Springboard Reviews

I'm a UX professional. I used to mentor at Springboard for five years. Sorry, would-be UX designers, don’t believe the marketing hype, UX bootcamps won’t do it for most of you. I wrote an article about this and I encourage you to read it. Search for "The UX bootcamp model is broken" on Medium.

Springboard has gotten worse and worse over the years. The bottom line for students is, don't get you hopes up. This bootcamp will NOT prepare you for a real-world job, despite the marketing hype. Don't fall for it.

They do an exceptional job of over-promising. However, the proof is in the pudding and the numbers aren’t pretty. They’re massively underdelivering. Fudging track-record numbers, they tend to prey on unsuspecting UX students by wrapping their offerings in honey-dipped, virtue-laden marketing ballyhoo, like “futureproofing your career,” and how their “graduates have been hired by the biggest names in tech.” Don't believe it.

No one should have any delusions about the fact that these bootcamps are in it for the money. Springboard is a for-profit, ed-tech startup financed by venture capitalists who demand profits before anything else. When we look past the virtue-signaling, noble-sounding slogans, Springboard doesn’t care much if a graduate actually lands a job or not. It’s all about profit.

Mentor quality has also dropped. In recent years most highly skilled UX mentors with deep industry experience have quit UX bootcamps in large numbers.

UX bootcamps delude students into thinking they’re going to walk into a job shortly after graduation. In reality, anecdotal evidence from UX mentors says only 30–50% of graduates are proficient enough to get an entry-level job. Many struggle for years to find jobs in UX largely because they lack the “job-ready skills employers are looking for.”

Myth, legend, and razzle-dazzle all rolled into one, Springboard splashes “build a stellar portfolio curated from hands-on projects with clients” on its pages — yet, no one has actually seen one. Truth be told, most graduate portfolios harm students because they’re teeming with “UX-bootcampy” case studies that don’t demonstrate the ability to solve real-world UX challenges. Hiring managers and design managers are not impressed by UX deliverables piled into a jumble of case studies.

The quality of education is seriously questionable. Students are on their own. Several online bootcamps just have students read freely available articles and watch videos in a self-paced, self-managed environment. It does not equate with getting a solid education in UX — even with weekly mentor calls.

The random collection of online course material is outdated, some of it is five years old. In an industry moving at a rapid pace that’s not very sound! Many articles are misinformed, outright wrong, and pernicious — selected by someone who doesn’t know the subject matter at all, and has no business curating a UX course.

All in all, I do not recommend UX students spend their money on these bootcamps.

I began the transition from the healthcare industry to the IT industry last year and discovered Springboard’s Cyber Security Career Track while researching education options. This course more than prepared me to pass the CompTIA Security+ exam and taught me the basics needed to land my first tech job. Springboard’s curriculum was impeccably organized and explained complicated technical concepts in a way that someone new to cyber security can understand. Springboard also provides you with an industry expert mentor and expert career coaches who are there to guide you along the way. I definitely recommend this school!

The best part of the Springboard Software Engineering Career Track is the quality of the curriculum materials. They don't just teach you the bare minimum to be able to build things - the course gives context, history, and deep technical understanding of why modern web applications are built the way they are.

The job support is also very good, though I would've appreciated a little more hands-on guidance. I got a job before finishing the program, so perhaps I would've had more help/guidance if I'd needed it.

Anyway, I am very happy with the education I got from Springboard and would recommend it to anyone looking for a bootcamp they can do online at their own pace.

I had very positive experience with Springboard. The extremely flexible self-learning pace schedule, the thorough curriculum which makes on understand every concept from the ground up, expertised mentors, supportive course advisors and a great community - everything that one needs to begin a career in Data Anyltics is right there. Highly recommend taking the course.

Springboard DAC program immensely helped me gain the skills and knowledge I need to pivot into a new career path as Data Analyst. The DAC curriculum is well structured and the project based assignments helped me gain confidence. The weekly mentor call was a huge plus for me! Learning from an industry expert 'the structured way of thinking' as a data analyst was my greatest learning. The Springboard's careers team is an amazing resource to help with preparing for interviews. Although the course is 6 month (self-paced), the weekly mentor calls and career coach calls helps with accountability and motivation. The mock call interviews towards the end really boost the confidence. Springboard's student advisor and the customer support were very accommodative to my situations and prompt with providing assistance from time to time! Also the Slack platform to interact with fellow students is an added advantage. I just completed my coursework and I feel more prepared and confident to make this shift in my career. I am glad I chose Springboard over the other program while I was exploring.

I had a very positive experience w/ Springboard's Data Analytics Career Track.

Biggest pro for me was the curriculum. The work provided was crucial in developing skills. Another pro is that, for a completely remote program, they've organized the social aspects well (mentor calls, career services, coach calls) in a way that makes it feel less isolated.

Cons - it's expensive for most people. In my experience it's worth the money though.

I attended Springboard directly after I had been laid off in October 2020. There was an entire team of people that were willing to show me what they knew, share their experience and weekly mentor guidance. The two mentors that I had during my studies were very knowledgeable and provided me additional resources to aid in my understanding. There were several extensions that I was granted and I am very thankful for the optimism in my success. I truly feel that I was able to learn without a deadline and believe that this is the reason for my mastery in the content.

I wanted to make the switch to software engineering while also taking time off to travel. Springboard was the bootcamp that fit my needs, it gave me the flexibility to learn while on the road, is a great value, and really prepared me for the next step in my career. The curriculum is very comprehensive, but also well paced. The student community, mentor support, and student advisors make it a really great experience. Instead of feeling like you're just watching "how to code videos", you get real weekly feedback from your mentor, and you give and get feedback from other students on bigger projects as well, so there is a great feeling of community. The career coaching is also a crucially overlooked component to most bootcamps, and it really sets Springboard apart. I went from having no LinkedIn and a poor resume, to 250 connections in my network, and knowledge on networking, interview skills, and salary negotiation. My technical skills have also come a long way, you'll be amazed at how much you can learn, and I feel very well prepared for my next job. I would always recommend Springboard to anyone interested in making a switch to software development.

I had the misfortune of an overly arrogant mentor with very little emotional intelligence although cookie cutter intelligence. Expensive course with material that could be learned elsewhere for much less

The content was massive, covered many topics that I'd need a new developer. One very important thing was code testing. It's often left out, and it's hirely desired for new devs to know. Springboard has that extensively covered.

There's not a single topic they teach, that they also don't teach how to write tests for.