Le Wagon

I have been in the customer service and logistics industry for the past 10 years but always had an eagerness to learn to code. But trying to teach myself ended up in frustration with more questions than answers. Then, one day I came across a two-month program with Le Wagon Tokyo (LWT) and I ended up joining their batch 147.

LWT guides are not generic like most online courses, they go in-depth in terminology, theory, and the best part is their support system. From day one you can tell you are not alone in this, you have someone there that can answer those why, how, what, and huh questions. I had many of those ha ha.

Overall you will get your mind blown way on how you can create something out of nothing. The co-founders Sylvain & Paul are the best. They will be checking in on you providing feedback with encouragement, then the bootcamp manager Doug makes sure you are progressing if he sees you are having trouble he will come up and give you the nudge you can do this. LWT also rotates the teachers with real-life developers, so you can expect real-life experiences. 

Le Wagon Tokyo is highly recommended, it will be tough, but they will guide through those trenches and in the end you will feel “I can do this”.

Read less

It pains me to admit that this program did not get me where I needed to be. After several months of self-studying on Codecademy, I wanted to switch careers and become a software engineer in the US (my country of residence), so I attended Le Wagon for several reasons: A) it is cheaper than most US bootcamps, B) it teaches Rails and JavaScript, C) I saw amazing reviews, and D) it would allow me to travel to another city and be part of a culturally rich experience where I am surrounded with students from all over the world. 

In the end, I did not feel like I was where I needed to be and I actually ended up doing a second bootcamp which was a night and day difference, and landed a job a week after graduating. I do want to give a disclaimer and say that Le Wagon is not a bad bootcamp, and I don't take it lightly that I am basically the only one with a negative review. There are bootcamps out there that are much worse, and this is a decent one. It's just that this bootcamp was not enough to accomplish my goals. I ask everyone looking into bootcamps to think about why exactly you are attending, and, if your goal is to become a software engineer from a non-engineering background, particularly in the US where competition is tough, I would caution you against attending Le Wagon as it might not be enough to get you where you need to be. If you are looking to just learn to code to boost your resume, if you have a start-up idea and just want to build out the platform for that one idea, if you have a STEM background and learn very fast and are super disciplined to continue learning on your own (I thought I was and it still didn't work out!), or if you reside in the city where Le Wagon is located and plan to stay there to be a developer, then attending Le Wagon might work out for you. 

Without further ado, here are the reasons why Le Wagon did not work out for me even though I really wanted it to:

1) From the very beginning, this bootcamp did not strike me as a place that accepts top talent and has good job outcomes. There was no test to get in, there was no technical interview, and it felt like they would accept anyone. During the one interview I had, I was informally accepted into the program and told to just pay the deposit as quickly as possible to secure my spot before it fills up. When asked about job outcomes, their typical response was that they don't want to turn students into numbers, and the bootcamp is not about turning out statistics, so I guess I should've seen that as a red flag. 

2) It seems like the students at the bootcamp had very different goals, where not everyone was looking to become a software engineer. Some students just wanted to boost their resume and others just wanted to learn to build out their startup idea. That shoud've been a red flag because it shows that the program's goal is too open-ended instead of being specific and it's open to a lot of different audiences. 

3) Don't count on getting hired if visa issues may arise. This is something I should've considered more seriously at the time, but if you attend Le Wagon and plan to work in a place where you don't have a work visa, you're going to have a harder time finding an engineering job because not only will you have the task of finding a job, but you will also need a job that is willing to sponsor you. Most places don't want to bother with it and would rather hire a senior dev with a lot of experience than someone straight out of a 9 week bootcamp who they need to sponsor. One of my classmates actually was hired over me because she didn't need to be sponsored and I did (so if you don't foresee visa issues it might work out). 

4) Think about what the job market is like if you need to return to your country or city after Le Wagon. I should've considered more seriously that the competition is much stronger for developers in the US (especially because the salaries are higher) and that it would be difficult to find a job there after 9 weeks of Le Wagon, a bootcamp that is not really equipped to prepare students for that kind of competition. 

5) There was no support for students falling behind. Part of the issue here is that they let almost all students into the bootcamp, so they are bound to accept people who will not succeed. Everyone struggles at times and I definetley struggled at times even at the second bootcamp I attened. But when there is no solid preparation or assessments to get into the bootcamp and to get everyone on the same page and you are struggling, you think that you are the stupid one instead of the bootcamp being flawed. I was somewhat average and I still struggled because the pace is very fast. There were students who I know where completely lost and had fallen behind too far and probably didn't get very much out of the program. There is no support when students are behind. The program will not let you make office hours with an instructor, they will not let you repeat a part of the program, they will just push you ahead and the instructors/other students who aren't behind will just code more of the project for you so that you graduate even if you didn't understand most of the material. 

6) Nine weeks is simply too short to become a fullstack developer and feel confident. If that's not your goal and you just view this as an immersive course to boost your resume, you'll be fine. If this is your goal, unless you have a STEM background and are the top student of the batch, prepare to struggle. And even if you are all of those things, prepare to struggle and feel like an imposter at your first job. I have spoken to alum who managed to get a job after this bootcamp and they struggled a lot- they had to spend several months self-teaching themselves, and then had a really hard time on the job for months. I also noticed that a lot of alums can't find jobs and just become TAs. For a bootcamp that takes you from beginner level to fullstack developer, nine weeks is too short to truly feel confident and like a master of the material. It's not even enough to feel like you can learn anything on your own afterward. The bootcamp I did afterward was 17 weeks and it started at an intermediate level with tests and technical interviews to get in, and only then was it enough to get a job and feel confident in my skills.

7) Your instructors will code large portions of your project for you. My team was an average representation of the students at the bootcamp- not really anyone super falling behind or any super geniuses. We had problems with our final project and our instructor coded large portions of it for us. After finishing the program, I did not really feel like I understood all aspects of the project or like I could build something like that independently. That defeats the purpose of being independent and being ready to join the workforce. 

8) They kept switching instructors on us. I did not like how almost every day there was a different TA giving a lecture. It did not feel very cohesive or like I had a person I could approach or someone who knew my progress well. I also did not feel like the TAs were knowledgeable enough to give the lectures or help out with debugging since they were just students themselves. 

9) They try to teach you the maximum amount of material in the minimum amount of time and really cut a lot of important things out. They also just hand out a lot of material so you don't have to struggle to do things on your own or understand how they work. There's a lot of examples of this, but for istance I did not like that I didn't understand how rails routes work because we didn't have to build them ourselves and I didn't understand how user sessions worked because we were given a devise tutorial instead of having to write sessions ourselves. I still don't understand how devise works. 

10) Going off the last point, I felt like too little time was spent on each topic. For example, we spent about two days on SQL, two days on JavaScript, three days on HTML/CSS, and those were not enough time to understand how those things work. But it was done so that the bootcamp can be taught over 9 weeks at the expense of teaching in-depth.

11) JavaScript- I feel like this should be its own bullet point. I really felt like there was basically no time spent on JavaScript and one of the reasons I attended the bootcamp was because it was on the curriculum. It's a really important language and every fullstack developer must know how to use it since it runs in the browser. I graduated being afraid of it and not knowing how to use it at all. 

12) There was essentially no career support. After you finish the program, you are completely on your own. I made an appointment with one of the program leaders to look over my resume and portfolio which she kindly did in her own time, and that was it. There are job boards on slack where anyone can post jobs, but that's all you have. The other program I attended had a career success team dedicated to helping you get a job- we practiced mock interviews (behavioral and technical), we practiced whiteboarding where we solve algorithms and talk about big O notation (I didn't learn any of that at Le Wagon), we had regular check-ins for our resume, linkedIn profiles, practiced our elevator pitch, etc. 

13) Feedback is not taken seriously at Le Wagon. They ask for feedback after the program but they will not change the program based on feedback. They simply can't because the program is too big. It runs in too many cities with batches happening at all times, that changing the program is too defficult. 

14) Sexism was a thing. Not a big thing, but enough to matter and make me and certain others lose confidence as a programmer. When issues were mentioned to those in charge, it was denied and not addressed. 

15) There were no soft skills taught and some group project dynamics were very difficult as a result. In fact, group projects were a popularity contest. We were told that after pitching our ideas, everyone would fairly vote on the top ideas and those projects will be built. Instead, people only voted for those they wanted to work with, different ideas were built, people were left to the wayside quickly scrambling to find a group, and difficult group dynamics resulted for some groups. I felt like if there was more oversight by the instructors to choose and arrange the groups, get some feedback from students, the process would've gone more smoothly. Some groups did not know how to resolve conflicts and were very tense, and I feel the program would've benefitted by giving some talks about how to approach these kinds of issues before they arose. 

16) Finally, pair programming was not taught the way it is supposed to be. In a real pair programming setting, there is a driver and navigator where only one person is allowed to type. The students take turns switching roles, communicate together, learn to talk about code and brainstorm together. Instead, we were given partners but not taught about the true way to pair program. Students merely sat with their partner and each did their own work. I know that some students were falling behind when working with partners but too afraid to ask their partners for help because of the way pair programming was structured. 

I hope this review is helpful and those reading it understand where I am coming from. I think a big part of the problem was the Le Wagon did not align with the goal I had in mind (to become employed as a Fullstack developer), but that's a pretty big deal considering that's what most bootcamps should be able to do. If you have a lesser goal in mind, Le Wagon is a great place to get a general overview, be introduced to coding, and learn about the flow of designing and developing a website. It's also great for being in a culturally diverse environment. However, I would say the program is not enough for most people to become a fullstack engineer afterward (without a lot of struggle and continued learning) which was ultimately my goal. 

Read less

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in law and graduating with a double degree masters in management, I was recruited by McKinsey where I've been for 3 years now. In my 2nd year at McKinsey I decided to take Le Wagon coding bootcamp in London instead of the going down the MBA route which would have only evolved my managerial knowledge and costed me a lot (2 years of my life). With Le Wagon, I decided to learn a very tangible skill instead and something highly focused on my work at McKinsey, and the career direction I want to take. Furthermore, before completing Le Wagon, I felt a big disconnect at work by lacking deep tech skills while working or talking with the clients who are often very skilled.    It became obvious even after the first week that what I was learning at Le Wagon are skills we will all need in the future. Having returned back at McKinsey I can surely say that knowing how to code and being able to communicate with developers is making my life a lot easier and my work has become more efficient and fun!   I recommend Le Wagon to anyone. Be prepared to follow what you are confident about, and challenge the conventional paths. Read less

I have been impressed by the quality of the overall program. Every class is really well designed. Everyday of the program has its importance.
The team in Lille was super pedagogic.
The online platform provided during the program is really helpful. Plus, this platform is still accessible after Le Wagon, for life. That is great!
I feel that the 6 hard learning weeks followed by 3 weeks dedicated to project is the right balance.
Now, it's time to code!

Read less

After working in banking for 5 years as a bond salesman, I decided to quit my job. I felt it was not intellectually stimulating anymore. Eager to learn a new skill that would unlock new opportunities in the challenging and demanding startup space, and feeling passionate about Rio, as soon as I learned Le Wagon offered the bootcamp there I decided to enroll in the programme. The 9 weeks were simply amazing. The bootcamp was very challenging and intense, and on day 1 I knew I had made the right choice. The cursus is flawless and before you know it, you develop impressing coding abilities. For our final project we build a peer to peer lending platform (www.crediteu.io). I honestly couldn’t have dreamed of being able to build a complex web app with relative ease after such a short period of time. We had a cool batch and we got along very well. I think the human/team spirit part of the bootcamp was as rewarding as the new acquired skills. On top of that, being in Rio made the experience unreal. I feel really privileged to have been able to combine the learning process with experiencing life in such a wonderful city. Not even one month after finishing the course, I am already working with friends on a project to build an apartment rental platform in Montreal. I strongly recommend Le Wagon to anyone interested in the programming/tech startup scene, regardless of one’s background.

Read less

Graduating fresh out of uni with a commerce degree sounded exciting. It was only after a few months of searching for a consulting gig, a terrible realization dawned upon me - I didn't like what I was doing. It was a year of doom and gloom until I decided that I had to do something with my life. I was always drawn to tech and the startup space, so I knew I wanted to learn how to code. I found Le Wagon, saw that it was rated very highly online, took a leap of faith and never looked back. I'm grateful everyday that I had the opportunity to learn from some of the most patient, highly skilled and overall great human beings. I now have the freedom to build my own products and to reach out to people in a different medium- a space I was always afraid to venture into. Paal, the driver for the bootcamp, was excellent in organizing the whole course. He is a dear friend and very well known in the dev community. He connected me with so many people, and I'm eternally grateful his passion to bring out the best in every student. I hope that anyone that read this far will seriously consider this bootcamp - it will change your life.

Read less

After three years in the graphic design field I felt the urge to learn and improve my digital skills and learning about becoming a developer. I was a beginner and never really went beyond the well-known markup languages, but I had no time to attend a full-time and many years long tech school. So I chose Le Wagon thanks to its awesome and raising popularity in terms of quality, education and high level teachers. It turned out to be the best choice and experience I've ever made. There I found a fresh and efficient education system, with different difficulty levels and a tracking for the daily individual progress, a strong and valuable support throughout all the journey and the connection with a wide network of developers and entrepreneurs from all the world. After the demo day you'll have a professional profile good enough to find a job as a junior web developer. As I did! I never imagined I could achieve so much in such a short time, and having fun at the same time! I can say that I made some friends for life. Le Wagon is an intense and hard experience, you'll need to work hard to get the results and sometimes you'll get frustrated and overwhelmed, but it's so rewarding and compelling that it's absolutely worth it. Read less

Short Intro to Le Wagon - Skip to the next paragraph is you're already informed about Le Wagon.

Le Wagon is a nine weeks program providing you with a solid toolkit of skills to build web-apps and APIs. You start by learning Ruby, and continue with SQL, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The students are very diverse and come from lots of different backgrounds, countries and age groups. At the end of the bootcamp you'll programm together with two to three other students two entire web-apps in just three weeks time - and this feels amazing and super rewarding!

I really enjoyed my learning experience with Le Wagon. My initial goal was to learn some basic coding during my gap year between graduating business school and starting my master's degree. At the end of the course I learned so much more than I hoped for and decided to scratch my plans for the gap year and master's degree in favor for pursuing a coding career. By now I am working as a fullstack developer in a Berlin Startup.

The Le Wagon staff consists of mostly former Le Wagon students, which is why they are great at motivating and explaining the concepts. I did struggle with coding, especially in the beginning, but since they went through the same experiences they always had great advice and encouraging words.

I regularly come back to Le Wagon events to meet the new students and fellow alumni. The Le Wagon alumni community is very active and supportive, helping with coding problems, sharing knowledge resources, and giving tips for finding jobs or feelancing.

Read less

I was working as a copywriter as well as teaching English as a second language before diving into Le Wagon’s full stack bootcamp in Barcelona. I graduated from the College of Humanities and the Arts at my university back home, double-majoring in Philosophy and Spanish, and I had previously focused my professional work toward a career in education and writing.

Once I began working as a copywriter, I was involved in the process of an international company creating websites, apps and landing pages for itself. Although I enjoyed my participation, I desired to have a greater role, and rather than wait for a developer to to create something for me to write on, I figured it’d be fantastic for me to write on projects I’ve developed myself.

Learning to code was the most obvious step for me to offer more as an employee, but more importantly, it was a way to learn the skills for me to develop the personal websites and apps that I had began to conceptualize.

Le Wagon provided us with a very well planned and practical curriculum that effectively introduces students to coding, focuses on teaching the fundamentals and reinforces that students understand what’s happening, what they’re doing, and why they’re doing what they’re doing at every step along the way.

Additionally, Le Wagon’s teaching style does more than simply teach how to code to get a job as a developer, it provides workshops, classes, and exercises to practice using our new knowledge as entrepreneurs. Furthermore, Le Wagon teaches students how to keep learning on their own, which is critical in coding because coding is dynamic, always changing, and anyone that’s involved with it never stops learning.

Aside from the teaching, the Le Wagon community, as a part of the larger Ruby community, is welcoming, helpful and I’m really happy to be a part of it.

Thanks to Gus and whole team at Le Wagon Barcelona!

 

 

Read less

Le Wagon is not only a coding bootcamp, Le Wagon is a network made by people who really want you to suceed and help you along the way, even after the bootcamp.
I was working as a Civil Egineer for 4 years, but I was not happy with it. I wanted to be part of the world of technology, to be able to create my own software that would alow me to solve people’s pains, and be able to work from anyplace, allowing me to travel more.
After serious thinking, I really felt I should invest in Le Wagon’s Bootcamp, and I am really happy I did. The bootcamp is very tough, specially the first weeks where you struggle to get the basic concepts, but you just need to keep pushing forward and ask for help, everybody will help you.
After 6 intensive weeks you will have to build your own app. For me, this was the best part of the bootcamp. I was building an app, from scratch, with 3 friends that shared the same excitement I had. A truly remarkable experience.
We created Pick a Restaurant, an app that chooses for you the best places in Lisbon to have a meal or a drink.
After the bootcamp I felt some kind of void. I didn’t have classes anymore, pick a restaurant was working, so I started looking for a job as junior developer. I went to several interviews and the feedback from employers was really good. They were surprised how a guy without a computer science background could be able to really stand out against computer science students.
Only 1 month after I was invited to work for a software house, BLKO and now I am working as a Full Stack Developer in Ruby on Rails, just like I wanted.
The bootcamp is just the begining. In tech, you need to be constantly learning and searching. I really recomend Le Wagon’s Bootcamp. Le Wagon changed my life.

Read less

I have recently completed the bootcamp in Milan and I couldn't be happier with the experience!! Fantastic program, teachers and environment. It's tough during the 9 weeks - long days and often coding on weekends, but the teachers and TA's provide really good support and make sure nobody gets left behind.

The bootcamp gives you all the computer science fundamentals and coding tools required to become a web developer, and provides a lot of support online post graduation (a lot of well made videos and tutorials to reference back to).

Read less

BEFORE
I am an architecture student but beside my love to my career I've always wanted to learn to code, that's why I decided to take a coding bootcamp. Before deciding which one to attend I came here, to Switchup (among other websites and Medium articles), and honestly I was super skeptical about the perfect rating of Le Wagon around the globe. But after reading tons of reviews and sharing the program to my coder friends I decided the best option was Le Wagon.
When I left my hometown Mexico City, to attend Le Wagon Milan, my expectations where very high.

DURING (Spoiler alert!)
I was told that taking the bootcamp was an intense experience and after the first two weeks I noticed it was real.  I entered with basic knowledge in coding and the first two weeks of Le Wagon are centered in Ruby and all the coding logic. Those weeks are though but very satisfying, because in time you realize that once you understand the logic behind coding everything else begin to make more sense and become easier. I think the program is well structured, by the end of the course you realize every single piece serves to build "your" final project, and during the course you have to work with a partner everyday, and that is also a challenge. Plus the teachers are really qualified and guide you through the 9 weeks!
In the end of the bootcamp, with the final project, I was amazed of how much I achieved in only 2 months.

AFTER
Now I can say that taking Le Wagon was one of the best decisions in my life. I don't know yet if I will change my professional career towards web development, but learning all that amount of information and the  methodology to learn new stuff as a day to day basis I think will be very important in my future. Thanks to this 2 months I feel completely comfortable in reading and writing code, and this empowers yourself! So if you get into this part of my opinion and if you still have curiosity with coding, I would recommend attending Le Wagon!
If you are curious about what you achieve during the bootcamp you can take a look into my final project at https://www.foodi.tips

Read less

I wanted to learn coding to get into the tech side of the blockchain industry. I initially tried to learn how to code myself but found that the way I was approaching the task was not bearing much fruit, so I decided to look for a bootcamp where I could quickly learn the skills I needed. Le Wagon consistently came up as the best Bootcamp for coding not just on review websites but also through word of mouth from family and friends.

The most rewarding point in the programm is when you reach the final weeks and get to build up a project from scratch with a team of your choosing. I suddenly found that I could truly build something of value.

Going to Le Wagon was one of the best decisions I made in terms of personal growth. You dont just learn how to code but also how to problem solve in an effiecient manner. 

Having finished the bootcamp a couple of months ago I am now working on a blockchain startup called Way which I would never have thought to have been a possibility back in December.

Read less

I decided to take part in Le Wagon in January in Berlin. Why ? Because in my two main professional experiences - 1 year as an entrepreneur and 6 months in a chatbot agency, I’ve been very frustrated not to be able to communicate properly with developers and to build my own projects. Also, in both these experiences, I realized I didn’t want to be limited to sales or marketing roles, and that I would like to be more product-oriented (product manager for example). At that point I’ve had just finished my Master in a French Business School and I didn’t want to spend more years studying ! A 9-week coding bootcamp was for me the best time-to-outcome ratio.  

The program is very well packaged: you first have 20-30 hours of video content before the bootcamp to get comfortable with the main concepts and then you start the 9 weeks with an intensive but still agreeable rhythm. The course is based on the learning-by-doing method (which I consider the best method to learn) : 1 hour and a half of lesson in the morning and then exercises all day ! It finishes with a live code when the students are challenged on new coding exercises. Every morning you learn brand new concepts that you have to apply immediately.The exercises have gradual levels, you will start very simple and then it will get more and more complicated. The teachers know at what level you are and provide really personalised help. The whole program is made for you to improve every day and you have the feeling that you can actually accomplish something pretty quick. The most impressive part is the platform on which you work, it’s super advanced. Every lesson, videos of the lectures, exercices, corrections are available on it and there is a lot !

The projects part in the last three weeks is the best time when you can actually apply what you’ve learned. Plus you will figure out how to get organized as a team, to collaborate on a project and to get it live - which is basically the job of a full-time developer. So at the end of the project weeks, you have a functioning first website and a good idea of what it’s like to be a developer.

Regarding what happens next, I personnaly stuck to my first idea so I’ve looked for a product management position. I landed a great job at Delivery Hero (Rocket Internet) as Global Product Operations Specialist, not even 2 months after Le Wagon ! I definitely feel more confident about discussing the architecture of a project, putting my hands in the code and solving technical problems. And all that thanks to Le Wagon ! I also spend some time on a personal project on the side to keep my coding skills.

Overall it was an amazing experience ! I talked a lot about the coding aspects but I also want to mention that other students were great people. The atmosphere is really about good vibes, we spent time together after work and we knew when to celebrate our accomplishments. I clearly recommend this for everyone who wants to change career or to have a deeper understanding of tech challenges facing companies nowadays.

Read less

I reached a point in my career where I realised there was no growing opportunities for me in the company I was working for. I was bored and I felt like a machine doing my job, it wasn't rewarding anymore and I didn't see the result of my work.

I did a little bit of research and joined some meet up groups until I stumble upon Le Wagon in Berlin, where I currently live. After a couple of meet ups with them, I realised that I really enjoyed coding. I spoke with some of their students and was surprised to learn that some of them didn't have any technical background at all, just like me. I was always curious to learn how things work and found that coding will be the perfect place to find that out.

After a lot of thinking I decided to join the bootcamp and was very happy when I was accepted. I decided to quit my job and start a new chapter in my life as developer. 

I enjoyed every single day of the 9 weeks bootcamp, every day I woke up looking forward to the new challenges we'll have at school, and was amazed to see how much you can learn in just 9 weeks. 

I found that the buddy system they use is simply great, as working in pairs really help you understand the problems and as the teachers say, "If you are able to explain something is because you fully understand it" and is absolutely true, so having your buddy of the day as your rubber duck really help you go through the problem and discover where you might have difficulties. 

During the bootcamp we had few visits from ex students that told us about their experiences after the bootcamp and that gave me the opportunity to learn about the job market and specially what to expect when applying for jobs, sharing their tips and advices. We also had the visit of few HR specialists that shared with us the dos and don'ts when writing your CV and Cover Letter and share their professional advice. 

I have to admit, I had my ups and downs during the bootcamp, as is very very intense but I never regretted my decision. A whole new world just opened and I'm so glad to be part of it. 

 

If you put your heart and effort in something, you'll achieve your objectives!

Read less

Le Wagon was one the most intense and fun learning experiences I have had. Developing a fully functioning online product together with the other students by the end of the nine weeks is such a great feeling. I will recommend it to everyone.

The bootcamp starts out by teaching you programming "the hard way" in the sense, that it teaches you a lot of the basics behind the frameworks you will be taught later on. That way you will gain a deeper understanding of the technologies you work with, which also means that you appreciate them a lot more when you get to use them.

Le Wagons self developed learning platform and style of teaching is also well thought out and constantly evolving. Having access to the platform will be useful to you way past the duration of the bootcamp if you plan on working as a developer in the future.

In many ways you get out of Le Wagon what you put into it. During the nine weeks you will cover a lot of different subjects - some of them more in depth, but many will be on a nice-to-know-basis for you to explore by yourself after the bootcamp. It is worth noting that our teachers were clear about that attending Le Wagon was not necessarily equal to getting a job as a web developer afterward. However, by the end of the bootcamp you will feel like you know how a web developer works and what to do next if you want to pursue web development as a career path.

Today, I use my previous work experiences from the journalism and communications field together with a lot of the technologies and workflows we learned about at the bootcamp in a job at a startup. So the "code the startup way"-approach of Le Wagon has been highly relevant for me.

Read less

Before Le Wagon, I was working as a Civil Engineer in a global infrastructure company, but I decided I needed to try and pursue my passion in coding and development. Reviews on sites like this one are what led me to choosing Le Wagon Sydney, and following a to a discussion with Charly Martin (the driver for Sydney) to make sure I was the right fit, I can tell you that I could not have been happier with my decision to join Le Wagon.

Le Wagon Sydney is an excellent bootcamp that really challenges you and pushes you to make the most out of the 9 precious weeks you have with them. Le Wagon teaches you the fundamentals of web development using Ruby on Rails and give you the skills to go out and create your own web app and make your ideas reality.

The course structure is well suited to coding as it a very hands on and ‘learn by doing’ experience. Day starts with a morning lecture (1h30) then challenges with a ‘Coding Buddy’ for the day (based on what you learnt in the lecture) and finally it finishes up with a live code where as a class we go over an exercise together and learn the nuances of everyone’s own approach to a problem.

Le Wagon Sydney has excellent teachers (and guest teachers from all over the world) which are genuinely interested in seeing you succeed. Everyone at Le Wagon has a contagiously great attitude and the Le Wagon Alumni Network is a resource that keeps on giving even once you have finished the course as everyone is happy to help each other out.

As a final note I would say that Le Wagon Sydney:

- Teaches you the technical skills for Web Development using Ruby on Rails, HTML and CSS, and JavaScript

- Cultivates an entrepreneurial mindset in its students

- Provides a new network of people from diverse backgrounds who share the same passion for development

- Pushes you hard but is well paced to get you turning your ideas into reality in just nine weeks

I have already recommended this to many people in my life and I will continue to do so as this is a fantastic course for a diverse range of people and skills levels looking to get into development

Read less

Being an economist, I had a big interest in data science and started to try to learn a bit by myself. I wasn’t very successful and decided that it would be better to learn with other people. Le Wagon seemed like the best choice. Even though the program focuses on web development, I felt it would be best to get a good grasp on programming before looking specifically at data. I applied for Batch #97 in Lisbon and managed to get in and join this great community.

It was a very intensive 9 weeks with a very sharp look at ruby and web-development. As a newcomer, it was amazing to start understanding how software works, how websites I use on a daily basis are structured and created, and actually create one by the end of the bootcamp. Classes focused on the practical side of how to use code as a developer and we were given the tools to look deeper and understand some of the underlying mechanisms of ruby and rails. Always working in pairs gave us a great way to learn with other people and understand how collaborative programming actually is.
During the bootcamp, I had the opportunity to talk with a lot of tech companies in the Lisbon Ecosystem and attend several talks on all issues tech.

During the bootcamp one of our lead teachers told me of a job opportunity at Landing.jobs, a Portuguese start-up. I had interviews and technical challenges and in the end I got the job!

It is very weird how much my life changed since I entered Le Wagon. Nowadays I’m fixing bugs and developing features that are actually being used by people. Before the bootcamp, I knew nothing about coding and was looking for opportunities in economics and now I’m actually a programmer learning more at a great company and with the tools to explore the world of programming.

Read less

No matter how prepared to rock your bootcamp experience you might think you are, Le Wagon’s intense 9-week program will put you in your place rather quickly. This shouldn’t stop you from enrolling if you are very new to programming, but once you apply, take each of your pre-bootcamp days very seriously, you will be grateful to yourself for that later.
I studied in Tokyo, and it was an unforgettable experience. All teachers and teaching assistants are very different in their backgrounds and approaches in how they tackle programming challenges, which proved to be extremely useful. You'll be continuously pushed to go an extra mile, so not only your programming skills but your work ethic will skyrocket at Le Wagon as well.
Best of luck to you, Paul and Sylvain, in continuing to make Le Wagon Tokyo such a great place!

Read less