Meet 5 of our amazing part time students who have advice for those of you deliberating over doing the bootcamp, all from different backgrounds and with different perspectives:
- Agota Kocsis: Barista looking for a career change.
- Spencer Terry: Management Consultant looking to enter the exciting startup world.
- Walter Cegarra: Non-technical Founder wanting to become technical.
- Egor Volchkov: Warwick Business School grad looking to move into the product field.
- Mary Joseph: Digital Marketing Consultant wanting to up her skill-set and become more valuable in the digital age.
Why did you choose the part time bootcamp? Tell us about the experience so far...
Agota: After working in the service industry for almost 10 years, I wanted a whole career change. Luckily I bumped into the Le Wagon part time course, seeing an ad on my commute. It is perfect for me, because unfortunately I didn’t had the freedom to leave my full-time job.
Spencer: I wanted to pursue exciting tech entrepreneurship in the startup world whilst working as a consultant. Despite my working week being around 50% longer whilst doing the course, I feel more motivated and energised than ever!
Walter: I was in the process of building my startup
TRIBAM, when I attended a workshop on “how to become technical” at TechHub that Le Wagon put on. Having now completed about half of our bootcamp, Le Wagon has managed a tour de force: delivering their flagship full stack development programme in a format perfectly adapted to those of us who have other on-going projects / jobs in our “day to day” lives.
Having now completed about half of our bootcamp, Le Wagon has managed a tour de force...
Egor: I found that too much of my time was spent working in non-technical roles in startups, and I was in a state of limbo - lack of technical knowledge was a serious constraint. I was always fascinated by product roles, yet my attempts at making an impact were humbled by my lack of expertise. Therefore, I chose to embark on Le Wagon.
Mary: Joining Le Wagon has been one of the biggest steps I have taken in changing my career and life. It was a decision to feel the fear and do it anyway. Self learning had been an on and off relationship for a couple years with nothing coming to fruition.
What’s the cohort and community like?
Agota: The bootcamp is just as I expected, I am half way through and I am enjoying it a lot. I am excited every day I have to go to class, where I can meet my fellow coding buddies and learn something new about the world of web development.
Spencer: The diversity of the cohort and broader Le Wagon community is a real differentiator; it's awesome to be surrounded by, and constantly learning from, people from all walks of life and from all around the world.
The diversity of the cohort and broader Le Wagon community is a real differentiator.
Ana: When I look around our classroom, I see a room full of other students, struggling just as much as me and also wrestling with their own personal battles with “is this right”.
How have you found the curriculum and learning?
Agota: The learning pace is demanding enough to keep you on your toes, whilst still making sure you pick up every code you write. The 3 days in a week class schedule is perfect for our busy lifestyle, and also is frequent enough not to get out of the coding flow.
Ana: I’ve learnt more at Le Wagon than I could've on my own. How? Simple answer: through forced, solo (or paired) problem-solving. When I was studying on my own and encountered a problem which I found really challenging, I would look for yet another resource to help me solve it. I was stuck in an infinite new learning resource loop. Now, I sit in class and talk through the question until it starts making sense.
The 3 days in a week class schedule is perfect for our busy lifestyle, and also is frequent enough not to get out of the coding flow.
Walter: Well, Le Wagon have not just spread out the full time programme over a different schedule, but customised it for best relevance to our specific context. Intense it is, but that we knew it when we applied! I am pleased to say I will be a technical founder in just 2 months time.
Mary: I am half way through the bootcamp and without even realising it my knowledge has expanded beyond what I could ever do self learning.
How's the teaching?
Agota: The teachers are helpful and take their time to make sure you understand what you are doing.
Spencer: The teaching staff are exceptional: highly professional, incredibly competent and always on hand to help.
The teaching staff are exceptional: highly professional, incredibly competent and always on hand to help.
How are you feeling about job prospects?
Agota: I've managed to get a job through the Le Wagon network just 3 months into the bootcamp, and I started working for WCRS 2 months before graduating - amazing!
Ana: Alongside Agota, I also managed to get a job through the Le Wagon network at WCRS. We've just started together and so far are loving it!
I started working for WCRS 2 months before graduating - amazing!
Anything else you’d like to add?
Agota: I think joining the Le Wagon part time course is one good, if not the best decision I’ve made.
Ana: My advice would be that if you can, you should do it. Find a scholarship, get a loan if you must, but do it. In the long term you may save yourself a hell of a lot of time
Egor: The bootcamp has so far been an incredible journey of growth and self-discovery. It feels like a big jigsaw is finally coming together and revealing an image of intricate beauty through its complexity. I am grateful to the programme as it helped me align my strengths and ambitions. Vive Le Wagon!
Mary: If you are like me and could not give up work to do the full time course, definitely join the part time course. It’s intense but the motivation to your goal will keep you going along with the Le Wagon team and your classmates.
I think joining the Le Wagon part time course is one good, if not the best decision I’ve made.
