tradecraft

I found Tradecraft when I was trying to make the career transition to Product Design. After poring through reviews of similar programs, I decided on Tradecraft because of its unique voice and emphasis on growth. 

Tradecraft's emphasis on each individual student is what makes it successful. Mentors give 1-1 feedback and help students achieve their goals, whether they're career-oriented or personal goals. 

Moreover, being at Tradecraft has provided me with a community of bright, motivated individuals. Coming into Tradecraft every morning, I'm always excited to see everyone. It never feels like work – one of the best parts of Tradecraft is being able to bounce ideas off my friends and work on projects. 

Overall, it was a great experience and I'd definitely recommend Tradecraft to anyone who is considering a career change. I can certainly say that the learning environment is unparalleled, and the mentors are top-notch. 

Tradecraft was the lifeboat I needed to navigate the incredibly new and intimidating waters of tech. I had come from a healthcare background, forced to leave dental school after being hit with a degenerative nerve condition with my dominant arm. I withdrew from school in July and made my way up to SF in September to join Tradecraft and figure out how to start afresh. 

To say that I was neurotic is an understatement. I never expected to have a career transition, and had no clue where to even start. I had extreme anxiety about starting over in a foreign field that I had no experience in. 

Thankfully, TC provided the mentorship and the community that I needed to pave a new path. I met up one-on-one with Misha, one of the two cofounders of TC, on a weekly basis. During my first few weeks, I questioned whether or not I made the right decision, going to TC over a coding bootcamp. But Russ and Misha seemed to know me better than I knew myself, and foresaw that I could not be happy or successful if I wasn't in a customer-facing position. I ended up finding a job midway through, leaving TC four weeks early to join a Series-B startup as a customer solutions engineer. I could not have found a better first job in tech, or a better fit, as I am now in an extremely technical, customer-facing role.

The most valuable things I gained from TC was the mentorship from Russ, Misha and Thomas, and the community from my fellow cohort members. I was constantly supported and encouraged by my fellow TCers, who were smart, driven and proactive, and came from all different backgrounds. Everyone truly wanted to see everyone else succeed, and was always willing to help me out in any way-reading my resume, connecting me to people they knew over LinkedIn, or just keeping me grounded. I definitely owe the successful launch of my career in tech to my TC mentors and fellow students.

I happened upon Tradecraft at a pivotal time in my life. Only a year or so earlier, I had decided to leave my job as an attorney to forge a new career in tech startup arena, with a focus on social enterprise.  I spent the subsequent year juggling contract work as I tried to learn more about sales and business development, mostly making it up as I went along.  My soft skills could only get me so far.  When a potential gig fell through at the 11th hour, I was left wondering, "now what?"  It was roughly in that moment that a colleague mentioned her previous experience learning Product Design at a program called Tradecraft.  She noted that they also focused on Sales/BD. Two days later I was on a phone interview with the program director, to learn more. Four days after, I was signed up for the upcoming cohort.  

I knew I was ready for a deep dive; to double-down on my career in a big way, which justified agreeing to Tradecraft's relatively demanding commitment in time and money.  I wasn't promised a job after, instead I was subtley assured I'd be guided in the most constructive ways possible, to meet my professional goals and build an invaluable network. They delivered. I was continuously challenged in class and on projects. I was introduced to incredible peers and mentors and within the first month I had already met my future employer. 

Fast forward 1 week after my program ended and I'm happily settled in a new job at an early stage startup working in strategic partnerships, and it feels like an absolute perfect fit for me at this juncture. How quickly and unexpected this occured may seem like one big coincidence, but this is a common theme among other Tradecrafters I've met.  Chances are, if you are reading this, you are probably ready for this.  Good luck!   

I joined TC in May, 2016 after 10 years as a designer for multiple tech companies in the Los Angeles area. I was wanting to transition to the Bay Area and revive my UX, UI, and visual design skills and thought TC would be a great way to do that. Lucky for me TC delivered so much more.

The freshening up of my design skills, revisiting concepts I understood well, and also becoming acquainted with the latest processes and trends was worth the money on its own. But where TC excelled was at helping me understand the unique culture and needs of Silicon Valley, teaching me how to build my network and the importance of it, and in helping me find a job.

Four months out of TC and I'm in the midst of transitioning to head of design from senior product designer at a post-product market fit startup while I manage my own company of contractors designing groundbreaking interfaces for the military!

In summary, it's the best money I've ever spent and I now have an incredible network here in the Bay.

I joined the TC community at the end of my junior year in Summer 2016. Second best decision I have made so far next to adopting my puppy from a high kill shelter #baostergram

If you are a recent college grad, or are in college, and looking for a way to invest in your education to efficiently level up in growth marketing, TC is the best choice:

>>Growth marketing is hard to break into if you are trying to "learn" it on your own, you need opportunities to do real work for real clients in order to be taken seriously in interviews. TC gives you the resources you need to successfully help real clients and provides opportunities to work with real clients. If you tried to comb through all the info online, it's just difficult to sift through what's irrelevant. The learning materials, which are constantly being updated and curated for the growth track at TC, is so useful and applicable to real life jobs. 

>> Growth marketing can't really be "studied" through theory-heavy classes. Almost all of it is keeping up with industry practices, which change so fast. It is also about quick-thinking and creative problem solving that requires real world experience (bullet #1). If you have the chance, take classes in college for marketing and business analytics, learn as much as you can. But let's say you are coming from another major, like I was, these classes are always impacted or closed off to business majors. I've also found that reading up on fundamentals of marketing probably provides me the same information I would've gotten from those classes. Another problem with those college classes (I've audited two), is that they can't keep up with industry practices fast enough. I am working through this reading list right now for more traditional marketing fundamentals, it's pretty great!  

>>The most important part about TC is the people. To me, my cohort of 13 is like family. We will always care for and support each other. I don't want to disappoint them, we hold each other accountable to high standards. Other than the incredible formal mentors in SF's startup scene that you meet during the 12 weeks, the other community members and staff who you see at the office every day are also your mentors. 

Advice if you join the community : work harder than you play, it's 12 weeks, make the most of it!  

I was a sales rep at a startup for my first job and was looking for a way to break through into the growth marketing scene. I've heard great things about Tradecraft before but I wanted to speak to Thomas and Nick, who assured me that these 12 weeks would be more valuable than anything that I've done for my career. And they were right! 

The great thing about TC is that it feels more like a community and less like a boot camp. Sales/BD, Product Design, and Growth tracks work together everyday to accomplish real tasks and deliverables for startups. There is nothing better than to get hands-on experience for work that you'll be doing shortly after the program. 

Although I had no prior growth experience prior to TC, it didn't matter. Thomas and everyone at Tradecraft took time out of their day to make sure that we were engaged and challenging ourselves. I've met some great people at TC. I still keep in touch with people from my cohort and it's always great to bounce ideas off of them especially since we're all in the same field. 

I would strongly recommend everyone who is looking into getting into breaking into the tech scene to give Tradecraft a shot, it's definitely changed my life and can changes yours as well.

Tradecraft is an outstanding apprenticeship for those looking to transform their careers. I had been circling a career in product design in the few years since I had graduated from university, however, a dedicated role in the field had always eluded me. Despite working for an exciting company in the tech industry, I felt uninspired in my day-to-day life and any progress in my career seemed tangential to where I really wanted to go. Wanting to regain control of my career and its trajectory, I researched my options, and ultimately decided to take a calculated risk: I left my job to study product design at Tradecraft. And this was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

There are a couple things that really make Tradecraft (TC) stand out:

1) Client Projects: Although the lectures and curriculum are excellent and cover a wide range of topics such as visual design, typography, prototyping, and lean design, I feel I learned the most from working on client projects. These projects with start ups in the Silicon Valley are a trial by fire, and give students the opportunity to collaborate as a team and apply what they’ve learned to real work that will (likely) ship. This hands on experience not only helps students build out their portfolios, but is also a critical step in the journey to becoming a full-fledged designer.

2) The people: The instructors and staff at TC are wonderful – it’s rare to find a group of people as talented, experienced, supportive, and fun to be around. You will also be able to learn much from your fellow students, who come from diverse backgrounds, share in the goal of entering a new field, and will one day become your colleagues. One of the most valuable things to come out of my time at TC is the community of friends and mentors I found there. I would not be the designer I am today without them.

3) Personal Growth: TC pushes you to be introspective and develop a better understanding of what you truly want to do and where you want to go in your career. One of the great strengths of the apprenticeship is that it also teaches you to be more strategic and methodical in how you go about pursuing your goals. 

There are a couple caveats. Attending TC does not (nor should it) guarantee that you will successfully make the transition into your desired field. However, it will give you every opportunity and tool to be successful in this pursuit. You will get the most out of the experience if you are self-directed, respectful and open-minded, resilient under hardship, and committed to the work. Ultimately, the only one who can make your desired career change a reality is you. 

Upon graduating from TC, I interviewed for a few months before accepting a role as a UX/UI Product Designer. I love what I do now and have never before felt this fulfilled or excited about my work. TC was a force multiplier and if you feel you are up to the journey, I would highly recommend taking it. 

Tradecraft offers an amazing opportunity to make a career transition that builds off of your current experience (no matter how different it may seem at first!).

It's a guided program, but success comes down to putting in the time to each yourself. The curriculum gives a curated assortment of the best resources out there covering all of the topics of product design. It's up to you to decide what you want to focus on. 

The students are diverse with an incredibly variety in backgrounds and are all very driven. This is critical because you work together to the deliver the client work.

This is also what set Tradecraft apart-you do real product design work for real clients. This is done in teams and ultimately becomes your portfolio to get a position after the program is over.

The instructors are top notch. They are intelligent and driven, but will not tell you what to do. Rather, they help you ask yourself the questions that will get you to your own answer.

The only thing I would have done differently was to get on client work sooner and work with the instructors to get the team to do more iterations of our design solutions. 

I hope my story resonates with some of you.  I felt locked into Big 4 accounting, every year that passed my skills were laser focused on building an aptitude around one particular code section.  While my colleagues were fawning over reaching the next level (Sr. Associate, Manager, Sr. Manager, etc.) I was thinking to myself, how did I get into this mess of living in the world of measuring success through chargable hours.  My creativity which my college friends and family loved about me dwindled and I felt if I didn't change something drastically, there would be no turning back.  

Something did change - at age 30, I decided to change my career.  I was a bit naive and abruptly left my job.  A year later, I wasn’t any closer to landing a Growth/Marketing role.  I didn’t have the network or the knowledge to successfully land a role.  I endlessly interviewed - it is painful to even remember the amount of rejection and time I spent on proposals to try and cater to highly competitive SV companies.

My Tradecraft experience was more valuable than my highly ranked graduate program at UT Austin.  The classes were rigorous and the self introspection was intense.  At times I felt overloaded but I knew this was the right path.  Our highly experienced and patient growth instructor understood how to ramp students up to the ever changing world of growth marketing.  On top of curriculum, students worked together on real projects for brand name startups.  I was privileged to lead a data heavy paid acquisition project with Udemy and presented my findings to a board room filled with their growth team.

My experiences with Tradecraft led to many rich conversations with companies which wouldn’t respond to a LinkedIn or Angel.co resume drop.  The leads and network Tradecraft offers is unparalleled.  TC is very tactical by nature and understands how to stand out in this talent flooded market. 

Within a few months after graduation, I landed my dream role as a product marketing manager owning all marketing initiatives for a particular product line.  I am work with designers, developers and closely with the CEO on a day to day basis.  The work environment is highly collaborative and I feel empowered to make all decisions around design of my product.  I couldn’t have dreamt any of this would’ve been possible. 

If anyone in the financial services space thinking of a transition - I highly recommend looking into what Tradecraft can do.   Please feel free to look me up on LinkedIn to reach out to me directly.

I can't think of good enough words to describe what Tradecraft was for my career/life. Coming from very far away (Chile), you read about tech & growth but don't really understand how things are done in the Bay Area. Tradecraft was the gap between those two worlds.

I joined with an interesting background. Being a founder twice (including a Snapchat - Latin American competitor that grew to 80,000+ DAU), I had experienced the pains of growing a company. Growth isn't luck. It's a mindset. And even though I had some previous experience optimizing viral loops, Tradecraft gave me the solid foundations to become a growth marketer.

I met amazing people during the 3-month program. Humble, fast learners. Always looking for new ways to add value to the community. Most of them now working at top startups in the Bay Area.

Tradecraft is for people that want to learn, are curious and motivated. If you expect the world to do everything for you, then this is not the place for you. If you work hard, you'ill get 10x back.

The instructors are incredibly smart and have experience in startups and growing companies. They help you accelerate your learning curve by giving you the right material and walking you through the different growth channels.

I'm currently working in a hyper-growth company. Couldn't be happier. I will be forever grateful for everything they did for me and the Chilean Mafia.

I moved to the Bay Area from Singapore to do Tradecraft. I literally knew no one when I stepped into America. Tradecraft gave me a strong network of alumni and community to tap into for job connections, networking, advice, mentorship etc. As the program grows, this network only gets bigger and stronger.

I also knew nothing about the tech or startup industry, and Tradecraft taught me everything I needed to know to succeed. Tradecraft is not your run of the mill education program. It's a mindset. The way I approached problems and life in general changed after just 3 months. I learnt about adding value, being a resource to others and being a good member of the community. And these are the kind of skills that no one talks about, but are immensely important in being successful in Silicon Valley. 

On top of that, the work you do at Tradecraft is real client work, the kind you would be doing if you were a freelancer. No student projects here. Expect to work very hard, make tons of mistakes, learn quickly and repeat. Zac and Jake, the design instructors are always available for advice. But don't expect them to hold your hand and spoon feed you material. A large part of the Tradecraft experience is self-motivated learning. What you learn and how fast you learn are all in your hands. 

I currently work as a designer full-time in San Francisco, which was not something that would have been possible without Tradecraft. If you are motivated and want to enter the tech scene, I would strongly advise that you go through the program.

I did the sales track and I learned more in 3 months at TC than I did in my 4 years at college. New to SF, it felt like I had expanded my network by 100+ people - wich lead me to negotiate and sign a job offer the day I graduated. They give you the resources to be successful.

Tradecraft is an excellent institution for anyone looking to change careers and work at startups. Misha, Nick and Ariane all provided valuable advice and developed a structured coursework and job search plan for me during my time at Tradecraft. Alongside, I was impressed by the quality of students at Tradecraft. Many students come from various professional backgrounds, and are able to provide valuable inputs during projects and discussions. Overall, I would high recommend anyone who is looking to change careers, and move to the San Francisco Bay region to apply for Tradeacaft. You would develop an excellent network and learn new skills that will prove to be a great resource when searching for jobs.   

Tradecraft transformed my career and professional network. Through Tradecraft, I developed new, highly relevant business development and growth marketing skills that enabled me to jumpstart my career and break into tech after +10 years of contract marketing work.  I learned more about entrepreneurship, technology, the startup community, and how to add value and drive business growth than I ever thought possible. I also received excellent career counseling. Thanks to Tradecraft, I landed a great new job with a fast growing B2B software company that would have been otherwise out of reach.  

When I got my MBA, I was taught business theories through textbooks and out-of-date case studies by professors focused on academics and research. At Tradecraft, my instructors were startup founders and industry practitioners who gave us opportunities to apply what we learned to real world startup projects.  The value of this practical hands-on training is incredible.  The Tradecraft founders, curriculum, track instructors, peer group, career advice, and professional network will blow you away. Attending Tradecraft was the best decision I could have made as a mid-career professional eager to pivot into tech.

I came into the Bay Area fresh out of college without knowing a thing about tech or the startup scene. Tradecraft was a direct portal to a highly talented group of like-minded individuals - all oriented around the idea of lifelong learning. Everyone in the program is pushing themselves to be the best that they can be by building a highly leverageable set of skills. I left Tradecraft with a job at a highly reputable tech company with an astounding sales organization. The hardest part of the graduation process and getting a job is that when you do, you won't want to leave your Tradecraft family behind. 

I recommend this program to anyone who is motivated by learning and self-improvement and wants the opportunity to work alongside a group of peers, who all come from vastly different backgrounds, but each exhibit astounding self-determination and the desire to be the best they can be.

Before deciding to come to Tradecraft, I looked into many programs. In comparison to others, I was very impressed with TC graduates, students’ portfolios, and both their hard and soft skills. Their graduates seemed to be well-rounded not only in the tracks they pursued, but had a good general understanding of all aspects of what it takes to build a product.

I never regretted my decision to join Tradecraft. I learned a lot there and made some amazing friends.

The advice I woud give thinking back on my experience at Tradecraft:

One should come with a ‘growth mindset’, be open-minded, learn from everyone, and be ready to work hard. How successful you are will depend only on you. No one will hold your hand and tell you what to do. Tradecraft has all the resources and amazingly smart and experienced people to help guide you, but you need to be the one who takes the initiative. Whatever motivation you have to move forward, use that to learn as much you can and continue challenging yourself throughout the program.

Use the time at Tradecraft as an opportunity to take on challenges that you never thought you were be capable of doing. Consider it your ‘practice round’, as you won’t have those chances in real life. Try leading a project. Even if you decide later on that product management or leadership role is not for you, you will still learn a great deal about team management, client communication, and understanding the goals and challenges of the managers you will work with in the future.

TLDR: The tech scene is huge right now (clearly) and everyone's looking to get in - and fast. I believe Tradecraft is the fastest way for landing a UX/Product Design role in tech, especially if you have little to no prior experience and or are new to the startup scene (which was me). It's super challenging, but I'm positive the connections you can make will last and ultimately end up getting you your first role out of Tradecraft

My story:

I lived in LA for years and had prior marketing experience at a large corporation. I eventually got the opportunity to design some e-commerce sites at my company and eventually decided to take the plundge, quit my job, travel, and pursue UX/Product Design. A buddy of mine who had been doing UX for a few years said he heard good things about Tradecraft and after doing all the research google provided - I just went all in and luckily got in. I knew almost nothing about the startup world but was anxious to learn.

The good:

-The people and the relationship you'll garner. Yeah, you'll learn everything you'll need to land a design role at a startup or design company (that's where I decided to go) but the friends you make and mentorship you'll gain is what makes Tradecraft the best in my clearly biased eyes.

-Mentors at Tradecraft will cut the bs and teach you the best way to network and target the best companies that fit you and your goals.

-You'll actually do real work with real companies and startups in Silicon Valley which not only helps you network and gain experience, you'll have a rock solid design process and portfolio when you're ready to look for a job.

The bad: 

- Costs money (although I'm positive it will accelerate your career). They offer financing, which I did. 

- The curriculum can take a backseat since you'll be super busy with client work and networking. This is, of course, up to you and how you manage your time.

In the end:

I highly recommend Tradecraft (obviously) and will always have fond memories of my time there as I move through my life and career. So many good memories of laughing, joking, and working my a** off with my fellow Tradecrafters (GO TC18!!!!!)

I landed a Product Design role at a design agency after graduating. 

The rest of the reviews can attest to how great the Tradecraft experience is and how it could easily be the best decisions of students' life. Thus, I'd like to address mainly on the support system and career development help that each alumni has access to after they graduated from Tradecraft.

Changing career is tough, not only that you have to learn new things rapidly in short amount of time, most of us were on a limited runway--we had quit our jobs and still have to pay bills. Tradecraft has an excellent career development coaching that you are able to participate after you complete the program. We meet once a week and track everyone's progress on the job search. We practiced interview questions, we did group portfolio critique, and we even discussed salary negotiation tactics together. There is a huge sense of accountability and community that pushed everyone to do their best--even post-graduation. 

What's best about this is that the support does not end after you find your first job. You are part of the alumni association for as long as you want. This means that you are more than welcomed to come back when you are searching for your 2nd, 3rd, xth opportunity. 

This was evident as I struggled making the decision on the several job offers I received after the program ended. The strong alumni network allowed me to quickly jump into phone calls with Tradecraft career advisor, program director, and instructors to help me make the decision. 

Ultimately, I have never met anyone in my life (aside from my parents) who are as invested in my career growth as the people I've met in the Tradecraft community. 

One thing to keep in mind is that Tradecraft was hard. Really hard. You will have to make sacrifices and dedicate a lot of time to do the work. No one is going to hand-hold you or spoon-fed you information. But if working in tech is in your dream, then be a self-starter and focus on the work! The rest will follow :) 

The rest of the reviews can attest to how great the Tradecraft experience is and how it could easily be the best decisions of students' life. Thus, I'd like to address mainly on the support system and career development help that each alumni has access to after they graduated from Tradecraft.

Changing career is tough, not only that you have to learn new things rapidly in short amount of time, most of us were on a limited runway--we had quit our jobs and still have to pay bills. Tradecraft has an excellent career development coaching that you are able to participate after you complete the program. We meet once a week and track everyone's progress on the job search. We practiced interview questions, we did group portfolio critique, and we even discussed salary negotiation tactics together. There is a huge sense of accountability and community that pushed everyone to do their best--even post-graduation. 

What's best about this is that the support does not end after you find your first job. You are part of the alumni association for as long as you want. This means that you are more than welcomed to come back when you are searching for your 2nd, 3rd, xth opportunity. 

This was evident as I struggled making the decision on the several job offers I received after the program ended. The strong alumni network allowed me to quickly jump into phone calls with Tradecraft career advisor, program director, and instructors to help me make the decision. 

Ultimately, I have never met anyone in my life (aside from my parents) who are as invested in my career growth as the people I've met in the Tradecraft community. 

One thing to keep in mind is that Tradecraft was hard. Really hard. You will have to make sacrifices and dedicate a lot of time to do the work. No one is going to hand-hold you or spoon-fed you information. But if working in tech is in your dream, then be a self-starter and focus on the work! The rest will follow :) 

While evaluating the different design programs to attend this past summer, I gravitated towards Tradecraft for 4 reasons:

1) the smaller tight knit community feel

2) the opportunity to do work for actual companies

3) Generally vibing well with the lead instructor Zac

4) Seeing that they only accept students that actually work hard

It turns out that my my general feeling on all four of these areas ended up being spot on. I couldn't be happier with my decision to attend Tradecraft's Product Design track and below I'll dive deeper into the 4 categories and discuss how it all turned out. 

1) The Tradecraft community is truly special. I went to a small liberal arts college in Massachussettes that has a uniquely tight alumni community that you can always count on for a cup of coffee or some career advice and Tradecraft is the same exact way and potentially even more valuable to me since almost everyone is in tech and in San Francisco. 

2) After going through the interview process, I can't emphasize enough the importance of having real work in your portfolio. Tradecraft is one of the few design schools that enables you to do this, and it makes such a difference when looking for a job. Also, the amount of learning that takes place when you are working on real client projects with actual constraints is so much more applicable to helping you accel in a design role than simply doing prompt based projects. 

3) I can't say enough good things about the product design lead instructor, Zac, He is a rare gem of mentor/teacher that is smart, patient, great at communicating, and super motivating. I will for sure stay in touch with him through out my career and life. 

4) Finally, the other students at TC are all smart and highly motivated. Since you are partnering with many of these students on client projects this makes a huge difference. I ended up learning almost as much from my peers throughout the program as from the instructors. Seeing smart people work til midnight on the same project as you is incredibly motivating.

Fast Forward til now:

Now I am in a product design role at a company that was at the very top of my list when I started Tradecraft and I couldn't be happier. I definitely wouldn't be where I am right now if it wasn't for Tradecraft and am very thankful to have discovered the program.