
Hack Reactor Acquires MakerSquare - cdepman
http://www.wired.com/2015/01/coding-bootcamp-boom-continues-hack-reactor-buy/
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aselbie
As an alum and current Hacker in Residence at Hack Reactor I was really
interested to see what direction HR's (inevitable) expansion would take.

This approach seems like a good one to me. Giving Maker Square access to their
model and materials will allow some of the things I love about HR (rapid
iteration, epic alumi support, holistic focus on software engineers rather
than just coders) to spread without creating cookie cutter campuses.
Increasing quality without losing diversity.

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dinkumthinkum
Reading this piece makes me a little ... I don't know if uneasy is the right
word but, fine. It's like these bootcamps are just popping up to give out Web
dev jobs to people that have never programmed before and now they will be
slapping together Javascript like nobody's business. It gives the impression
that any "monkey can be a software engineer."

The quote at the bottom just has me shaking my head:

 _“We’re still seeing lots of Ruby developer jobs. But we’re seeing a huge
uptick in JavaScript developer positions.”_

I'm not sure this is really a good thing but I guess it doesn't really matter
either way. Maybe I'm a CS elitist or maybe I don't like the idea of
saturation and dilution of market by bootcamp programmers. Who knows.

~~~
dopamean
> It's like these bootcamps are just popping up to give out Web dev jobs to
> people that have never programmed before ... It gives the impression that
> any "monkey can be a software engineer."

I'm an instructor at MakerSquare who is intimately involved with our
admissions process. We don't believe that "any monkey can be a software
engineer." We believe that anyone who has spent time teaching themselves the
basics can be taught to be a productive junior developer.

We have not accepted applicants with zero programming experience for some time
now. We made that change for several reasons but the main one was that we
wanted to be able to start with more advanced topics. Starting with more
advanced topics means ending with more advanced topics. Ultimately, that means
that our students will be better prepared for the job market.

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7Figures2Commas
> The biggest change for MakerSquare—its new curriculum—was already in the
> works before the acquisition. The school intends to focus on the JavaScript
> programming language. Traditionally, programmers used Javascript to write
> code that runs inside web browsers, but now they’re using it to write code
> that runs on computer servers, code that drives the heart of online
> services. As a result, Phillips says, _MakerSquare can now focus on teaching
> only one language for both browser-side and server-side programming._

Sigh.

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eastbayjake
I was accepted into Hack Reactor's 5th class and MakerSquare's 1st class. I
chose Hack Reactor (and I'm glad I did) but I really liked the MakerSquare
founders and was happy to see them be so successful. Both teams have liked and
respected each other as long as I've known them.

This seems like a win-win for both sides: Hack Reactor's hiring support is
amazing (the 99% hiring rate is not just accurate but calculated using a
higher standard than most competitors[1]) and MakerSquare is still the big dog
in Austin.

I'm especially excited as a Hack Reactor alumnus who's getting tired of SF and
eyeing Austin!

[1] [http://www.quora.com/Hack-Reactor/When-you-say-the-
average-i...](http://www.quora.com/Hack-Reactor/When-you-say-the-average-
income-of-HR-grads-is-103k-is-that-the-mean-or-the-median-If-its-the-mean-
then-what-is-the-median)

~~~
thinkbohemian
Austin is amazing! If you're in town stop by an Austin on Rails, great
community. There's always friendly folks, companies hiring, and ususally some
food.

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dopamean
I am an instructor at MakerSquare in Austin and I just wanted to say that
we're all very excited about this. If anyone has any questions about our
program I'd be happy to answer them.

~~~
sumgy
I'd be interested to hear how this will affect MakerSquare. I saw the
announcement and it seems like Hack Reactor is adopting a fairly laissez-faire
approach. Have you seen any changes in the lead up to this? How do you think
it will play out?

~~~
dopamean
I agree that they are taking a laissez-faire approach. For now we will adopt
their curriculum (which is great because we were moving to a JS only
curriculum anyway) and their class schedule (till 8pm daily and class on
Saturdays). We'll keep our name and staff as is.

We'll likely adopt their admissions process, however, we're very proud of some
aspects of our process and we're looking forward to see how the two can work
together.

No changes were made to any part of the program leading up to the acquisition.

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piratebroadcast
Kaplan bought Dev Bootcamp a while ago - Interesting to see so many
aquisitions in this space.

