Jigsaw Labs

   Jigsaw labs is great place to start a career in data engineering or data analytics.  You will receive a comprehensive introduction to the most relevant tools currently being used in the industry via a project based curriculum.  The content in this course is unique and is immediately applicable in the real world.  The course is generally administered via lectures, working out exercises in pairs, and coding projects coupled with a real world externship.  The subsequent job placement and interview preparation is also quite good and very effective.
  I was successful at a total career pivot after a significant amount of time being unemployed after completing the Jigsaw Labs program. I highly recommend this program for anyone seeking to augment their data skills or looking to start a new career.

Before I start off, I first want to say that this is my third bootcamp class within the last 7 years and jigsaw labs stands at the top in terms of quality and execution.  Jeff is a consummate instructor and he gave all of his students a high level of attention, knowledge of the information, and an uplifting attitude to help you succeed. The data engineering program is takes place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 6:30pm - 9:30pm and 12pm - 9pm on Sundays. Spending this amount of hours in class accelerates your learning so I really appreciated the format. The scheduling of class also allowed to you to take care of your affairs outside of the class as well. Jeff used pair-programming, project-based assignments, and studying material  as different ways to teach you the data engineering principles. Jeff was very patient  when teaching and helping us through our assignments. Another factor that I enjoyed about the class was opportunity to get an internship. The internship helped us put the knowledge we learned into practice and it also served as a portfolio piece as well.  Aside from teaching the data engineering concepts Jeff was there for moral support when concepts weren't making sense. He made it easy to schedule a 1v1 and talk through the problem you are experiencing. I was able to land two internships (one paid) in conclusion I am looking forward to continued strides I will continue to make in the future. In conclusion, the program has been a life-changing experience. It has   certainly helped me grow as a professional and a person in general. If you are looking for a program that will ensure you learn the info, hold you accountable, and provide you will guidance for the future, JIGSAW LABS IS THE PROGRAM YOUR ARE SEEKING!

I chose this course because I was looking for a place that had live teaching online that was well structured pedagogically and I was not disappointed.  Jeff is a phenomenal teacher and I used to teach for years so I don't just say that for anybody.  My experience with the externship part of the course was a bit rocky but I also learned a ton of javascript and new tools from it that I will totally use in my next role.  
I also took the course while working a pretty intense full-time job for the entirety of the course and I was able to do it.  I often wished I had more time to explore the additional resources or work on things outside of class (if you have the option to go lighter on work to focus more on the course that is great!!) but it is not a requirement for you to be successful.  You can do this course and have a full-time job - the schedule is built for that to be possible.  
This is not an easy course, you have to be present and work through your mental hurdles. It is also a super supportive environment so if you are game to put in the work you will keep getting better. 
Honestly taking this course was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.  I have felt so challenged and also so rewarded.  The job offers I've received post-course have been awesome.  There are not a lot of women of color in this field and even though I was definitely in the minority in the class I really felt super supported and connected to the other folks in my cohort.  Jeff is very kind and understanding and he really knows how to teach so if you are looking for a program where someone is earnestly thinking about how to break things down into intensive exercises this is your course. 

It's obvious that Jeff’s passion is teaching. He puts in effort to adjust to and support his students and will dive into problems (such as debugging your code) for however long it takes. Jeff is a patient teacher and I never had any kind of friction with the way he taught; it was totally fluid for me.

What sold me on the legitimacy of the program was that Jeff weekly iterates on the curriculum to reflect the requirements of current job listings. He is really focused on the primary goal of forging as painless a path as possible for his students to go into a rewarding career. He tailors the curriculum to the real-time evolution of the industry, making sure he is teaching exactly what students need to know to become data engineers in the present day.   Externship experience is one of the main reasons why the Data Engineering Career Course is a fantastic bridge for professionals pivoting careers or recent graduates. Having a solid externship under your belt with a supporting data engineering team and building-block projects to complete not only gives industry experience but also gives many other benefits. For example, if you were in a bootcamp that did not provide an externship or one that did not vet companies properly, you would have a much less convincing case for getting hired. Being able to walk into an interview and talk in a detailed manner about some major projects that you helped build goes a long way.   As for value and return on investment, I will probably never make a better major ROI decision than completing this bootcamp. Not only is the price lower than other reputable bootcamps in New York, but the 'pay after you land a job' option meant that I was reaping the full benefits of the bootcamp before I even thought about the course payments.

Transitioning into working as a full-time data engineer only six months after starting the course, I can say Jigsaw Labs provided me a highly efficient skills-focused education that gave me a tooth to bite with in this competitive world. I am grateful for the hard work Jeff puts in and for finding Jigsaw Labs the way I did. 

    I had been looking to get into the field of data and programming and took numerous short intro classes at several well known technical schools/bootcamps to see if it would be worth it to take their full time courses in data science and data engineering. 
What I found was that the instructors really couldn’t really be hands on because the class sizes were too large and many instructors just couldn’t teach. 
    It was too much of a risk in time and tuition costs (also possibly having to quit my full time job) to possibly be stuck with a bad teacher. I was not willing to take the leap into signing up for a long term bootcamp until I found Jeff Katz who's the instructor and founder of Jigsaw Labs. He previously worked at Flatiron school and created their data science program. 
    His classes worked around my full time M-F job schedule and the tuition was thousands less than what the other bootcamps were charging for similar curriculums. The curriculum is state of the art and focuses on teaching the basic concepts and the current popular technologies based on his research of current job market requirements for data engineers. 
    Jeff is very concerned about student experience. He has been very supportive, knowledgeable and a resource to all his students past and present. The students in my class were awesome people who were very motivated and great to work with. 

Coming from a "non-traditional" background (law) makes the lead instructor Jeff's mastery of a whole range of data engineering subject matters all the more amazing. 

For someone like me seeking to transition to data engineering from a "non-traditional" background (law and international relations), Jigsaw Labs' curriculum covering in-demand skills, coupled with Jeff's attentiveness (one-on-one office hours in addition to regular classes), has been a huge boost to my domain knowledge and morale. 

Another pedagogical feature, pair-coding, has been both effective and enjoyable. 

As the saying goes: "If you want to learn something, read; if you want to understand something, write; if you want to master something, teach." 

I solidified my learning by making small contributions here and there to the various pair-coding sessions; and learned still more from the amazing peers in my cohort, many of whom are very knowledgeable even beyond Python coding and SQL scripting (one taught me Linux bash and various command line tricks).

I was in the  Programming For Data Science class.  The course schedule was part-time (nights and weekends), which was a major reason I signed up. 

  The course is a great place to start if you are interested in data science. If you can't access and manipulate data, you can't be a data scientist. The curriculum is an intro to all the basics in programming one would need to produce and manipulate data sets. This is exactly what I needed to get started in this field. 
  Jeff, the instructor, is engaging during class and generous with his time. He was willing to stay after class for questions and very responsive to email. It's obvious that he cares about his students. 
  The only downside to this class is that the pace is very fast (meaning lots of topics over a short period of time). Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone that wants to get started in data science. You will pick up a lot of great information and meet a great teacher.   

My time working with Jigsaw and Jeff set me up for the career shift I wanted to make and helped me acquire the skills and experiences I needed to be successful. Jigsaw is an intensive yet fulfilling program that not only focused on helping students gain the technical skills needed but also helped us to find and participate in various projects to build our experiences & resumes. I learned so much during my time with Jigsaw and Jeff created a supportive environment where we all worked together. Before enrolling in the program, I met with Jeff to discuss whether or not the program was aligned with my personal and professional goals & the advice I was given during that initial meeting proved to be immensely helpful. When it was time to begin applying or jobs, the Jigsaw team made sure to refer us to positions that aligned with our skills as well as our interests. They helped us with our resumes, our LinkedIn profiles, and directed us to various communities where positions and resumes are circulated. I was able to find a position because of the Jigsaw staff circulating my resume in various communities. The Jigsaw team is dedicated to helping students actually gain the tools & resources they need to progress in their careers, and not just enrolling as many students as possible. I could not recommend Jigsaw enough and I am grateful for my experiences as a student with Jigsaw. 

 I carefully chose Jigsaw Labs after more than two months of assessing different boot camps and I would do the same thing! You get the knowledge, skills, and support you will need to start a career in data engineering. In addition to a great curriculum that covers software engineering and data pipeline fundamentals, the instructor emphasizes the process of solving a problem with programming. That is to first understand the problem, create a step-by-step plan of how you will solve it, execute the plan by writing the real code, review your solution, and consider improving it through refactoring if possible. You will be amazed at how you will be able to solve difficult problems with this strategy. 

Students are helped to find an internship as part of the course to provide them with practical work experience. It is also a plus in your job search. The instructor and TAs are available for one on one meetings outside of class to assist with any problems you have. Try it out, you won't be disappointed. 

Even as someone with prior programming experience, I learned a lot about fundamental software/data engineering principles and about popular technologies and tools that are widely used in the data engineering space. His project-based curriculum is great for giving you hands-on experience that allows you to simultaneously develop your coding skills and learn new tools. Everyday you're paired up with one or two other students, which gives you an opportunity to connect with other passionate students and learn from them as well. Admittedly I was ahead of other students, so I would often finish daily tasks and projects sooner than most during class, but there were always longer-term projects that Jeff encouraged us to work on, and he would provide suggestions and resources to help us make the most of those projects (projects that would be great for adding to your portfolio).

Jeff is a very passionate instructor. He's always available to answer your questions and give you 1x1 attention and advice. Not only does he have a lot of experience as a software engineer himself, but he has an amazing talent for teaching students about what it means to think like an engineer. This is very beneficial for students with little to no programming experience, but even students who do have some programming background can learn a great deal from his course. I was fortunate enough to land a position immediately after graduating with the same company I interned for, and I'm still actively using the critical thinking and programming skills that I developed under his tutelage.

Finally, the internship/externship program is one of the most unique and advantageous features of this bootcamp. It gives you a direct line to getting real experience with real companies. As mentioned earlier, I (and other students) was able to land a full-time position with the company I was paired with, which demonstrates how valuable this program can be. Even if you don't transition to a full-time role, having that experience can make you stand out amongst other junior/entry-level candidates in a competitive job market.