Do you publish your job outcome statistics? Simply put, no we don’t. These statistics are too easy to manipulate and do not always show the reality of what jobs students are getting and how long it takes to land them. Additionally these metrics do not show how successful graduates are in the jobs that they get or how long they keep them for. From research of bootcamp graduates globally, there appears to be a high level of mistrust of these statistics and therefore we use outcomes metrics internally rather than as a marketing tool. We would rather you choose to come to Flatpack based on our exceptionally high quality teaching, transparency, excellent career support, and top class curriculum. As a company we work hard and closely with every graduate to ensure that they are fully supported in their job search to make sure that every student lands a job that they want. We tailor the post graduation career sessions to each student individually so that you have the highest chance of securing your dream job. So whilst it is ultimately down to you to secure the job that you want, you know that we will be behind you every step of the way.
Do the more expensive bootcamps offer more? Not really, we keep our prices lower by keeping our overheads lower. Many bootcamp and training providers are motivated by high growth to impress shareholders. We have no such motive. Additionally we do not have the giant overheads that other providers have, such as swanky office space in expensive cities, or large marketing budgets. We keep our overheads low, our business efficient, then pass those savings on to you.
Can I pay in instalments? Yes absolutely as a standard all of our courses can be paid for in a single payment or monthly throughout the course.
Do you offer ISAs (Income Share Agreements)? We do not offer ISAs as a method of payment. Whilst in principle these seem like a great idea, through talking to students that have taken ISAs with other providers they generally work out to be a bad idea. ISAs are great for bootcamp providers as they allow them to sell you a ‘no risk’ product, leaving you locked in to paying significantly more later on. However, we find this quite predatory and for this reason we do not intend to offer Income Share Agreements. If in the future we find a provider that can offer a fair deal to students we will reconsider this position.
What payment methods do you accept? We accept pretty much everything except cash. We are happy to accept all major credit cards, as well as bank transfer. If you're paying from outside of Europe, a bank transfer may work out the most cost effective. Whilst we can't offer advice legally, we recommend looking for a provider such as Wise (Transferwise) that will help you do this.
I have absolutely no coding experience, can I join? Our courses are designed for absolute beginners to coding however we do recommend that you do some self learning beforehand. Aditionally we have a pre-work course that is self paced and lays down the fundamental knowledge that you need before the course starts. The bootcamp requires a high level of focus to be successful and therefore we have a thorough interview process to ensure that you are able to learn at the speed of the upcoming course.
Am I guaranteed a job once I graduate? No bootcamp, university, school, or apprenticeship can guarantee that you will get a job. We are confident that our graduates have the skills and abilities required by employers, and our career support program is there for you from day 1 to day 1 (day 1 of the course, until day 1 of your new job).
Can I work whilst completing the course? Of course. Our courses are designed specifically to work around you and your schedule. You attend the code-along sessions at a time that works for you, and you are in charge of scheduling your 1-to-1 sessions too. Our ethos is that learning should work around you not us.
How much time do I need to dedicate to the course? To be honest, the more the better. As a minimum you should dedicate 6 hours per week to the sessions, homework, and further study. However we will provide you with additional activities and resources if you are able to dedicate more time. We find that around 8 hours per week is optimal, with those dedicating around 12 hours becoming the most successful.
How does your syllabus compare to bootcamps? We would like to think that our syllabus is the best available. We teach the most in demand languages and technologies, this ensures that you are already versed in the tech that is required by the most jobs. For example we do not teach you Ruby, as even though it’s much easier to teach, there are far fewer Ruby jobs than JavaScript or Python jobs. Unlike many bootcamps we have rigorous quality assurance for our curriculum. Some other bootcamps provide their instructors with guidelines and then allow the instructors to teach how and what they want, with mixed results. We have heard students mention that at some bootcamps ‘it depends on the instructor that you get’. Here at Flatpack we have one vetted curriculum and we evolve it to meet the demands of today’s employers.
How many sessions are instructor led, vs student led? We were asked this question during a screening call and it provoked an interesting discussion. So unbeknown to us some bootcamps save costs by employing recently graduated students to teach some sessions and provide on course mentorship. At flatpack 100% of your sessions are led by an expert instructor. They will use a variety of techniques to ensure you get the best understanding of the concept, tech, or language that is being taught that session. We do offer select graduates “student mentor” roles and they will be available to help you with additional questions and can review topics with you, but their role is not to train you.
What language is the course available in? We currently only deliver the course in English and therefore you must have fluency or a high professional level of English to attend. If you would like the course delivered in another language, please let us know and if there is sufficient demand we will do our best to provide it in the future.
What times are the sessions and what’s the schedule? The schedule works around you. You are able to watch the pre-recorded codealong sessions on-demand at a time that works for you throughout your week. Your 1-to-1 sessions are scheduled by you and can be fit around your life and commitments. As a general rule you can schedule your 1-to-1 sessions Monday to Saturday between 8am and 10pm UK time.
Are there exams? No, the course is completely project based. We do use mid course assessments to make sure that we are supporting you properly, but these do not have any grades or scores, they simply keep us informed regarding your learning and support needs.
Can I take time off from the course? We do encourage you to see the course through from start to finish to keep your learning journey consistent. However if you need to take a week or two's break for a holiday or other reason, then please let us know and we can press pause until you are able to carry on. Be aware that the total duration of pauses can't be more than 2 weeks during a course. This is to ensure you get the most benefit from the course.
Are the sessions recorded? Yes the codealong sessions are recorded and can be watched at your leisure. Additionally the 1-to-1 sessions are also recorded and will be sent out to you after the session. We also use AI notetakers during the sessions so that you can refer back to these in the future.
What does a typical session look like? They are all different but in a nutshell, you'll be coding a lot!
I don’t think that FlatPack is right for me, but I still want to learn to code. We totally get it! It’s a good idea to shop around and find the right place for you. If you're thinking of going for a bootcamp, we recommend asking your potential provider to give you a syllabus and ask how they ensure it meets the demands of current employers. We also recommend asking what size the cohort will be. Our tutors have taught bootcamps with other providers where the class size reaches 30 students, and we have heard of some providers allowing cohorts reaching over 100 students. Make sure you are at a bootcamp where you can get plenty of attention from your instructors. It is a good idea to ask what the career support looks like. Some bootcamps offer more support than others, and some make career support a peer to peer activity rather than something expert led. Make sure you get the support that you are paying for.
Can I self learn and save the money? The answer to this is threefold. Firstly it really depends on you. If you are able to self motivate and keep to a rigorous schedule of learning then yes there are plenty of free resources out there to learn to code. Secondly it’s somewhat difficult to decide whether what your learning is worthwhile, modern best practice, and in demand. The world of software development is vast, and for example should you learn Java, Node.js, or .Net? React, Vue, or Angular? If you choose React, should you concentrate on Class components, or functional components? The job market decides this and we update our curriculum to reflect the demands of the vast majority of employers. Thirdly a major component of software development is working well in a team of other developers. Our courses give you the opportunity to work in a team to complete projects. If you do choose to go it alone, you will benefit greatly from working with a team of other learners.
Will I only be able to get a job using the technology that you teach? This is one of the great things about Flatpack, we don’t just teach you the tech and that’s it. We teach you to be a self-reliant language-agnostic software engineer. The curriculum is designed in such a way that you get used to learning new tech and will be able to go into a role at a company that uses different technology or languages. Ultimately FlatPack engineers will be able to think their way around a problem in any language and using any technology.
Who will be my instructor? Our co-founder George is the lead instructor for the Software engineering course. He has over 8 years of experience developing software, and was a Lead Software Engineering Immersive instructor for General Assembly. We also use a network of expert tutors, they are all at the top of their field and are fully supported by our curriculum.
Can you come and teach employees at my company? Absolutely! We can build custom solutions for businesses of all sizes. Please email us on info@flatpack.com and we will book in a call to understand your requirements.
Do you run your courses in person? As a general rule, we do not. There are plenty of advantages to learning in the comfort of your own home rather than having to commute in every day. However we are able to work with our corporate clients to provide training at their offices if required.
A friend or family member wants to join. Great! Share 10% with them. Either give them a 5% discount and you'll get 5% of what they pay as a thank you. Alternatively you can give them a 10% discount or keep the 10% for yourself.
What does the application process look like? What application process? Do you want to become a software engineer? Then great you've been accepted! We meet you wherever your at in terms of knowledge levels and learning ability.
I’m looking to hire your graduates, what are your fees? In terms of money, Zero! Absolutely nothing! We will gladly introduce you to our graduates based on your needs and their career goals. We are however looking to bring on subject matter experts to assist with career coaching, and specialist subjects though, so if you’re looking to hire our grads, we would love for you to run a career workshop to give back.