Ironhack

I attended Ironhack Paris and it was one of the best decisions I have made. The instructors were knowledgable, accommodating, and willing to to listen and change things about the program on the fly as feedback came in from the students. It was very educational. At first I could tell it was their first time int that location but they quickly ironed out any wrinkles and addressed every issue. I definitely got my money's worth. The environment was casual but the curriculum was strict and required a lot of work to be done so you need to find a balance between how casually you will work, and how you are going to get the work done. I would love to do it again for another language such. I attended full stack Javascript so perhaps an iOS course next time.

I graduated from Ironhack Miami's full-time web dev bootcamp in April of 2017, and to prospective applicants I would point out the experience as being key to transforming my career. While I was at the bootcamp, I woke up almost every day feeling like I was making progress on my goals (in fact, I never missed a day of those nine weeks). This meant that not only did I learn what I was taught, but I was in an environment where everyone around me was focused on bringing out the best of themselves and those around them. If you've ever been in a toxic workplace or even just the wrong crowd, then you know how important it is to surround yourself with kind, excellent people. You can't pay for that, and you can't detect it through your web browser either, but I will go on the record that Ironhack has that kind of environment. And I got my first programming job through them, btw.

Ironhack has been a life-changing experience.

I was a business controller two years ago and even though I liked numbers there was something missing, it wasn’t ringing the right bell. So I thought of what I really enjoyed and what I was good at and also what challenges I would have liked. I had some small programming knowledge related to my nerdy childhood and expanding it and making a life out if it sounded like a dream, then it became my plan. I started Ironhack with a strong will but not a final idea of what I could do with it. From day 1 it has been 360 degrees full-on experience. Every day there was an awesome tech event that I wouldn’t want to miss, technical challenges that I wanted to conquer and a bunch of like-minded people that made everything so fun and enjoyable, even the long nights before delivering the projects. I was lucky that Ironhack became my family away from home, both my colleagues, the teachers and the staff.

I was the one studying non-stop but the teachers directed my struggles in the right way, showing me how I should work and where I should focus and help me when I felt lost. I tried studying online on my own before the boot camp but I never got near an inch of the results I got out of the course. I gave it my best and I got the same in return. Ironhack taught me a lot about perseverance, and how to solve problems and code bugs in a way that I couldn’t have thought of it before. It made me push through a lot of documentation and it was just what I needed to learn and to be able to improve and learn on my own after the course. Ironhack showed me where and how the magic happens and taught me how to make some myself and I can’t wait to see just how far I’ll go from here.

Just today someone asked me to draw a graph with an X axis from 0 to my age and a Y axis with 0 to 10, where 0 was the complete worst and 10 was the best.  Then I had to draw two lines: one on my happiness level and one on my achievement level overall my life. 

When I was drawing the lines, the period I was in the bootcamp was one of the most fullfilling periods in my life, really close to 10, both in happiness and personal achievement. I had to work my ass off to get in, because it is not cheap, and I risked a lot by joining: if it failed I would have been in the shit. But it passed with flying colours. 

The stack you learn (MEAN) is really good, the materials were really good and comprehensive. The course is REALLY REALLY HARD. Very high paced, even if you have previous experience. So you'll get frustrated, tired, crazy. I would have liked to learn React more than Angular, but still it was good. Two of the teachers my cohort had were really good, and the third one was mindblowing, but we only had him for a week :( Overall, they were really good, patient and always willing to help, but they have to cover a looooooot of content in a really short time, so it is difficult for them, as they can not take the time they would like to to go over some concepts.

More than the teachers, for me the incredible part was the other students, the teacher assistants and some other people from the staff. For me, the TAs are the real heroes here. They do the grunt work, they handle our complaints, frustrations, limitations, help us with code and with handling the pressure. And the colleagues I had, I have only love for them. They were all amazing, driven, empathetic, funny people. I miss them a lot. 

At one point, a crazy CEO with a biotech startup came into my bootcamp looking for developers. I really, really wanted that job, but they were not looking for juniors. I persisted, and at some point they sent me this crazy technical test in Groovy and Grails, that I had never heard of before. I managed, and not only because of my effort, but because my friends there, the TAs and some other staff members encouraged me so much. I felt so supported and so happy. If I had tried that alone, I would have given up. So yes, I got the job one week before my final project, and here I am, in a biotech startup in London as I wanted.

And all because I was there with that big 'family', where I was able to achieve way more than I could normally achieve. They make you believe in yourself, in your abilities. Also that has a special value if you are a woman in tech. They push you a lot, the contents are too much and you think you can not manage, but you feel so comfortable that you end up managing. You grow like crazy in such a short period of time you don't even believe it was possible. 

I can not guarantee that your experience there will be as fulfilling as mine. I consider myself extremely lucky with all the amazing people that converged in my cohort. But if you don't get a community as excellent, at least the technical knowledge you'll gather will be really solid and good. You'll gain or improve the abilities of sharing, helping, communicating, dealing with frustration, solving problems. And they really help you with intros and contacts if you want them, it shouldn't be too difficult to get a job after the bootcam. I even got one before finishing the bootcamp!

Before joining Ironhack I was working in a field where I'd a very stressful job but little money. I had my doubts about whether or not I'd be suitable for IT and designing digital experiences, as I had experience in traditional products and events. My first step into UX was a job interview, I applied for a UX Researcher position and got the interview! I loved the job and thought: "I definitely can do this!". Sadly, I didn't get the job due to lack of specific knowledge of the field (mostly tools, techniques, methodologies and vocabulary). Right away I maid the desition of joining the Bootcamp, a shortcut to get a well-paid job that I really liked. 

One week after starting the UX Bootcamp I thought to myself: "Now, I'd definitely get the job!". I learned everything about design thinking, lean & agile methodologies, how to craft a UX Strategy and deliver a meaningful UI, always taking a user-centered approach to problem-solving and product design. 

Ironhack's staff and the teachers' board were beyond generous to help me achieve my goal, getting my first job in IT and becoming a Digital product creator. I even moved from Madrid to Barcelona and could enjoy career service in either Campus. I got a job during week 6 due to my modest front-end abilities and eagerness to learn more. My classmates are still friends, we try to stay in touch and inspire one another, share job opportunities and help us continue learning. 

Now I can say I'm fully immersed in IT, have a better-paid job and can see my career evolution in this field. Ironhack gave both technical skills I lacked, coached me in soft skills and offered a great network to start making my way. 

Absolutely recommend this course if you're looking for an effective change in the Design Field. 

• What was the most important skill you learned through Ironhack's course?

  Fast-learning skill and evolving through different languages and interfaces

• How was your instructor?

  All of them were very patient and explained based on their experience in the 'real world'

• How would you describe the Ironhack staff?

  Simply the best, did everything they could to make us feel comfortable

• How was the classroom environment?

  I was part of one of the most enthusiastic cohorts with lot of friendship and unity

• Overall, how has this experience impacted your career?

  Open new horizons that I didn't know they even existed

• How was your career placements experience?

It is still very active and dynamic, with different opportunities ever week

I attended the Ironhack Part-time Web Development Bootcamp in Madrid. An intense 6-month zero-to-hero program for anyone wanting to open their mind to the exciting world of web development.

My initial knowledge of the technology stack in the curriculum was basically null, but I was starting a position as Software Engineer at an up-and-coming startup in Madrid, and I needed to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. Ironhack proved to be just the right thing for me. For the sake of organizing the review, I'd like to split it in three parts: the Curriculum, the Experience, and the Staff.

1. The Curriculum
I do not want to get too deep into this because it has changed quite a bit since I did the course. My class was the last of the Ruby on Rails Generation. Nonetheless, the course was generic and conceptual enough that using other technologies, such as Node.js in my case at work, proved to be quite easy. They have since changed their curriculum to Node.js, which is a great idea in my opinion. You will come out having a broad enough knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript to be able to tackle the coolest web-dev projects you find on Github and, as well as a great notion on working with databases. You will definitely have the skillset necessary to build your own projects from scratch as well. I think the best way to define the learning process at Ironhack is that you gain the ability to explore and master the tools you need to build a web application. The stack they may use is no limiting factor.  In essence, you get the wings you need to fly on your own through the web-dev universe.

2. The Experience
It's intense. Even the part-time  plan is challenging and demanding. For 6 months you will have to be strongly committed to the course, because how much you learn will depende entirely on you. Ironhack will provide the tools you need to get as far as you want to go, but the effort has to be there. The pacing is neither too fast, nor too slow, although you do have to work at home a bit if you want to keep up. If you come from a totally different background, or are writing your first lines of code, you'll probably need to work harder than people who are more familiar with code. But fear not, you will have awesome support from your classmates and teachers.  You will be spending two days from 18 to 21, and Saturdays from 9 to 17 at Ironhack, so be prepared. Balancing the course with a full time job and your personal life is definitely possible, but you will certainly need the willpower to do it. The structure has changed since I did the course, I believe now it is more project based (three projects in total), and at the end you get to share your creations with your mates and with people from all over the community that come to the Hackshow. 

3. The community
This is, in my opinion, the greatest value in Ironhack. You will make great friends with your teachers, you will make great friends with your classmates, and will live an amazing experience carefully crafted by the entirety of the Ironhack team. You will be connected to the community before, during and after the course. There will be lunches, dinners, parties, hackshows, hackathons, talks and so much more to make the Ironhack experience that much more enriching. Every member of the Ironhack family, not just the teachers, is there to make the most of the program for the students, and it really shows. Also the space they have in Madrid is beautiful, making it a pleasure to go there work and spend time.

Overall a great experience that I thoroughly recommend to anyone that want to dig into the world of app-building - whether you are thinking of a cool project, want a career change, or work in product and want to understand what the devs at your work do. Ironhack is sure to satisfy your curiosity.

 

I found Ironhack about 6 months after finishing undergrad. At the time, I was preparing to go to law school, but once I realized it wasn’t the right fit I had to re-group and figure out my next steps. I was working a very boring job in retail for about 8 months before Ironhack, so obviously I was eager to get started.

I did a ton of research before committing. Needless to say, for many prospective students it can be daunting to put a pause on your career to take a risk on a bootcamp that may or may not live up to your expectations. In my first two rounds of interviews, Alia and Marisa immediately quelled these anxieties. The amount of care that the Ironhack staff puts into each cohort is unrivaled. Something I really admire about them is that they’re always working to improve the next cohort based on what they learned from the last group.

The course was split up into the steps of the design thinking process, with a new instructor each week. 1 design sprint, 1 group project and 2 solo projects. This stood out to me in comparison to other design programs because it gives you the opportunity to show off the work you can do on your own as well as what you can contribute to a team. At one point you’ll be working on two projects at once (group and individual), but it’s very manageable. (My advice would be to document everything along the way via Medium posts so that you’re not scrambling at the end to put together your portfolio.) Our TA Horacio was always available to help us through any road blocks we hit along the way. Your cohort will be your greatest support system and will challenge you to work harder and smarter.

For hiring week, Brito gave us a choice of 15 employers to interview with. It’s up to you to choose the companies you want to sit down with, but I would highly recommend interviewing with as many as possible. Not because you’ll get a job out of the hiring fair, but because the interview practice you’ll get is an invaluable experience. Don’t worry about wasting the time of employers that you’re not serious about because several of the companies that came in during our hiring fair immediately told us they weren’t hiring. Regardless, the experience made me a pro at interviewing and gave me the confidence I needed to succeed in my interviews that followed.

Even if you don’t get hired immediately, Brito makes it his mission to get you a job. I really appreciated all his support and advice throughout the job search process. He’ll help you through the gritty details of negotiating offers, writing follow up emails, and anything else you need to know along the way. He’s an invaluable resource, listen to him!

I got hired 3 weeks after my program ended. I couldn’t have done it without the support and care of Alia, Marisa, Danny, Brito, Horacio, and the rest of the amazing staff, instructors, and TAs at Ironhack. That said, you will not get a job just by taking this course. Work hard and listen to the advice from Brito, your instructors, your mentors, and even your classmates.

“If you’re empathetic by nature, and you have a head for problem solving, along with a thorough understanding of general design principles and processes, a healthy combination of functional and aesthetic sensibilities, a willingness to learn, and you enjoy the work, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t quit your shit job as soon as possible, so that you might do what you were really born to do.” X

 As a sophomore college student pursuing a Computer Science degree, I joined Ironhack with the purpose of fast-forwarding my start as a programmer, and that way I would get some real experience while finishing school. The course was really intense. Every class we would go over a different topic, but first half an hr of class was dedicated to go over the homework, and at the end of each module (the course was divided into 3 modules/units), we would have a review of the whole unit and a project in which we would implement what we learned. The Ironhack staff is the nicest! They are friendly, with a great energy, and encourage you to success! Building facilities were great! They're 24/7 open, so during project week my classmates and I would stay until very late coding and helping each other, and we as a group got really together, even though our cohort finished almost 2 months ago, we still stay in contact! The people you meet here are truly special, full of drive, and seeing all of them working full-time jobs, studying and barely sleeping staying coding after midnight is really inspiring. Our TA Nick was THE BEST! There's one day when he even slept over at Building just to help us with our projects! Brito, the Placement Manager was awesome! He helped us create our resumes and LinkedIn profiles, which is key when looking for jobs. In general, was an amazing experience, and would definitely do it all over again!