ENTITY Academy

My experience at ENTITY Academy shaped my career: thanks to the skills I gained in editorial and SEO, I was able to secure a steady gig as a freelance content manager for a reputable SEO agency directly following my graduation. The writing and editing on WordPress, as well as the collaborative workshopping of digital marketing collateral (think social media, branding, PPC), helped me hone the skills I needed to thrive as a marketing expert. Now, as a Content Marketing Manager for a professional membership community in the tech world, I'm practicing the knowledge I learned at ENTITY every day. Oh, and did I mention I was able to learn about and secure this job through the networking connections I formed at ENTITY? On top of the hard skills I developed, I also built lasting friendships and professional connections that continue to serve me well. 

Thank you, ENTITY Academy, for one of the best summers of my life.

Joining the Writer's Collecitve+ Data Science Team at Entity Academy and using the Google Classroom forum has been the next best thing to being there live and in person. This program is changing my life! There is genuine quality and professionalism felt between the student and the Mentors, but one that never overshadows the inherent undertone of, "I was there." You can almost feel the cradled whispers of care that ring, "Hold fast, strong Woman, I was in your shoes once as well."  

I am forty-two years old, so you could say I have been around the block, maybe twice. This is one of the finest groups of Women one could choose to work under, collaborate with, entrust in and trust for a better future. It would have been a grave mistake to have chosen not to. Thank you. 

I am enjoying this course! Google Classroom is utilized regularly and I see it as part of the course, rather than an extension of the course. There is so much helpful information in the Classroom, apart from the system where the main instruction is. In GC, we (students) interact to prompts and from those we can see how our colleagues are doing, areas they are excelling and also where there is room for opportunity. This helps me see that I am not alone and many times the same questions I have, someone else has as well. This is also where I see not just instruction, but other offerings from ENTITY, and is also where I gain much encouragement. 

Entity Academy is one of the best opportunities for women seeking jobs that are innovative, analytical, and provide financial security. I am a newly single mother with a bachelor's in healthcare administration and Entity not only provides me support academically but as a single mother. There is a community of classmates, mentors, graduates, and people in the field that are supporting you. You are not alone you have a guiding you to meet your goals, understand the material and apply it to work experince. Entity Academy is one of the best online programs anyone can enroll in. 

I highly recommend Entity's Data Science certification. I was scrolling FaceBook and saw an ad for Data Science studies and women were featured in the ad. I clicked on it to learn more and watched some video testimonials. I filled in the form and someone from the Entity admissions staff called me within 30 mins. Wow. I was just looking for a way to re-enter the workforce after being an at home mom for 13 years and as a newly divorced, single mother of 3. Then I found out the classes were starting in a week and a half! I was like whoa I was just fact finding here. But before you know it I was enrolled and taking advantage of the income share option. The option allowed me to go to school now and pay for it once I hold down a job making at least $40,000 per year. Otherwise I would not have been able to study Data Science. The staff believed in me, believed in my life story and granted me the best gift of all -- a chance to thrive. They assigned me a mentor and she was there to meet with me weekly, offer help when I needed it, support when I needed it and that extra push at times. The online curriculum was easy to follow and included codes that I could copy/paste and modify. It kept my interest because there were short videos, text, exercises and quizzes to keep me engaged. Although I was able to go at my own pace generally, assignments were due on Wednesdays and Fridays. I studies humanities in college and it has been 25 years since I graduated. I had never done online learning or studied statistics. Math was my worst subject. At Entity I was able to actually learn basic and advanced statistical analysis. That in itself is a miracle. Furthermore I was able to learn the basics of coding in R, SQL, NoSQL and Python where I executed the statistical testing. The best part of the curriculum is that it walks you through step by step with lots of examples, Vimeo videos and opportunities to practice. If something doesn't resonate there are mentors online almost every day of the year to help you along.  There are extracurricular options as well. For example, fireside chats on Zoom with industry professionals who share real work life experiences as a Data Scientist. Soft skills training such as how to stop negative self talk and how to deal with stress were offered every week. I loved the focus on bringing more women into the field of Information Technology. I also loved the opportunity to have a mentor specifically for my job search. The only things that I could mention as ways for Entity to improve are making the big data curriculum more available to everyone. I was one of many that could not download the required programs to deal with big data. The alternatives offered were not as engaging as the regular lessons would have been. Broken links to supplemental files were also an issue.  Often I would be going through the lesson and not able to access the links. More support for Mac users would be pivotal. The curriculum is geared toward PC users. Sometimes programs needed to be installed and the Mac directions were not clear. There were times it took me quite a while to troubleshoot issues I was having just because I was on a Mac. Besides those things, the experience was golden.

I can’t tell you how many programs I researched before choosing Entity.  A dozen? Paid programs, free ones – I’m smart. I’m motivated. Maybe I could take those and teach myself.  But where to start?  I’ve never enrolled in an online program; is it legitimate? Will it be sufficient to teach me in the absence of in-person learning? How’s their job placement program? Will my investment pay off?  

I had two full careers: as a journalist and a chef. But as I get older, I formed the goal of being able to work remotely, from anywhere. A good salary is a plus, as well.  I’m good with languages, and I had a lightbulb moment that I wish I’d had years earlier: coding is nothing more than writing in another language. I can do both of those things. 

Last summer, I found Entity. I called and the first person I spoke with was Richard Rizzo.  When I tell you I asked him dozens of questions over several phone calls, I’m not exaggerating. He was so patient, and moreover, he had a good answer for every question I asked. He even asked Angelica Pronto, Entity Academy director to call me. And she did!  Who else would do that?  

In the end, I was sold. I believe in their stated goal to get more women into tech.  The support from mentors was key – I met with Devin Moya weekly and every time we spoke, he’d explain concepts from the course, and he’d teach me extra.  Instructor Joseph Raetano is developing leading-edge course content. Technology changes almost daily, and Joseph makes sure the mentors under him continue learning tools and concepts to pass on to students. There’s every skill level of student in the program, from phenoms to entry-level-haven’t-taken-math-since-high-school students.  Mentors assist them all in learning the content.  We learn SQL, Python, R, Tableau using a variety of programs – all of which are golden words to have on a resume! Natural language processing, machine learning, regression, and data visualization – all of these are skills you’ll gain. 

I really can recommend this program; and in fact, have already to some of my friends. A couple women have even reached out on LinkedIn and I’ve gladly answered questions about Entity. From all I’ve seen, they really are trying to give women (and men) a quality education and a good start to entering the tech field. I’m happy to answer any other questions, if you want to reach out on Linked In.  Full disclosure: after graduating, I accepted a position as a mentor with Entity.  I want to be part of what they’re doing! 

 

 

About six months ago, I found a social media ad for ENTITY Academy’s virtual bootcamps. The ad stuck out to me because of the focus on empowering women to succeed in tech fields. More recently, I’ve been looking for a career change, one that uses my mathematical skills. I set up a call with an admissions counselor a few weeks ago and enrolled on the spot! Everyone I’ve talked to has encouraged me and has answered all my questions in a timely manner. In addition, I was paired with a technical mentor who has been incredibly responsive and gives me guidance in my coursework.

What has really stood out to me thus far is the way ENTITY Academy partners with WozU to give us training in both hard and soft skills, offering mentorship from a trained life coach. They are preparing us for a career, not just giving us technical skills. I have been very impressed with my experience thus far.

Before I choose ENTITY Academy, I researched a lot of bootcamps (I started researching in May and started ENTITY in July). I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do Data Science, UX Design, Full Stack Developer or QA but I kept going back to Data Science. All the bootcamps I requested more information from seem like I was just a number or they just wanted me to sign up before giving me any information. ENTITY Academy allowed me to ask questions and gave me time to think about it. 

The courses were not easy plus I haven’t been in school in over 15 years, but there was always someone there to help whether it was a mentors, instructors, and/or classmates to reach out to for help. Also the coaches for ENTITY Academy were very helpful with the soft skills. I've learned a lot in a short period of time. Over all great experience.