Coding bootcamp in London

I always knew I was interested in becoming a Web Developer but I was doing a non-technical degree at university and wasn't sure I would find work as a developer afterwards. (I studied French). I was teaching English abroad and when I was asked to teach a Technology course I realised I was a lot more interested in coding than most of my students...this was when I seriously started looking at becoming a dev.

I ended up picking Le Wagon for a couple of reasons - the reviews were pretty unanimous that it was a great place to study, and it was also only 9-weeks long and I wanted to get working ASAP so I didn't mind signing up to something pretty intensive.

It was definitely more than 'pretty' intensive but I had the most amazing time doing it. I'd already done a fair bit of HTML/CSS before the course but it feels ridiculously insignificant after an intensive week of JavaScript lessons! They also teach you to code properly --what to avoid/best practices-- which I'm so grateful for in hindsight. It's more than just knowing how to code, but also how to deploy an app from scratch along with a tonne of other really useful lessons.

A lot of people said the first couple of weeks were very tough and they were right, but IT'S SO WORTH IT. Le Wagon is definitely a 'work hard/play hard' kind of place. The teachers were all amazing and they went above and beyond when we got stuck. (Especially in the last two weeks of project-deadlines!) It doesn't stop when you leave, either. Everyone is so happy to help with issues post-course and there's a brill alumni network.

I loved learning to code in Ruby, but when we got to frontend, i completely fell in love and had my fingers crossed for a great job as a front-end dev (which I found just a couple of weeks later).

Taking Le Wagon has quite literally changed my life - I'm doing what I've always wanted to do.

I’ve always been interested in technology and have wanted to study it ever since I was a kid, but school just wasn’t teaching me what I wanted to learn so I left when I was 18. I looked into some coding bootcamps and Le Wagon was clearly leading the game with the best reviews, highest ratings, most interesting alumni projects.

So I started in London in January 2017 and I learnt more technical skills in the space of 2 weeks than I did in my entirety of formal education! Even my friends who decided to go to university can’t compete with the scale of things I can now create.

Le wagon has kickstarted my career and I even got my first project by meeting their alumni! Joining Le Wagon was the best decision I’ve made in a long time and I still miss going there every day and being in the environment of constant learning.

My name is Theodore, I am French, 29 years old. Born and raised in Paris, I studied Business and Finance at McGill University (Montreal) for 4 years and then a master “Grande Ecole” at EM Lyon (Lyon and Shanghai).

Right after this, I started straight in market finance as an equity derivatives and structured products sales at BNP Paribas for three years. First in Paris, then NY and finally London. Although these were very fun years of my life, I was introduced to the great world of tech and startups in NY and got very passionate about it. Along with the realization that finance is not what it used to be, I felt the urge to do something more creative with my life…

Hence, with two friends of mine, and with little tech knowledge, we decided to quit our jobs and create our first startup (a social marketplace for home services called Hively). That went on for 8 months until strenuous disagreement on entrepreneurial style and vision led us to part ways. So it’s a pretty classic startup story with all the lessons that come with it: 1. Starting a business with friends is hard. 2. Having little tech knowledge is not an advantage. 3. Paying a dev agency to build your mvp is both expensive and inefficient.

A friend of mine and LeWagon alumni was often telling me about coding bootcamps and I felt the urge to jump into coding. First to get a general understanding of code and second to be able to build the mvp of my next startups by myself. So in Jan 2017, I started LeWagon in London. Boy what a ride. I truly loved that intense experience. I met great people, found out that code does not burn and is actually really cool. If you think (like me) that Excel is fun, wait until you start code. It’s Excel fun x10. Last two weeks at LeWagon, we worked on a idea of mine which is to build a premium livestreaming platform for influencers. We had a lot of fun and we still do because we (4 LeWagon classmates and myself) are working on it now and we should be able to launch it pretty soon. It’s called Socialive.TV, hope you like it!

That’s it from me, I think everyone should learn to code and LeWagon is a great place to start. The community is great so if I were you, I would not hesitate. Personally, LeWagon was the best decision I made in a long time.

I was looking to change my career from sales to being a web developer, so I did a lot of searching on the web. I saw Le Wagon has five stars so I contacted them and they invited me to their demo day in December 2016.

I was surprised how amazing their presentations and products were. I had a word with a few of the students and most of them didn't know how to code before they join Le Wagon and that’s what made me so comfortable joining the bootcamp.

They do tell you that the first weeks you really need to stay focused. So I did, and I can’t believe that 9 weeks later I was presenting and launching my own product, Desk Joy, in front of a crowed at Google Campus. It was an amazing experience and now I have a strong foundation to move forward as a developer or to build my own products.

I’ll give you some life context so that you can understand how Le Wagon legitimately changed mine. I left university midway through my degree in History and German. I didn’t feel that I was getting enough value to make the investment sensible. I was there because of ambition. I want to have a good career in a job that I enjoy. I went to an academic school in London and was taught that university was the only way forward after 18. To not go would be to forfeit my right to a successful future; to stagnate. Keep paddling, don’t rest, you’ll make it.

I was on holiday in Lisbon, staying in a house share. Sitting at the kitchen table I saw fluorescent text tapping along a dark laptop screen. Coding, just like in the movies. It still excites me when I open up my laptop and see the arcane looking terminal and text-editor in which I do most of my work. I asked the guy operating the laptop how I might be able to sneak into his mystical world. He asked what I was studying. History I said. Well then, a coding bootcamp he said. And that’s when I found Le Wagon. Googling away and trying to find the best bootcamp in Europe. I hit gold, but I didn’t know it at the time. I applied, I got a place and I left university.

I didn’t make my decision lightly and I was worried that Le Wagon wouldn’t live up to my hopes and dreams. That I wouldn’t like coding. The first three weeks are hard but immensely rewarding. At 9am the 90 minute lecture starts and one of Le Wagon’s great teachers guides you through a new concept. You have to concentrate. Every syllable is important to your understanding. You then split off into randomly assigned pairs and work through coding exercises until 5:30pm. This is where your brain strains as it shifts and develops new methods of function. You’ll get tired, you’ll sit in total frustration, you’ll feel brilliant. From 5:30pm-7:00pm a student will go in front of the class and try to solve a coding problem. Don’t worry if the thought of this intimidates you, it does most, but you won’t be alone up there, the class will work with you. On this course you learn hard skills. Through 400+ hours of coding you are born into the world of technology and what an awesome world it is. The next 4 weeks are also difficult but there is a shift in what is learned. It becomes much more visual, and your first three weeks come together to make sense. You really have to trust the process. Often times you might think, why are we learning this? It’s because Le Wagon is responsible. They don’t give you a whistle-stop, skim read, superficial introduction to coding. They dig the foundations deep to steady you for a whole future of explosive growth. The last 2 weeks are spent working on your final project in teams of 3-4. This is the stuff I love, creating something from nothing. Once again it’s hard but by this point you trust in your ability to make your vision a tech reality. I worked with a fantastic team to build a livestreaming platform (socialive.tv). We’re planning to launch soon!

Le Wagon is up amongst the best things that I’ve ever done. I feel like I have a superpower, but like any good hero/heroine I’ve got to keep growing, learning, and adapting. That’s the world of technology and that’s what Le Wagon teaches you.

Before knowing Le Wagon I was working at Ladbrokes (gaming industry) on offering customers new products. Obviously, every new product release had to come from the IT department and from developers. But daily meetings with them wasn't easy as computer science was hard for me to understand. Therefore, for a given product I had no idea of the necessary workload and I had no credibility among external providers. My frustration was at its height…

Then, some friends told me about Le Wagon and its fast track coding course ending with a real product release. It was a good opportunity to learn quickly and in a structured way the art of coding. Besides, my colleagues and I had an idea for a new mobile game. This could be the perfect spot to build a prototype and to test its potential.

For the first 9 weeks of 2017 I joined Le Wagon's London bootcamp and started to learn coding. It was not an easy course, everything was new. Teachers however knew they had newbies in the classroom; their pedagogy consisted of every day short theory lessons and many exercises. Coding was fun and every day was perceived as an achievement!

Once the bootcamp was finished, I came back to Ladbrokes with a prototyped game and I also joined the IT department! I am now fully working on the development of the game, from defining its strategy to daily discussions with developers. I have gained confidence in computer science expertise and in every day discussions with the IT department.

One thing is certain; le Wagon is an incredible experience and brings you much more than only coding skills!