Makers Academy

This course was challenging, engaging and fun, it gave me the opportunity to build on/solidify my knowledge from my previous education during the first 4 weeks (procedural programming and OOD), in a whole new programming language. Then I got to learn a brand new skill, web development, where you get given set apps to make, then can make your own one at the end!

You don't just do front-end JavaScript, you get to learn a full stack with first Ruby backend and then my cohort did it with Java, both with a PostGres database using PostGres's sql for queries. So you get to learn a whole stack in two languages! I thought this was really beneficial as it's always good to be able to program in multiple languages. In addition, the techniques for learning a new language are transferable for every language.

I really liked the coaching style, you don't get spoon fed, you have time to work it out for yourself, but the support is there if you need it, not only from Stack Overflow, but also from the coaches and even the rest of your cohort!

The fact you collaborate on all tasks and projects gives you the opportunity to develop your teamwork and communication skills which are just as important as your technical ability. You communicate with Slack and Zoom. Slack for like a chat room and Zoom for video calls and screen sharing. I found both apps really easy to use and very helpful throughout the course.

The whole course was laid out very well and allowed for someone with zero experience to really build up a knowledge base of different languages and the syntax involved in writing them, coding methodologies, concepts and best practises, work life balance, useful 3rd party software's and how to work remotely and as a team with fellow developers to create projects and collaborative code bases. I also thought that the support from the coaches throughout the course was excellent , not being spoon fed anything but being pointed in the correct direction to work things out on my own really assisted me in consolidating the information in my head.

Makers Academy is the best learning experience I ever got in my life! I got full support during the whole duration of the course and I felt like each day I develop my soft and hard skills even more. There is nothing you can not learn while being in the Makers building. There is something about the way the teach you how to think that makes everything click in the alright time. The small pieces of software engineering that you learn at the begging of the course start to fit perfectly together somewhere in the middle of the course and you feel like you really can building anything. That doesn't mean that you know everything - this is not possible - but it means that you have a correct mindset to break down all the problems that you meet on your way while building a product and you can solve it step by step. 

PROS: 

- pair-programming,

- supportive environment, 

- the best community 

- a very mature approach to teaching coding and to students, everything works perfectly without you even noticing

- constantly feeling like I improve myself

- there is always a space to fail and try again 

CONS:

- NONE

The tech industry has a bad habit of exulting the lone developer, the person who shuts themselves away from other people to emerge from solitude with elite skills or a perfect product. Whilst this image is slowly changing you can have the stereotype duely shattered by attending Makers.
I started the course with a bit of narrow tech experience and a desire to expand my stack to the full version. Even during the precourse we were encouraged to start collaborating, through pair programming with mentors or self organising meet ups for the cohort. The course continued with this principle without no single day spent working solo. This environment took my desire to learn and supercharged it, it improved my learning process, how to share that knowledge and all in a space where people were excited to share new knowledge with me.

You will pick up new technical skills, and by any measure it will be a large amount. Along side that you will be well equiped for the career which comes after.

Makers is intense, hard and fun, but rewarding doesn't come close to expressing the feeling you will have both when you finish and when you find a job.

Why I chose Makers: Once I had visited Makers I felt almost drawn to it. Unlike most (or maybe all?) of the other bootcamps, Makers was offering one course, available in one location. This gave me the feeling that their angle was more "we will do one thing but do it better than anybody else" than "we will offer a huge range of things across many places in the world". Although drawn to it, exactly what that "thing" is didn't become fully clear until doing the course and after finishing, so I will attempt to describe it here:

1. Intimate - one course in one location has an intimate we're-all-in-this-together feel to it. Every 4 weeks a new cohort starts, so around you there are people simultaneously at varying stages of the course. The feeling instilled is that these people are not your competitors, but rather your peers. People willing to help you with any aspect of the experience, be it coding or indeed emotional support that you need.

2. Holistic - Makers is NOT about coding coding coding, it is about the whole picture - your well-being, your readiness for your first job, your ability to work with others and your ability to take an unknown concept and know how to approach it and understand it. Software development is a career in which you will never stop learning. Being aware that this is the case, and knowing how to manage it is paramount to success. In addition, the 2nd half of the course is set up to imitate what dya to day work life might be like - Agile methodologies, team work, XP values, advanced use of Git. It is not only about TDD (test-driven development) and OO (object orientated) principles. This means that by the time you're attending interviews, you are prepared with first hand experience you can use to show off your skills.

3. End-to-end support - From onboarding to pre-course to full-time course to the job hunt, Makers is equipped to offer help with whatever aspect is troubling you. Dana, the well-being officer, is fantastic for advice on all things not coding, and the coaches are all on hand, approachable and supportive in everything else. Once you have finished the course, the careers team are an incredible group of people who work extrememly hard to help you find work.

4. Makers leads by example - everything is learning and feedback contributes in a major way to improvement. Makers is constantly checking and re-checking their processes, improving things off the back of feedback, and providing feedback whenever sought. If you can buy into and do this too, you will be a successful coder.

Finally, it's a lot of fun!

Makers is an intense bootcamp. It requires you to be self-motivated, prepared to learn and explore for yourself and not rely on being spoon fed. If you are willing to put in that effort, and are not deterred when you come up against a bit of a wall, then Makers could be the course for you.

It is worth noting that the key thing that you learn at Makers is a process, not any particular language. This can lead to some frustrations along the way, but once it clicks you are left with a skill that is far more valuable than proficiency in one language - you are left with a proven method of learning any language. This approach means that you shouldn't end up being fazed by new problems - just apply the process and you can do it!

I did not have any serious coding experience before undertaking the course, instead having had a ten year career in an unrelated field. The prospect of starting a new career at 38 was both exciting and a little daunting. The careers team at Makers were brilliant, both before I had any interviews and then in helping me prepare once I had an interview. In my case, I had a six-month gap between completing the course and starting to job hunt (self-granted paternity leave!), and the team were always available to check in with and then to reassure me that all would not be lost once I started the job hunt.

I decided at the beginning of 2019 to leave my career as a criminal solicitor and attempt to become a software developer instead. I knew absolutely zero about coding so it was quite a big step for me. 

Fast forward 5 months and I'm now about to start my first role as a software developer so Makers has certainly done the job, and to be honest I never thought I'd be in this position so quickly. 

The course was intense and requires a lot of work, both onsite at Makers and in your free time, so you can't sign up half-heartedly. However, because of this you do learn a crazy amount in a short period of time. I enjoyed every day of the course and haven't once regretted my decision to leave my previous job. In addition to being a great learning experience, it was also really fun. I met some great people in my cohort and there was a lot of socialising which meant that our group projects towards the end of the course didn't feel like work at all. The standard of work that our cohort produced by the end of the 12 weeks was pretty impressive.

I feel that some of the course materials are slightly outdated (which I imagine is difficult to avoid with coding languages that dip in and out of popularity constantly), but it meant that I felt a bit on the backfoot when it came to interviews and I wasn't using the most up to date version of javascript for example. I would advise any new starters to find out whether there is a more modern version of the language you're learning, which is used in the industry, and to brush up on that as well as what you learn at Makers. 

At one point we were told that we should expect to find a job within 3-6 months after completing the course which terrified a few people, but it turns out a good handful of our cohort had jobs within 4 weeks. However, I would advise budgeting for the full 6 months, or having a back-up plan,  just in case. The careers team are very helpful and supportive and the careers fair which is held every month generates some good opportunities. 

IMO the things that work most in Makers' favour are:
- careers support
- behaviours practiced during the course
- momentum of exposure to technical content
- the community

Most important is behaviours, you will leave Makers with plenty of experience working in successful and challenging team/pair situations, and hours of pairing and collaboration on tech projects.  Doing these things well and with purpose I think is one of the hardest things to achieve learning on your own, and additional support from Dana the Joy Officer at Makers is excellent.

The curriculum gives students wide exposure to a range of technologies and tools _quickly_.  A lot of students felt like this learning style was too fast and surface level understanding.  It's only 12 weeks!

My experience at Makers was heavily impacted by my cohort. If you are not lucky to have open diligent learners around you there may be additional challenges to be ready for.  Students should be prepared for self-directed learning; Makers doesn't 'teach' you to code - pro-actively get what you need from the coaches to meet your goals.

I attended Makers as a Fellow: there were no course fees, and I found a job on the Pathway which is a fixed salary 12month contract with a Makers hiring partner.  I wouldn't do it a second time!!  But, I would recommend the fellowship to those getting started in coding careers.

PROS

- the careers team is super competent, they work really hard to get good companies to come to the careers fair and help motivate you after the course is done. I would say that this proactive careers service is a lot of what justifies the course fees. It was by far the simplest job application process I have had to do, also as only a limited number of people get shortlisted you are up against a much smaller number of candidates than you would normally be when applying for a job (e.g. maybe you versus 8-10 other people)

- there is a fellowship option where you can do the course for free (definitely worth looking into)

- it is much cheaper than university and is probably more likely to get you into a decently paying job

- the atmosphere at Makers is very good. Makers, and especially its joy officer Dana, have gone out of their way to create a supportive and friendly environment. It did help that my cohort were also super lovely and collaborative.

- You learn more than you thought you were ever capable of, the speed of the learning leaves you with a mindset that you can learn and pick up anything

CONS

-  the coaches don't do a lot of coaches, they are mainly there to facilitate the course, and I found that the most helpful resources during the course were my cohort and google. If you struggle with independent work or a lack of guidance/vague guidance then this course is probably not for you.

- the organisation can be quite vague, the phrase 'trust the process' is used quite regularly although the process is not really explained. Aspects of the course, especially the review process, were in flux during my time at Makers which led to a lot of confusion and uncertainty as to what you needed to do to sucessfully graduate

- some of the weeks are better than others - there are a few bits of the curriculum like database week and week 7 (Javascript with no frameworks) that are quite chaotic and represent a massive step up in difficulty

GENERAL NOTES

- If you end up at Makers make sure to leave time for yourself to wind down. I forced myself to only spend one of the weekend days on the weekend challenge, and for the most part I didn't do any work when I left Makers at the end of the day. I didn't regret this at all and I think it helped me keep going during a very challenging but rewarding course. Also, if you are ever struggling go and see Dana, she really is very good at her job and has a real talent for making you feel better!

Pros:
- You'll learn a lot in a short amount of time
- Teaches you how to work in pairs and in a team 
- Friendly environment 
- Gives you the tools and the confidence to learn anything by yourself
- Very supportive post course with hiring partners coming by every month looking for junior developers

Cons:
- Very intense and time consuming
- I personally found the review/portfolio process at the end of the course quite challenging but can see the value of it