Le Wagon

Before Le Wagon, I spent 3 years as a business developer in a tech startup. I was so frustrated to not understand the tech team, and kind of shocked about the lack of communication between these two key teams. So I decided to integrate the bootcamp thanks to many good reviews of former “wagoners”.

I definitely recommend it. I was so impressed about the quality of the content and of the team! I was not really the most skilled student, but the teaching skills of the teachers is so strong that I now know how to build a website from scratch (the back-end, the database architecture and the design) as well as notions of product management.

Last but not least, I feel like Le wagon never ends, thanks to the strong community you join!

Thanks again for this amazing experience!

Le Wagon is so far the best choice I've made. Before this amazing bootcamp, I was part of the investment team of a deep tech VC. I was very frustrated to do not clearly understand many technologies, like software or developer-related tech. During these intensive but incredible 9 weeks, I learnt how to build a website from scratch (the back-end, the database architecture and the design) as well as few important notions of product management. The program is perfectly structured, allowing you to meet a lot of people from diverse backgrounds. 

It will now allow me to apply to tech-oriented companies as a developer or even a product manager 

Trust the process! I strongly recommend it.

Coming from a business background, I always was interested in 'how' the products we would use were built. I was intrigued enough to start learning through online platforms such as Codecademy and freeCodeCamp. After some months of practice, I reached a plateau and realized I needed help in taking my skills to the next level. I knew of Le Wagon because of their community involvement where I live, so I decided to take the chance and quit my job to dedicate 100% to this new challenge. It turned out to be a great and intensive experience where I learnt million things I never expected to. You have to keep up with the fast pace, but the teachers, the team and the supportive culture make the best of your capacities. On the technical side, you get life-access to their platform with continuous improvement of content and tools. But, also you get to learn soft skills such as presentation, communication and team work. I highly recommend Le Wagon bootcamp to anyone wanting to switch careers into web dev, but also for product management or freelancing. The curriculum is solid, the team is great and super friendly, and the experience is empowering and life-changing. Only tip I can give: do your prep work several times if needed, until you master the concepts. Have fun, take it seriously and commit 100% of your soul, and your life won't be the same afterwards. Sky is the limit! 

Le Wagon is the perfect place to go to if you want to change your career path towards tech environment.

I'm a former strategy consultant, data-passionate and with an engineering background. I always had this frustration of not being able to code by myself because I lacked time, it wasn't the focus of my previous jobs or I didn't know from where to start to learn coding.
6 months ago, I left my job with the desire to launch my own company in data analytics. I joined last batch of le Wagon from April to June in Paris in order to 1) learn to code, gain tech skills, 2) meet new people and 3) launch my entrepreneur career.

1. Learning to code: it's an intensive 9 weeks-program, where every day is a new concept, a new jump within your coding knowledge. In 9 weeks, you'll know exactly how to use Ruby and Rails framework, the backbone of your coding skills. Then, you'll see efficiently every potential feature you could be implementing in a web site (building APIs, mailing, search engine etc.). What makes the program incredible: staff excellence and an exceptional e-learning platform which aggregates learning documents with last best practices you'll keep for life.
2. Meeting new people: Le Wagon is an intensive program for each individual. However, you're not alone, 30-40 peers will share same issues with you. Peer-programming and team-programming is also what makes the program so close from company-life conditions. Also, people's background diversity opens up your mind to new ideas or different technology point of views.
3. Launching my entrepreneur career: on top of the program, Le Wagon is an extraordinary community of alumni. More than 5,000 alumni from around the world are always here to help other wagoners with their company ideas, career choices or coding issues. I personally found there a great community to discuss with. On tech feasibility of some of my startup ideas or contacts to make your idea grow until it gets done. Finally, I joined a young startup in data analytics from Le Wagon environment. 

In few words, Le Wagon is the best choice I could make for my entrepreneur career. If you're passionate about tech, don't hesitate, it worths the investment in time and money.

So at the end of my classical business administration degree I felt lost. I majored in finance and accounting and after I did an internship in auditing I knew that this was not for me. When my college program came to an end, I fortunately had the opportunity to do an internship in product management. However, just collaborating with developers was not enough for me, even though that was a very enjoyable experience - I wanted to learn to build stuff myself!
I talked to a lot of people and the overall message I got was: "If you really want to learn as much as possible and be employable after just a couple of months, you should consider a coding bootcamp". 

So I started looking into coding bootcamps and as it turned out, Le Wagon was the best rated coding bootcamp I could find. In the beginning, I was pretty skeptical since I usually dont trust products, that almost have no bad reviews. I started looking deeper into it (curriculum, demo days, former students on linkedin) and as it turned out, a lot of people were really able to transition into tech afterwards even though they had no traditional tech background!

So I applied, had the interview, and got accepted. The following 9 weeks were nothing but amazing. Each day, we had an interactive lecture followed by coding challenges which deepened the knowledge and also helped in getting to know the other students. Thanks to the buddy system, you always have the opportunity to ask questions to another student or explain concepts if you feel like you really understood it. There are also a lot of incredibly competent Teaching Assistants who make sure that you won't be stuck for too long. Each day subsequently ended with an interactive livecode session in which one student would go upfront and showcase his solution to some new coding problem. Furthermore, Le Wagon did a very good job in making sure that all the students get to know each other by hosting a lot of very cool and interesting events.

The most fulfilling experience were the last 3 weeks in which we built 2 products in a 3-4 member team. Going through the first incredibly draining and ultimately joyful 6 weeks finally came together in building something by ourselves which we would ultimately showcase in front of all the people on demoday (definetly check out some former events on youtube or go visit one yourself!)

If you really want to acquire the necessary skills to build something yourself and be employable as a junior dev, I'd 100% recommend doing LeWagon. Its teachers, people and curriculum are incredible and the environment is something you'll have benefits from and can contribute to forever.

When I decided to do a bootcamp I carefully researched all the options available in my area, read the reviews in multiple channels, visited and interviewed all of them face to face. I was initially very suspicious about the lack of negative reviews for Le Wagon. Their review rate was too high and it all seemed too good to be true. Now, one month after the end of the bootcamp, I have to admit that there isn’t much that I can say about it that has not been already said. All those reviews were real: the experience is truly amazing. Here are some things that stand out for me:
   One of the high points of LW is, in my opinion, the didactic material. As someone with qualification and experience in teaching and in creating/analyzing didactic material, I was impressed by Le Wagon’s methodology and by the quality and variety of materials.
    The work and the program is hard and very intense, but the days are very dynamic and divided into lessons and exercises. We had a lot of support from teachers and assistants along the day. Also from classmates, because the atmosphere is really good and people are encouraged to help each other. The buddy system they use makes a lot of difference on the study flow.
    Another great thing is the community. This is something that I did not considered important in the beginning and that turned out to be extremely valuable. There are many slack channels for Le Wagon alumni and so many people who are there to help you debug your code, find a job, solve doubts and provide input about anything related to coding. Le Wagon also offers one to one support preparing your CV, finding a job, connecting to people, etc. The teachers and assistants also treat you as an equal, and made themselves available for us to contact them off hours and after the bootcamp for anything we needed, which I thought was something special. Also, former students are always welcome to visit the office and take part on activities, so you get to not only keep in touch with your classmates but also to meet former students, learn from their experiences and grow your network. I wish I could end this review without falling into this cliche, but there is no other way of describing Le Wagon’s community if not as a family.

I'm currently in my last year of my studies, mediatechnology. During this studies we are trained to prototype and idea into a design and then make a Minimal vialble product of this idea. During my studies i learned a lot of different programming languages but never really got a real expert profound knowladge of the programming language. 

I'm currently in my last year of my studies, media-technology. During this study we are trained to prototype and idea into a design and then make a Minimal viable product of this idea. During my studies I learned a lot of different programming languages but never really got a profound knowledge of the programming language. For my bachelor thesis I have to build an MVP for a company. To be more confident in programming I decided to take the Le Wagon bootcamp to improve and be more consistent in my programming.

I started the course quite confident as I already had some programming knowledge and was overwhelmed with the fast pace of the bootcamp. Event with my knowledge the bootcamp was really challenging. I never learned so much in a day, let stand in nine weeks!

Because of the pair programming you learn how to explain your code to people and you learn to ask for help if you do not know how to solve the problem. During the bootcamp you learn all the basics and also learn how to write clean and good code. This is something I haven’t learned during my studies and is something companies really like to see. I can recommend this course to anybody who wants to start a career as a developer or wants to know what is takes to become a developer.

Even if you have some programming knowledge this bootcamp will help you with working in teams, developing a design and pushing it to the market. It is also great course for people who want to build a software product and build their own start-up.

Before the bootcamp I was working as a Client Support Specialist at a financial company in New York City.  I worked with many developers to get their machines up and running but was never one to code.  After taking the bootcamp in Bali, it really made me feel like I can take on any task possible.  You go from not knowing a single line of code to building a full working web application in just 9 weeks.  Le Wagon gives you all the skills, network and support you need to make a pivot in your career and focus on what’s best for you !

After years in the military and studies in business law, I wanted to dedicate myself to coding before starting my career in auditing. I have always been interested in coding and have tried to teach myself before, unfortunately unsuccessfully. Also for my current job it is an advantage, because many processes are automated further and further by programs and I have developed a certain understanding for it.

Because of the reviews and the nice conversation with Rich, the driver, I chose Le Wagon. Le Wagon seemed to have good teaching staff, a central location and a damn good concept. The mix in the group should always be very international. Everything proved to be true and was even surpassed.

I would especially like to emphasize the learning platform of Le Wagon. I have attended a lot of courses in my military career and during my studies. But I have never experienced an effectiveness like this learning platform before. From simple to difficult, test programs to check or improve your code, additional tasks for faster understanding students, buddy or group work to encourage collaboration. And as icing on the cake, qualified and friendly teachers who make sure that you don't get lost.

Conclusion: I can fully recommend Le Wagon. I learned a lot, had a great time in Berlin with great people and will always remember it positively. I will stick to coding, even if only in my spare time and out of interest. Nevertheless, it has greatly helped my understanding of the use and improvement of programs at work. Thank you, Le Wagon!