u/Unusual_Lemon7114 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Hey Michael! I have been considering CodeSmith as a learning opportunity moreso than a career advancement opportunity. However, you raise some valid points about the lack of transparency, honesty, and reliability of the bootcamp. While your points are valid, it seems you spend da
u/michaelnovati replied · ★ FEATURED
Hi! I'm happy to clarify and thanks for being transparent on your views. There are definitely some misunderstandings.
I was the #1 committing engineer at Facebook when I was there and I got a heck of a lot done and I still do. I spend extremely little time on Reddit and Codesmith relative to my day job. I'm on the ground helping and responding to Fellows all day, fixing bugs as fast as humanly possible, and building new features and technology. And my Fellows will back me up on that.
You are also 100% correct that the more Codesmith grads there are the more Formation customers there are in 1 to 4 years from now... it's a bias I try to disclose but I have Codesmith grads insisting I'm still trying to steal Codesmith students or get people to go to Formation instead of a bootcamp... which couldn't be farther from the truth.
I actually recommend a lot of people go to Codesmith 1-1 and help people figure that out on a personal basis.
I criticize Codesmith on 3 areas because that voice is reflected by dozens of people that message me and dozens of industry engineers and recruiters echoing the same message and people are doing a disservice to themselves by not understanding all points of view.
1. Resumes and LinkedIns of grads are consistently misrepresenting OSP experience
2. OSLabs has clear blatant ties to Codesmith but is supposed to be an independent charity
3. Graduates are not turned into mid level and senior engineers if they have no prior experience.
It might surprise you that I work with Codesmith grads and help them do whatever they want/need to do with their resumes and some exaggerate their experience and I support them doing it while understanding the risks and downsides.
There are absolutely things Formation is amazing at and amazing success stories every day - someone signed a legit Facebook mid level offer just this week - but there are many people it doesn't work for and many bad things about it that people should also know about in figuring out if it's right for them.