That said it is definitely helpful to have some kind of background in coding. I had been out of IT for several years and my skills were very outdated. I chose to do a bootcamp because it offered a structured program and I didn’t know what I didn’t know until I began the program. I completed the program online but I was within driving distance to the Denver campus if I wanted to meet with an instructor in person. Cole Dixon at the Denver campus was always willing to help. The instructors at Tech Academy also responded quickly to any questions I submitted online.

The curriculum was very thorough and gave me a great understanding of the tools and techniques needed to get an entry level position in the IT industry. I continued to develop my skills as I searched for a job and eventually the knowledge I had gained from this bootcamp was instumental in obtaining a position in the IT industry.

I signed up for TTA after studying programming on my own intensely for about 5 months, and wanted to use a guided course to really solidify and hone the parts of my knowledge that were lacking. I found that the subjects that I knew very little about were explained in a very intuitive way, and the material that I had a previously studied became solidified. The program is a bottom up approach that doesn’t require any experience, but I would still recommend doing some practice ahead of time to ease the strain of racking your brain around programming in a short time.

The people working the job placement course were exceptional. My background included the last 5 years of my life recording rappers as a freelancer, and as such, no one wanted to touch my resume. The job placement team helped me formulate a powerful (and honest) resume that allowed me to get my foot in the door.

I highly recommend The Tech Academy. Getting a job in tech (especially development jobs) will most likely require extra studying to flush out your knowledge, but it is an extremely satisfying journey if you enjoy the basics programming.

If you have ANY prior experience, even just basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript STAY AWAY. The curriculum is poorly constructed, soooo easy, and will not prepare you for a job. You will need to go above and beyond what is taught at The Tech Academy if you are serious about becoming a developer. You will NOT build any portfolio projects at The Tech Academy. The “Live Projects” are ongoing projects at the school and you don’t get to keep the source code. ALL of the instructors are past students that were unable to land a developer job. Even the job placement director is a former student with no professional programming experience! What a joke.

On a another note, you should strongly reconsider attending any coding bootcamp if you don’t have basic competency in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. There are so many free/cheap resources out there to learn the basics. Then attend a reputable program like Lambda School, Hack Reactor, Flat Iron, etc. if you want to graduate job ready.

When I started the boot camp I believed I would be able to go to a new campus opening up in the city I am in, and was excited to be able to go in and work directly with the instructors. I found out that it would be delayed and would not be opening. With that I began calling more often later in the boot camp, and really was not bashful about asking for help from the instructors. At times I’d be reluctant to call again but had reinforcement from my spouse: “That’s what they’re there for.” I needed that. That’s the right mentality to have. Ask as many questions as you need to, and be patient with yourself You can lean on the instructors if you need to get you through some major blocks. That is what they’re for, and that is a legitimate way to learn. Give yourself that grace of letting yourself be instructed by these teachers. I want to particularly mention one, Jan, he’s my guy. I’ve been through a four year degree program, and high school, and he is by far my favorite teacher of anything technical I’ve learned. It was such a pleasure to be able to have someone that knows how to think about these problems correctly be SO patient and willing to help. For my experience Jan meant a world of difference in feeling like I was capable to get through this thing. Just the knowledge alone of knowing that I could call Jan and he would be willing to troubleshoot with me, with a calm and steady attitude, meant a world of difference. Jan was totally invaluable to me and I think every technical teacher should be like Jan. I learned so much through this experience and I have a tremendous sense of accomplishment for getting through successfully, having a portfolio filled with various programs and applications, and a familiarity with SCRUM and working with a team to contribute to a real company. I have no doubt in my ability to work in this sector, and work in freelance if I choose. Thank you so much The Tech Academy.