Ironhack

Moving down to Miami from New York was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life, however I completely underestimated the job market and I definitely would not be where I am today if I had not enrolled in Ironhack.  After researching and getting admitted to the Web Development bootcamp, I immediately felt as though I was kickstarting my life.  A full emersion environment with like minded individuals who all want your best interest was more than anything I had been exposed to before.  Having studied Systems Engineering for 5 years at GWU, I had never received the attention and passion that Ironhack provided me with.  The instructors as well as the TA were extremely helpful and willing to go over any bit of information that I was confused on, stuck on, or wanted to learn more about.  I never thought that in 8 weeks I would fully develop a new skill, and learn multiple new programming languages and be able to single handedly create a full functioning web application.  This is something that made me a more desirable candidate in conjunction with my data analytics and system engineering background.

The journey only begun there, however.  The staff at Ironhack has somehow figured out a way to make each and every student feel as though they are the number one priority.  Whether it was one-on-ones throughout the course to just check on your status and how you’re feeling, all the way to standing strong with me when I was ready to give up multiple times in finding the correct job for me.  Daniel Brito specifically refused to let me give in to my doubts on finding the job culture fit for me.  Although Ironhack was amazing with placing students in positions, I wanted THE position – the ultimate job, and I refused to settle on anything less than that.  I have never met anyone who has more connections in a city than Brito, and it was almost humorous to me how almost every job I interviewed for, someone knew him and always in a positive light, which only made me have more faith.  Ultimately when I began restructuring my job search, it was single handedly the fact that my resume was in the hands of the right people at the right places that I was able to get the opportunities that I did.  And, I would not have had that advantage if I didn’t do Ironhack and have Daniel Brito as a career coach.  Having finally started the next steps in my career at a well known fashion e-commerce company, I finally feel that I am in the environment right for me with the co-workers who can help me in growing with the company and excel in my role.  And as it turns out, I got the interview since my boss had my resume on file from one of his best friends, Daniel Brito, and the with the right knowledge base and personality, I was able to secure the position.  I could not have asked for a better job placement experience, and I can say that I legitimately owe it to Ironhack.

WHY I DID IT

I chose Ironhack Bootcamp because it motivated me the fact of being part of a community rather than just signing up for a course for going to class and then go home. Of course, once you'r there it's up to you to be part of it or just attend to classes. 

HOW IT HELPED 

A bootcamp helps you to put your first step in to the world you are seeking to enter into, in this case the design world, which in Barcelona is very closed. While after university there is a huge gap between where you are and where you want to go, after Ironhack you actually have already contacts in where you want to go. In the bootcamp there will be events, people coming, lectures from interesting companies, but it will be up to you to network with them, nothing will come by itself. 

For example, after the hiring days 6 companies reached me and two weeks after I have offers for working for two of them. But it’s very up to you to have the initiative and search for the opportunities and also to decide which is a fair job deal. 

WHAT I LIKED

I went almost from zero in design. I had audiovisual background and it helped to improve some skills I  already had. But, I did build mostly everything from scratch. And now I feel like I increased 100% my skills. 

Immersive atmosphere it's all about design for 10 weeks. You will find yourself reading design articles while having breakfast and going to bed with design documentaries. 

"Team feeling". You spent a lot of time with the same persons every day. You better deal with it, make the most for getting along with them and encourage them to make things together. You will end the bootcamp with a groups of friends extremely motivate with design. 

WHAT I MISSED

Going deeper in some parts of the curricula. 

More connection with lecturer's job during their classes. 

You are very free to do the tasks as good as you want. I missed more guidance when you feel demotivated in other to get better results for the portfolio. Not just getting task done because there are a deadlines.

Ironhack Web Development Bootcamp in Barcelona was great.
The course had an intense pace, but it was something I was looking for in a Bootcamp.
I learned a great number of applicable skills as a Graphic Designer.

One thing as the curriculum was new for this Bootcamp. The angular 2 part was definitely a good framework, but from the overall look of Barcelona's market, it seems that learning React would have been even more helpfull. As it seems to be overall more used in Barcelona than angular 2 that is a very recent framework that was only made public in November 2016.

From my point of view, Ironhack is the best course to start a career in web development. You will learn not only all the best practices and all the technologies required and used by the leading companies, but also you will be involved in a great and different experience where teachers and classmates work and practice together to get the best from every hour.

Teachers are all excellent professionals with a huge working experience so learn from them has been a pleasure and a great opportunity.

if you want to learn to programming you can to start with this one, it's simply but completed, with the classes and homework you will be a Frontend Developer easily. You are learning to use HTML, CSS, SASS, JavaScript, PHP... very, very, very easily.

My experience at Ironhack was very very very positive one.

Lastly, Ironhack provided great job assistance. Of course, I had to do 99% of the work following their strategic advice, but they set up interviews with companies (I received a job offer from one of them), provided useful resources and followed up with me on the phone almost weekly for practical advice and encouragement. As a result, I received a few job offers and am currently working for a growing tech company (where my colleagues know the Ironhack lead instructor).

There are many schools out there with different emphasis but I think the value of going to a coding school is to build skills, confidence and knowledge to continuously learn new technologies.

Ironhack really changed my life.

I was a part of the first cohort for UX/UI Design in Miami. It was only 8 of us in the class each from different corners of life.  I got interviewed by Alia a couple of months before starting the course. Alia is like the gatekeeper of Ironhack you'll most likely meet her first through the interview process and she'll help you prepare and to be ready for your first day of class. One thing I'll point out is the IronHack staff all work and blend together so well it's like they were crafted precisely to work together. It's pretty inspiring to see that, it really shows the passion they have for their job.  On my first day, I knew the decision to go to Ironhack would be the beginning of something new. Though a lot of the work and change has to come from oneself.

The first instructor to get us going was Jacqueline and the best person for the job to introduce us to user research. She was a force of positivity and encouragement in the class. I really appreciated that.  Joel another instructor had such a way of keeping one curious kept me always wanting more. Mr. Marcelo the instructor who came in after Jacqueline an amazing designer. All his vast amount of knowledge was golden. Josh our final instructor for the Front-end proportion of the course probably with highest difficulty part of the class but, still he helped us make it through, made it enjoyable, and fascinating overall.  

The classroom environment is really open and if one feels like they won't be able on the level with everyone else that shouldn't be a concern. All the students come from different backgrounds in a way that really adds to the experience overall and benefits all the students. The course is designed in a way to be accessible to all, but it is a large amount of information to squeeze into a small time frame. There were times throughout the course I felt one week feels like two weeks in one. It's partly due to the amount of information one absorbed in a small amount of time. One really has to be fully committed to doing this. Overall the people in the class helps one stay motivated and encourages everyone to really push oneself and keep going.  

The person to oversee everything in our class was Alida she made sure the class and everyone was on track all the way to career week. The preparation to career week can be a stressful time but the person to help you through it is Daniel Brito he is your cheerleader, advisor, mentor, best friend, and sensei all in one. It all ends with the Hackshow where everyone is put to the test and show's their final project to the tech community and is to judge. The journey does not end with Ironhack though, one has to continue learning once competition of the course. One shouldn't expect to master everything at their time at Ironhack it's all a process and like I mentioned it before a lot of the change has to come from oneself.

Overall Ironhack really has opened the door to the tech community for me. A month and a half after Ironhack I started an internship as a UX designer at a digital agency located in Wynwood. It was intimidating at first, but eventually, it'll all come together. Am I a Ux experts now? No, but, I'm a step closer. If I had the chance to do it all over would I? Of course!

When I starterted IronHack I was a bit nervous about how it would go, as I didn't have any coding experience other then the pre-work. But these 9 weeks have been truly amazing, and I never had a feeling that it was to hard. 

The pace of the classes can be fast at times, but because all the other students are facing the same it takes away pressure. You have a feeling you're doing it together, and it's super nice to be in an enviorment where everybody has the same goal. 

So yeah, it's been a great expierence! 

I attended the first Javascript Bootcamp in Barcelona (Jan/17-Mar/17) focused on MEAN (Mongo, Express, Angular, Node). Before I already worked with RoR and had already some knowledge of CSS. HTML, Javascript, Elm and React. 

For me joining the Ironhack was mostly a way to learn more Javascript and to verify my expertise for possible employers as the bootcamp has a really good reputation. 

When you are thinking of joining the bootcamp my recommendation is to start working on your skills as early and as much as possible as the pace during the course is high. Even with my previous knowledge some parts took a lot of effort to wrap your head around and I saw more than one in my co-hort struggle intensively. There is definitely a reason why it is called "Bootcamp". 

There was only one real downside of the course. We were actually the first Javascript course so this sometimes gave you the feeling to be a beta tester as not everything went smoothly. 

Especially when it came to Angular2 as later during my job interviews non of the companies were interested in it, instead everybody asked me for React. Nevertheless I got a nice job offer and will start beginning of April in Barcelona. 

The Iron hack UX/UI cohort was a great experience and I would recommend this coding bootcamp to anyone that want to push themselves to achieve invaluable skills in a condensed learning environment. The most important skill I learn at Iron Hack was the visual and graphic design tools and point of views that that i was introduced too. I learned the important relationship between art, creativity, style, and the internet. The instructors were both very helpful and informative during the learning process, bringing two different perspectives and professional focuses that were all one in the same sharing equal importance in the UX/UI field. The environment and staff that is provided by Iron Hack creates an ideal learning and thought provoking atmosphere. Upon graduating from Iron Hack I began interning with a fitness/tech start-up based in florida. This bootcamp has had a positive impact on my career and I would say if you’re thinking about it go for it.

I attended the first co-hort of the UX/UI Design Bootcamp at Ironhack from October to December 2016 in Miami. Joining the UX/UI bootcamp at Ironhack was the best decision I could have made. If you are thinking of doing it, I would totally recommend it!

I became interested in coding and UX design after attending the Women’s Code Weekend where we learned basic front-end development. From that event, I fell in love with coding and Ironhack’s staff. From the founder (Ariel) to all the staff, you can tell they enjoy working there. So there was no hesitation that this would be the best coding school option for me. After that event, I attended a couple of introductory events and an open house event were admissions (Alia) was able to help me make the right decision.

The co-working space (building.co), where Ironhack is located, is an amazing space that also hosts Tech startups. They host events that you can attend and this helps you become part of the Miami tech community. Also, Jenny, the co-working space manager, is amazing! 

Before starting classes, we had a week of pre-work to get started with the basics of design. My class was a small class (8 students) so we received very personalized attention. My classmates came from very different backgrounds and we all had different strengths which was nice. We had two amazing instructors (Jackie and Marcelo) that each have over 15+ of experience. During the bootcamp, we had lectures during the morning and hands on practice during the evenings, which in my opinion is a great way of learning.  I think the curriculum was very thorough. And also it is nice that every other week you have a one-on-one meeting with the staff to make sure you are doing OK. Alida, the operations manager,was there with us to make sure everything ran smoothly. 

Wednesdays were my favorite day, because we had guest speakers who had years of experience in UX Design. Through the bootcamp, I was able to make great connections and to meet a lot of people involved in the tech and startup community. 

We had one week of front-end development (more specifically HTML5 and CSS3) which I wish we had more! Josh was an amazing instructor. 

We had a career week, which was a great experience. Daniel Brito did an amazing job bringing companies to interview for UX design positions and preparing us for these interviews. After this I received a couple of offers and at the end landed a great job at Visa. Now I am looking forward to having the time in the future to join their Web Development Bootcamp. 

Where do I start? Let's see.. I was a creative millennial 5 years deep into a dead-end executive recruiting career . The cubicle life  (with the added pressure from the sales position I was in) was something that literally ruining my health.  I've always been more of a creative, artistic type of person so the 'old fashioned' corporate environment  was something that was hard to adjust to and, quite frankly, seemed outdated. My passion for creativity has led me from quitting my recruiting career to enrolling and completing IronHack’s 1st ever UI/UX Design cohort in Miami this past December. I found out about Ironhack through my Tech Recruiting network and my life has drastically changed for the better.

My UX cohort at Ironhack was one of the best things for me, partly because I was introduced to a small group of like-minded people who all wanted to have a career in the tech world. Every single person on the staff is amazing and thanks to people like Alia and Alli, (two people I interacted with on a daily basis) the environment felt genuinely warm from the very beginning.

For 3 months I went to class and learned how to become a UX Designer. I used Ironhack's facilities, met awesome classmates, ate plenty of free food, and partied plenty during the long weeks of learning UX Design. Not once did I dread going to class, because I was learning something that was more inline with my skill set. The instructors Jacqueline and Marcelo were absolutely amazing and made sure to spend extra time with everyone individually to make sure they were up to speed. I cant say enough about how well the curriculum was put together.

I know it is very possible to learn programming, coding, and even UX Design on your own, but no amount of studying is going to introduce you to the network of of Developers and Designers that Ironhack has to me - and that I give a lot of credit to Daniel Brito, the Placements Manager at Ironhack. He's the one who not only finds our instructors, but he works his butt off to find you a job once you have graduated. Like seriously the dude loses sleep because he grinds so hard working with CEO's,  Sr. Developers, and other Sr. members of the tech community JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A JOB. My professors and instructors were leading Sr. UX Designers in the industry who have not only helped me in the classroom, but also to this very day, well after graduation. They were awesome and really great job giving you information from experiences that researching Google could'tSo if you are worried about taking that leap and being able to find work , rest easy knowing that there are people like Daniel Brito who have your back.

After completing Ironhack it took about 30 days to find a job making double what I was making before, with none of the stress. I do admit I was blessed, obviously every story doesn't have a happy ending. But I do know I would not have been able to make the strides or the money that I'm making now if it were not for Ironhack. I encourage anyone who is having second thoughts or who is afraid to take that leap into the tech community check out Ironhack. Theres too many people in your corner for you to fail.

I loved everything about IronHack, the facilities, the location, the materials learned and especially the teachers/staff. Jackie and Marcelo taught us everything they knew. We were able to form meaningful bonds over the time of the cohort which grew from a teacher/student relationship into a beautiful friendship and mentorship. Everyone in the industry spoke wonders of them and it was an amazing experience learning from some of the top talent in the industry. I truly felt like this was a once in a lifetime experience. The staff at IronHack always went above and beyond what was expected. It is a rare chance to see such a well functioning team. You can tell each and every staff member loves what they do and are so happy. That was not always my experience. Having people doing what they love makes all the difference. They never missed a beat AND in the rare occasions where there was a hiccup, they remedied the situation almost immediately. The classroom environment was a very pleasant learning environment. What I loved most was how everyone came in with such different professional backgrounds. It was a very collaborative learning environment and not competitive. We all had the same goals which was to learn the material so it was nice to see such a supportive environment amongst the students. Months later, and I am still so happy that I joined this cohort and learned all these valuable skills. I am currently in my first semester at MBA school and I feel that this has given me such a unique skill set that definitely sets me apart from my peers. It has come so much in handy in all my classes as technology is such a key part of all business industries. I would never take back this experience and am so happy I found IronHack!

In the beginning, I had my doubts about it all: being able to code fully-functional websites and web applications in 8-weeks? Nah, man, that's impossible. However, the proof may be in the testimonials or the successful graduates that got jobs. That may be big selling points.

However, for me, the biggest selling point was the staff and my cohort.

There was never a day in my rigorous 8-week long tenure at Ironhack that I didn't feel like I was among family. In fact, there were often times where I would stay after hours, not only to keep pounding the keyboard but also to bond with these people. There was a "hidden" feature that I had no idea about: how despite going through one of the most challenging, life-changing experiences of your life you will also come out with an extended family out of it. And I dare say, I owe my success at Ironhack, in huge part, to the dedicated, kind, and thoughtful staff as well as my dear cohort who to this day are still part of my crew.

There are countless reviews that attest to the effectiveness of the boot-camp (the pros and cons about it all). Even though not one experience is the same, I could easily identify myself with many of the major points in the reviews you'll find here--with the obvious exception of the personal parts.However, I cannot stress enough how crucial the people there were to my successful graduation. There are always there for you, whether it's for help on your coding exercises, or even when you just need a friend there. I can't find a way to say it without getting any mushier that I've already gotten, but I felt I was home. 

Similar to many other success stories, I got hired! However, not as a coder... I was hired as an IT Recruiter. Although it doesn't directly align with coding I wouldn't have gotten the job if I didn't have the technical background and tech-savvy that Ironhack equipped me with. That's right, folks! You don't have to become a programmer to put your knowledge from Ironhack to great use. SHOUT-OUT to Dan Brito, placement manager at Ironhack and dear friend, and the rest of the Ironhack team (Ariel, Alia, Nizar, Nick, Marisa, Josh) for being there through every single step of the way to getting hired. From my very first day at Ironhack, to that fateful day I received my offer letter.

That's only but a minuscule taste of what Ironhack has to offer, though. If you do decide to join Ironhack, just make sure that you practice a little coding before you go into it. Codecademy, or FreeCodeCamp are you best friends for that. Of course, it wouldn't hurt not minding the addition a few, actually several, people to your family!

I recently graduated from Ironhack's first UX/UI cohort in Miami. It was a life-changing and wonderful experience, which has already helped me transition into the tech world as a UX research analyst and designer. They don't call this a bootcamp for nothing: a LOT of material is covered in the eight weeks of coursework! There is a tremendous amount of information to absorb, perhaps too much, but the material is accessible even to complete non-techies like myself as long as students are willing to commit the time to study and work hard outside of class. Here in Miami our course was taught by two main lecturers who are both seasoned in their work and inspiring. In my opinion, studying alongside these experts in the field and being able to ask them questions as we progressed through the course material was what made Ironhack such a valuable experience. Jacqueline Stetson Pastore and Marcelo Paiva were wonderful teachers and continue to be mentors who are available to all members of our cohort. In addition to the incredible instruction, I was blown away by Ironhack's staff: each person who I came into contact with at Ironhack is intelligent, helpful, trustworthy, and genuinely concerned with empowering their students to change their lives. Our UX/UI teaching assistant Alida Gagliuffi kept the group (and, when necessary, the teachers!) on track to ensure that we kept up with the demanding curriculum, and the Placements Manager Daniel Brito worked tirelessly to connect Ironhack students with employers in the community who had UX/UI needs. The final "career" week of the Ironhack bootcamp culminated in a job fair on campus where 7 students interviewed with 10 companies. To me, that alone was worth the bootcamp's expense!  All in all, I had a great time at Ironhack. I am thrilled to be embarking on a career in web product research and design and I feel well prepared to begin that work after studying with Jacqueline and Marcelo. The only aspect of the course that I did not like was the pressure to participate in a public hackshow after the course had already ended. I felt that the public hackshow pitted students against each other and disrupted the supportive (almost family-like) dynamic that had been in existence up until that moment. Ending the bootcamp on that note seemed much more about Ironhack publicity in the community than it did about students' actual projects and work.

I joined Ironhack only about a week after learning what a bootcamp even was. Call me rash, but I’d most likely not be a software engineer right now if I didn’t make such a decision. I’d only graduated college a couple months back with not much promise—no job, no real-world skills. I’d coded a bit before, taking a couple classes here and there in addition to prowling Code Academy, for it always had piqued my interest. It was only until after I left the Ivory Tower that I could see clearly and was determined to translate my passion for programming into a profession. For nearly 6 weeks I spent long hours teaching myself skills to meet requirements of relevant web-based positions, and finally started applying to jobs and sending resumes to black holes. With no luck, I stumbled upon Ironhack.

Ironhack is an 8-week (10 weeks including non-official curriculum) coding bootcamp that provides the necessary tools to get anyone started in the world of software development. By the nature of the curriculum, this is true. However, there is one thing that is implicitly required from you 100% of the time, all the time: commitment. If you commit to the process, you will be rewarded.

Now, the beauty of Ironhack is that the experience of making that commitment is fantastic. The staff are extremely pleasant, kind, and intelligent. Our teachers were extremely patient and were able to put complex topics into layman’s terms. Ironhack does a great job at making you feel like part of their family as well as connecting you to the Miami tech scene. Moreover, having a group to go through the process with you is extremely beneficial (“cohort” in bootcamp lingo). We had a small group that was able to create a strong bond and get along very well; you could always bounce an idea or ask for help from anyone in the cohort.

The Ironhack team was very supportive and influential in job support. We had at least 1-2 people per week guest lecture on their professional perspectives and experience, and were always invited to local meet-ups or tech events—there was always a large emphasis on networking and putting yourself out there. Between this, resume building, and an internal career fair, we were given a great jumpstart into job hunting and making ourselves marketable.

In the end, I had 3 job offers about a week after graduation. Now, everyone’s stories are different, but I can tell you one thing that will work. If you are willing to work your very hardest every single day and have a passion for what you’re doing, you will be rewarded. For instance, I made it my mission to do at least one coding challenge every day (starting a couple weeks into the program), listen to software engineering podcasts, read up on tech news, etc. If you wake up dreading going to class, it is probably not for you.

My advice to you before fully enrolling is to try out some programming on your own to see if you somewhat like it first due to how costly the camp is. With this in mind, it could only be beneficial to you if you have some familiarity with the concepts and terms—I found the redundancy and reiteration of topics I learned on my own and then subsequently in class to be enlightening. Overall, I was very happy with my experience at Ironhack—great people, working/learning environment, and support. I am excited to continue my career as a software engineer and will always be able to tip my hat at Ironhack for having a fantastic program.  

My intention in coming to ironhack was to accelerate my capacity in understanding code - development procesess. I would definitely say that Ironhack has helped me accomplish that. What I like the most is that wether you are aware or not, the course has it's own pace that will naturally help you tacke each and one of the challenges at hand.

On top of that, add that you have a dedicated team of experts helping you everytime you're on class. Not just from the teachers in your course but from everyone in the building. Also, Ariel, founder of IH is in constant communication with everyone in the team which is great. All the staff is pretty attentive and willing to help.

This was definitely a challenge but it has definitely paid off, I've already applied most of my learnings in my day to day work / as well as generated some free-lance clients that have given me the opportunity to try put my new learned skills to the test. 

Last but not least, Ironhack is truly a community, after graduation I still talk to my class members and from time to time to other Ironhack Members. It's up to you to keep communication and involvement in the scene but if you're up to it there is so much potential in networking and getting aid/support for anything.

Hello IronHackers is Unai Camino.

First of all thanks for the bootcamp, because is opening so many doors for me.

I would like to express how I felt during the bootcamp.

In the prework I got basic knowledge about Ruby and Javascript, but in my opinion I would suggest to study more lessons about Ruby and a bit deeper in Javascript.

During the six weeks studying Ruby on Rails, Javascript, HTML and CSS, I was so happy and motivated. I have nothing negative to say about it. The teachers were so good, seriously all the different teachers were very professional and they knew how to impact the classes and also help when I needed it, they were available after classes and even now. Whenever I needed something they replied. I give them a 10.

Also the material and the structure of the bootcamp in my opnion was perfect. To be honest it was the best course I’ve done.

The final project helped me to put into practice everything I’ve learnt. Alfonso and Alex were very willing to help even using Slack.

To be honest I am very pleased for being part of IronHack. Two weeks after finishing the bootcamp I got my first formal offer, now I am getting more opportunities and I can choose in which company I want to work.

I would like to explain and give a few advise to the next IronHacker generation:

I think is very important to do the prework with one month in advantge to get a solid knowledge of what you are going to study.

During the bootcamp I worked 12h/day weekend included and I would suggest study 14h/day. Seriously IronHack is just 8 weeks, and this is nothing, so it’s important to put in the hard work. The more you work the more you get it.

To make a good final project is very important to solid your knowledge, make a plan for it, ask teacher for advise and think about it before starting, think, think and think.

After bootcamp I came to London, I firmly recommended to go outside Spain, the good offers are here UK, Holland, Germany….

What I did to get a job, I download a list of all startup in London and I applied to them through emails to get interviews and test, didn’t stop until I got response. The same as the bootcamp 12h/ day sending emails, replying them, doing interviews…….

Get a plan and follow it through, if your planning doesn’t work change it, but continue with confidence in yourself until you get it.

My last point, companies know your level they don’t expect too much from you, what they want is motivation. show them your passion about programming and be very thankfull with them in every moment, that’s what worked for me and I think is the best approach.

My best wishes IronHackers

Work hard, Play hard

The admissions process was simple and practical, did a short informal coding challenge to prove I understood the basics of programming. The prework gave me a foundation to start the course. Loved the teaching style and the instructors are amazing, the TAs were also very helpful. After the bootcamp I received great guidance from career services in order to prepare my resume and linkedin profile. Kept coding and practicing on my own in order to prepare for the interviews. Then came the interviews, I felt prepared and confident. Landed a Jr. Full-stack developer job after 2.5 months of completing the bootcamp! The overall experience changed my life and helped me start a new career!!! Super happy with the whole thing. 

I attended full-time web development bootcamp in Barcelona in the fall/winter of 2015. My original profession was not in technical field what so ever but I was always around computers and did few static websites.
Before I did the bootcamp I did studying on my own, becoming beginner at Python and trying out few other languages in my spare time, learning basics of databases.
I think this is what helped me a lot eventually and made the experience worth the expense and time.
Ironhack was a huge financial investment (the conversion rate from my currency to EU is not very favorable) so I was very worried if I would eventually find a job as developer - this was my goal from the beginning. TLDR - I succeeded so I'm very happy.

But also it was very challenging. There were few people in my cohort which I knew weren't very happy with the outcome. The truth is, you must really like problem solving and programming to make it work. Right now it seems like people think that "being a coder" makes you immediately cool and earns you a lot of money. I don't think it's the right attitude. Nothing is free and you will have to work very hard to do the bootcamp and once you start working as programmer profesionally, it's another challenge.

Do not underestimate the preparation period/pre-work for the course! Also, getting your feet wet at programming basics beforehand (I did it for about a year as a hobby, programmed simple program etc.) will help a TON! I feel like some people were really struggling because they underestimated this part.

I am writing this review, almost a year from starting the bootcamp. I am now full-time employee of mobile-focused company as part of their back-end Ruby on Rails team, but mostly I'm the front-end guy. I'm happy because I go to work every day to do what I want to do. Different people, different goals but for me it was definitely worth it. 

If you think you'll come to bootcamp and leave as a fully-developed programmer, you're wrong. You will leave as junior developer at best. I'm not saying this as a negative thing. I'm just saying you have to be humble. I had a career before and I started out at junior position in new career. First months in my job were really, really hard. I had to make up for the lack of the experience, stayed late, did coding on the weekends. Now I feel like I reached junior level and feel more confident.

But the best part of the bootcamp? Apart from learning a lot and meeting interesting people, it gives you confidence. And in my case Ironhack team did a great job, especially in regards to job counseling. Ironhack helped me land my current job. And I'm not from Spain, they managed to secure job interview in my country thanks to their job advisor and I ended up working there.

Definitely worth the money and changed my life for better.

Before attending Ironhack Web Development Bootcamp, I was working at a law firm with the aspirations of becoming a lawyer. Right before deciding what law school to attend, I began doubting my decision to pursue law. I had a yearning for learning and creating that my chosen profession at the time could not provide. I had always dabbled with computers and very basic HTML/CSS but always thought that pursuing web development as a career, would require a bachelors in computer science. I started researching alternatives to the traditional route of web development education and found Ironhack. Right from the first interview, I knew that the program was right for me. What makes Ironhack distinct from many other bootcamps is that they gear you for success right from the first interview. Placement into a cohort is dependant on passing a technical interview. It is very important that a potential student meets the technical criteria before attending the bootcamp because the material and course is not easy! After placement, there is a very hefty load of pre-work which I believe is just as important as the 8-week course itself. Completion of the pre-work is essential! The 8-weeks that follow move fast but there is plenty of help and support along the way. Each topic is taught by building on what was previously learned. The the last 2 weeks, which are dedicated to the final project are when all the concepts are really ingrained into your memory. Overall, the experience is life changing to say the least. Ironhack really does care about their students and graduates. Upon graduation, you will have top-notch career support to get you working as a developer, and access to a HUGE network of Ironhack alumni.