Why Codeworks? Intensive Training that Prepares You For a Coding Job

Codeworks is an immersive bootcamp with three locations in Europe—Barcelona, Berlin, and London—and the option to pursue remote learning from wherever its students may be. As the school itself says, Codeworks strives to make tech education “more accessible, enjoyable, and rewarding.” 

Because of its ultramodern and intensive approach to tech education, the school yields strong outcomes. Let’s take a look at what has brought Codeworks the status of one of the leading bootcamps today. 

Here is an example of what Codeworks seeks to achieve. Ritam Verma, a student who undertook the 12-week Software Engineering Immersive course in Barcelona, attended the bootcamp through a scholarship that seeks to get more women into coding jobs. She describes her Codeworks experience as “intense but so, so rewarding.” 

Verma’s passion for music led her and her team at Codeworks to build a community for music lovers who are interested in discussing and sharing the music that they love.

Codeworks is an intense and rigorous experience that can help students shift their careers in eight to 12 weeks. Students walk away with hard-to-match job preparedness and a shiny new CV for the workplace that awaits them.

Codeworks: How It Began

The first step to solving a problem is knowing what problem needs solving.

For Codeworks CEO Alessandro Zanardi, he first realized that there was a problem after going through a coding bootcamp and recognizing flaws in the system. He sought to remedy the situation by upping the bootcamp ante. He founded Codeworks, a bootcamp that pushes students to their limits and provides a more intense educational experience for aspiring tech professionals. 

The primary focus of Codeworks’ educational approach is to make its students job-ready. This entails teaching its students foundational Computer Science concepts and the latest technologies. Alongside this, Codeworks students learn how to learn so that they can pick up whatever new tech skills the industry may demand once they enter the workforce. 

The Codeworks’ curriculum reflects the current trends in the tech industry while making sure that students can keep up with any number of unexpected changes that may await them in their first tech job. And the larger Codeworks environment is run like a tech company. 

For example, students utilize Slack and other workplace-geared applications, and the entire Codeworks curriculum is conducted on and run through GitHub. These measures ensure maximum student preparedness for the job market as well as their first jobs out of bootcamp. 

How to Get Into Codeworks: Application Process

When applying to Codeworks, keep in mind that the school is selective but efficient. The reasoning is simple yet realistic: the fundamentals of coding can be self-taught. Codeworks increases the value of its education by focusing on helping students tackle more challenging topics rather than giving them materials that are readily available online. 

“We support students teaching themselves the basics. Then, on day one of the live course, they will be ready to tackle intermediate and advanced topics with our instructors,” the school explained.

Because Codeworks has such a rigorous process, the students who make it to the other side are those who are motivated, committed, and most willing to put in the work. If you start from absolute zero in terms of knowledge, you can take Codeworks’ free introductory course, which is designed to prepare you for the pre-work of the admissions challenge. It’s also a good way to get a peek into the school’s immersive program.

Once you’ve completed the intro course and demonstrated an understanding of the basic knowledge required, the admissions team will set up a call with you to discuss your background. This will also serve as your chance to ask any questions you might have about how Codeworks functions. 

From there, a technical interview and a preliminary coding assignment will follow. If all goes well, the next step is to enroll in the Codeworks pre-course, which allows students access to Codeworks’ online community. Once students have completed the pre-course, the main course becomes available. All of the above takes around six weeks to complete.

The Best of Both Worlds: Remote and On-Campus Learning at Codeworks

All Codeworks programs are available online. What this option offers is the chance to attend live lectures and collaborate with other students remotely. Lessons are delivered live to students in their respective time zones. When learning remotely with Codeworks, students get the same amount of assistance and interaction as they would in an in-person course. 

Codeworks has also seen a significant number of international students opting for the online format—even if it means they have to learn at unconventional hours. This is a testament to the confidence that students have in the quality of the programs.

“In the last batch, we had a student join from Taiwan on the European timezone, learning from 3pm to 3am rather than 9am to 9pm. This is a good example of how committed some of our students are!”

If you’re looking for a campus experience, you can choose to attend any of Codeworks’ locations in Europe: Barcelona, Berlin, and London. These cities are burgeoning metropolises, each with its charm and appeal. You can even use this chance to reap the benefits of traveling. 

For example, those looking for a chance to lounge on the beach and enjoy the Spanish nightlife on their day off may find Barcelona a great place to explore. Meanwhile, students who want to live in an eclectic city with an edgy vibe may find Berlin more attractive. If you’re looking to build a career in “the heart of the European tech scene”, Codeworks London may be for you. 

Codeworks Curriculum: What Can You Expect to Learn?

The Codeworks curriculum is intense and well-rounded, with a course load that demands 11 hours of daily work for six days a week. Despite this rigor, students are never alone in their journey. Codeworks maintains a 1:5 instructor-to-student ratio, which maximizes the chances for students to receive the attention they require. 

Further, each student is assigned a tutor who becomes their contact throughout the Codeworks experience. This way, students have someone to direct their questions and concerns to and thereby receive detailed and prompt assistance when needed. It should be noted that tutors are location-specific and their capacity depends on the group size at each location. 

Let’s take a deep dive into Codeworks’ flagship courses, the Software Engineering Immersive and the Web Development Immersive. 

Software Engineering Immersive

The Software Engineering Immersive course is popular among career changers from a non-tech background as well as developers who want to bring their coding skills up to date. It begins with the remote pre-course, which students have access to upon enrollment. The pre-course consists of an intermediate study of various programming languages that include JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. 

The 12-week module is divided into two. The first half of the course builds your technical knowledge and skills, while the second half puts these skills into practice. In the first three weeks, students move into more advanced concepts than what was focused on in the pre-work. This includes advanced JavaScript, unit testing and algorithms, and Internet networking. 

The sixth through eighth weeks have students working on a larger personal project and honing their focus in front end frameworks and end-to-end testing as well as other related topics. Around the sixth week of the program, students begin to put their theoretical knowledge to the test with their projects. The main objective of this personal project is to help students gain the confidence to build full stack applications.

Wevva, for example, is a project completed by Codeworks student Shaun, who completed both front end and back end himself. The project was completed in just six days and is a comprehensive, responsive weather app. 

An important part of the Codeworks experience is the thesis project, which consists of a five-minute video pitch and gets completed in groups. You can see some examples of their work here. 

Students complete two major group projects and develop demos, all of which reach a final, prepared state for the closing weeks of the program. The 12th week of the program is career-focused, with students receiving personalized career support and undergoing mock interview training, among others. 

Web Development Immersive

The Web Development Immersive program is targeted toward those looking to level up their technical skills in their current jobs, but not necessarily pursue a Software Engineering career (e.g. Product Managers, UX Designers, or startup founders). It’s also popular with those students who may want to follow a specific path with the requirement being that they need to first learn JavaScript, for example. 

This program is designed to give its students a thorough and advanced knowledge of JavaScript so that they can become highly skilled web developers. Just like the Software Engineering course, it is divided into two parts and includes a 160-hour pre-course.

This program consists of eight weeks of study. The first three weeks cover advanced JavaScript as well as unit testing, data structures, complexity analysis, and more. The fourth and fifth weeks focus on backend frameworks—like GraphQL, Node, Express—databases, and advanced CSS and HTML. 

In the sixth and seventh weeks, students move onto front end frameworks and end-to-end testing. The eighth and final week sees students embarking upon a personal project, learning further topics like security threats and authentication, and undergoing job interview training and hiring support. 

Free Intro to JavaScript

Codeworks also offers a free Introduction to JavaScript course. It is a self-paced course that takes an estimated 10 to 20 hours to complete. As with other Codeworks courses, it first focuses on the theoretical approach before moving into practical training. 

Because it is an introductory course, it’s designed for complete beginners as well as those preparing for the Immersive courses. You’ll only need a functioning computer and an Internet connection to start learning to code.

Tuition and Financial Aid 

Below are the costs for Codeworks’ Immersive courses: 

• Web Development Course Cost: 6,500 EUR ($6,500)
• Software Engineering Course Cost: 9,800 EUR ($8,900)

Note that if a student pursues either of these courses remotely, approximately 20 percent of the tuition is deducted. Also, a 10 percent discount is offered if you invite a friend to Codeworks.

You have a handful of options to finance your Codeworks education. The first, of course, is upfront payment. Under certain conditions, you may take out a student loan from one of the school’s financing partners. 

You can also opt for the deferred payment plan where you make a deposit upon entry to the program and pay the rest incrementally once you land a qualifying job within a year upon your graduation. Otherwise, the school waives your remaining tuition. 

Is Codeworks Right For Me?

If you’re looking for one of the fastest and most efficient ways to start a career as a software engineer or a web developer, then you’re likely an ideal Codeworks candidate. However, you’ll need to have the motivation and discipline to show up to the challenge of the coursework daily.

Student feedback regarding Codeworks tends to hearken back to the intensity of the program for a reason—it’s rigorous and challenging. But, that’s part of what makes the experience worth it. An intense program like Codeworks is one that an ideal student would want to be at and devote their time and energy to being part of. 

That said, student support at Codeworks is definitely part of the experience. Students are assigned individual tutors whose knowledge and guidance remain at their side throughout the Codeworks experience. If a student is struggling, they may also be able to lean on various instructors for topics that may need more niche expertise. 

For example, students can easily hop on a meeting with their instructors whenever they need help working through a problem so they never lose the momentum in their learning. If students at Codeworks are experiencing other issues including ones that affect their mental health, they have access to the bootcamp’s Student Affairs team to talk through their challenges.

Codeworks Outcomes: Do Students Find Jobs After the Bootcamp?

Codeworks is transparent about its outcomes and doesn’t shy away from regularly updating and reporting its numbers either. According to the school, Codeworks is home to a 100 percent job placement rate after six months of graduating from the bootcamp.

Behind those numbers are the stories of Codeworks students who transformed their careers through the coding bootcamp.

Among them is Codeworks student Sherezz Grant, who hails from Trinidad and Tobago. Before Codeworks, Sherezz worked as a geoscientist and musician. 

She describes Codeworks as having a familial atmosphere. This was one of the things that prompted her to enroll at the coding bootcamp. For Sherezz, one of the things that the university system lacked was a “staff that is clearly and genuinely invested in your growth and development and what you get out of the experience.” 

She now works as a full stack developer, working with layouts and design. She advises prospective students to choose Codeworks if they’re looking for “something challenging… within a short timeframe.” 

With the numbers and the success stories, Codeworks’ student outcomes reflect the school’s commitment to preparing its students for the workforce. Career orientation and planning, interview training, and an entirely personalized approach to the career search process are some of the main reasons why Codeworks grads are so successful in finding work. 

Codeworks graduates have gone on to explore career opportunities at big companies like Trivago and Medium, and all the way to smaller startups. 

The Next Steps

Do you feel like Codeworks may have the learning experience you’re looking for? Visit the Codeworks website and see more of what the coding bootcamp has to offer. Take its free course and commit yourself to the Codeworks Immersive experience.