Makers Academy is one of those bootcamps that promise to train you becoming a web developer in 12 weeks.
I wanted to know what this was all about.
As CookiesHQ is currently recruiting for a junior, we received some applications from various bootcamps. It came to my attention that the Makers Academy applicants were quite talented, and I wanted to know what this was all about.
Yesterday was ‘graduation night’, and their last cohort was presenting their final projects. From Pinch, a fantastic Groupon like with a twist, to a fireworks music synch & launcher controlled by a Rasberry Pi, from a Ping Pong score and analytics tool to an image sharing tool, all the students present here deserved their round of applause.
All the students I’ve talked to were bright and sharp, and I have no doubt that some/most of them will end up being very skilled developers.
Those girls and guys have very various backgrounds, mostly not in development, and in 12 weeks they were trained to be able to create their own application. I find this fascinating.
The teachers are doing a fantastic job at teaching their sutdents the skills that will help them land their first job.
As far as I can see, TDD is at the center of all their code. Pairing is used to enhance code quality. Tools like Pusher, AngularJS are taught.
So, impressed?
It is fair to say that yes, I was impressed. Both by the quality of students and teachers is high level.
After a quick chat with some of the Makers Academy team members, it looks like CookiesHQ will be able to help them next year. I will try to go over there regularly to pair / talk with the students.
We are also determined to give some of their students a chance to work with us in CookiesHQ. Those students need a mentor when they leave, and I think a small team like ours will be able to dedicate the time needed to make those gems shine!