Adaptability and resilience: the 2 key words of 2020

Depending on who you ask, the year 2020 either flew by or dragged on for far too long. Whichever it was, here at Le Wagon Montreal, it was a period of non-stop discoveries, lessons, and opportunities to put into practice like never before the true meaning of the words adaptability and resilience. 

As a result of the March lockdown, we quickly had to implement and test a new approach to remote learning. The challenge for us was making sure we could capture our immersive on-campus experience and reproduce it in a virtual environment. Mission accomplished. ✅

After the initial lockdown, we returned to campus adhering to strict health and safety measures while giving students the choice to continue the bootcamp remotely. Just like that, hybrid classes were born. Our goal has been to help students make the most of the current situation to acquire strong technical skills. The formula works and we continue to offer it in 2021. ✅

Between lockdowns and deconfinements, to fully remote and hybrid classes, here is a glimpse of the milestones we achieved this year.

The first challenge our part-time students faced was finding the right balance between their professional lives and the bootcamp, but the lockdown soon forced them to quickly change their routines just as they were entering the final weeks of the program. This period was all about learning to adapt quickly to make the best of the situation and ensure a smooth transition into remote group work. What made all the difference? Strong motivation and personal commitment from each team member, efficient communication and collaboration between team members using tools like Trello and Slack, and daily stand-up meetings to discuss priorities and share action items.

We launched our Data Science bootcamp in the beginning of summer and Montreal is proving to be THE city of choice for this new curriculum. How come? It may have to do with Montreal being an epicenter for artificial intelligence, or the fact that the ecosystem needs talent in both data analysis and data science, and to increase the diversity within tech teams. 

Our graduates finish the bootcamp with actionable skills, practical projects, and the ability to collaborate within a team of data specialists.

In 2020, we released the first report on the outcomes achieved after the bootcamp and revealed that Le Wagon Montreal truly is a career accelerator.

This year, more than a hundred students completed our bootcamps in Montreal, hailing from a wide variety of cultural and professional backgrounds — among them, a bartender, pilot, marketing specialist, financial specialist, real estate agent, designer, and hospitality professionals. This year, 40% of our students were women or identified as non-binary. One step closer towards closing the gap.

By acquiring new professional skills, many people were able to advance their careers or change them completely to become freelance developers, back-end developers, product manager, or even start their own businesses despite the unique challenges created by the pandemic.

As Samantha testifies, the impact of the bootcamp exceeded her expectations.

Very early on in the pandemic, we set up a "Stay Home, Keep Growing" initiative to help everyone make the most of this crisis by offering free hands-on coding and data analysis workshops around the world. Our commitment toward the tech community remained a priority throughout the year.

A great collaboration was developed with Urelles, a consulting firm specializing in the strategy and implementation of diversity policies in tech. We have launched an initiative to encourage and support women aspiring to enter tech-related professions.

Despite the tsunami of uncertainty, companies big and small have responded to the call of our "career" events to meet and exchange with our talented graduates. 

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We are so excited to start 2021 and looking forward to the continued growth of our community. 

We wish you a very happy and healthy new year!