So I started my first day with Bloc Monday. I am very impressed with how knowledgeable my mentor is. I am very confident that the 12 weeks of the program are well worth the money spent. I have read from sources it takes 9-12 months to become a Jr. Developer. I previously decided that I would take the 12 months to learn but later decided that is would be too long. Once I really got my feet wet with Ruby and Rails I have pursued it full steam. My current position of inside IT sales also pays half of what I make today. The salary is not the main factor but it is very disheartening to know I spent almost 4 years to get to a salary that is half of what my potential could be.
Best things about Bloc.io:
1 Mentor is available for all the stupid questions I have
- I have attended meetups and ask many questions but fear I might be over asking certain things. my mentor has no problem the amount of questions I have and takes the time to explain the simplist things.
- I have use the Facebook and Google Plus groups but feel as if either some of the info is still over my head.
2 Curriculum
- Bloc has their own curriculum, I notice some other online programs just use other info from the internet to create their curriculum.
- The lessons are also self paced which has allowed me to blow past the initial set up stuff that I already have done and really learn Ruby and the syntax. (I have studied Ruby for bout 5-6 weeks and still do have a good grasp on the syntax)
3 Portfolio (Git hub building)
- I am not sure if a lot new learners realize but I found in the article I previously referenced that recruiters require a robust github profile and portfolio. This was also confirmed when I attended my last Ruby meetup.
- by the end of Bloc I should have 5 complete rails projects in my github. 3 of which mirrors of what a freelance project might look like. I have done OneMonthRails and hungry to get more projects under my belt.
The Price:
I understand there might some aversion to how much Bloc cost but I highly recommend Bloc and believe the price is actually cheap for what you get out of it. The total for Bloc is $5k if you pay 1k a month or 6k if you choose to pay 500 a month. There is also a discount price of 4250 if you choose to pay up front and if you really want to get start I will provide my recommendation link which gets you $100 off. If you compare it to the CS degree you get from a University you are paying well below what that cost. Read my previous post from someone who did complete a CS degree and recommends Bloc instead.
In 12 weeks you get a portfolio that can be presented easily to a recruiter. You can learn web developing cheaper over the course of 9-12 month, but if you have an idea today or looking change careers as I am it is well worth it. Waiting a year to finally understand Ruby is no longer an option for me.
Some of the things I look forward to learning with Bloc in the next 12 weeks.
- Testing
- Javascript
- More Rails experience
- Ad hoc projects
- Real understanding of the Ruby Syntax
**I recommend Bloc but also recommend going through the same material I went through prior to starting. Because I learned Ruby through other means, I am able to really appreciate the Bloc material and ask questions to get a deeper understanding of web developing.
*Quick tip. If you are familiar with reddit - look up the r/ruby and r/rails pages. I have also found a wealth of info on how to become a junior web developer as well as corresponded to a few recruiters to get an idea of where I need to be in 12 weeks.
If you want to sign up, this is $100 off of Bloc. Happy Learning!
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