These might seem direct but I think they are important for transparency, thanks for doing the AMA!
1. Did someone from Codesmith ask you to do this AMA or suggest indirectly that you or someone do it?
2. Do you work for Codesmith part time or as a contractor or any capacity since graduating?
u/Olhapravocever wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
this sounds like an AD for Codesmith, but ok
u/michaelnovatireplied·★ FEATURED
I asked for clarification in my questions above, if I don't get a reply I would assume so because I'm aware that at least one Codesmith team member monitors this sub and has a group of alumni that are prompted to post and comment. I can't go into more details because of confidentiality but it sadly is a thing and has been demonstrated to me.
u/Sea-Buy-8472 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
So, let me get this straight. A post goes up very fairly evaluating a Codesmith OSP project, and questioning some of the practices that the students are told to partake in when presenting their experiences (that is currently being downvoted to hell, probably by codesmith peeps).
u/michaelnovatireplied·· edited
Yeah I asked for clarification and we'll see! They had layoffs and a number of people (including current staff) contacted me, and I'm now aware definitively that at least one staff member monitors this sub and has a group of alumni that are asked to comment and post on specific things.
u/coffeeNwingz wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
u/michaelnovati
No worries at all. Codesmith always encourages us to share our stories to help others, but this was something I wanted to do when I first got my job. I just haven't gotten to it as I have been swamped with work, and no I don't work for Codesmith or receive any co
u/michaelnovatireplied·· edited
Thanks! So you're confirming that there was no message (either DM, group, or broadly) in official or unofficial channels that prompted this post?
u/coffeeNwingz wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
u/michaelnovati
Yea no worries Michael! I confirm that I wasn't prompted to do this in any official or unofficial capacity. This is an AMA, so all questions are welcomed!
u/michaelnovatireplied·
Yeah I have to have my suspicious, I reported [my post](https://www.reddit.com/r/codingbootcamp/comments/16v4fig/codesmith_osp_code_review_numerous_unbreak_now/) to people at Reddit for vote manipulation and after being looked at, the upvote rate tripled (with no change in view count) so there's something weird going on... let me know if you know about anything!
u/InTheDarkDancing wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
This is a can't win question for OP. If they were allegedly paid by Codesmith, they're not going to just go "yep you got me". So no matter how they respond back it's not going to erase your suspicion. But it definitely isn't uncommon for people to post success threads post-Codesm
u/michaelnovatireplied·DELETED · archived copy
I mean I feel like I was being very open and transparent. Like I sent over my other post to Reddit for vote manipulation and now the votes have tripled.
I could just send this over too and see what happens and not say anything, but I think people can be professional, open, and transparent and it makes the community better to have that discourse.
u/InTheDarkDancing wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
This is a can't win question for OP. If they were allegedly paid by Codesmith, they're not going to just go "yep you got me". So no matter how they respond back it's not going to erase your suspicion. But it definitely isn't uncommon for people to post success threads post-Codesm
u/michaelnovatireplied·★ FEATURED
There's a lot more going on here behind the scenes that I'm not speaking about publicly, but highly recommend you post extremely well researched points because any vagueness in my messages is to protect confidential sources and not a lack of information. This only means so much without those sources, and this is not something I actively spend time on, but I'm just mentioning this because you and I have been discussing for maybe almost 2 years now and since then, I have dozens of insiders (generally people who work there or worked there) who send me direct evidence or secondary evidence of things.
Codesmith has a somewhat unique company structure that only supports positivity and squashes negativity so the dozens of people who have feedback and can't share it internally have begun sending it to me instead for whatever reason.
u/Beautiful-Ninja5244 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
This post is fake af. Account created 1 day again and no post history. $140k TC from a bootcamp in 2023 is nothing but a sales pitch from the bootcamp. Congrats on fooling the mass!
u/michaelnovatireplied·· edited★ FEATURED
I'm really plugged into to Codesmith and this post is not fake in the sense that the content is incorrect or that the responses are not genuine, but leadership members at this program do indeed monitor this subreddit and react to posts.
I wrote [this code review a couple days ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/codingbootcamp/comments/16v4fig/codesmith_osp_code_review_numerous_unbreak_now/) that was then shared internally to numerous people and actioned very quickly in a number of ways. They do ways to get successful, dedicated alumni to post on Reddit and respond to things but I haven't seen evidence they put words in people's mouths directly. I asked the OP directly and they acknowledge that "Codesmith always encourages us to share our stories to help others" but that this post was not encouraged or prompted, and I have to believe the person. I do know less successful graduates who were never asked once to "share their story"