u/coldwhitedays wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Thanks for this comment. I'm a bit confused with this all though, so can you help me understand: is Codesmith good or bad after all? I'm about to take the technical and reading this post and subreddit in general is giving me pause. It's such an expensive commitment...from your ex
u/michaelnovati replied · ★ FEATURED
That's a subjective question and I try to just answer with evidence backed facts so that people can make up their own minds of if it's good or bad FOR THEM.
Do not go there if you need a job ASAP after graduating. No program in fact will do that and the closest thing is a bootcamp like Revature - which comes with numerous catches and down print that many find concerning.
If you can get a job in your old industry that works though for Codesmith, or getting a less intense job now and doing part time. You could definitely get your old job back and job hunt for a SWE job simultaneously after Codesmith.
I've written more details about the market as a whole, but it's terrible for bootcamp grads right now and it's opened back up for experienced engineers... we have had offers at Formation in the past month or two at Google, Adobe, Capital One, Apple, and people currently at on-sites at Meta, Amazon, Bloomberg and more. But all experienced engineers and not entry level.
DO NOT fall for the Codesmith marketing that grads get mid level and senior roles so they count as experienced engineers in this market. Codesmith is indeed placing people but it's taking longer than it did in the past and the companies are not as strong, and what they call "mid level" roles are not what top tier companies call them.
Lastly, the people who get jobs fastest have tangential experience in another field or they get tangential engineering jobs, or contractor roles, or have SWE experience already, but they don't necessarily keep them. I see a bit more turnover in Codesmith grads who don't make it a year (both voluntarily and involuntarily). So getting a job really quickly might not be the right move and having time is better.