In recent years, businesses have increasingly traded brick-and-mortar stores for online shops and websites. Some who maintained their physical presence still chose to expand their operations online.
So, what’s causing the digital movement? Well, the pandemic forced the closure of thousands of physical stores. At the same time, an overwhelming number of consumers shifted to the Internet for product research and purchase. To be exact, Visual Objects agency reported that “76 percent of consumers will search for a company website before visiting their physical location.”
One cannot overstate the value of online presence for businesses, prompting the demand for website professionals to soar. In fact, numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that employment in web design and web development would grow by 13 percent by 2030. This means that in 10 years, the tech industry is expected to see some 225,000 web design and development jobs up for the taking.
The good news is that learning how to design and develop websites has become more accessible than ever. With online coding courses and tutorials flooding the Internet, one can quickly build a foundation in web design and development.
However, self-instruction can only do so much. Sooner or later, you’ll require some support to further your coding knowledge and design skills. This is especially essential for career changers and career starters who need proper guidance to get started.
This is where Skillcrush comes in.
Skillcrush is an independent woman-owned tech bootcamp that equips career changers with essential web development and design skills.
Apply Today!What Is Skillcrush?
Skillcrush is a woman-owned, independent online coding and design school offering free and paid coding and design programs to prepare aspiring tech professionals for entry-level jobs in front end development and web design.
Adda Birnir, the founder and CEO of Skillcrush, drew her inspiration for starting the tech school from personal experience. During the 2008/2009 financial crisis, Adda suffered the misfortune of losing her job twice and was desperately looking for a stable career. “I observed an important trend—none of the companies laid off any of their technical staff,” says Adda. So, she decided to break into tech.
She started by learning HTML and WordPress and soon secured her first clients who wanted her to build websites for them. Gaining tech skills allowed Adda to pay her bills on time, save some money for the future, and have more flexibility while doing what she loves. Inspired by the changes in her life, Adda wanted to help more people, especially women, acquire in-demand tech skills to switch up their lives.
“At the time, there were a handful of online education companies teaching coding … but none of them had many women in their customer base, so our priority was to determine whether we could create an offering that would attract women,” notes Adda. With that idea in mind, Adda created Skillcrush with Kate McGee and Jennifer McFadden in 2012.
As stated on the school’s website, “Skillcrush is on a mission to support career changers—particularly those marginalized by gender, race, and age—with technical skills to transition into higher-earning, more fulfilling careers in tech.”
“Skillcrush students come from all walks of life with so much interesting and rich prior work—and LIFE—experience that all we have to do is give them a little fuel (in the form of some coding and design skills), and they take off! … We need as many smart, hard-working, deep-thinking, experienced, socially conscious people from diverse backgrounds in the tech world as we can get!” Adda shares.
7 Reasons to Choose Skillcrush
1. You can learn online and at your pace!
Skillcrush offers self-paced learning with lifetime access to a cutting-edge online learning platform. Each course includes lessons for developing tech skills with progress tracking, recorded lectures by industry experts, and a student-friendly interactive development environment. In addition, classes feature practice exercises, immediate instructor feedback, various cheat sheets, and downloadable design and code samples.
2. You’re never alone.
Although you can learn solo at Skillcrush, it’s best to do it as a community. Skillcrush ensures you’ll have a community you can count on whenever you need help. Students come from 123 countries, and communicating with them is simple because you have access to:
- Weekly live Q&A sessions with your peers and instructors
- Slack community
- Email access to instructors
3. There’s never a shortage of courses to learn from.
At Skillcrush, you can choose to enroll in the Break Into Tech program. The program offers two tracks you can choose from depending on your career goal. These are the Front End Developer Track and the Designer Track.
You can also choose to focus on a single skill through their specialized courses in front end development, front end development + React JS, Python for web apps and data, user experience (UX) design, and visual design.
4. Enjoy built-in career services.
Skillcrush’s Break Into Tech program goes beyond technical training. In fact, the second half of the program, called Get Hired, focuses on building an instructor-approved portfolio and equipping you with critical job search skills to help you get hired in tech. It includes tips and tricks to:
- optimize your resume
- grow your online brand via your LinkedIn profile
- connect with potential employers
- ace job interviews
- negotiate your salary
5. Get hired or get your money back.
Skillcrush’s Break Into Tech program comes with a job guarantee.
If you have completed the Learn the Skills and the Get Hired parts of the Break Into Tech program and have not found a qualified, paying job** in tech (within six months of beginning your job search), Skillcrush will refund you tuition in full!
**Note: According to Skillcrush, “‘qualified, paying job’ refers to a full-time salaried position, paid part-time position, paid contract position, paid freelance position, paid internship, and paid apprenticeship, all in the technical field and all spanning at least a three-month timeframe.”
6. Skillcrush courses come with an affordable price tag.
Price doesn’t always equal quality. Skillcrush aims to support career changers—particularly those marginalized by gender, race, and age—on their transition into more rewarding and fulfilling careers in tech by offering comprehensive tech education programs at an affordable price.
- $2,499 one-time payment or 12 monthly payments of $229 for the Break Into Tech Program
- From $549 one-time payment or three monthly payments of $199 for Skillcrush courses
7. Impressive outcomes
According to Skillcrush, over 350,000 students have started their coding and design journeys through their free coding camp (Camp Skillcrush), and over 20,000 students have graduated from school and embarked on careers they love.. Finally, 95 percent of the Skillcrush Break Into Tech + Get Hired Program students have secured tech jobs. On average, it takes eight to 10 weeks for a Skillcrush alum to land a job. See what students are saying about Skillcrush here.
Skillcrush Courses to Choose From
Skillcrush Free Coding Camp
Skillcrush Free Coding Camp allows you to start learning to code for free. During the Camp, you’ll learn HTML & CSS basics, visual and web design essentials, JavaScript 101, and UX basics. You’ll also gain access to insider knowledge about the tech job market from industry experts. By participating in Skillcrush Free Coding Camp, you can enjoy a discount for the Break Into Tech program to continue your learning.
Break Into Tech Program + Job Guarantee
Break Into Tech Program + Job Guarantee prepares students for careers as front end developers and designers with a focus on gaining future employment in tech companies. It is a self-paced, online job training program divided into:
- The Learn the Skills part, where students can choose Front End Developer Track, Designer Track, and
- The Get Hired Track – job search coaching program
Both parts of the program consist of professionally crafted and practical materials and one-on-one guidance by instructors and Career Coaches. In either career track, students will have access to skill-building classes (four in the design track and five in the front end development track) and the necessary support to become job-ready front end developers, and designers. Additionally, the Break Into Tech program from Skillcrush offers a job guarantee.
Upskill to Tech with Skillcrush
Skillcrush endeavors to close the talent gap in tech by offering marginalized students (discriminated by gender, color, or age) effective and affordable web development and design training. Thanks to the tech skills obtained at Skillcrush, career changers can successfully transition into more lucrative and satisfying careers in technology.
If becoming a front end developer or a designer, or both, is what you are dreaming of, then let Skillcrush Break Into Tech Program take you there.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
