Le Wagon

6 years ago, I came to London to study at a University a course my parents picked for me. I didn’t enjoy it, in fact I hated it. After graduation I spent years trying to find a job in the field I studied without success. Before Le Wagon I had been hopping from one dead-end job to another, trying to find the right fit. Last year I decided it was time to make a big move and start a career. I’ve always been drawn to technology and found a new interest in AI development. I then came across Le Wagon coding bootcamp and instantly felt it was the right path to follow. It’s a super intense course, and I really struggled in the first 3 weeks with the basics. I started to question/regret my decision, but the team of highly skilled teachers and teaching assistants always reminded me to “trust the process”.
The more I heard this infamous quote the more I began to hate it. But then, in the 4th week it all ‘clicked’, and suddenly everything started to make sense. I was coding with less help from the teachers and felt smarter and empowered day by day. Finally, the project days came, where we were randomly allocated to form teams of 3-4 students. That’s when we utilised all of our new-found skills to create real web applications and deploy them on a server. For the final project, my team and I worked on a mental health support web application for students and teachers called Sammi (www.sammi.live). We created a fully functioning MVP in only 10 days! How crazy is that? After Demo Day, where we presented our app in front of circa 250 people at the Barbican Centre, we were given workshops on how to pimp our LinkedIn profiles and CV’s to boost our employability prospects. Trust me, I had a zero confidence in myself to find a job. They call it impostor syndrome. I was afraid due to prior experience with failed job interviews that I would never get a job. Six days later I had my first interview, and later that day they offered me the position. I started the next day and am currently working for a great start up. I’m still turning down interviews to this day, when just 3 months ago I couldn’t even get responses to my job applications, it’s nuts! 
I can’t recommend Le Wagon highly enough. It’s not just about the skills you get from the course. There’s also all the post course content, and life-time support from the entire community around the globe available to you anytime you need. But most importantly to me, it’s the life-lasting friendships I have made there. Those are priceless. I am forever grateful to you, for changing my life!
- David Belka

I came to Le Wagon to add coding to my skillset and find a job where I could use these skills. I heard of le Wagon from some friends that highly recommended it and wasn’t disappointed. In only 9 weeks I learned so much that I can confidently work as a full stack developer.   The bootcamp was great, in terms of learning as the program was well structured, linking well lectures and exercises but also as an experience as I met incredible people and had a lot of fun. The staff was very friendly and competent, the TA’s were also supportive whenever you had a problem and made things very easy to understand. Finally the project weeks were a fantastic way of linking everything that we learned into a real website. Working for 3 weeks with the same team, bonding and achieving two complete websites was very fulfilling. I generally recommend Le Wagon to anyone who would want to work in that area or generally interested and curious about coding.  

Before joining Le Wagon I worked at several start-ups in non-technical roles, I had always worked closely with the software developers and was intrigued by their work so inevitably I took the plunge to learn how to code for myself. I absolutely loved my time at Le Wagon and the intensity of the learning experience, it really was from zero coding knowledge to being able to build fully-functioning web apps.

The best part for me was the sense of satisfaction once ideas finally clicked into place and once the daily challenges had been completed. The teachers and teaching assistants were super patient and supportive and made the experience what it was, I feel very lucky to have had help from such talented teachers. I wish I could do the bootcamp all over again!

I took the chance on Le Wagon based on reviews like these and the inspiring mindset of the students and Lausanne Driver that I met at an event.  I was a truck driver looking to make a big change in career and had doubts that I would be taken seriously with just two months of courses but to my delight, Le Wagon gave me the tools I needed to succeed.

The course is extremely well-curated.  It is constantly updated to keep up with industry tech and best practices.  The emphasis on practical knowledge meant that I was developing the skills I needed in a professional setting from first day of the couse to the last... and beyond.

When I finished the course I decided to focus on incorporating Deep Learning into the skillset I had developed at Le Wagon.  Thanks to learning strategy and best practices ingrained in my in those 9 weeks I was able to go on learning on my own and only a few months later I have begun working on app development with a focus on Deep Learning at a startup here in Lausanne!

 

Thanks so much to the fellow students, the staff, and the ineffable Lausanne Driver Thibault for making this possible.

My name is Costin Dumitrescu and I just graduated from Le Wagon Coding Bootcamp. The past two months have changed me a lot on a personal plan. Besides the obvious which is that I can read and write code, make websites and do some web design, I grew up a lot on a personal level. It requires a lot of organization, motivation and the will to learn in order to make it to the end, but the satisfaction that comes when you see what are you able to do at the end of the nine weeks is incredible. At Le Wagon I have learned how to work with different people, organize myself and deal with situations that are not ideal (like in the corporate world when you do not like or agree with your colleague). There were many moments when I questioned myself if I understand the concepts and if yes, can I apply it after I graduate? The answer to all my doubts was " YES, YOU CAN, JUST TRUST THE PROCESS". This sentence that the teachers and staff are constantly repeating it is true. I could not believe it until later on when I did the first project and realized that I did it (not alone, with help from colleagues and teachers, but I finally connected the dots and understood the code and how the project was built). I would recommend to anyone to go to this Bootcamp because of the amazing worldwide community, awesome teachers and staff, and well-structured course.

Before my experience in Le Wagon Paris. I was studying in a Communication School, ISCOM. I graduated with a UX Design Master degree this year however I’ve always enjoyed learning design and code. During my studies, I worked on many projects with my friends for fun : designing interfaces with only HTML/CSS, creating components with Sketch (not Figma yet) and exploring during hours Bechance, Dribbble and many other websites.
During my last years in school, I had UX Design courses but never had the opportunity to practice how I wished. I was really frustrated and I told my friend “Why are we not working on concrete projects ? With interfaces, wireframes ... ?” However, I continued to learn code and design by myself. Then, I started my own communication agency, “MAKY”. One of my services is to create a website by using Wordpress. However, over time I realised that I had limitations due to my lack of skills in coding.That’s why I started to learn how to code and because I had always wanted to be a Webdesigner. I had always been attracted to beautiful colors, interfaces, components and all the graphic universe of a website. I got solid bases on standard languages : HTML/CSS and a bit of Javascript. But I had never learned how to create a web application like Airbnb, Uber … So, I promised myself that when I graduate, I would learn how to create a web application from scratch, the perfect solution for me was Le Wagon Paris. Le Wagon is famous for being the best coding bootcamp in the world.And I’m very happy with my decision. I really enjoyed the weeks I spent there, the courses, the environment and the teachers were amazing ! I strengthened my skills and gained new ones : manipulate a database, make a git command, write a script in Ruby, create a repository in GitHub, design wireframes & prototyping which was my favorite part ! Thanks to this intensive bootcamp, I’m now able to respond to a growing demand from my clients, create a web application from scratch. I hope these new skills will help my agency reach another level. I also have other entrepreneurial projects around web applications. You will definitely hear about me really soon !

Freshly graduated in business engineering and marketing, I joined the French tech a few years ago with a focus on growth marketing. I quickly grew frustrated by my limited knowledge of web development and decided to challenge myself by expanding my growth hacking skills with Le Wagon.
I started with basic knowledge in SQL, HTML, and Python but most importantly a furious need to build stuff by myself!

After only 9 weeks, thanks to an INCREDIBLE staff and fantastic teaching, not only have I learned coding in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, and Ruby on Rails but I also grasped the main concerns and constraints of IT & Product teams.
I am now capable of building my own projects from design to hosting and this represents a huge asset for anyone who wants to work in tech companies.

Now, the only issue I have is to choose among all the different opportunities of career paths opened by LeWagon!

My name is Cedrik Razafimanantsoa and I successfully completed the Bootcamp at Le Wagon Paris on December 2019, batch 320.

Before Le Wagon, I worked as French Community Manager for World of Warcraft and other games at Blizzard Entertainment for 9 years. I worked with Html and CSS regularly, but I never learnt how to build a website from scratch.

Last year I decided to do a reconversion as a web developer and I looked for advice. An experienced web developer at Blizzard pointed me to Le Wagon, as he did a similar bootcamp years ago. He convinced me this was the best place to learn coding and I am now convinced it was a very good choice.

With the knowledge I acquired there, I have the feeling that a new career is possible for me. I am also confident that I can continue my learning on my own, to hone my coding skills and to learn new technics. Having Web developer skills is a perfect complement to my experience as community manager.

After getting an MFA in Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris, I started developing personal projects while working as a registrar in galleries and museums in Paris. I then became a trainer for TechShop Paris, a fablab based in Station F, teaching laser-cutting, 3D-printing and CNC-embroidery for 2 years. All this time, I tried to learn some code for both professional and personal projects, but without really controlling what the output would be.. I learned bits of Java for an Android App and some parts of Python for a facial recognition-based art installation. 

 

In 2019, I took the decision to enroll to Le Wagon, Paris and learn Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Javascript, HTML and CSS. The nine weeks program was intense and fast-paced. My mind went from “OMG I’m never gonna finish this alive” to “Ha ! That was (sort of) easy !”. Only three weeks after getting certified, I started working for the French State Startup program, developing a full platform in Rails for one of them !

After my engineering studies and during my 6-year experience of Quality Assurance in Construction, my career was mostly management-oriented. I felt frustrated at times for things that I was unable to do with an Excel sheet, or when, due to a lack of a database, different departments did not spread information correctly.

Long story short, I wanted to learn more about web app conception after realizing the technical limitations in a large organization taking care of major projects. I heard about Le Wagon at this time of my career when I needed some change, and now that I attended, I still cannot believe how well organized and benevolent the staff was, and how much I have learned in less than 3 months. The group of students was of diverse background, but all bonded over the excitement of learning to code. I chose to be a freelance developer during the bootcamp,  which I can only recommend!

Before I joined in LeWagon, I used to work in a hedge fund as an analyst. Witnessing all the successes happened in the technology industry made me want to take part in building new things. Joined in Le Wagon coding bootcamp is the best decision I've made in 2019. I tried online courses before,it's hard to make consistent progress. And when I got stuck, it's hard to solve the problems. The curriculum framework of Le Wagon was well designed. Morning lectures were just one and half hour, the other time of the day was full of challenges which helped us to use what we learned. It's quite difficult when I tried to solve the challenge by myself. But when you have more chance to make mistakes which means you have more chance to really understand what you're learning. These challenges helped me to build a good habit to think in a programmer's way. We had plenty of chances to practice building products in teams. This special part helped us to learn not only coding skills but also how to cooperate with team members. It feels so good to see my own idea became a real product. In our batch, I was the only student who had no oversea experience. That means I've never worked or studied in an English speaking environment. At the beginning, I was quite nervous. But with the unconditional support from our teachers, TAs, and classmates, I could always find a way to solve my problems or obstacles. To my surprise, all of those supports didn't end after I graduated. Le Wagon helped us to set up goals after the bootcamp. And offer tremendous resources for further study or job seeking. The alumni community is so amazing! This is the best environment to start your coding journey!Hope more and more fabulous people join in our big family!