In case you haven't heard, Thinkful.com is a bootcamp that handles a variety of subjects and provides 1:1 mentorship and career coaches (recruiters). The process to sign up is pretty straightforward with a few payment options, all of which are pricey, especially if you are unemployed, working retail, or have a family. Literally the cheapest option upfront becomes twice the amount of the upfront tuition.
When I first inquired about the program, I was told to put in my email and phone number. That automatically sent me to a scheduling page for a call. I'm an introverted person and typically prefer reaching out over email or live chat. Thinkful didn't give me any other options so it pushed me to talk to an actual person over the phone. Outside of have few options for communication during the sign up process, calling is a certain way to engage with a potential student. It's also a way for an admissions representative to persuade you into doing something you may regret.
That was my actual issue. I really admired the effort put in by Thinkful to provide a base curriculum with a mentor and career coach. But for the price of a two-year degree and less weight than a degree, the cost doesn't entirely seem worth it. Plus, a 19-20% failure rate is sort of high, even if it sounds low.
My admissions rep was fairly nice, though persuasive (I suppose that is the point of his job). He gave good, general answers that anyone reading the site would've given. Literally anyone who can read could've told me the same information. When questioning the tuition policy and requirements, however, I wasn't given a clear answer outside of my own words. When asking about the policy regarding covid and lack of meet-ups, financial burden between traveling to many interviews and events, I was told that I would have to engage and be willing to take positions I may not like, using examples that were far from my initial question. I finally received an answer, using my exact words. That the policy was dynamic and the verbiage was not as static as was stated in said policy. Now, I'm not a lawyer, but if I agree to the terms set forth in the policy, I'm pretty much bound to those for a refund if I happen to be part of the 20% fail group. Having mentioned that, I agreed that failing was not the goal, succeeding was the planned outcome.
He wanted me to sign the loan quickly so I could get started. $17,000 for a 6 month bootcamp was a hard choice to make. I decided not to do it, simply because I found a graduate from Thinkful that, yes, succeeded, but at the same rate that anyone with enough skill and determination would've succeeded. In fact, his review of the site was the opposite of what I was expecting. I expected a pretty good course with a little mentorship help and solid career coaching tips. Instead, his review stated that while the mentorship, projects and knowledge was good, the career coaching, in his experience, was extremely lacking. Others had better coaches who got them , and two or three coaches failed him. From the review, the job placement succession is based on either (1.) Your ability to network and build a solid portfolio or, (2.) Your career coaches network and method. You may not end up with a career coach who knows what they are doing and so most of the work will be placed on you, the same as coming out of college, another bootcamp with no career services, or being self-taught. Which brings me to my last point.
While I support anyone wanting to further their education by any means, whether by college courses, bootcamps, or self-learning, I really have to be upfront. College costs a lot. No bootcamp should be the price of college, even with job placement. The fact that these bootcamps continually raise their prices yearly make them less worth the heavy investment. When a 6 month program is the cost of a 2 year degree, something is wrong. Most people simply cannot be ready for positions with only 3 months of schooling.
At minimum, 1 year of education, whether college, bootcamp, or self-paced learning should bring you up to speed to applying for entry-level positions. Companies who state higher requirements are typically looking for cheap labor they don't have to train as much. It should only take a month or two to get fundamentals down. The processes take another couple of months to get under your belt. The designs and design thinking/planning strategies take years to master.
So to summarize my experience:
I didn't finish the Thinkful.com application because of the cost (the price of a two-year degree) and amount of self-study involved. I can do the same self-study at an affordable price with the right courses and mentorship from ADPList, Reddit, or even Slack. I also became uncomfortable with asking questions because they were never answered in a straightforward manner. Instead I was basically told to change my perception when I asked a valid question on the policy in the case of a worst possible scenario that could happen (19-20% of the students face it).
So if you are thinking about going to Thinkful.com, make sure it's worth the money for you. I'm not wanting to hinder your career, but be warned, you should live a lot closer to an approved city and be willing to drive a lot on your own expense if you don't live within the city. It's also as costly as a two-year degree which would hold more weight, though both college and the bootcamp will not get you the portfolio you need to succeed. Only you can do that. So my opinion, get back to working on that portfolio. Use courses, college, bootcamp to get the fundamentals down (or fill the fundamental gaps you may have missed before), and work on projects for your portfolio. The best way into a job is to know your stuff, show and tell your projects and why you are the designer they should take a risk and invest in you.
(I should also note: tornadoes and some other factors helped me in my decision to not continue with Thinkful.com. I am now working on the Google UX course to fill any gaps regarding UX I might have.
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