Carolyn McNeillie

Review of HackerYou

I previously worked in the book publishing industr...

I previously worked in the book publishing industry which I loved, but I knew for a long time that when I was ready for a change that I wanted to work in web development. I knew I wanted to go to HackerYou because I had heard so many good things about the community there, and I really respected the way it had evolved from Ladies Learning Code. I had taken some two-day workshops there and loved the experience. When my family and I decided we were ready for me to take the plunge, I did some more research comparing HY to other bootcamps in Toronto, which only cemented my decision.

The most difficult part about the career change for me was that I have a young family at home. The workload in the bootcamp is very heavy, and I needed a ton of support from my husband and my family in order to be able to tackle it. Outside of class, I needed all my evenings and weekends for homework. The fact that the course is nine weeks long made this achievable for all of us because there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and not a moment of those nine weeks were wasted which made it all feel worthwhile.

It's amazing how much you can learn in two-months with the right support system. Throughout the course I was really impressed by how much care and attention went into every detail. As we were learning the instructors would make notes as they went. After ever cohort they take weeks to re-evaluate and iterate on the course, and they're constantly updating the curriculum to ensure HY grads are on the cutting edge, so that the class I took was different than the class my friend took a few months before me, and different than the one another friend is taking now. You really have the feeling of being part of a well-oiled machine, but also on the edge of something new.

There are layers and layers of mentorship built in. The staff and instructors and fellow students are all wonderful, but there's also a huge component of alumni mentorship and involvement which I think really speaks to what HackerYou get's right. The students in my cohort came from all different industries and backgrounds, with different strength and challenges, and HY really created an environment in which we all could thrive. We became very close as well.

In addition to the really supportive class environment, there's a support system upon graduation as well. I've never seen anything like the program they have in place to help students get work out of the bootcamp. I was lucky enough to get my dream-job right out of school, thanks to a connection I made in the HackerYou-organized networking event.

And now that HY's been in action for some time, it's getting a reputation built on the quality and success of it's grads. I really felt it opened a lot of doors for me. 10/10. I'd do it again.