Zip Code Wilmington

A year ago, I had never even heard of Zip Code Wilmington. I had never taken a computer science course, had zero experience with coding aside from very basic HTML and CSS, and thought that it was too late for me to get into the field of software development.

So when I first learned about Zip Code, I was admittedly skeptical. It just seemed a little too good to be true.

But after the first week or two, I understood why the program has been so successful for so many people. Three months may seem like a short amount of time -- and, relatively speaking, it is -- but the intensity of the coursework will push you to learn at a breakneck pace. So you have to be 100% willing to keep up with that pace... and whenever possible, go beyond it.

Also, the instructors are very smart and very talented, but they are also very aware of the fact that you need to be able to handle problems on your own. A huge part of being a successful software developer is the ability to look at something you don't understand and figure out a way to understand it. The Zip Code instructors are there to guide you, but you need to be ready to dive into the code and resources on your own as well.

Maybe even more valuable than the actual learning, though, are the connections that you will make at Zip Code. If you are truly invested, you will definitely spend more time with your classmates than your family or roommate or pet or even self. You may not physically be in the same vicinity as your peers, but you will almost always be in contact via Slack, either discussing a lab or sharing resources or just helping each other stay sane.

Aside from teaching you about software development, Zip Code also teaches you how to succeed in a professional environment. They help you improve your resume, work on your interview skills, and make networking connections. Many might focus on just the technical part of the program, but the professional development aspect should not be taken lightly at all. Based on my experience, most interviewers already know that you are a hard worker and fast learner if you've completed the program, so you will most likely be able to pick up any technical skills with relative ease. But being professional, agreeable, and articulate will make them view you as someone they actually want to work alongside.

A year ago, I had never even heard of Zip Code Wilmington. Next week, I will be starting my new career as a software engineer. 

 

TL;DR: Zip Code Wilmington worked for me and many, many others. If you put in the time and effort and have a little patience, it will work for you too.

What makes Zip Code Wilmington different? It's there for you, the student. My time at ZCW was the hardest and best experience of my life. It allowed me to push myself harder than I have before and turn a passion into a career. This program is not for those without fight! Put in the work, the staff/instructors will go toe to toe with you on the work you put in because they believe in you.

Each week, you'll have lectures, labs/assignments, projects that will continually test your skills. Time management is key to complete work on time. 12 weeks is not a long time, and my success at ZCW was largely in part to their open door policy to communicate freely and effectively with staff and fellow students. Always ask questions! Instructors slowly start to be more hands off as the course progresses, but are always avaiable to help!

I did not have a coding background aside from basic website CSS knowledge and computer hardware. Come with an appetite for learning because it doesn't stop and that appetite helped me succeed. From the foundations of coding to real world applications, you'll get to touch many parts of a software engineering path that only improves your skillset. Not only that, professional training to win over employers in the interview and secure a career down the path you want to take. They support you from day 1 to day infinity as long as you want to have them there.

This program will change your life if you put in what it asks from you. If you're passionate and driven about doing this over what ever else you might have been, you'll get very far. I had a clear idea of where I'd have liked to be but wasn't sure if I had the proficiency to get me there. That's where the program/instructors at ZCW came in. You're given an understanding of the fundementals for starting to develop software but the foundation and work ethic required is something you come to build on your on and is different from person to person I think. You're never gonna have a chance to put aside your life for 3 months to gain the kind of skills you get out of ZCW at the quality they provide. Sure they helped me learn to code and become a software developer like I've always wanted, however, the thing I'm most grateful for coming out of ZCW is how they enabled my self-actualization. 

Pro-tip: Enjoy doing this stuff.

Throughout my life, I have been all over the place when it came to my career. I was in college then the military and back to school. I got to a point where I needed to focus on my passion, which was technology in general. I've always been tech savvy but I wanted to direct that passion towards a career I can be proud of as quickly as possible. After taking a few online coding classes, I started searching for coding boot camps and most of them are located in New York or in California. I eventually found Zip Code Wilmington and it changed my life for the better. Getting in was half the battle and the challenge of the program pushed me to heights I haven't reached in awhile intellectually. Not only did Zip Code make me a better programmer but a better professional as well. The staff is amazing and will help you thru the process but it's up to you to determine your own success. Oh and shout out to my bestie Nancy!!!!!!!

There’s a lot of bootcamps out there, but Zip Code Wilmington stands out among them all, because everyone there is laser-focused on getting you a job after you finish the program.

The school’s statistics for getting a job after the program are true. My class finished on April 27th, 2018, and the vast majority of us got a job with the school’s financial partners within the first 2-3 weeks after graduating. They’ll teach you everything you need to know technically for your job interviews after the program, from scratch, you don’t need to have prior technical experience or education in computer science. And they also train you on how to interview for the job, for both technical and cultural interviews.   My graduating class was 32 students, and I was only one of very few students who had a technical background (I studied mechanical engineering in college). But I wasn’t one of the first people to get a job. Most of the people who got a job the quickest did not have any prior technical experience or education. Your previous job history or education does not matter. Your age doesn’t matter either. The youngest person in my class was around 22, and the oldest around 43, and they both got jobs within the first 2-3 weeks after finishing the program.   All that you need to succeed in this program is your drive, discipline, and passion to study and learn everything they teach you, for 3 months straight, minimum of 80 hours per week. Suggested 80-100 hours per week. That’s right, 80-100 hours per week, this is at least two full-time jobs per week, for 12 weeks straight, and then you interview right away for another two weeks. You'll have virtually zero social life during this program. You won't have time for it, because you need to study a lot, and learn it very quickly. It’s not easy, and there'll be times when you get really stressed out and worried (again, you'll be learning a lot of new technical stuff, at a very fast pace), but the program works, they get you a job. Everybody that works there will help you. If you can do all of that, and you learn and do everything that they teach you during the program, then you will get a job when you graduate. When you finish the program, you’ll interview for 2 weeks straight, with the financial partners (most of the major banks) coming to you, to interview you. You cannot beat that type of service. And if you get hired by one of the financial partners, they’ll pay 75% of your tuition. It’s an amazing program that works, and it starts your career in the competitive world of software development after 3 months of very hard work.   When I started the program, I hadn’t worked in the engineering field for 8 years. For the last 7 years, I had been doing quality management for technical translations, English to Spanish, but there wasn’t any coding at all. I always thought coding was difficult, but I knew I wanted to get into the field because it’s the future, and it’s changing every industry, every company. I researched various coding bootcamps, and Zip Code Wilmington was the only one that offered all these factors for success: experienced teachers and staff that are invested in you to succeed (their job is to get you a job), financial partners that set the curriculum for the school, so you’re learning what the employers are looking for, and the same financial partners are waiting to interview you and hire you as soon as you finish the program, and they will pay 75% of your tuition if you accept a job with them. Most of the jobs are in Wilmington, DE, or surrounding areas; they could be in parts of Pennsylvania between Wilmington, DE and Philadelphia. I got a job in Mount Laurel, NJ, close to Philly.   So with all of the above, if you want a coding bootcamp to start your career in software development, go to Zip Code Wilmington, it’s your best choice. 

 

Coming into a program like this can be overwhelming and sometimes even discouraging without putting in the amount of time and work that is required in order to be successful. But the key is to break through and overcome your own barriers. Staying positive and committed not only to the program but to yourself in every endeavor you take on in life will be the drive you need for success. Not only will you learn the basics and core fundamentals of programming at ZCW, you will constantly battle with yourself to test your own ability to learn. For me, the greatest thing I can take away from Zip Code as a graduate is learning the best way for me to be an effective learner. If I could change one thing is would be the choice of IDE used for beginners. IntelliJ is awesome, but it’s coddles beginners to the point of being spoiled with so many useful and reliant features it has built into it. I believe this has been adjusted already and going forward BlueJ will be implemented which I think is a fantastic environment for beginners. Learn to work in teams and get familiar with the people around you. You will be together for over 100 hours a week so be mindful of your neighbors, these people are going to be your family over the next 3 months. Don’t come to this boot camp for the wrong reason. You should attend because coding and technology drives you and you’re passionate about understanding the nature of a computer language. Other than what I have stated already, write at least 50 lines of code a day, learn something new that you didn’t know the day before and just have fun. Don’t let the stress of completing the program hold you back from having fun or block the flow of your learning process. Just remember you’re already investing in yourself by attending such a prestigious school. That being said, stay positive and always ask for help. The instructors don’t know what you don’t know if you don’t make your voice heard. 

 

Zip Code Wilmington students come from all walks of life, with varying levels of experience with technology/coding, a myriad of prior jobs/careers, and call many different places home, but they all have at least a few things in common; they are, for one reason or another, looking for a fresh start in an industry with almost limitless possibilities, one that has been and will continue to grow exponentially with a high demand for employment; they have a passion for technology and hunger for learning new things; they have confidence in their ability to learn rapidly, yet are humble and keen enough to know what they don’t know and to ask for help; and, lastly, they value the practicality of a short but intensive program with a curriculum laser-focused on exactly what is needed to enter the field, as opposed to the far longer, far more expensive blanket-approach of broader college degrees.

 

If the above resonates with you, I honestly urge you to look no further than Zip Code Wilmington. Zip Code Wilmington is the whole package; you’ll take part in a fine-tuned programming curriculum as well as professional development training to prepare you for employment in the field. This is all delivered by experts whom have a genuine, personal interest in your success, both during and after the course is completed. This isn’t ‘sugar-coating’ by any means. Yes, Zip Code Wilmington is a business – a non-profit business – but take it from a very skeptical person such as myself, these are authentic people with an honest interest in you and your future. If you come to Zip Code Wilmington ready to work hard, very possibly harder than you’ve ever worked before, the Zip Code Wilmington staff will work equally hard to help you achieve employment with companies that you’d have a very difficult time finding entry-level employment with, were you coming from a computer science bachelors background instead; the networks/connections that Zip Code Wilmington has are absolutely second-to-none. On technicality, Zip Code Wilmington staff can’t ‘guarantee’ employment but, suffice to say, you will get out of the course what you are willing to put into it. That said, assess yourself accordingly and look at the statistics for graduates employed in full technical roles mere weeks after graduating, then draw your own conclusion on what Zip Code Wilmington can do for you.

 

For me, it was nothing short of life-changing. You’ll see that word thrown around a lot in reviews about this program. As a hardcore skeptic I might not have bought it prior to attending Zip Code Wilmington but now, with the experience behind me, I can say it is a plain and simple fact; Zip Code Wilmington changes lives. I was a correctional officer and also therapeutic staff for local school students on the autism spectrum just prior to attending Zip Code Wilmington. I’ll truncate the explanation as to why I chose Zip Code Wilmington, why I chose the field, as such to say that I rarely felt challenged in the ways I wanted to be; nor fulfilled, nor satisfied, nor even like I fit in my roles that well. I started to feel like I was in the wrong place. After a couple years of introspection and contemplation on that feeling I knew it was time for a change and I eventually found myself at Zip Code Wilmington. I worked harder than I ever had before, made great new friends – forged in the fire of a seriously intense program, just like in real boot camp, which I would know something about too – and, now, here I am with a job that I enjoy and one that I can actually take pride in when I tell people what I do. It also pays twice as well, even at entry-level, as any job I’ve had before, that’s a big perk too.

 

As I said above: “life-changing” choice. If I have a chance to convince someone of making a choice that I firmly believe can be as life-changing for them as it was for me then I will push for it bluntly; if all of the above resonates with you and you believe you’d be a good fit for the course I think you know what to do next.

Best of luck!

There's plenty of other reviews here talking about the program itself, so I'm going to take a slightly different tack.

It's March 1, 2018 as I write this. I'm preparing to sleep so that I can wake up and go to work tomorrow. Like 150 million other Americans. It's really no big deal- unless it is. Two years ago I was starting a part-time job that paid pennies over minimum wage. No insurance, no hope of advancement, and no other opportunities. Yet, I was thankful because I was, in fact, working.

From October 2015 to March 2016 I had no job, and for that time period and the three months before I had no home.

I took a huge risk on Zip Code. I cannot stress that enough. I had managed to scrimp and save barely enough to pay for the gas I would need to drive from the farm I was staying on in Sussex county each week. To pay for the room I was renting in Wilmington during the work week. To pay for my wife's medical care (what the Medicaid wouldn't cover). I had to quit my job in order to attend. After being homeless for nine months and jobless for six, I was quitting my job. At the time, there was no assistance for low-income students aside from the tuition scholarships (without which I wouldn't have even been able to consider attending). I rationed food like I was back on the streets and ate it cold from the can.

I was granted the moniker, "Hobo" and I adopted it happily because I knew that when you stake everything on an all-or-nothing gamble you have to give it your all and you may still get nothing. It was an unwitting reminder of where I had come from and what potentially awaited me again if I failed.

I worked my ass off. People talk about 100 hours per week. I'm going to break that down into real numbers for you. I arrived at the classroom at 6:30am each day and stayed until 10:00pm each night, Monday through Friday. When I got back to the room I was renting I studied until 1:00am. I did this five days a week, returning to the farm on weekends to see my family and do what work I could to offset the cost of board there.

That's only 92.5 hours.

You have to more than want this- you have to be starving for it. You need to know that not only is failure not an option, but that it is completely unthinkable. You need to understand that you can give your all and still find yourself not working for weeks or potentially months after the program ends.

But if you stick with it...

If you stay the course, hold steady, and keep that hunger... if you are humble enough to internalize what the instructors, staff, and alumni say... if you are categorically unable to comprehend the meaning of quitting, of giving up...

When I filed my taxes for 2017 my gross income was roughly $6,000 for the year.

I'll have made more than that in my first MONTH working the job I've earned after going through the Zip Code program.

Reviews use the terms, "Life-Changing" and "Transformational". They're right, but those words are so inadequate. You will never forget your time with your cohort. You will make friends, and you may even make family. You become part of a group that all battled through the trenches with you. You develop your own internal jokes and behaviours that make no sense to those that didn't go through it. You have a sense of shared identity with people that you've never met. Having been raised in a military and police family, I can honestly say that it's very similar in a sense. Zip Coders, like servicemen and -women, have their own easy camaraderie.

So while I need to wake up early and drive to an office building where I'll sit at a desk for ten hours or so (which sounds like a long work day but feels like shameful slacking after the hours I pulled at Zip Code), I really can't complain. Rain is falling from the sky and winds are gusting upwards of 60mph but I'm inside, warm, and looking towards the future with an emotion that feels odd and alien.

I think it may be optimism mixed with satisfaction.

--"Hobo", aka "Fedora"

When they said this is a hard program and you will work 100 hours a week, they are not joking. It's very challenging but it's all worth it in the end. During this program, you will learn a lot of practical skills that you can apply on the job, which you might not even get that experience by going through a 4 year college. You will succeed if you spend effort to truly understand and learn more in depth of the class material on your own. Instructors are really helpful, also don't hesitate to get help from your classmates too. It's a learning experience for both party. Zip Code has a collaborative team environment, we do pair programming on most of the projects. Alumni often will stop by after work to help out the current cohort.

We are not only learning about programming languages and its frameworks, we also have industry experts to speak about different topics relate to software development twice a week. Not to mention, the staff at Zip Code work hard to help you with future employment, but you also have to work hard to earn it! It's a great program especially for those who need a little push and are not productive on learning on their own schedule, I learned more in a week at the program than on my own for a few months. 

I found Zip Code Wilmington by accident. I have always had an interesting in computer programming, but felt that I wasn't smart enough or capable. When I found Zip Code, I thought it was too good to be true. A bootcamp that actually cares about your success and not your money. Zip Code makes it a point that you will learn programming tailored towards what the current job market wants as opposed to typical "book-learning." I met some amazing people through this bootcamp and have changed my life forever. This will be one of the hardest things you've ever done, but you will not regret it.

Zip Code was a hard and intense program, but for where I am now and the new friends I made, it was well worth it! The course is designed with corporate partners in mind, they are 100% career oreinted (they will not stop connecting you with job openings as long as you stay commited with them!) and the teachers are supportive, fun, and masters at what they do. If you are feeing intimidated, thats normal! It is a hard program, but its not impossible. From someone who almost say no to this experience for every xyz reason, I'm so happy I went through with it because now I have a wonderful career as a software developer and an awesome alumni network to find support in. When you join Zip Code Wilimington, you aren't joining another coding bootcamp your taking the first steps to living out your full potential!  Take a chance on yourself and apply to Zip Code Wilmington! You will not be dissapointed!