How did you find your time on the bootcamp?

I had the best time at Northcoders! When I first started, I didn't have much confidence in my skills and I made the mistake of comparing myself to others in my cohort which led to self-doubt. Even though the bootcamp can be tough at times, it's also insanely rewarding. With every new sprint that I completely smashed, my confidence grew massively. Even the sprints I wasn't so good at, I found that the support I got from either my sprint partner, the rest of my cohort or the tutors, was indispensable and always encouraging. I grew really close with my cohort over the 12 weeks and at the end of that short period I came out with some great friends and a whole new career path. It was the best decision I could have made!

What were you doing before the bootcamp and what made you apply?

Before Northcoders I was working at a small eLearning company creating their video content. I would help out the development team when I had no video work to do and I found that I really enjoyed it and got a lot of satisfaction from the combination of logic and creativity that coding offers. I mainly did HTML and CSS but had dabbled in basic JS and JQuery and really wanted to learn more. Unfortunately my job did not offer the opportunity for me to learn it and I found learning in my own time to be slow and frustrating. I googled for short JS courses in the area, originally looking for just a few days of training, but when I stumbled across the Northcoders website and saw their curriculum I was hooked.

What was the support like on the course?

The on-site support you get from tutors is amazing and like no other place I've studied at. It's so personal! The tutors are sat right there in the room with you so help is always available when you need it. There's no sending off emails and waiting 3 days for a reply from your tutor like at university or online courses.

How much support did you receive from Northcoders with your job search after the course?

My search for a job after Northcoders was very short and painless. I had only been graduated a week before I had my first couple of interviews and then a week after that I had bagged an amazing job! The Northcoders team were great at keeping me updated about opportunities. They made sure I was prepared with all the information they could give me before each interview which is a unique advantage over going it alone.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking about applying?

I tried learning in my own time for around a year before I went to Northcoders and barely got anywhere either due to lack of support, motivation or simply not knowing what stuff I should be learning. When I found Northcoders I knew straight away I wanted to do it but the risk of leaving the comfort of my stable, unchallenging job to become a full-time student made me hesitant at first. To anyone thinking about doing the Northcoders bootcamp but is worried about the risk - just do it! I soon realised that really there was no risk at all because the skills you learn at Northcoders are in great demand by loads of exciting companies. If you want to become a developer, Northcoders is the right way to do it!