Taking a coding bootcamp can be scary; that’s why it’s so important to us that we provide the resources students need to be successful in their long-term careers. Student support from Grand Circus doesn’t end after you graduate and receive your certificate of completion. The support continues as you begin the job search, once you receive a job offer and throughout your entire career. We’re lucky to have many Grand Circus alums come back even after working in the field for over a year to participate in events, sit on panels and mentor current bootcamp students.
What do you have access to after you graduate?
Community office hours – Held bi-weekly at Grand Circus. You’ll have access to instructors, alumni and current students to get help on anything you’re working on. Whether it be a side project, a bootcamp final team project or preparing for an interview, community office hours are an asset to you to continue to grow.
Job office hours – Job office hours are held weekly at Grand Circus with our staff to help with career advice, insights and feedback. Need help writing an email? Sprucing up your resume? Prepping for an interview? Job office hours are the time to do it. We realize that not everyone can make it down to Grand Circus to join office hours in person, so, you can set up a call too!
Access to Slack – Slack is an amazing communication tool that students and the Grand Circus team use during bootcamps. Don’t worry, your access to awesome memes and GIFs won’t go away when you graduate. You’ll have access to the job board channel, events channel, your bootcamps private channel and the other awesome channels you were apart of during your 10 weeks. This open dialogue will introduce you to an array of job opportunities, networking connections and resources to help you evolve in your new career.
Alumni discounts for workshops – Grand Circus doesn’t only offer full- and part-time bootcamps, you could take any of our one day to three week evening workshops with awesome discounts. Looking to upskill yourself in a current job or during your job search? This is the way to do it! Workshops vary from Agile Project Management to SQL Development, we have it all. And, to top it all off, alumni get half off if they take another bootcamp, full-stack anyone?
Events hosted at Grand Circus – Grand Circus hosts multiple events and meetups every week in our space. Many are hosted by outside organizations, meetup groups or companies looking for an awesome location in downtown Detroit. Others are hosted by us! These events are usually free and available to anyone in the community, especially bootcamp students and alumni – time to network!
How Can Alumni Get Involved with Our Community?
Students are always asking “how can I help other people like me after I graduate?” Sharing insights from your own experience in our coding bootcamps is a great way to support our growing community. There are a lot of ways you can help out after you graduate, here are a few:
- Sign up to be a mentor – remember beingstuck on a line of code or needing a little extra motivation during the bootcamp? Current students feel that too and it always helps to talk to someone who has been in a similar situation.
- Join us for an alumni visit or panel – Students love to hear about alum’s experiences during the bootcamp, what the job search really is like and what they’re doing now as developers in the field. We regularly host panel discussions and alumni chats for current students to ask questions and hear from those who have already been through the program.
- Speak at an info session for potential bootcamp students – Join our recruitment and selection manager, Ian, to talk to potential bootcamp students who are looking to make the leap into their career change. It can be intimidating! It always helps to talk to someone who has been in their shoes. Info sessions are held at least once a month at our downtown location.
- Teach or TA an Intro to Coding Workshop – Grand Circus’ Intro to Coding Workshops travel all over Michigan. We’re always looking for alumni and current students to teach and help TA for beginner coders. This can be at a community center in Detroit or a middle school in the suburbs!
No matter who you are or where you work after a coding bootcamp, Grand Circus is here to support you throughout the entire process of finding and maintaining a career you’ll love. We get it, starting a career in tech can seem scary. But it doesn’t have to be!