Ironhack

I joined the first edition of the UX/UI Design Bootcamp in Madrid to give my career a new direction within the design world (I have a background in graphic design). The school fulfilled the education I was looking for in terms of knowledge, time and results (career support). It has been a challenging experience, but one I can say I am happy of having achieved. The course sets a strong foundation that anyone working in UX and UI design should know. It is varied, dynamic and demanding. It teaches you to be self-sufficient in a professional world, like this one, that is constantly evolving, in which you have to learn new things—almost—everyday.

Ironhack changed my life in a very positive way, I used to work as a server for a variety of restaurants in Miami and after graduating from the cohort I landed a paid internship for the leading IT company in the travel industry.

Even thought we were the first UX/UI cohort ever I found very valuable material, the environment was great as well as staff members.

In terms of job hunting, I believe that depends on each person aptitude and how they use this new skill to upgrade and add value to a new company.

Disclaimer: I currently work for Ironhack

Why & How

Before Ironhack I was a kitchen worker, albeit not by choice. I had always been a gamer, tinkerer, and someone that could generally figure out electronics, but I found myself working a job I didn't really like, for pay that I knew was below me (sorry kitchen workers, it's below everyone).

I began my journey by attending a local Pittsburgh school (where I resided previously), studying software development. After taking a host of prerequisite courses, I finally had one online coding class scheduled in after a semester full of speech, philosophy, and biology. Much to my dismay, it was outdated; generally not that well put together; and taught me no valuable skills related to the field, which I can now objectively say as I'm in it.

Fortunately, somewhere in that first semester of college, a family member told me about a radio show on NPR that mentioned coding bootcamps. As that second miserable semester and job-related stress began to grow, the idea seemed more and more like it should be a reality. I began looking into schools with none other than course report.

At the time in Miami, Ironhack was brand new, although they were an established brand in Madrid & Barcelona. There was another coding school in the area, but they lacked the international credentials and reviews from previous students that would allow me to feel comfortable in putting down a significant amount of money, move to another state, and restart my life. After the course, and being a part of the Miami tech scene, I can say that this was great intuition and am very happy with that decision.

The People

Ironhack from the start was unbelievably helpful. At the time, the team was very small, but I always had the opportunity to be in direct contact with the co-founder; Ariel.

Ariel is an impressive co-founder and found a way to avoid the bad bits of Miami tech. At Ironhack, the people you will graduate with, be mentored by, and listen to as guest speakers are the top of the top.  This is also reflected in the people he hires.

Nizar, the head instructor, is a legend amongst Ironhackers and this isn't without warrant. He's an incredibly patient, talented teacher and developer. This is an incredibly rare combination. Often times in traditional schools (in my experience) you will encounter good coders who just don't have the ability to teach. This is why so many people think they can't code coming out of school. From interview to graduation, and beyond, Nizar is a rockstar.

The Course 

The interview process was a bit nerve wracking, as most interviews are; but if you follow directions, put in the work to study, and really want to change your life you will succeed. You will be expected to learn a few coding topics relatively quickly, and then be tested on it.

The course itself is more than likely unlike most academic experiences you've taken part in.

Often times in school, you'll be introduced to facts and then be expected to memorize them. Once these facts are memorized, you'll spit them back out onto a quiz, and some person in the ivory tower gives you a piece of paper that says you're smart. 

This mentality is busted in development, and Ironhack's curriculum reflects that. You will be introduced to topics, given examples and the opportunity to ask questions, and then it's off to the races. You will build something. This is the X factor that online platforms such as codeacademy, treehouse, and others are missing. This is what propels you to be a quality developer. Building Things.

There are no easy A's. You're judged on what you build. That is life as a developer.

My Advice

If you aren't happy with the way things are, change it. Do your due dilligence, sift through reviews, and call each bootcamp. I did this, I can say at this point based off of my skills and quality of life that I made the correct decision.

Hey! My name is Oleh Kolinko, I am born and raised in Ukraine. Also I am a recent graduate of IronHack and now I am full time web application developer. If you are reading this review you probably want to change something in your life, considering to attend this bootcamp and debating if it is worth it or not? Is it the right school for you? I was in your shoes and after graduation I can say 100% confident that going to Ironhack was one of the best decisions that I made in my life! The most important investment you can make is in yourself. 

Before IronHack I studied two years in University majoring in Computer Science and I dropped out. I was working regular jobs, but I always was interested in technology so I started learning how to code on my own. It's a great way to start but If you want make into a career It's much easier with a real mentor and help from professionals. Compared to my University IronHack teaching the latest trending technology like MEAN stack and that's exactly what employers are looking for.  

Learning process: your everyday routine will be starting with lectures and after more importantly - practice. You do some exercises in pairs and then individually. Lead instructor is Nizar - absolutely great teacher! He really knows what he is talking about and excellent with explaining, giving analogy examples to simplify things, and ready to help when you struggle. During lectures you can ask any question at any time. In class you will code along with instructor, there will be frequent stops where both Nizar and TA will make sure nobody is falling behind and everybody is on the same page. All staff is really friendly, cool and ready to help you. You can find yourself joking around with Ariel before you find out that he is actually co-founder. 

I liked project weeks the most, that's where you apply everything you learned and build your own application. You come up with an idea, design database structure and app architecture. I learned how to manage your project and your time (you have to meet deadline) along with public speaking skills (presenting your project). In reward:  You will get portfolio with 3 projects that will easily separate you from University grads and show employers that you actually can build fully working apps.

Your classmates will become your friends. You can find people with similar mindset and passion to create. Even having a full time job I am still working on side projects with people I met during IronHack. Also I moved in with two classmates, we extended our learning outside IronHack by helping each other after school and we became really great friends! Try to move in with somebody from your course, you will thank me later.

What can I say about job searching? - Shortly, I had two job offers just in two weeks after graduation. They have a designated man that works full time to make sure you get hired - Daniel Brito (placement manager). He knows almost everybody in MIami tech ecosystem and will introduce you to those who are hiring. You are going to learn with him how to be a real job hunter and how to crush the interviews. He can give you some additional personal advises and will be helping you even after graduation.

Sounds great right, but what's the catch? It's hard. If you are just looking for easy money that developers earn you are knocking at the wrong door. Course is intense and it's only begining, you will have to work hard to be successful. The most important skill that you need to learn is how to learn, how to be resourceful. On my job we use different tools than IronHack and you need to be ready for that. Be a coder means that you will have to learn all the time even after the course because there will be always new framework or new tool that just came out and you have to learn it. If you want to become a developer you have to love coding and be passionate about tech world. If you don't know if you will like it at all try free online courses like CodeAcademy.com

Hace poco, en el último Hackshow de Ironhack, comentaba con más ex compañeros la cantidad de mensajes que me llegan por Linkedin pidiendo referencias sobre los bootcamps. Lógicamente la gente quiere informarse antes de hacer una inversión tan grande, pero mi respuesta es siempre la misma... si pudiera, lo volvería a hacer. Que ni se lo piensen porque lo que se llevan es algo que no se paga.

Con el paso del tiempo, este tipo de mensajes se han convertido un poco en una rutina y las respuestas han pasado a ser algo más o menos del mismo estilo, pongo un ejemplo:

“Hola *Nombre del interesad@* 

Encantado de conocerte y de poder ayudarte.

Te cuento un poco mi background por si te sirve de ayuda. Se que hay mucha gente con mi mismo recorrido que tiene las mismas dudas que he tenido yo antes. Por eso todo lo que pueda aclarar mejor. Antes de empezar el bootcamp, estaba buscando hacer algo así como un "curso de reciclaje". Vengo del mundo de la dirección de arte de publicidad, tenía mi propio estudio con un socio y cada vez más eran los clientes que venían pidiéndonos webs y aplicaciones de móvil. Cuando esto pasaba ya hacía un trabajo bastante grande de investigación, de organización de información, etc...Pero no tenía ni idea que eso tenía un nombre: Experiencia de Usuario. Fue así como un programador con el que trabajaba el que me dijo que por qué no me formaba un poco más sobre eso... Y aquí es donde entra Ironhack.

Ahora te cuento sobre Ironhack: sólo puedo decir maravillas. Es una escuela en la que te ponen a trabajar desde el minuto 0, es algo muy muy muy intenso, tanto para bien como para mal... todas las experiencias se magnifican mientras estás allí. Si de verdad quieres aprovechar el curso, cuantas más horas estés allí dentro y empapándote de todo lo que te rodea, mejor. Las dudas que te puedan surgir durante el curso, es más probable que las puedas resolver estando allí que en tu casa, bien con un profesor o con otro compañero. Incluso estás más pendiente de las oportunidades, estando en tu casa no te enteras de esas cosas. Nadie va a ir a tu casa y te va a ofrecer un trabajo, o te va a presentar a alguien que trabaje en alguna de las StartUps más punteras.

Yo me pasaba de media unas 11 o 12 horas todos los días allí... y es que aquí viene la segunda parte, que creo que es otro de los fuertes de la escuela: la comunidad. Conoces a muchísima gente tanto de contactos de profesores como de antiguos alumnos. Ese tema lo cuidan mucho, a los exalumnos nos hacen partícipes de todos los avances de la escuela, nos involucran mucho a la hora de ayudar a los nuevos alumnos.

Pero al final lo importante, conseguir trabajo. Aparte de que se preocupan un montón por tus avances, tus proyectos, tu portfolio, de ponerte en contacto con gente en las empresas...A parte de todo eso, hay muchos curros que salen de los contactos que haces allí, de esa comunidad que te comentaba. Mi actual trabajo salió de contactos de Ironhack... y me llegan bastantes ofertas a través de gente que conocí por allí (cerveceo de los viernes, eventos, charlas, Hackshows, etc.).

En cuanto a los conocimientos previos sobre diseño... de eso ni te preocupes. El mundo UX es mucho más amplio de lo que parece. No supone sólo el pintar pantallas como la gente cree (eso es sólo una parte pequeña del UI). En la Experiencia de Usuario hay espacio para todos, lo importante es aprender a pensar como un usuario, empatizar y saber medir todas esas necesidades que pudiera tener para aplicarlo al entorno digital. He tenido compañeros que eran arquitectos, gente de marketing, programadores, diseñadores, emprendedores, etc. Y todos encajábamos en algún punto de todo el proceso del diseño. Como curiosidad decirte que entré atraído (supongo que como todos los que tenemos un background más visual) por el tema de diseño de interfaces y acabé saliendo completamente enamorado de la arquitectura de la información...

Cualquier duda que tengas, por favor, no dudes en escribirme para lo que quieras. Estaré encantado de ayudarte e incluso enseñarte un día las clases y toda la gente (la familia) que trabaja por ahí.

Un saludo. “

La verdad es que es algo que es difícil explicar si no entras y se comprueba de primera mano. Lógicamente no todo el mundo está hecho para Ironhack, su ambiente y su ritmo intenso, pero sí el 95% de la gente que entra, creo que son gente que opina como yo. Merece la pena y es algo que ha marcado un antes y un después en nuestra carrera profesional (y probablemente en lo personal también).

The Ironhack UX/UI Design program was a great experience - one that led to the development of a solid skill set in all aspects user-experience design including user research, interface design, font-end development, design facilitation/implementation. 

The cohort was full of dedicated individuals who devoted 10 full weeks to becoming experience designers and this was one of the most amazing aspects of the course - the people were all amazing and possessed an incredible amount of passion and drive. That - in addition the amazing instructors who brought significant real world experience and the incredible academic environment at Building.co - made this a one of a kind experience that facilitated my growth as a designer. 

The Ironhack UX/UI curriculum established an epic foundation in user-centered design which combined with the experience that the instructors provided and the real world applications that were built into the program as well as career development opportunities not only led to a position as a User Experience Designer within weeks of graduation from the program, but also to the founding of a UX design agency with several classmates from my cohort. 

If you are looking to begin a career as a UX designer, looking to make a career shift, or trying to build a foundation in user-centric design principles to apply to the work that you are already doing, then I would highly recommend checking out Ironhack's UX/UI design program. If you are dedicated enough and apply the skills learned throughout the program this is the place for you. Check it out :D

Let me start this review by saying that I was between in a rock and a hard place in regards to my career before finding Iron Hack. I have always been a creative person that has a passion for technology and learning but I found myself unsatisfied with my prior career path, I beleive that I should be passionate and love what I do.

A close friend of mine put me onto Iron Hack, once I looked up what the UX/UI Design bootcamp could do for me I was extremely intrigued and reached out to Iron Hack to apply. Right away I was made to feel at home by the Iron Hack staff. Alia Poonawala, the director of admissions and one for the nicest people I've ever met, guided me through the admissions process and solidified my belief that I had made the right choice.

Once class began I was introduced to the whole Iron Hack staff who are all incredible people! What I learned in class was everything I had dreamed about and more. We learned the whole UX/UI process and I finally felt like I had made the correct career choice. Our instructors Joel Mena and Jaclyn Levi, both professionals working in the UX/UI field, were extremely knowledgable and did a great job of teaching us the material. Having someone who works in the field as an instructor was fantastic as they both taught us and gave us invaluable advice about the UX/UI field.

I would be remissed if I did not mention our TA, Eugy Alliegro. Iron Hack provides each cohort with at least one TA who is there to help guide us along the way and give feedback. Eugy was a TREMENDOUS help and was a key componant to myself and all of my classmates learning the material and becoming UX/UI designers.

For me, having a great time learning in an incredible environment (the Iron Hack workspace is BEAUTIFUL) was enough to be happy. Where Iron Hack went above and beyond was in helping me find a job once I graduated. Daniel Brito, the placement manager, is a rockstar! Daniel (or Brito as we call him) was in our ears about what we needed to do in order to gain traction in the tech community from day one. He is someone that deaply cares about the students and does everything in his power to place us once graduated. Brito's hard work and guidence helped me land a job right after I graduated from Iron Hack!

Overall, I am extremely happy with the choice I made to change career paths and do so with the help of Iron Hack. I reccomend that anyone who is in a similar place that I was at to reach out and join Iron Hack, it'll be the best decision that you'll ever make! 

After finishing my degree In Business Administration 2 years ago, I worked at a Financial Modeling Startup, building business models for various tech startups. But I was intrigue to learn programming. A friend of mine recommended me Ironhack's Web Development Bootcamp and I signed up for it.

I never imagined I could learn so much in so little time. It was the most productive period of my life. I had almost no knowledge about programming but the bootcamp is structured so you can keep up the pace. The days are long and exhaustive but the passion keeps you going. I also learned to manage my time, teach myself and do research on my own. Ironhack has also a great community behind! They organize different meetups where you meet a lot of people from the tech community as well as the fast-growing Ironhack alumni network I am proudly a part of!  I would recommend it to anyone!

I finished the Bootcamp knowing how to build a webpage from the start! And I keep learning new things everyday. Although I love programming, and I am currently working as a developer for an online poker school, I love the tech sector in general. I realize I also want to keep developing my business skills, so I am shifting to a tech consultancy firm. More than ever it is required for everyone to have programming skills in almost every sector. And Ironhack is the best place to learn them!

Why I joined Ironhack

After finishing Mechanical Engineering school, I interned at a financial institution in a position related to the world of technology. I had a revelation: there is no skipping the technical skills if you want to stay relevant in the world of tomorrow. Bridging the gap between any discipline (mechanical engineering or finance in my case) and tech is among the best values that an employee can bring to any organisation. When I received a full-time offer with a 6-month gap period, I knew I wanted to do the IronHack before joining.

The experience

I was part of the the Jan 2017 Madrid web-dev full time bootcamp. IronHack’s premise is that after three months you can go from squat to entry-level programmer. This was not my goal but my expectations were still high. My aim was to gain skills that would allow me to bootstrap a project more easily. And I can honestly say that IronHack surpassed all my expectations.

Ironhack is nothing like your University experience. It’s a super-intense, hands-on experience that merges learning, doing, building and networking. A typical day would start with lectures in the morning, exercises in the afternoon, followed by a seminar by Alvaro on personal branding, back to exercises in the evening and finally beers to power through the early night. The teachers are always available and willing to help, and the class soon turns into a group of very close friends. As for the learning experience, unbound by the constraints of traditional universities, IronHack can morph its curriculum on the go to keep up with the latest demands of the market, giving you the tools to keep on learning beyond and after the course.

Overall my experience at IronHack was very positive. I think of it as the perfect complement to an undergraduate degree in any field, opening the door to a world of new possibilities. And most importantly, it was incredibly fun!

After Ironhack

I wouldn’t say my life has been completely turned around, but I would retake the course a thousand times. I will now join my firm equipped with a whole new array of relevant expertise. I also plan to continue developing my final IronHack project, called I don’t take money.

I started the Ironhack Web Development Bootcamp in Madrid in January 2017. I graduated in Law the year before and wanted to do something different with my life. I started to learn programation on my own with Codecademy and some other tutorials. After a few months, even though I realized that I could teach myself a lot, I still had no idea about how to launch myself into a developper career.
It feels really good to think that it was only a few months ago and that I'm now writing this review from my new job office.

I'm French and I came in Spain only to do the bootcamp. It wasn't an easy decision to invest all that money and that time. That's why I take the time to write an honest review of my experience. Reading student reviews helped me to take my decision, and I feel grateful to the people who took the time to write one. Besides, I heard that Ironhack is now launching in Paris and I really want to be a part of the french Ironhackers community :)

Basically, I started the bootcamp with little knowledge in HTML, CSS and Javascript. In only two months, Ironhack turned me into a Junior FullStack Developper.

When I started my new job a few weeks ago, I was able to deliver something , and that felt good. Ironhack taught how to learn what I don't know and how to collaborate with a team.  That means that from the beginning, the level will be really demanding (even the best student in my cohort would agree with that!). Days are usually 10-12 hours long.

In my case, we had a new teacher every week to teach us a module. They all have a deep knowledge of what they teach and a real understanding of the professionals needs (since all of them work as developpers). So every morning you'll a have class with the teacher, and every afternoon you'll put it in practice with an individual exercise and pair programming. That's probably the key of that bootcamp, a huge amount of practice. The teacher assistants, the most patient, dedicated, nice and skilled people you'll ever meet (really, where do they find them?) will help you to accomplish what will often seem impossible.

You'll code real projects. In my bootcamp, everyone made a game after two weeks (and some of them were quite impressive). We also made two websites: the first was to sharpen our back-end skills and the last one was a complete application using Node & Angular 2. In my case, I realized a project for a Madrid's Startup that is now a finalist in a local contest.

At the end of the bootcamp, Ironhack team presented us to 20 companies from the local scene. Being able of showing real projects is certainly what made that many of us found a job then, and that Ironhack hiring rate is so high. In a broader scale, Ironhack's success comes certainly from its high sense of community (you'll quickly learn about the Ironbeers;). I mean that in my bootcamp I had a great time with the other students and we still party together. In that matter, Ironhack definitely has spanish DNA. But it's more than that. In my case, Ironhack organized events where I got to meet people from the most interesting Startups in Madrid.

I have no doubt that Ironhack Paris will be as good (if not better) than in the other cities. If you have any question, I'll be happy to answer it!
 

I recently graduated from Ironhack's full-time Web Development Bootcamp in Miami, and have them to thank for my new position as a JavaScript developer. Above all else, Ironhack taught me how to work through errors when I encounter them, and where to find the information I need when dealing with new technologies. I had the pleasure of learning under the instruction of Nizar Khalife Iglesias, and attribute my success thus far to him and our T.A. Ariel Deschapell. Nizar is incredibly patient, and his knowledge of the subject material is impressive. Ariel is equally patient, and was an excellent resource when I needed guidance. As a whole, the Ironhack staff went above and beyond with any request I brought to them, and were always easily accessible. The classroom environment allowed me to build long-term friendships and experience teamwork in the context of software development. Throughout the duration of the bootcamp and after its conclusion, Ironhack's Placements Manager, Daniel Brito, committed himself to helping me launch my career. Daniel sacrificed tremendous time and effort to both teach me how to job-hunt, and generate leads for me to pursue. He delivered on every commitment he made, and exceeded all of my expectations. My career, my livelihood, and my family have reaped amazing benefits from my time at Ironhack.

Thanks to Ironhack, I was hired by my dream company, Valley Forge Fabrics, one week after they interviewed me at my cohort's January Hiring Fair.

Brito works very hard with what you give him to find you a great fit. I had ten years of web design and front end under my belt, which certainly helped, but I had applied to VFF online two weeks prior and was rejected. Having that opportunity to meet face to face with the Digital Marketing Media Director completely changed my life for the better.