Skillcrush

I really wanted to like Skillcrush. The course seemed like it would teach a lot of things for the money, and I liked their spirit of female empowerment. Unfortunately it was mostly just a lot of hype, and hardly taught enough to make it worthwhile. Here is a breakdown of what they advertise, versus what you actually get:

“Practical Training That Fits Your Schedule”: The classes can be completed at your own pace. It can certainly be done in less than an hour each day, as advertised. A daily email is sent out with directions on which lessons to complete, articles to read, and any class announcements. Each lesson is comprised of a few minutes worth of video lectures, followed by a coding exercise. Rather than showing how to code, as most coding tutorials do, the videos are of Adda speaking at her desk, with a few screenshots spliced in. It was not very helpful, and I didn't like her unprofessional manner (saying things like “Amazeballs!” or making cheesy jokes). I had to do a lot of searching the web for answers before I was able to complete most of the coding exercises. I'm also not sure what the point of submitting the coding exercise was, because there was no feedback on any of them.

“A Community of Impressive Fellow Students”: There were approximately 150 people in my class, and Skillcrush uses a platform called Mightybell to connect everyone. Students can post in their “circle” and others can comment on their post. New comments would drive a post to the top of the feed, as were “trending posts” that had a lot of comments. This made it really hard to find posts pertaining to a specific topic. It didn't matter much though, because only a handful of students were active on Mightybell. There is also a group chat area on Mightybell, but it was usually dead for days at a time.

“Expert Support and Mentorship From Super-Friendly Instructors”: Only one teaching assistant was active on Mightybell, and she didn't always answer students' questions. I never saw any of the instructors post or comment there. Throughout the 3 month course, there were only 8 live office hour sessions. They were almost always on a Saturday or Sunday at 2pm EST, and I never got to attend any of them because that time doesn't work for me. Submitting homework assignments was meaningless, because there was never any feedback on it. Overall, the level of support and mentorship was a huge disappointment.

“Tons of Downloads, Code Samples, and Cheat Sheets”: They did give us samples of code, although they were quite basic and nothing you couldn't find for free on the web. The cheat sheets were full of Skillcrush graphics and used large fonts, so there wasn't much material on each page. To me that defeats the purpose of a cheat sheet; you should be able to glance at a page and find what you're looking for, not thumb through 7-8 pages to find it.

“Master Classes with Top Industry Experts”: There were 3 master classes during the 3 month period. They were each an hour long and gave a brief overview of one topic.

“Personal Letter of Recommendation”: I did receive a letter of recommendation with my name on it, touting what a “great” web developer I've become. Given the lack of feedback throughout the course, this letter is obviously meaningless, and probably serves more to promote their graduates, and thus their company, more than anything.

“A Professional-Looking Portfolio”: I was able to design a few basic sites that looked and functioned like they were made in the 90's. I was hoping to come out of this with something to be proud of, but it's not even close.

“Certificate of Completion”: I did receive a certificate indicating I completed the program.

Throughout the course, I was constantly frustrated by the lack of information in each lesson, and was frequently searching the web for answers just to complete the homework. In all that searching, I found that everything taught at Skillcrush, plus much much more, is available for free. I realize they can only cram so much material into one class, but I can't believe how many important topics they didn't teach. With a poor curriculum and lack of support, I can solidly say it's not worth paying for. Ironically, the best parts of Skillcrush are free. Their blog and free webinars are packed full of great career advice, with the exception of recommending their Blueprints to learn to code.

I previously took the Web Development blueprint (see my review below), and I came back to Skillcrush for the Ruby on Rails blueprint.  I liked working with Ruby but really wasn't comfortable with it from the short course as part of my first blueprint.  So, I wanted to explore it more in depth.  This is a new blueprint that Skillcrush is doing, so they are still accepting feedback and ironing out some kinks in the curriculum.  For instance, we are in the first month of three months total, and this first month-long class was easy to understand up until the final couple of days.  We had to push our app to Sinatra, and there was very little guidance on that.  Fortunately, the TA is available to assist and will help to debug your code and sort things out.  However, I thought it was faster to ask developers on Twitter for assistance and fork my GitHub repository for quicker problem solving.  

 

FYI: Skillcrush does not offer job assistance, so I gave that a "1" rating.

I took the Skillcrush Web Developer course. It has 3 units: HTML/CSS, Javascript & JQuery, and Ruby. Before I started the HTML unit, I read HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett. I started the unit and I breezed through it weeks ahead of schedule.

I then started the Javascript unit and I was so confused. I tried getting assistance from fellow student, the instructor, and rereading the course material. Nothing helped. Then I started reading  JavaScript and JQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development by the same author. I was amazed at how much more I understood about Javascript from 1 chapter than I ever did from 1 week of Skillcrush lessons.

In retrospect, had I not read the HTML book, I'd have been equally confused on the HTML unit. Skillcrush's 2 minute videos and infographics just don't work. They really just present a superficial understanding of the material. Reading the books, I've gotten such a deep understanding of the material. I'd never reccomend Skillcrush to anyone, especially people new to coding. Also, I'm always suspicious of a company who doesn't post a phone number or address.

I will say is that their cheat sheets and job application schedules aren't bad. The instructors are also helpful.

At the start, I was skeptical about Skillcrush—the cost was making me sway, but the end result has left me with no regrets. 

I love the energy and outstanding know-how that Skillcrush has. Their presentation of material is thoughtful, thorough and easy to follow. Their after hours one-on-one instructor-student help is unique, as well as course cheat-sheets, inside knowledge and additional videos are all incredibly helpful. I especially liked how they regularly encourage you and never leave you feeling like your treading water alone during your course (or after completion).

One stipulation, I live in Canada so their job postings are not so accessible for me. BUT, as a Skillcrush Alumni they are still super supportive and revel in my successes as well. This happens in the form of a retweet or blasting out my interview that I did with them (Sept 2014), which has got me some traction (thank you, Skillcrush!). 

I still get their eblasts and take pleasure in reading them. Their tone of writing is enlighenting and entertaining—not stuffy whatsoever.

I highly recommend Skillcrush to everyone (even the fellas)!

I thought Skillcrush was the best choice for me when I realized that I needed more "formal" learning for front end development.  I previously had owned my own web design business for a year and knew basic HTML and CSS, but I was self taught and had huge knowledge gaps of the basics.  I took the Web Developer Blueprint and loved the price- it's way cheaper than a lot of the other bootcamps out there online.  I got a good foundation in the basics of HTML and CSS, JavaScript and JQuery, and Ruby on Sinatra.  I felt that the class rushed a bit for JavaScript and Ruby, so I'm less comfortable with those and am studying them independently now with a couple of books.  The best way to enforce learning is to definitely do all of the projects you are assigned, and to try out side projects on your own.  The course is flexible, so if you fall behind, it's okay, no worries.  It's a good value overall.  FYI: Skillcrush does not offer job placement or resume help.  

 

I am taking the new Ruby on Rails blueprint with Skillcrush next week and will report back with those results.

I am late with leaving this review. My life has been quite crazy since I was a student with Skillcrush. I never fail to bring them up in conversation since finding them. This online coding school has changed the course of my life. I found Skillcrush at the height of the pandemic. I was deep in the Healthcare field looking for a way out because I was so burnt out and could not continue. So much so, that I left for a cashier job at a local liquor store until I could land a job in tech. I planned to do an online boot camp until I could get my foot in the tech door.. Wow. So many bootcamps are extremely expensive or you have to pay them back once you find a job which didn't feel comfortable for me. Skillcrush is a godsend. The teachers, the community, the ease of the lessons and the pace. Thank you so much for everything Adda Birnir and team. You changed my life and my son's life (and my cat). Now I am making enough money to take care of both of us and I am not mentally burnt out!!

I've been a Skillcrush student for years but haven't completed any courses because of personal life situations.  We'll now I am unemployed and I have time to go through my career track in UI/UX Design.  The information is extremely simple yet the course is kept at a good rigor.  The instructor is very encouraging and my coach is giving amazing, detailed feedback on my assignment submissions within 24 hours. Even though this is a self- place course,  I feel like a true student who still has to put in 1000% level of quality work in order to be considered a knowledgeable and highly skilled UI/UX Designer.  I finished the Intro to Web Design Elements in less than 3 days (although Skillcrush recommends 3-4 weeks average) and was empowered to update my LinkedIn because I'm now confident that I can put together a well thought out, professional design comp for any business, organization, and/or client. I will definitely continue all the way through to the end of the UI/UX Designer course, and I highly recommend Skillcrush to anyone who is interested in becoming a UI/UX Designer or someone who wants to break into tech overall because they have a lot of other great tech courses as well that's also self-paced. So far, it's been a great experience and I know having these technical skills now will literally pay off in the near future! 

An embellished course name, but the content is empty.  To make the course fun by making all kinds of jokes and montage music in the background.  Combining the facial expressions of the woman with the constant effort of trying to look cute in different ways got on my nerves.  the background music doesn't even give you a chance to focus.  motivational music anyway, playing the guitar. waste of money and time!  They didn't give me my $68! Dont stop by here, go coursera. You can find masters of This job!