Ironhack: An International and Diverse Community

“Depending on your journey, each one of you brings a special piece to the community,” Ironhack, an international coding bootcamp with nine locations across the globe, said. “The key is that everyone, in one way or another, is part of this community [and] united by a common passion: training and technology.”

Ironhack understands that technical training is no easy feat. Every Ironhacker, no matter which campus they belong to, experiences the same rigorous training that comes with Ironhack’s intensive programs. This is why going through and completing any of Ironhack’s programs is considered a badge of honor. 

While the school can lay out all the relevant tools for students, the journey itself almost always poses its own challenges. To this end, Ironhack makes sure that its students never have to go through it alone.

“Not only do you become close with your classmates, but you also become part of the Ironhack family. There’s a reason we say ‘Once an Ironhacker, always an Ironhacker’. We know it’s cheesy, but it’s true. Once enrolled, you have over 150 Ironhack employees and 8,000 Ironhackers all over the world cheering you on,” the school said.

This ‘community mindset’ has proven to be effective. Ironhack graduates have gone on to explore a variety of roles, even beyond the scopes of tech. According to the school, this comes as no surprise as the Ironhack community comprises a diverse and vibrant group of people. 

Once you join the Ironhack community, you’ll always have social opportunities available and can utilize the school’s communication resources like the Ironhack Slack group. Students traveling from one location to another often enjoy meeting up with fellow students at the school’s numerous campuses. 

“That student outcomes vary and can be quite creative is no surprise considering the wide range of people in the course and their diverse professional backgrounds — from high school grads to classical singers, historians, designers, sales managers, marketers, or engineers.”

Ironhack Campus Spotlight

Ironhack offers four main tracks: Web Development, UX/UI Design, Data Analytics, and Cybersecurity. Each of the programs has been curated to prepare students for a tech career in various international cities.

At the moment, its programs are accessible remotely or via its Miami, Berlin, Paris, Lisbon, Mexico, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​São Paulo, and Amsterdam campuses. The school said each of these cities is home to a thriving tech scene that continues to shift and develop over the years. 

Each of Ironhack’s campuses has different appeals based on what prospective students want out of their bootcamp experience. However, all campuses adhere to Ironhack’s unique approach to technical training: hands-on practice takes front and center. 

Ironhack believes that students gain the most when they work together to solve problems. As such, fun collaborative activities are sprinkled throughout the programs. For example, Web Development students at Ironhack Paris get to work on game development together in the third week of the program. Students are trained to work cohesively together before diving into backend and front end development. 

“We also consider that students that have an international background and are used to adapting to different circumstances are more likely to have good performance both in the bootcamp and at the workplace. In our bootcamps, students have to work in groups or pairs, which enriches the learning experience and the creativity of the projects and the work process.”

Ironhack Madrid

• Available programs: Data Analytics, UX/UI Design, Web Development, Cybersecurity

As long as a student has the green light to study in a country with an Ironhack campus, they can go for it. Ironhack employs experienced and international staff, most of whom come from diverse backgrounds themselves. They are trained to help students navigate potential cultural clashes. This creates a sense of harmony beyond linguistic, social, and cultural barriers.

Ironhack’s Madrid campus was the first to open. Not only is the Spanish capital home to a rapidly growing tech sector, but it’s also where Ironhack has firmly rooted a growing network of alumni and hiring partners. From there came five more locations in Europe, two in Latin America, and one in the United States. 

International students are highly welcome at Ironhack Madrid. The school makes the entry process as smooth as possible for foreign students, considering that acclimatizing to a new country can already be a tough experience.

“Ironhack is committed to helping international students join our programs and ensure the best possible experience for them. In some campuses such as Amsterdam or Madrid we have welcome packs with information and benefits in housing, we also put students in contact to facilitate the arrival to a new country,” the school said. 

Ironhack Berlin

• Available programs: Data Analytics, UX/UI Design, Web Development, Cybersecurity

Ironhack Berlin is a great location for students looking to explore a cultural melting pot. Berlin is not only home to one of the largest and most active meetup communities in Europe, but it is also home to nearly 800,000 foreign residents from more than 190 countries. 

As the tech scene booms in Berlin, students can find their roots at countless startups and explore job opportunities in a storied city that comes with a relatively low cost of living. Further, the federal agency offers what is known as the Bildungsgutschein, or a training voucher that students can use to obtain free training from a certified education provider like Ironhack. 

Julia Miller took a sabbatical from her job as a product manager with local company Zalando to try her hand at coding. Prior to this, she’d graduated from Berlin’s University of Applied Sciences and found herself wanting to supplement some tech skills she felt were missing at her job. One of her co-engineers recommended Ironhack and the rest is history. 

In her time at Ironhack, Julia developed a wine recommendation app—an idea that came from a mutual love for wine that she shared with her groupmates. Once her Web Development program came to a close, Julia returned to her team at Zalando with a toolbox full of new experiences and knowledge. 

As her team reintegrated her back into the “real world”, Julia’s leadership skills were not only put to a stronger test but also allowed her to shine even more—thanks to Ironhack Berlin. 

Ironhack Amsterdam

• Available programs: Data Analytics, UX/UI Design, Web Development, Cybersecurity

When you picture Amsterdam, the images of Prinsengracht, the lovely canal dotted by water taxis, the vertical brick homes, and the relentless yet somehow systematic onslaught of Dutch bicycles zooming by at all hours probably come to mind. What you might not immediately picture, though, is the Ironhack campus nestled within. 

Many major tech and design companies have popped up in Amsterdam in recent years, and Ironhack is well aware of this. The school’s UX/UI Design course in the Dutch capital is a great way to enter a tech-steeped world with a world-class infrastructure and wealth of events and huge tech companies that Europe boasts. It is a fantastic place for Ironhack students to build their tech careers and flourish in a truly international location. 

Take a look at this Ironhack Amsterdam project by alum Chris Peterson. It’s an application called Blinder, and it serves as an alternative to traditional dating apps where photos tend to be the medium of attraction and the crux of connections. With Blinder, users instead exchange hobbies, interests, and other fun prompts such as their go-to karaoke song, life goals, and biggest fears to foster conversations, connections, and romance. 

Amsterdam itself remains, ethnically and socially, a very diverse place. The city houses over 100 nationalities, supports the LGBTQ+ community, and implements strong measures that prevent discrimination against women. 

Ironhack São Paulo 

Gympass, Nubank, 99, and more—these are some of the booming companies located in Brazil. It also houses Ironhack São Paulo, which lies only steps away from one of the most vibrant and lively cities in South America. 

Brazil’s soul is fortified by its economy. According to Bay Brazil, it has the world’s sixth-largest economy, the fifth-largest base of Internet users (that’s 75 million people per day), as well as the second-largest user base for Twitter and Facebook. 

With Ironhack São Paulo, students can take advantage of not only the tech market and the massive amount of job opportunities out there but also a revolutionary, high-quality education. 

Financing for Ironhack’s International Students

All of Ironhack’s full-time courses cost $12,500. To help students fund their training, Ironhack has many financing options available. Ironhack works with several financial partners to smooth out the payment process for international students, regardless of the place they’re hailing from. 

Quotanda, for example, is one of the major financing partners linked to Ironhack. The major goal of their partnership is to provide international Ironhack students with the proper assistance they may need. Because Ironhack’s commitment lies in diversifying its community, it has no shortage of methods to ensure the best possible experience for its students.

Climb Credit is one of Ironhack US’ premier financing partners, used by the majority of Ironhack students in the country. There are many options such as deferred loan, traditional loan, living stipends, or pay as you go. Students can apply for free to learn which option works best for them.

Ironhack also offers a deferred tuition program called the income share agreement or ISA. They’re available for students in its Lisbon, Madrid, and Barcelona campuses, as well as those learning remotely. 

With an ISA, students only pay 15 percent of their tuition in advance. Once they have landed a job or after eight months have passed since graduation, students will incrementally pay their tuition back to the school.

Student Support at Ironhack

To bolster and nurture the Ironhack community as a whole, the school has a built-in support system that starts before enrollment and lasts beyond graduation. Students have a large amount of freedom around the parameters of their study experience and how they go about it. 

For example, students choose where they want their program to take place and are supported by the school’s admissions team in the decision-making process during the personal interview stages of the application and enrollment processes. 

Beyond Ironhack, the international and diverse community lives on. Alumni communicate regularly through Slack and have formed their own virtual ‘job search portal’ to build networks and help each other out in the process of finding jobs. 

On a more global scale, Ironhack conducts its own student meetup activities. This is to “keep the community connected regardless of boundaries,” said the school. Its Diversity and Inclusion Committee also strives to create a safe community wherever Ironhack students are.

“One year ago, we started the Diversity and Inclusion Committee to increase the sense of community and empathy among students and within the company and ensure that Ironhack is a safe space for everyone. We are increasing awareness in companies about the importance of having people in tech that are usually underrepresented in this world and we are launching our first training to avoid biases and cultural clashes.”

Currently, 30 percent of students at Ironhack are located outside of their own home region. Rest assured that Ironhack’s diverse group of staff, instructors, and administration are ready to assist with any issues that may arise. 

Ironhack is increasingly aware of the need for underrepresented minorities in tech to have their voices heard. To hear stories from the Ironhack community for yourself, take a look at the school’s blog—you can even organize stories by location and course. 

Ready for the Next Steps? 

Wondering more about where Ironhack can take you? Take a look at the official Ironhack site to browse through the programs. If you like what you see, take your pick among any of its nine international campuses and start by submitting your application. Who knows, you may be able to kickstart your future career in one of Ironhack’s international locations.