SPICED Academy

I am an architect but a couple of years ago I became very interested in computer science and coding. I decided it was something I definitely wanted to learn, but I couldn't find the will to do it by myself online, nor the time to take a university degree.

After reviewing several bootcamps both in the US and in the EU, I finally found the right one! Much better than anything in London, Barcelona, Madrid... Why?

- First of all, they have a great professional team. Everyone, from the CTO to the teaching assistants will be there to help you and give you advice.

- Second, they have a great curriculum: for the first time in my education life I was learning actual USEFUL stuff. Things companies require the moment you start applying for a job. And it's not a few weeks, it's actual months, so we go deep into everything we learn. 

- Third, they have a great space in Berlin, really beautiful offices full of light, space to work, a really nice kitchen...

- Last, but not least, the price. It's an investment, and it's much cheaper than all the american bootcamps, and quite well priced among the europeans. If you work hard on it -and they'll make it easy- you can get a job after graduation in a matter of weeks!

Looking back, I can say it was one of the best choices of my career. Completely worth it!

I've been a tech recruiter in Silicon Valley (with companies such as Facebook) for many years and I must say that if you've been wanting to start a career in web development while wanting to explore new cultures, there's no better place to be than the Spiced Academy. Spiced has some of the best curriculum and teachers focused on critical thinking/fundamental skills needed in both interviews and when on the job. They'll help you go from knowing very little about the digital world to securely programming your own ideas in less time than a typical college internship. After graduating, they'll help you to successfully navigate the exploding Berlin tech scene. 

Probably the best thing about Spiced is its Javascript focused curriculum (the most popular tech stack amongst startups, yet not bootcamps for some reason) along with a teacher who seems to have solved every issue in web development. He's passionate about passing on this knowledge and helping students learn from their mistakes. This is not just another for-profit coding school that seem to be popping up in every city. Spiced is committed to producing an academic structure that prepares students to tackle any challenge they see with curiosity and courage. It's an attitude that I'd always look for when hiring for software developers in the past. 

Lastly, Spiced is a great way to get introduced to a new city and make new friends. There are hosted meetups, hackathons, and happy hours to get to know one another and the larger community. If you're looking for a reasonably priced entry into a new career in a fun, vibrant, international city, the Spiced Academy is the place to be. 

I entered SPICED Academy a couple of months after graduating from a bachelor's of economics. I am passionate about development economics and technology and I want to work in social entrepreneurship. I had been trying to learn how to code for a long time, so I chose a bootcamp for an intense learning environment, and I decided on Berlin both because I adore the city and because its tech scene is thriving (and it's great for beginners, so many meetups!). I fell on SPICED by chance but it’s after my Skype call with Shilpa, the Director of Programs and Community, that I knew SPICED was the right fit for me.

I wasn’t wrong. Frederik (SPICED CEO), David (Head Coach), Matt (Coach), Paul (Marketing Manager) and previously mentioned Shilpa, have managed to create an inclusive, supportive and superior learning environment, where any student with the right motivation can grow and excel. I have gotten so much more out of SPICED than I had even hoped to. I still cannot believe I managed to create 4 quality Full Sack Applications, using JavaScript, Node.js, Express.js, PostgreSQL, Angular.js, React.js and many more! I have to say, I went home exhausted every evening, and had a couple of coding dreams... It’s an intense 12 weeks! But I finished the day proud of what I had achieved, and excited about what I’d learn the next morning.

I believe that the most important thing about SPICED is the quality of teaching, as it is the reason you would choose a bootcamp over an online course. David and Matt are incredible teachers and form a great team. They were always there for us if we needed them, whether it was for a quick question, or to save us after a couple of frustrating hours facing a bug we were initially determined to solve ourselves. Other than learning a programming language from scratch, I realised that my problem solving skills immensely improved too. Following David and Matt’s example, we slowly learn how to identify where the problem comes from and how best to solve it, and soon enough you know why your app is crashing, on your own! Another key skill you learn is simply how to learn on your own - which is something that you will have to continuously do as a developer.

Another thing I loved about SPICED was its community. The cohorts are small and cohesive. Your classmates come from very different backgrounds and countries, but everyone sticks together and helps each-other during the bootcamp and even beyond the 12 weeks. I have made friends and good memories during my time at SPICED, and now away from Berlin I miss our well-deserved beers and a chats on Fridays.

Overall, I recommend SPICED because of:

• Its quality instructors.
• Its curriculum that teaches the best practices to be a good programmer.
• The care and work they put into improving themselves and making each student’s experience the best it could be.
• Their career workshops that help you be more self-aware, confident and job-ready.
• And finally because you want to take your first steps as a Full Stack Developer in a kind and caring family.

I have a background in HR and I had worked in couple of tech startups and in IT consultant resourcing. I however realised I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of software development and be able to code myself. I was already living in Berlin and I was researching the different bootcamp opportunities here. I soon noticed that SPICED and its Full Stack Web Development program would be the best option because of its interesting and encompassing curriculum and the positive reviews I read about it.

I haven´t regret my decision a single moment. I could never have been able to believe how much you can learn in only 12 weeks. I still remember watching the previous cohorts´ final projects and thinking I could never be able to build anything like that. But as the 12 weeks passed I noticed I had grown from someone who was struggling with Codeacademy´s exercises to being able to create full stack web applications. Many thanks to the excellent teachers David and Matt!

If you are determined, willing to work hard and want to learn to code in a supportive and encouraging environment, SPICED is the right place for you.

I am a musician from France, and decided to join the full-stack course at the SPICED Academy in April 2017. I just finished the course and I'm now focused on finding a job in France. 

I was a beginner and was wondering what we could learn in just 12 weeks. I had now idea about front-end, back-end, databases and large concepts of web development so that was really a new start for me... And we learnt a lot ! That's crazy, I feel now prepared to find a job of developer, and this is because of the amazing work of Shilpa, David, Matt, Frederik and Paul.

In a cosy atmosphere, Matt and David were very involved and passionate teachers, extremely supportive, giving me more confidence. They were always available to help, and I really enjoyed the content of the course. Big point for me : I see all the time on the jobs offer the languages and frameworks we learnt, and I have the feeling that part of the course is useful in the daily like of a developer.

I had to work a lot during my experience at SPICED, to don't feel overwhelmed by all the new technologies, concepts that we had to use everyday. Obviously, 12 weeks of coding doesn't make you an experienced programer, so you will have to keep being curious, working on new projects, all the time, but it's an habit you can easily take during the course, because it's a part of Matt and David's pedagogy.

As I was not used to look for a job, to write a CV and a cover letter, the career workshop was super useful for me and I learnt a lot from Shilpa and everybody's experience. I still using all the tools, tips, and references she gave us, for finding a job that fits with your expectations, and I'm already seeing the positive results.

During those three months, I learnt something I wanted to learn since a long time, and I had way more than what I expected. I also met amazing people, teachers, other students, that I consider now as friends and I will keep tons of good remember of my experience there.

That's why I give the max rate for the SPICED Academy !

Be careful with this school: it can turn sour. The CEO convinced me to join their programme unprepared. Subsequently they did not help me catch up. One of the teachers advised me to consider ‘joining the next cohort’, instead of helping me figure out exactly what I was having difficulties with.

After attending the first few days of this bootcamp, I felt defeated and have now decided to spend my energy elsewhere. Spiced uses an external tool, Codecademy, as a prep course for their full stack program. When I worked through the Codecademy track, Codecademy had updated and shortened some of the tracks, which led me to being un-prepared for the Spiced assessment, which they want you to complete. I had therefore done a stripped down version of the track, which was missing some critical concepts that I needed to know, and so instead of completing the assessment in 4-5 hours, I ended up horribly stuck for a few days and feeling incredibly incapable. This mishap, in combination with the frustration during the first weeks’ classes has led me to the decision that the quality of the bootcamp is lower than expected and promised.

Dear Spiced, if you use outside resources like Codecademy, it is important to make sure to know about any changes to the material being taught. I feel it would be wrong to expect the student to know that they're missing something. Codecademy clearly posted about these changes to this specific track on their blog over a month ago.

Furthermore, from the words ‘from beginner to ready-to-hire’ on their website and the reviews available online, it seemed like we would get a lot more explanations of the concepts and hands-on support early on. I felt I needed this, but I did not get it. The work is independent and I did not feel a good enough connection with the teachers; I also felt that they were not going to be able to provide me with the pedagogical teaching methods it seemed Spiced offered. I might as well be sitting at home, working through freeCodeCamp. Their communications staff member and I discussed that some people do need more thorough explanations, or maybe some simpler challenges to fully grasp certain concepts. I did not have the right foundation from the prep course and we were already moving onto newer subjects which were building on this. Sitting there feeling completely overwhelmed during the second and third day was emotionally exhausting and I was doubting my capabilities, and felt incompetent. Due to the aforementioned circumstances I hoped they would consider refunding me the full seven thousand and eight hundred euros, but no. I’m now left feeling ripped off.

Their ‘registration’ fee is a massive €800 euros, which you do not get back if you are forced to ‘drop out’. Before the course started I trusted the CEO as he reassured me that others before me had not completed the assessment and had gone on to do okay. I was told the teachers would sit with me and once the bootcamp started and during the first few days, to make sure I felt okay. Unfortunately this has not been the case for me and I feel as if these were false promises made. Spiced runs two cohorts at the same time, so with only two teachers for two cohorts, this means the teachers are not dedicated only to supporting your cohort. After not feeling listened to and asking for the full money back, and writing that I would be writing a negative review, the team at Spiced responded to me by saying that they felt I was blackmailing them. Thanks Spiced.

These are the reasons I am disappointed and feeling ripped off. Be careful too, the CEO is unreasonable and after explaining my frustrations over a Skype call as he was not on campus, he did not seem interested to want to take in my feedback at all. Thank you for reading, you’ve been warned.

I attended the Full Stack Bootcamp at SPICED Academy between Sept.17 and Nov.17.

The experience was hard, I worked every single day for 3 months, between 10 and 12 hrs a day, I suffered under stress and banged my head against the laptop when I couldn't figure out how to solve the problems. However, I did not regret any single minute of it. It was an extremely gratifying time, where I changed from my old me to this new me that I am right now (professionally speaking :-) ).

The curriculum at SPICED goes gradually from learining basic Javascript, HTML and CSS stuff during the first half of the course, to managing both the frontend and backend of relatively complex apps. I found the exercises and projects to be very well designed to learn more and more difficult concepts gradually. At the end, when you get into the final project, which you choose and design on your own, I felt like I had really learnt a lot. I found myself being able to architect and build the idea I had in mind.

The atmosphere at SPICED was great, I went very gladly to school every day, looking forward to meet my classmates, the teachers, the school team and the students from other cohorts. I hold the teachers (Dave and Matt), as well as the other employees of the school (Shilpa, Paul and the CEO Frederik) in the highest regard for the job they do running the place. Besides their professionalism, they were always extremely freindly and helpful, always taking care of us making sure we had the best time possible at school. My classmates were also amazing people. We developed a great and tight relationship and learnt to work together, help each other and count on one another when needed. The body of students at SPICED is amazingly diverse, coming from all corners of the world, but somehow they all turn out to be really great and funny people. We worked and studied together, but we also played together, partied together, ate together, chilled together... As the weeks went by I found myself more and more comfortable at school and it began to feel almost like a big family.

Thanks to the preparation I received at SPICED I am to say that I was able to find an entry-level position pretty quickly after the bootcamp. Within just two months, even with Christimas and New Years in between, I got offered a paid internship as Fullstack Developer. Currently (Mar.18) I am beginning my second month of internship, I am learning tons of stuff, frontend and backend, and there is much more to come. If everything goes well I will be hired as junior developer right after the internship. As far as I know, all the students from my cohort that graduated with me have landed a job as developers of various levels.

I can say that my life has completely changed after doing the bootcamp at SPICED. Before I had a job where I was terribly unhappy and which I could not see myself performing any single day more. Now, after some months of hard but gratifying work, I have a job with great prospects, in a firm which offers me a chance to learn and grow, and with a team I cherish and admire.

If you are not affraid of a challenge, if you are ready to work hard for a certain period of time and you are looking for a change in your life, do not hesitate and take part in SPICED Academy's program. You will not regret it a single day!

I had studied product design and wanted to go from making physical products to software. I did a bit of studying on my own through codecademy and such but had a hard time keeping up my own pace and knowing what to do next. I started looking at developer boot camps and SPICED caught my attention, I was a bit causious as I didn't believe that three months was enough time to fully learn what was promised but decided to reach out and book a meeting with Shilpa. She was happy to meet me and answer any and all questions i had, i got to meet with the teachers and even sit in on one of the lectures.

I made the decision to do the course and since the first day I haven't looked back. David and Matt, the two teachers are competent and willing to help at all times, the curriculum feels tailored for the job and is constantly updated to match the fast changing job market. The career workshops helps prepare you for getting a job when you graduate and most importantly, SPICED feels like a little family, you spend 8-10 hours a day in school so having a good atmosphere and work environment is very important.

If you feel willing and ready to really dive inte coding then this course is for you. With that said i wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants to take a lot of days off or keep a job on the side, the course really is full-time!

I still remember the first time I met Shilpa, the Director of Programms and Community at SPICED, for the first time after she gave me an appointment to check out SPICED HQ.

She was so friendly, so was Frederik, SPICED CEO and Founder, and David, CTO and Head Coach.

From day 1, David, the most godly-skilled head coach I've ever met, started the course with full enthusiasm. He's just so good in delivering the information and let'em sink in! As of every single day of the course, he kept teaching us in a way that feel that he is giving his 100%. Besides his JavaScript-every-couple-days-fifteen-minutes-theoritical portion, he always have practical challenges for us; what is called white board challenges. Prepare yourself also for the most common interview questions for developers he will train you for.

Day in day out, we programmed and built awesome apps using the lastes frameworks, libraries and technologies. All what I can say about that is you have to be prepared for an instensive 9 hours of programming every day that you wish you had before (if you are really willing to learn). In my experience, I would spend three months in an intensive bootcamp rather spending, at least, tripple the amount of time watching free online courses, even paid ones! I did that before I went to SPICED and I wouldn't say that it was a waste of time, but It was so easy to forget! At the bootcamp, they wouldn't let me leave the class before I understand what they were trying to teach me. That was for me a BIG PLUS becuase it showed me how much they care.

Ok wait a minute.. did I say "they"? Who are they?

Well, I already mentioned David but there are also 2 teachers/assistants.

First is Julia, SPICED Teaching Assistant & Developer. One of the most experienced array-fan developer that you will ever meet! 

You'll know her more once you meet her.

Oh, and make sure to be on time or she would like to have a lil chat with you over a cup of coffee. Ask me about that. Well, let's face it > you are being serious and you want to learn? you be on time. Period. That proved me, again, how much they care about their students.

Second is Matt, SPICED Teaching Assistant & Developer. Matt is more of a friend than a teacher to me. His skills are just beyond mind and I am proud to say that he taught me once! He, David and Julia make just a great team. I have been taught by masters!

Shilpa did an awesome job in workshops she led at SPICED. She taught us lots of useful tips of how to create our CV as developers (should be unique), make our cover letters (because you have to) and along with Matt, how to organize our LinkedIn profile. Basically, everything you need to be job ready.

I would really recommend paying them a visit and check the school out. You'll know what I am talking about once you are there!

As of Jan 16, I am in my 6 weeks period of programming a 

Moaaz.

I always wanted to learn how to code, made several attempts with online coding schools but never got very far. Therefore after long considerations, I finally decided to enrol in a coding bootcamp. I can only say I have not regretted my decision for even one moment. 

I joined SPICED in the second cohort and was impressed by how quickly I was able to program pretty complex things. Their curriculum focuses plainly on JavaScript, which makes a lot of sense in my opinion. That leaves enough room to really learn the language and not just a few frameworks. We were taught JavaScript the hard way, by first doing challenges in vanilla JavaScript before later learning how much easier it can be done with a library or framework. That way I feel comfortable to program almost anything I want in JavaScript or pick up any new framework by myself, which I have already done quite a few times.