I was actually in the same LFZ cohort as Jerry's brother back in 2017. There was a different lead instructor back then, but, otherwise, my experience sounded very, very similar. It's interesting to see how they've been able to maintain the same culture despite the change in instructor, since he was very much the face of the program. My cohort was one of those "testing cohorts" you mentioned with regards to the curriculum. LFZ was teaching Angular at the time, but React was getting more and more popular, so they set aside a day to show us some of the basic React concepts, just so we would be familiar with it. A few of the students in my cohort and myself liked React more and were seeing more demand for it in job listings, so we started doing some of our projects/assignments in React, which LFZ accommodated by taking a vote with the cohort and re-focusing their curriculum on the fly to React. As far as criticisms go, I can echo what was said in the video, so that has all basically been a constant with LFZ. I would add that the projects you do during LFZ aren't particularly impressive and are really just the same thing every bootcamper and new dev does, e.g. matching game, calculator, todo app, etc. You have a capstone project where you are free to make whatever you want, but LFZ emphasized that you should go back and fix up and improve the old projects. It'd be nice if LFZ tried to figure out some more interesting/relevant projects to teach their students and/or provide more guidance on ways to update these old projects. I think a quick lesson on some basics of design would actually go a long way too. One of the most successful members of our cohort was a woman who actually struggled quite a bit with the material but had an amazing eye for design. She was able to make her portfolio really shine. You were spot on about LFZ really producing primarily front end developers, and the most successful members of the cohort leaned into this. I never really struggled with the material or with getting through the bootcamp, but the job search is hard. Keep the job search in mind from day 1 and be ready for a slog. That would be my advice. Not to toot my own horn, but I was easily one of the best devs in my cohort, but the people who landed jobs more quickly and/or at more quality companies were the people who were good at the job search, not the dev work. The cohort is a very small pond, and all the fish look the same size to anyone outside of it. Haha. After LFZ, I went on a job search for ~5 months before getting an offer for a (very low paying) internship at a tiny (and terrible) app development agency doing React Native development. During that time, LFZ provided me with two leads, one of which was the internship, and let me continue coming in and using a desk whenever I wanted. I left the internship after a few months to help my brother with his startup and do some contract work, but, after failing to land a full time position for many months after the internship, I started applying to non-dev roles in enterprise software support. I've stayed in enterprise software support roles and hopped companies a few times since then, and I actually do pretty well now working as a support engineer at a non-FAANG but still pretty notable tech company. I don't really use any of my bootcamp skills for the position (well, I'm maybe a bit more comfortable with SQL, Postman and Chrome dev tools than I would be otherwise), but it did help me feel more confident in a technical role and maybe provide some credibility in my technical skills when talking to recruiters/interviewers.
Thanks for having us on Don! Had a blast reminiscing about my time at the bootcamp. Grateful for all LFZ has done to help me succeed both in and out of the program, and I think that their career services people can't be beat. Have a good one man!
Don, I appreciate the time spent interviewing us! It was fun talking about my time during the program, while also thinking collectively about how the bootcamp experience and curriculum can be better for its students. I enjoyed my time at the program and how it helped me start my developer journey, and only hope the same and even more for anyone who takes their program. Best wishes to you as you continue this podcast!
Thanks. I would reach out to the graduates if you have any other questions regarding the graduates' backgrounds. Their linkedin profiles are linked in the description.
Stay clear of the remote program if there's any people out there. The instructors are sweet but the overall preparation you get is subpar, and career services do not exist.
@donthedeveloper have you reviewed any Data Science bootcamps? I have been researching and trying to see which ones are good and which are just money grabbers...
I was actually in the same LFZ cohort as Jerry's brother back in 2017. There was a different lead instructor back then, but, otherwise, my experience sounded very, very similar. It's interesting to see how they've been able to maintain the same culture despite the change in instructor, since he was very much the face of the program.
My cohort was one of those "testing cohorts" you mentioned with regards to the curriculum. LFZ was teaching Angular at the time, but React was getting more and more popular, so they set aside a day to show us some of the basic React concepts, just so we would be familiar with it. A few of the students in my cohort and myself liked React more and were seeing more demand for it in job listings, so we started doing some of our projects/assignments in React, which LFZ accommodated by taking a vote with the cohort and re-focusing their curriculum on the fly to React.
As far as criticisms go, I can echo what was said in the video, so that has all basically been a constant with LFZ. I would add that the projects you do during LFZ aren't particularly impressive and are really just the same thing every bootcamper and new dev does, e.g. matching game, calculator, todo app, etc. You have a capstone project where you are free to make whatever you want, but LFZ emphasized that you should go back and fix up and improve the old projects. It'd be nice if LFZ tried to figure out some more interesting/relevant projects to teach their students and/or provide more guidance on ways to update these old projects. I think a quick lesson on some basics of design would actually go a long way too. One of the most successful members of our cohort was a woman who actually struggled quite a bit with the material but had an amazing eye for design. She was able to make her portfolio really shine. You were spot on about LFZ really producing primarily front end developers, and the most successful members of the cohort leaned into this.
I never really struggled with the material or with getting through the bootcamp, but the job search is hard. Keep the job search in mind from day 1 and be ready for a slog. That would be my advice. Not to toot my own horn, but I was easily one of the best devs in my cohort, but the people who landed jobs more quickly and/or at more quality companies were the people who were good at the job search, not the dev work. The cohort is a very small pond, and all the fish look the same size to anyone outside of it. Haha.
After LFZ, I went on a job search for ~5 months before getting an offer for a (very low paying) internship at a tiny (and terrible) app development agency doing React Native development. During that time, LFZ provided me with two leads, one of which was the internship, and let me continue coming in and using a desk whenever I wanted. I left the internship after a few months to help my brother with his startup and do some contract work, but, after failing to land a full time position for many months after the internship, I started applying to non-dev roles in enterprise software support. I've stayed in enterprise software support roles and hopped companies a few times since then, and I actually do pretty well now working as a support engineer at a non-FAANG but still pretty notable tech company. I don't really use any of my bootcamp skills for the position (well, I'm maybe a bit more comfortable with SQL, Postman and Chrome dev tools than I would be otherwise), but it did help me feel more confident in a technical role and maybe provide some credibility in my technical skills when talking to recruiters/interviewers.
Thanks for having us on Don! Had a blast reminiscing about my time at the bootcamp. Grateful for all LFZ has done to help me succeed both in and out of the program, and I think that their career services people can't be beat. Have a good one man!
Don, I appreciate the time spent interviewing us! It was fun talking about my time during the program, while also thinking collectively about how the bootcamp experience and curriculum can be better for its students.
I enjoyed my time at the program and how it helped me start my developer journey, and only hope the same and even more for anyone who takes their program.
Best wishes to you as you continue this podcast!
Great interview as always Don! Just wondering if it is the Learning Fuze in Orange County, California? Thanks!
Thanks. I would reach out to the graduates if you have any other questions regarding the graduates' backgrounds. Their linkedin profiles are linked in the description.
That Among Us idea is fantastic.
Be careful what you wish for 😂
Stay clear of the remote program if there's any people out there. The instructors are sweet but the overall preparation you get is subpar, and career services do not exist.
@donthedeveloper have you reviewed any Data Science bootcamps? I have been researching and trying to see which ones are good and which are just money grabbers...
nope
@@DonTheDeveloper are you thinking of reviewing anytime soon?
@@MajorCoinzYB no