BrainStation was one of the best experiences of my life. It introduced me to the tech industry in such a fantastic way. I hit the ground running and have been set on an incredibly positive trajectory of which I never before thought possible.

A bit of background on me: I took the full time User Experience Design Course at BrainStation Vancouver back in June 2018. Leading up to the course I was working as a photographer, lost at where my career was heading and flirting with the idea of moving into the tech industry. I wanted to stay creative so UX seemed a logical option and the appeal of launching a new career from a fast paced bootcamp was huge. Too good to be true surely? For traditional teaching methods, sure. For the educational wizards at BrainStation, no they’ve got it nailed. The moment I first walked into BrainStation I knew it was the place for me – I attended their intro to UX workshop which helped me understand what UX was and if it would be something of interest to me. I also experiencing a Demo Day to see how previous students managed (highly recommend!) and seeing what is possible in 10 weeks was astounding. The professional nature of the students, educators and environment helped me confirm my decision that BrainStation was the one.

So I started the course. I had no prior design experience and we didn’t ease into things, diving into the deep end on the first week with a design sprint. Incredibly challenging, incredibly rewarding the growth and progress I saw in a week 1 was noticeable. This continued week on week, with the syllabus combining learning new material in lectures and applying it immediately in design challenges and week long projects. Oh and we were introduced to the mother of all projects – Capstone. Capstone would be the pinnacle of all we learnt during the course, allowing us to show future employers what we’re capable of. During the 10 weeks I felt myself moving from sketching anxiety to being confident in calling myself a designer. The course content has clearly been iterated upon multiple times to give students the perfect platform for a successful career in UX, whether it’s hard or soft skills for post bootcamp life and this really shows. In summary the full time UX programme at BrainStation has prepared me incredibly well for real life UX work. I feel like I even have more current UX knowledge than some of my now colleagues that have been in the industry for years.

The people of BrainStation are the main reason for making the whole experience so memorable. They exude positivity and do everything in their power to get you on the best track possible. I was fortunate enough to have Brad and Uzi as my educators and they really are perfect examples of an educator, tech or otherwise. Their enthusiasm is infectious and they were so knowledgeable and supportive during the entire experience. The post course support is also great and the team is always there to help with any queries in the period after – shout out to Teddy for that one!

So where am I now? Since finishing the course I moved back to the UK and I set about building my portfolio and getting my first UX role. 2 months after the course finished I landed my first role in a tech startup and I now have 6 months of experience. A rapid transformation especially compared to traditional education methods. A role won’t fall into your lap though – listen hard and do everything you can during the course and after to make yourself employable as possible. It’s not an easy role to break into with a lot of juniors out there looking for first jobs so do everything to make yourself stand out.

I haven’t gone into specifics too much in this review, so please reach out to me on LinkedIn if you have any questions regarding anything BrainStation or UX and I’d be more than happy to help.

Pro tip: don’t overthink Demo Day. Just go out there, do your thing and have fun!

November 4, 2019

After graduating with a degree in Kinesiology in 2017, I decided to make a career change working for a Vancouver tech startup in Customer Service. Making the transition from Personal Trainer into the tech industry was hard, and I found myself longing for ways to upgrade my skills so that I could feel like an asset to the company I was working for. I started looking into bootcamps as time was of the essence to me. I wanted to get involved in a more meaningful career fast and equip myself with a set of skills, that I could be confident to put to use.

After sifting through some of the bootcamp options in Vancouver, I decided that Brainstation was the school for me. The campus had an inviting feel and seeing students both hard at work and having fun exemplified to me that this was a place I could establish a valuable new skillset along with a new network of friends and co-workers. Upon graduating Brainstation after my 12 weeks, I have to say that it exceeded my expectations in all of these realms.

The instructors have seemingly unlimited patients and an incredible empathy that allows you to push yourself through this tough 12 weeks. I found the collaborative, hands-on teaching approach of day-to-day class allowed me to learn in 12 weeks what would have taken me six months to a year.

Activities included: Multiple labs per day, codealongs with instructors and fellow classmates, a group hackathon, in-class exercises, and a weekly assignment.
Following my 12 weeks at Brainstation, I got a job working as a Customer Success Coach at Unbounce two weeks after finishing the course. While the job I got was not directly in Software Development, it has helped me join a great company with a clear path towards achieving that goal. While I will say the 12 weeks at Brainstation will be very tough, it will also be the most rewarding weeks of your life.

Positives:

– Payment plans for tuition
– An open campus that encourages going out and meeting your classmates as well as other full-time course participants
– Career support during and after the program
– Discounts on meetups and workshops
– Tech tours that allow you to talk to industry professionals about what it’s like to be a developer
– Access to the course material after the program for 6 months

Negatives:

-Pricey, but as I mentioned above Brainstation offers many flexible routes you can take to pay tuition off at your own pace

Remember, if a Personal Trainer can come into this Full-time Web Development program and come out on the other side with a fulfilling career in the Vancouver tech scene… then so can you!

December 5, 2019

I knew for a while having been exposed to the tech industry that I wanted to be a web developer. Amongst all the boot camps in Vancouver, BrainStation stood out to me the most, because of how engaging, collaborative, and supportive the learning environment seemed. I can confidently say that all my positive assumptions were true. The instructors and program coordinators went above and beyond to ensure that this seemingly daunting experience as we transitioned into new careers went smoothly.

The instructors really take the time to explain complex concepts in simple and easy-to-understand ways. They were always available for help and were extremely supportive and reassuring throughout the whole journey. The content taught at Brainstation was very applicable to job demands in the industry. Although we raced through the content quickly, weekly assignments and in-class exercises ensured that we were constantly practiced new topics. In-class codealongs — in my opinion — helped me really understand more complex topics.

Pros:

– Payment plans for tuition

– A campus that offers lots of space to work, study and engage with other students. Very accessible via transit (and right above a coffee shop!)

– Career support after the program,

– Discounts on job fairs and meetups

– Tech tours, and the change to talk to industry professionals about what it’s like to be a developer

– Access to the course material after the program

Cons:

-None!

I can confidently say I’m so happy to be a BrainStation alumni. I really did enjoy the program, and all which I’d been able to gain over the past 12 weeks of learning. Can’t wait to apply these skills in the future!

February 9, 2020

It was less than three months from my immigration to Canada when I chose Brainstation to study in. I did a research about bootcamps in Vancouver and asked some people who were in Vancouver IT industry to help me to find the right place and Brainstation was their number one pick. Moreover I found their curriculum the best one amongst others and also the camp atmosphere was amazing!

The content they provided for the Web Development program was truly a complete full-stack which gave me a big picture of the whole cycle of web development. Though the main program focus was on React and front-end development I learnt a lot about databases, middleware, REST and etc.

We would start the day with a lecture from our knowledgable teacher Jonathan Bluks and then would get our hands dirty by coding and practicing those concepts in real challenges. Beside 10 project assignments and one final project! we also had a hackathon experience which was one of my best coding experiences ever.

I would recommend this course to anyone who is serious about learning web development.

March 10, 2020

I’ve always had an interest in website design and development, and I’ve had the opportunity to develop basic skills in my career. However, our tech needs had become greater and I knew I needed some more hands-on education, but with a full-time job, it was difficult to find the right kind of training. BrainStation was the best decision I ever made. Their part-time program made it easy to attend the classes after work once a week, and their support was incredible throughout the whole process. Each week felt very intense, and we learned a lot despite it being a part-time program – way more than just the basic skills. It was hard to believe that by the end of 10 weeks I was able to code a full website from scratch, but I did and loved every minute of it!

The instructor was amazing – he was clearly experienced in both the subject matter and how to teach, and made every topic feel approachable. He intuitively seemed to understand what concepts the class needed more time on, and was able to be flexible, sometimes introducing concepts typically outside the scope of the course when we seemed ready to try a more advanced topic. Having support not just during class but also available online in between classes made it feel like we had way more class time than we actually did.

The campus was located in the heart of the Toronto tech scene, so it felt like there were constant references to real-world examples of what companies were doing right down the street, which was super cool.

BrainStation also made it really easy to find a way to not only find a class to fit with my busy work schedule, but also the scholarship opportunities made it possible for me to attend and learn a new school that may have otherwise been out of reach.

I truly can’t recommend BrainStation enough – I’m confident that any class you took there would result in a new skill set you can be sure to use in the tech industry today!

April 17, 2020

I just finished the User Experience Design course at Brainstation. I decided to pursue this course because after 5 years of working in the digital marketing sector, I was ready to learn new skills that could lead to new career opportunities. I had heard good things from friends and colleagues who had studied at Brainstation- so I decided to take the plunge!

I signed up to take the course online part-time, so I could study outside of my full-time job. The course was short but intense, and I learned a lot. From designing a sites information architecture, to wireframing, prototyping and user testing- I now feel ready to explore the job market with the skills I learned in this course.

May 22, 2020

I chose to enroll in the online UI course at Brainstation. With my work schedule along with other commitments, I thought that would be the best approach for me.

I’ve learned a lot of technical skills about UI including InVision, Sketch, prototyping, wireframing and creating high fidelity screens in 10 weeks. My instructor were helpful and always made themselves available. I would say the one negative I had, is I wish we had more time to get more in depth with sketch. I know that it was a part time course, but it would’ve been better to have more practice in class. Overall though, I enjoyed my time at BrainStation.

May 28, 2020

I was intrigued to take this course after attending a Digital Marketing workshop led by the Digital Marketing instructor Sarah Budeja – her knowledge and skills are what really made me feel confident that taking this course would give me skills that would propell me forward in my career. There are various units within this course that were absolutely invaluable such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, Paid Search / Social and the list goes on. Something that is also amazing about these classes is that there are so many interesting and brilliant individuals in the class of all age groups and walks of life that really add a fresh perspective to discussions and projects. After taking this class I feel confident I can take my career in the direction I want it to go in.

June 11, 2020