions. It is up to us as job-candidates, to make our resumes, portfolios, projects, soft-skill and technical skills more appealing and presentable for prospective employers because there will always be competition out there and companies are not just handing out jobs. 

As long as you put in the continuous effort and are relentless throughout the process from beginning to end, you will become a successful and employed full stack developer.

Cheers,

-Ron G.

I think this bootcamp is really what you make of it. Although the cirriculum does offer a decent amount of direction and guidance, there are a lot of opportunities for you to choose branches and projects that are relevant to your background and future plans. I was also lucky to be in a good cohort of people who were willing to put in the energy and persistence to see some results. When everyone is working hard, it also encourages you to push yourself as well, and I came out of the experience learning a lot about what I want in a career going forward.

Was not a big fan of the name Coding Dojo.

But this was the only boot camp that taught 3 full-stacks in 14 weeks, which is a great challenge/accomplishment that isn't lost on future employers.

The Los Angeles campus: a friendly, inclusive environment that was professional, but still a fun place to learn.  Shared lots of laughs with my cohort and instructors in addition to some looooooong days of coding.

Before attending the boot camp, I read somewhere that the instructors were past graduates who were unable to get jobs and didn't teach well.  This was definitely not true with my instructors.  Furthermore, one of the most important things they taught was being a self-sufficient developer; I imagine some have misinterpreted this.  They do gradually ease you into being self-sufficient.

Coding Dojo encourages a weekly sports day and time away from the computer screens that you will be undoubtedly gazing at for a lot of the time during as well as after the boot camp.  Sports day was also great for wrecking the staff at various activities.  Again, lots of laughs.

Bottom line: I was able to land a software developer job after graduating from Coding Dojo without any prior software experience.  Also, I have seen students with little software or technical acumen have success in the program just by showing up on time every day and being diligent.  I am extremely proud to call those people my colleagues. 

I've had several years of coding background, but I decided to come to Coding Dojo do learn more about web development and modern frameworks.

The 3.5 months I stayed here was personally excellent! One thing that stood out to me the most were the instructors. Due to my coding background, I had a lot of specific questions that were sometimes unrelated to the assignments, but they never failed to deliver. They were not just teachers who knew the materials they had to teach, they were actual programmers.

I think that coding bootcamps are what you make out of them. I came to the school with the dedication that I will only focus on learning and studying, and I was constantly with the instructors asking them any questions that came my way, and for that I believe I got much more than I paid for.

One minor complaint I do have is that I wished we had more time on the MEAN stack. Due to the fact that we only had a month to spend on all four technologies/frameworks, coming out of the school I did not feel confident in any of the individual frameworks. After school ended, I ended up taking some courses on Udemy on some of the technologies such as Node, which helped me solidify what I've learned at Coding Dojo. The foundations I also learned from Coding Dojo also allowed me to learn afterwards at a much faster pace. I also do wish that Coding Dojo would teach us React, as I have noticed that most companies are looking for React Developers. However since we learned Angular, it was not too hard for me to pick up on it.

As a final postive I would like to mention: one of the instructors referred me to a contracting company that worked with Apple, and I ended up getting a contracting job with them.

Coding Dojo is one of the highest-rated coding boot camps in the industry to teach three full technology stacks in a single 14-week program. I was surprised to find such a high-level School in Tulsa, OK. The entry process was smooth yet challenging. After an interview, I was given a link to the Algorithm platform. It consisted of a basic familiarization to learning Algorithms then a more advanced algorithm challenge. It was a mere taste of what was to come. Algorithms are a daily thing at Coding Dojo. I initially had some trouble with all the new concepts being thrown my way, but by the second month, I began to look forward to the Morning Algorithm. We would work through them in teams of two which helped with someone to bounce ideas off of. The Curriculum is fast-paced. starting after the first week of Web Fundamentals it truly becomes intense. They aren't joking about the Immersive aspect of the program. you really need to keep up. I was able to do it through coming in early and leaving late. which sounds tough, and it is, but it is fun also. I'm somewhat an introvert in social situations, but at the Dojo, I made fast friends with my Cohort and the Cohort before and after ours. Great people to network with for years to come. The Instructors are wonderful. Supplying clear instruction to guide us through mountains of information. With just enough help to get through, never outright giving the answers, but guiding us to the solution. I would recommend the program to anyone wanting to learn the ways of code!

My time at Coding Dojo was difficult. I struggled quite a bit at first since I had no prior experience in tech. But over time I found myself doing things that I never thought I could do before. Building apps, APIs, and learning the ins-and-outs of multiple software languages. I worked hard, spent the time to learn and understand everything I could. And that's the philosophy of the Dojo, wisdom through struggle. I highly recommend Coding Dojo to anyone. From the newbys to the people with experience in the field, you will come out a better person than when you went it. It’s been 2 months since I completed the course and I am now a working at one of the top rated software companies in Seattle as a web developer.