DonTheDeveloper Podcast

We went into depth answering 3 simple questions for aspiring developers. How do you decide if becoming a developer is right for you? How do you decide if a coding bootcamp is right for you? What are aspiring developers doing to sabotage their chances of finding a job? I've had several staff from coding bootcamps reach out to try and get on my show. The reason you don't see me invite on t...

Where to start.. We dove into so many great conversations around the curriculum, staff, and the most interesting part of their experiences - the group projects.. It sounds like many students had vastly different skill levels when it came time for the final group project. Once they opened up with their experiences with that, a lot more became revealed and we dove into many specific situations that...

I can't emphasize enough how valuable software engineers are. When I polled my community, 91% of you said that you would love to build a side project that made you additional income or even replaced your full-time job. Sometimes developers can develop the habit of jumping into the code too quickly (me included). I brought on leaders in the UX and Product space to share how they would go about...

The last time I had Nikki on my podcast, she had graduated a coding bootcamp and was working at an unpaid internship. I decided to bring her back on and see how her job search journey has been going. Spoiler: She just started a new full-time role as a developer! We talked about the relatable struggles of her job search as well as what finally made her stand out from the rest. Maybe her story reson...

There's SO much conflicting advice out there around how to best and accurately represent your skills and projects as a junior developer. I brought on an old boss of mine who lost count of the number of resumes he's reviewed and software engineers that he's hired. Needless to say, he's been in the game for a while. I can attest that Scott has always looked out for software engin...

I invited on 3 graduates from Kenzie Academy to share their honest and unfiltered reviews of the coding school. Honestly, I feel like this was one of the realest episodes I've done. I didn't have to get past any marketing layers of the program. These guests were able to be completely honest about the flaws and still clearly explain why they enjoyed the program. Enjoy! Host/Guests: Don Ha...

I brought on 2 graduates to review the coding bootcamp Practicum. As always, this podcast is focused on getting past the marketing fluff of each program and letting you hear real, in-depth reviews from graduates. We dove into what they thought about the application process, curriculum, instructors, and a few other topics. I hope this helps you decide on whether or not this program is for you. Host...

I invited 3 graduates on to review Turing, a software engineering program. These reviews are honest, no-BS, reviews meant to get past the marketing that each coding school puts out there. All 3 went through the front end track and shared the pros and cons. 8 months is a certainly a long time for a full-time immersive program and the students' mental health was certainly one of my concerns. We...

I invited 3 graduates on to review the coding bootcamp, Rithm School. These reviews are honest, no-BS, reviews meant to get past the marketing that each coding bootcamp puts out there. We dove into the pros and cons of the program, and as always, I share my unfiltered opinion as I hear more about their experiences. Is the real world project they advertise as good as they say? Find out for yourself...

I invited 3 graduates from Tech Elevator's .NET program to share their experiences with the coding bootcamp. We dove into the curriculum, interview process, aptitude test, instructors, the pathway program, and of course all of the things they felt that Tech Elevator could improve with. Let me know what you think! Host/Guests: Don Hansen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/donthedeveloper Greg Murph...

I invited 3 women on that had completed SheCode's workshops. Diamond completed Basics. Wanyoung completed Basics, Plus, and React. Emily completed all 4 - Basics, Plus, React, and Responsive. With all 3 guests, I was able to learn about all of the workshops SheCodes currently offers, as well as hear their unfiltered reviews of each. I won't spoil any surprises, so I'll leave it to y...

I hosted a 30 day coding challenge a while back to get aspiring developers that were stuck in tutorial hell to finally focus more on project work. 14 people signed up. 3 + myself made it all of the way through with a project. All 3 of them decided that they wanted to share their projects, so here you go! Also, we will be sharing our screens, so the video version might be a better experience vs the...

I invited 4 graduates on from a Canadian based coding bootcamp to share their experiences with the program. One thing that I have to say is that programs and even students in Canada seem to portray themselves in a very honest and straightforward way. It's no secret that the educational industry in the US has some work to do in that area. This program also taught Ruby, which is something you d...

I invited a couple of graduates on to talk about their experiences at the coding bootcamp, Coder Foundry. Mark went through the in-person program while Anthony went through the remote program. We lucked out, because they clearly had very different experiences and no matter which one you're considering, you get to hear experiences from both. It also sounds like Coder Foundry is doing something...

I invited on some previous podcast guests, and we just talked about some of our favorite libraries that we wanted to share, as well as the personal projects we've recently worked on. See if you can count the number of libraries that I mixed up. At the end, everyone shared a piece of feedback for aspiring developers that I think will give tons of value to you if you are trying to become a deve...

I invited on 3 graduates from Launch School. 2 of them went through the core program, and 1 of them also went through the capstone program. So, we got a variety of experiences. It was really interesting to hear that the curriculum was entirely text based; frameworks weren't taught in the core program; and that the capstone program has a 100% job placement rate (or does it?). You'll hear...

I invited on TJ Kinion, the Program Manager / Career Services Director of LearningFuze to talk about what kinds of things to look for in a coding bootcamp to make sure you have all of the support you need to be successful. In a previous video, I invited on a few coding bootcamp graduates to talk about their experiences at LearningFuze. We talked about the pros and cons of the coding bootcamp. One...

I invited on 3 graduates from the coding bootcamp that the The University of Texas at Austin offers. We dove into the pros and cons of this coding bootcamp that's partnered with Trilogy. I've heard of a lot of concerns with anything linked to Trilogy, but you be the judge of that. After watching this episode, let me know what you think. Host/Guests: Don Hansen - https://www.linkedin.com/...

Want to know what a legitimate frontend developer interview is really like? I invited on a developer that had originally interviewed me for my second software engineering position. He interviewed a brave soul from our community that's currently trying to get his first position as a developer. Dan started out with questions to test his knowledge with JavaScript & CSS; moved into the algori...

I invited 3 graduates from Udacity's Front End Web Developer Nanodegree. Nanodegree's are typically more affordable programs compared to coding bootcamps. The real question is, are they enough? At the very least, we dove into this episode with that question in mind. Let me know what you think. What's your opinion of nanodegrees? Host/Guests: Don Hansen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/...

I invited Zac, a graduate from the coding bootcamp, Codesmith, to come onto the podcast and share his experience. Codesmith was one of my most requested coding bootcamp reviews, ultimately because it had rumors going around, such as only producing mid-senior level developers. We got to the bottom of that, and what he ended up sharing might surprise you. I hope you enjoy! Host/Guest: Don Hansen - h...

This isn't your typical coding bootcamp. In fact, I invited on Derek, the CEO of Perpetual Education, just to clarify what he was offering. To be honest, when he initially reached out to me, I was intrigued by the way he advertises the coding bootcamp. It felt design heavy, and seemed to have an entirely different perspective on what a software engineer actually is. This isn't your typic...

Last week, I invited on 3 graduates to review Treehouse's front end techdegree. This week, I invited on 3 more graduates to review their full stack JavaScript techdegree. We dove into what they learned, portfolio projects, peer reviews, and constructive criticism for the program. If any of this resonates with your experience or left you questioning whether or not you'd consider this prog...

I invited on 3 graduates to share their experience with Treehouse's Front End Web Development Techdegree. In my opinion, Treehouse was always great at teaching the fundamentals. We dove into this in great detail. An important question came up though - does it do a good job at teaching more than just the basics and prepare graduates for professional developer positions? We talked about this as...

I invited 3 Lambda School graduates on to talk about their experience at the coding bootcamp. They shared their experiences with the application process, curriculum, instructors, and career services. Lambda School has had quite a bit of controversy in previous reviews. Of course I brought that up in this podcast episode so that these students could either validate or reject some of the things that...