Develop Me - Bristol

Will S.

I had no prior knowledge of coding and I now feel confident enough to start building my own sites. Thanks to the Coding Fellowship I’m really excited to kick start my career as a developer.

The instructors are all respected Bristol developers in their own rights and this really helps with motivation through 12 tough weeks of full time learning.

All the projects throughout the course felt applicable to the real world whilst giving good structure and direction to the learning.

I was very impressed with the course content considering this was only the second run. I'm sure DevelopMe_ will continue to improve the quality of content even further.

I would recommend this course to anyone looking for a very solid coding foundation. The help we received in getting a work placement is an amazing bonus and I'm looking forward to starting my internship at Bristol agency next month.

OwenLD

I have recently completed the DevelopMe course in December 2016 and will be starting my placement in January. I have found the whole experience very rewarding, it has provided me with the knowledge that I will need to start my career within web development. The 12 week course can be challenging at times but a lot of support is provided, either through assigned mentors or the instructors themselves.

There is a lot of variation on the course, a lot of different languages/frameworks are taught. I think this is very valuable as it allowed me to find what I enjoy and therefore gave me an idea of what I would pursue and focus on.

I am so glad that I decided to do the course and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in the industry.

Kate H.

I enrolled on the Coding Fellowship from January - March 2018, and would recommend the DevelopMe bootcamp to anyone who is committed to becoming a web developer, and willing to put in a lot of hard work, keep asking questions and really make the most of all the support available here. The course is very intense, even if you have been through all or most of the preparation materials, but it is a brilliant, well-structured way of learning vital skills, and ultimately getting started in the industry.

The syllabus is regularly updated with new technologies based on current trends, and we were taught for 1-2 weeks at a time by a professional developer specialising in a particular area like React Native or GitHub. There is a lot of support available - instructors and teaching assistants are always on hand to answer questions and point you in the right direction. We worked on coding challenges individually, as well as projects in twos or threes, which I found very useful as it involved justifying everything you were doing to your team and thinking more about how the whole project worked. Every Friday we would have a one-to-one chat for five minutes, which was a chance to talk about anything you were struggling with, particularly enjoyed, or felt could be improved about the course.

After the 12 weeks of teaching we were set a week-long challenge which would be sent out to prospective employers, which was lots of fun to work on once I got into it. Then DevelopMe organised interviews for each of us with interesting tech companies around Bristol. I spoke to five companies, and was getting quite nervous that no one would ever hire me, but Pete was always checking how things had gone and looking into other opportunities, and in the end I got a great job as a Front End Developer/Quality Assurance Tester.

During my time on the course I also had a job in the evening...which just about worked out, but I'd recommend avoiding if you can! Ideally you want to be immersed in development, getting into a good routine with enough rest so that you're prepared to learn, and keeping some time free to go to things like hack nights and talks with your coursemates. If this sounds like a commitment you're happy to make, then go for it!

Avi C.

DevelopMe are doing a fantastic job raising the next generation of developers. I took the Full-Stack Web Development course and it was excellent! The tech-stack they teach is modern and relevant to the area so you can rest assured you will finish the course with the right skills and technologies to find a job.

I took the course between March and June 2020. Normally the course would take place in the classroom but due to covid-19 we had to do it remotely. Luckily, DevelopMe did an amazing job adapting to the difficult situation and all the teaching material and lectures were still delivered to high quality. The teachers are experts at their fields and the teaching-assistants are very knowledgeable and are always happy to help. Every week you will have a 1 to 1 session with one of the members of staff where they will give you an honest appraisal on how you are doing and will ask you for any feedback on how they can do things better.

Doing a coding bootcamp with DevelopMe has a lot of additional perks like sending parcels to our homes containing snacks of our choosing and stress management lectures to help you emotionally going through this intensive course. After finishing the course DevelopMe will do their best to arrange for you, as many interviews as possible with companies they work with, who they call "Hiring Partners". 2 weeks after finishing the course I was arranged an interview with a hiring partner which ended up employing me!

Kim W.

I have just completed the DevelopMe web development bootcamp and I can definitely say it has been one of the most fulfilling 12 weeks of my life. I didn’t know what to expect coming into the course; I thought perhaps we would become proficient enough to build a one page website but little did I know that we would be working with all the best tools a web developer could have to build fully functioning, multi-paged websites and apps. Not only did we learn solid industry standards of HTML, CSS, and Javascript front-end development we also learned PHP and worked with content management systems to incorporate both front-end and back-end aspects of web development. We went on to creating apps and mobile apps with React, Redux, React Native, and Laravel. We were expected to work like a web developer would at a company so we got comfortable with pushing our work up to Github and pair programming.
My favorite thing about the program was the instructors and teaching assistants. We had a different instructor for the topics based on the instructor’s expertise and it was very obvious to me that DevelopMe had very high standards for their instructors. As a beginner coming from a completely unrelated field (hospitality) I was afraid that I would not understand the concepts but the instructors and TAs patiently explained things, even if it meant sitting with me and going through the code line by line at times. I was in a bit of a unique situation as not only had I just moved to the UK from the States a week prior to starting the course, but also being pregnant into my second trimester! There was one other pregnant person in one of the past cohorts who attended the course and we have both successfully made it through the course with the help of Oli and Pete.
Although the program is quite intense, I never felt like it was unmanageable. I can honestly say that it would have taken me years to learn what I learned in the 12 week program!! Working in a setting where you can ask and get immediate answers, and being surrounded by people who are just as motivated as you are to learn is invaluable. I recommend doing as much precourse work as possible, the more you learn prior to coming to DevelopMe the more you will understand and therefore take away from it. Living in Bristol, I have bumped into a lot of other web developers and every one of them seems to have a very high opinion of graduates from DevelopMe. Although the students in my cohort are still finishing up their interviews, as far as I know they have all gotten at least one offer.
If you are serious about becoming a web developer and you want to work with people who are just as serious about turning you into a top notch developer, DevelopMe is the place to be.

Oliver R.

Brilliant Course, Knowledgeable Instructors and a great team.

Upon completing the coding fellowship I feel very confident that I made the right decision.
The course has delivered everything I wanted and more, All the instructors were very knowledgable, approachable and more than willing to help.

The course directors Oli and Pete know how intense the course can be and regularly check up on you, and make sure you’re heading in the right direction, they’re also constantly looking for feedback which shows they really care about you as a student and the course overall.

The location and studying environment couldn’t be better, with the opportunity to take a time out on the ping pong table when you need switch off for 5 minutes.

I started the course with a small amount of knowledge in HTML, CSS and Javascript. I have since started my work placement and feel confident putting into practice everything I have learnt on the course.

Being assigned a Mentor who is a professional in the industry also offers a great learning experience and really helps to be able to ask about the industry and the different roles available to developers.

I would recommend this course to anyone who is serious about becoming a web developer and is eager to get into the industry. Overall fantastic experience.

Elizabeth R.

Oli & Pete have really thought through all the elements of this course to ensure that its members feel supported in their entry to the 'real-world' of web development: the mentoring system; the weekly feedback; the work placement; and the fact that each course tutor was currently working in their chosen field and therefore able to offer genuine insight into contemporary 'pro' tools and tricks, meant that despite the course's relative brevity its effectiveness at preparing its students for a career in web development has felt incredibly strong.

Would thoroughly recommend to anyone looking to move quickly into this field!

Kiran

I can’t believe how far I have come thanks to DevelopMe_. I had no prior experience whatsoever but now I am coding every day!

The course provides you with a solid base of full-stack knowledge, giving you the confidence to build on new skills and concepts in your own time. It also opens your eyes to what can be achieved. At times you will feel overwhelmed, frustrated and disheartened but keep the faith, you will not regret it.

Weekly quizzes, meet-ups, one-to-ones, paired coding & self-learning are all valuable parts of the course. I also really enjoyed working on real-world projects and picking up those golden nuggets of information that you may not get elsewhere.

Oli, Pete and the instructors were there for me when I needed their help and advice. It is also comforting to know that they will be there for me as I progress in my placement/career.

All the instructors were enthusiastic and very keen to share their knowledge. They all knew when to push us but also when we needed a break. The lessons were well structured and the curriculum provides you with enough variety to help you decide which languages/technologies you would like to pursue further.

The placement offering is fantastic and if you make the most of it you will see the benefits. I also had a mentor which is a great addition to this course. My mentor gave up their free time to support me and provide me with valuable insight to life working as a developer.

Overall, I am extremely proud to be associated with Develop Me and I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to start a career as a developer. The founders know what they are doing and are professional and insightful. If you commit to this course 100% you will get a lot out of it.

Al also deserves a mention. He’s a lovely guy!