Meet Four Students with Very Different Backgrounds Learning to Code with OpenClassrooms

Our Student Success Specialists spend a lot of time talking to students, trying to understand where they have been and where they need to go in their careers. Needless to say, we hear some pretty incredible stories. From choosing a career to changing career, from France to Venezuela, all of our students have a story to tell. Here are four of them.

“I came to OpenClassrooms because I was looking for a way to move into a new field of work. I really wanted to get into programming but I was finding that it was difficult to enter the field without some form of degree or past experience. Unfortunately, most degree-granting courses that I found required you to have a background in scientific studies or some other field related to technology.

I found OpenClassrooms at exactly the right time to realise my goal. It allowed me to secure an internship in the field that I was aiming for and set me on the right path to get to where I eventually wanted to go. The project-oriented nature of the diploma really helped me to build upon the skills I had already acquired through courses elsewhere because they took me out of the theoretical approach that many other online tutorials use. Instead, I was immediately presented with the problems I might face during real-life, day-to-day development and I was invited to find my own solutions to these problems. The best part is that after finishing each project I was able to look back at something I had created myself instead of following a step-by-step tutorial – and I can even include my projects in a portfolio to show to future employers.

Lastly, the mentoring system was very helpful. The rhythm of one meeting per week was perfect since it gave me a full week to work on my own but didn’t leave me without help when I needed it. It also helped to impose soft deadlines on my progress because I needed to complete tasks in order to have questions or other comments to discuss.”

“I signed up with OpenClassrooms 7 months ago. I was at the point of giving up because I couldn’t find anyone to help me and kept getting stuck when learning JavaScript. When I saw that this program came with a mentor, well, I had to try it out.

My experience has been amazing. Not only have I learnt much more than I could have imagined, but my confidence in coding has also improved. I couldn’t have done this without the help of my mentor, having someone go over your code to make sure it’s good, help you when your stuck, show you different ways of doing things and always encouraging you when you are struggling and finding things difficult. Learning to code is hard – your mentor makes it much easier and it’s a much better experience having a real person to talk to especially when studying online.

I guess you could say what makes OpenClassRooms different to other online courses, the degree, yes, the job guarantee, yes, the mentor, most certainly but above all the people who work there, the care and attention. For me that is what I say when I tell people about OpenClassRooms. I am not sure if everyone has been lucky enough to get the attention and care that I have got and I hope that in the future OpenClassRooms continues to be a place that cares about their students as that really is what sets you guys apart and makes you less online and more personal. I really hope OC continues to be successful as it’s not just about providing courses for people to learn it’s about making peoples dreams come true and changing people’s lives.

I am almost finished the last project and will have it finished before I start my job. When I get the actual degree I will then give them a copy of it as they are expecting it. This company said no to me before because I didn’t have the degree, so it’s important for them that I get it.”

“I have been following the Front End Developer path with OpenClassrooms for 3-4 months now. I am so glad I found OpenClassrooms when I did!

I am 29 years old with nothing but a two-year degree in General Studies to my name. A traditional Computer Science degree is costly and slow. The colleges that are my transfer options have disappointing programming opportunities. I partly began to pursue a Computer Science degree only to find the few programming classes available left much to be desired. The classes followed outdated books and the professors were hands-off and lazy. I desperately needed to find another option. I wanted to learn fast and I needed a teacher that could keep up.

I was hesitant to commit to a coding bootcamp because there were so many unknowns when it came to future job prospects. I was very close to joining one of the top listed coding bootcamps on CourseReport because they seemed to be the only alternative. Then, one day, an ad for OpenClassrooms popped up on my Facebook dashboard. It took me two weeks of researching and talking with the advisors to commit to their Front-End Web Developer Bachelor’s degree path. The OpenClassrooms advisors were very easy to talk to and answered all of my questions promptly.

My experience so far has been satisfying and rewarding. The project-based learning is effective. At first, it feels vague and slightly intimidating, but that is where the mentorship and course options come in. My mentor has been a perfect fit for me! He challenges me at our weekly meetings. He points me in the right direction without doing the work for me or just telling me the answer. This forces me to learn by experience which, in my opinion, is the best way.

The provided courses for each project are a great introduction into what you will need for completion. The content, videos, and activities are well structured and easy to follow. I have learned so much from these courses and use them as a constant reference as I work on my projects.

The only minor flaw about the courses is the activity grading process. It is slow and unreliable. Other students grade your work and this becomes problematic. On the same assignment, a student gave me full marks, yet another student a complete zero with no explanation. OpenClassrooms encourages constructive feedback amongst students and the grading process but there is no accountability, especially since the grading is all anonymous. This is only a minor fault for OpenClassrooms. It does not prevent me from learning or continuing through the path at my pace with my mentor. It really is just a minor frustration.

Upon completion of the courses, you get a certificate that can be posted on your LinkedIn profile. This is a great feature that I am sure will come in handy once I begin the inevitable job search. And it may seem silly, but these certificates provide an achievement marker you can share with friends and family that want to support your educational accomplishments. Every time I earn a new certificate I share it with my family and they all high five me and provide encouragement to get the next one.

OpenClassrooms has a job guarantee. I had already decided to sign up for OpenClassrooms before this was announced. However, now that it has been implemented my reservations about how far this international Bachelor’s degree in Front-End Web Development is really going to get me has gradually faded. I now feel confident in my decision to pursue this path and feel like I am in good hands when it comes to my future career.

OpenClassrooms provides a hub for all students from all different paths so we can discuss course material, chat, and encourage one another. Even though most of the postings are in French, there is a great translate utility that keeps me in the loop.

I do not know by what stroke of luck I stumbled upon OpenClassrooms, but I am very glad I did. I have a mentor who keeps me on task and provides encouragement, comprehensible courses that give me direction, and projects that I can proudly add to my professional portfolio with confidence. The most exciting part? As I regularly look at job offers for Front-End Web Developers I can mentally check off more and more “Job Requirements” that I now meet since I have joined OpenClassrooms”

“Dear future student,

You have no idea how happy it makes me that now, a platform that began as just francophone, is broadening its magic to the anglophone and hispanic world. I am currently sitting in the chair you’ll find yourself in soon enough.

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Stephanie Zerpa, I am 20 years old and I am Venezuelan. I was born and raised there, up until the age of 15, when I migrated and began my globetrotting adventure. I have lived in Canada, Barbados, France and Spain ever since. My life has been a come-and-go of opportunities I am eternally thankful for. I am an artist, poet, author of the blog For The Art of Code, polyglot, traveler, activist, psychology lover and theater enthusiast. So basically, I am the opposite of what many would stereotypically imagine a web developer to be like. Actually, I am the last person I would have imagined in this developer seat.  

Maybe at this point you are wondering, why I am talking to you? The answer is simple: because I, not so long ago, was you. I also had doubts at some point about learning platforms, I had doubt about the veracity in their words and, above all, I doubted myself and my skills. But, today I am here to tell you, from experience and from the heart, that you are putting your education in the best hands.

Up until a couple of months ago I had no interest in taking part in anything tech-related. I had always been interested in the world of art and languages. From a young age, neither science nor technology were things I could identify with. In fact, I even dropped out of my computing class halfway through high school. To sum up, my interest was never based in a bunch of codes. So, why now?

I found OpenClassrooms the same way every magical thing in life happens: by mere fate. I found the platform thanks to those unexpected and random Facebook ads; which I simply clicked on without giving it much thought. I have no idea how I ended up in this world. All I know is that I couldn’t be happier with the turn of events. Parker J Palmer once said “Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am”.  In my short but well-lived life I have traveled the world looking for my “Great Perhaps”; looking for my why. I’ve considered multiple careers and studied their pros and cons and never been fully content, until I found OpenClassrooms. I think what happened was that life decided to make the path clear, and all I had to do from there was follow it.

In simple terms, through OpenClassrooms, I have the daily opportunity to discover an online learning platform that understands the individuality of their students and adapts to every single one of their needs. An atypical platform that goes way beyond any other online learning experience.

I have never been a big fan of the traditional educational system. I think it is full of errors and questions that need to be fixed, but OpenClassrooms goes beyond that system, beyond any system I have ever known.

No buts in your bank account. Benjamin Franklin once said “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest,” but my father also used to say that without money it is difficult to invest. I have spent the last 3 years of my life saving any kind of income, allowance or help from any family member or even strangers to pay for my education. I have always considered that learning would be the greatest gift anyone could give me, but with education today costing more than $20,000 a year it was almost impossible to believe that my dream would come true without putting my life in debt; or so it was until a couple of months ago, when I found this platform. It was crazy to finally find a career path with a stipulated time of 12 months (instead of 5 years) and knowing that I could afford it was an even bigger madness. Not having to get rid my dreams was a dream in itself.

No but nor how. Your How depends on the who! Who are you? What are you looking for? Based on these questions we can determine a how.

I give you the guarantee that OpenClassrooms will not be who puts you any kind of barriers or obstacles. We all learn differently; some of us prefer listening activities, some multimedia, some more practical exercises, and others reading. It is human nature, we are all different and we all understand the world and its way of operating in a different way. With this in mind, OpenClassrooms teaches you in all possible ways, resulting in incredible knowledge and immensely recognized accreditation. You can’t imagine how grateful I am for simply being able to learn, but when I found out about the accreditation with which the program comes my joy increased remarkably. With OpenClassrooms I can get the degree I’ve been waiting for so long.

I had never understood the importance of having someone to support me this much. I’ve always been pretty self-sufficient, and I think this is a quality that has helped me enormously along my path, but here I learned that you’re never alone. At the beginning of the trajectory you will get a personal mentor who will help you achieve your goals through a reciprocal learning process. It is important to recognize that anything related to technology can be frustrating at times. Therefore, having someone who not only demonstrates the values ​​of the company and their interest in you, but also makes a difference in your learning, is like having someone take your hand and showing you the way to go when the fears and doubts reach you. The concept of team goes beyond the mentor; every day I am more surprised at how good, helpful and friendly each staff member is.

I have never learned so much. I have never challenged my intellect in the way OpenClassrooms encourages me to. I’ve never felt more cared by, nor have I ever felt more heard. Every member of OpenClassrooms has been more than amazing with me. Each one has, without a doubt, made a difference in my life.

OpenClassrooms is more than just a simple online platform, OpenClassrooms is a world of learning and technology that focuses on its students, on their comfort and clarity above anything else. Now is your time to make a difference by their side, by our side.

Believe in yourself and in this Education Revolution. It’s our moment.”