Honest Review of General Assembly's UX Design Bootcamp

UX Design Bootcamps seem to be one of the most effective ways for career changers to enter Product/UX Design. Are they worth the steep price? In this video, I talk about my personal experience with doing the UX Design Intensive at General Assembly.
Find out what I think are the pros and cons are of a design bootcamp!
MY MISSION:
Create a global community that is interested in sharing their wisdom, culture, and is passionate about solving our generation's most pressing problems.
WHO AM I:
I'm Justin, a product designer based in San Francisco, and raised in Hong Kong. I make videos about design, culture and life lessons.
📸 Instagram - / justin.b.cheung
🖌 Portfolio - www.justincheu...

[@chief8268]

All the bootcamp is about the same i think. It all gives you just enough skills to get your feet wet, but not a golden ticket to a job. They give you the right direction, but most students will need to continue sharpening their skills on their own after the program before they can finally land a job. But eventually pretty much all the graduates will land a solid job within a year or 2. But those months before getting a job would be quite a struggle, speaking from personal experience.

[@justhere4kicks446]

Thank u!! I’m in the medical field wanting to get back into IT with a networking and graphic design background. General assembly is on my list!

[@imjustmeeks]

Great insight! I'm a Sr. Graphic Designer and should have no problem with the visual design side of things.

[@frederickfiasco]

did you find a job in UX design after? if so, how long was your search?

[@jace.cheung.7]

It took roughly 3 months starting October 2020 in America!

[@jasoncasimiro5732]

Hey man! Thanks so much for dropping this video, it provided a lot of insights for GA’s UXDI. I’m actually taking the same exact bootcamp starting March 8th and I appreciate the honesty and transparency you provided. Similar to you, I started off in communication/public relations and wanted to shift careers. Do you have any additional tips you can provide that you didn’t mention in the video for someone who’s about to start the bootcamp? Thank you in advance!

[@jace.cheung.7]

Absolutely! So glad you found some value in it. Also, not sure if you finished your sentence? 😂

[@jace.cheung.7]

Sorry, there was an issue on my side that didn't show the whole comment. To answer your question, I would say it really helps to learn about product management. I believe that this will give you a sense of how your work in design relates to product development and business strategy. A great place to start is the book Lean Startup. Also, getting a really good grasp of visual design principles are great (even though they will go through that). Good luck with your bootcamp!

[@jasoncasimiro5732]

@@jace.cheung.7 Thank you so much Justin! I'll definitely check out that book you mentioned and add it to my list of additional content to consume. Hope you have a great rest of your day!

[@sgcatr]

@@jasoncasimiro5732 I am thinking to start next month. How was your experience?

[@isaacpengsu]

I’m in the same boat as you. Just graduated in PR but want to get in a field of UX. How did it go for you?

[@TranquilWanderer]

I competed a ux certificate from Cornell and completed courses from Google/Coursera, do you think a bootcamp is still needed?

[@PatiwKalifornii]

Thanks so much for an honest review. What do you think would be better General Assembly Course or Bootcamp at UC Berkeley?

[@sgcatr]

I was thinking about the same thing for a while, then I heard Berkeley is only title for extension. Its extension is totally different than what Berkeley is.

[@yvonnehollwig5657]

Some segments in the video are stamped not adjacent to each other

[@saneeas]

Thank you for sharing all the information. Can you please share who was your mentor?

[@hanguye8228]

Some segments in the video are stamped not adjacent to each other

[@fmonk]

Is it possible to hold a 40+ hour job while doing Immersive??

[@jace.cheung.7]

It’s going to be pretty hard! Unless you have an extremely flexible remote job

[@user-vk2ei5ze4y]

Hi Justin! Thank you so much for your video. I am a recent graduate (with a degree that is not related to design) and currently looking for entry-level UX jobs. I am having a hard time landing a job (or even getting interviews), so recently I've been considering a bootcamp. However, I am not a complete beginner- I took a few courses in school (UX research, UI design, HCI) and completed a few projects. Right now I am working on an unpaid internship & polishing my portfolio using those school projects (+ personal projects) to make myself more marketable. Do you think it would be still worth it for me to join the BootCamp? tbh mentorship & client project seem very nice but would it be better if I just work on my portfolio and continue job hunting?

[@jace.cheung.7]

Honestly, if you’ve taken those classes already, I think it may make more sense to just keep working on your portfolio. But I think working on your portfolio, and freelancing, doing some free work to bolster it, instead of doing conceptual work

[@user-vk2ei5ze4y]

@@jace.cheung.7 thank you! Ive been looking for some freelance projects to work on, but I am not sure how should I get them. Do you have any tips on finding projects? I applied to some volunteer projects from nonprofit organizations but they either didnt reply / didnt have any open project 🥲

[@marinamovellan8851]

I’m thinking about doing the remote course but can’t decide whether to take class from 6-2 or 9-5. Can I ask if class always runs for the entirety of the session times rigidly or if the class times are flexible

[@jace.cheung.7]

Classes are very engaging and run for the entirety, except in the last 2 projects, where you basically get to spend the 2nd half of the day working on your own projects! I would suggest 9-5. 6am starts sound brutal haha.

[@chrisb.ramirez1080]

how many ppl were in a class? and how many landed a job relatively soon?

[@jace.cheung.7]

There were around 30 people in the class! I'd say I was the first one. I got a job after 3 months. I think on average, it took people 5-6 months. But I got lucky, and this was covid. The macro-environment is always changing!

[@frahzeetariq5336]

hi there really appreciate the video. im actually torn between general assembly and skills lab for my boot camp course. any advice thank you

[@jace.cheung.7]

Hi Frahzee! I wasn't able to find a Skills Lab but I found Design Lab, is that what you were referring to?

[@katherineburns6806]

You mentioned visual design - what can you do outside of the bootcamp to get better at those skills?

[@jace.cheung.7]

A surprisingly great exercise for me has been to completely copy pixel by pixel, some of the best designed apps out there in Figma (Airbnb, Coinbase, Instagram) to name a few. Also doing the “Daily UI” challenge

[@based_yeoman9138]

0:52 I smashed it bro!

[@dogaydemirel7025]

Ne

[@mairahmad9163]

Hi! I’m actually interview with GA today for the immersive course! But I wondered if you had any insight on UC Berkeley’s professional program in UX?

[@perfectperfect899]

Do not do it it’s a waste of money. You can learn same thing for free from google.

[@marty2970]

@@perfectperfect899 the Berkeley bootcamp? Or all bootcamps like GA?

[@perfectperfect899]

@@marty2970 don’t know much about Berkeley but GA is a no no. I don’t like the idea of boot camp in general. They are ripping people off.

[@rodericklu3431]

How long did you take to find a job from ux

[@jace.cheung.7]

3 Months. I believe I got quite lucky in that respect though!