Careers in Code is a coding bootcamp that teaches computer programming to women and minorities to help combat poverty in Central NY. We provide students with the technical skills they need to obtain internships and entry level software development jobs with local employers after 24 weeks of instruction.
Hack Upstate’s Careers in Code will continue to teach computer programming to individuals to help fight poverty in Central New York. Our coding bootcamp will provide students with the technical skills they need to obtain internships and full-time software development jobs with local employers after 24 weeks of instruction. We help to create and provide access to opportunities for those in concentrated areas of extreme poverty, while providing local employers with a coding bootcamp service that will help them fill talent gaps and foster growth.
The number of coding bootcamp graduates has grown 10x since the first bootcamps launched in 2012. Today, coding bootcamps are a $350,000,000 industry and in 2020 will graduate approximately 25,000 developers. The coding bootcamp model has proven successful because bootcamps are a fraction of the price of a college degree and on average only take 14.3 weeks to complete. Most importantly, coding bootcamps have proven to be a pragmatic way to provide students with the software development skills they need to obtain programming jobs that satisfy current market demands.
Since 2019, we’ve successfully graduated 68 total individuals from our first five cohorts.
According to the latest Coding Bootcamp Alumni Outcomes & Demographics Study, 79.3 percent of graduates were hired full-time in jobs that utilize the skills they acquired from their bootcamps. The graduates also reported an average salary increase of 49% or $21,000 compared to their salary before enrolling in their respective coding bootcamps. Low-income students from distressed communities in particular saw the largest increase in salary at an average rate of 128%.
According to a 2019 report from Hired.com, 57% of US tech hiring managers and recruiters said they would hire a coding bootcamp graduate for a tech role, only 7% said they would not. The biggest concern from employers regarding bootcamp participants is a lack of professional experience. However, for graduates of bootcamps with a focus on projects, combined with an interest in projects outside the bootcamp, this may not matter at all.
Hack Upstate’s Careers in Code aims to solve two problems.
First, poverty throughout Central New York is rising at an accelerated rate and stifling our region’s economic potential. Syracuse, NY is one of the most impoverished cities in the United States. In particular, there are few opportunities for women and minorities to advance in concentrated areas of extreme poverty. Equal access to educational and employment opportunities are simply not available to them.
Second, many Central New York employers are struggling to hire local software developers. Software developers are critical to their growth, but at this time our regional talent pool isn’t large enough to support their needs. Consequently, employers that want to hire locally are often left with no choice but to outsource their work to 3rd party consultants and contractors that operate outside of Central New York.
Additionally, COVID-19 continues to surge in Central and Upstate New York. Early data from the CDC, indicates that the pandemic continues to disproportionately affect communities of color in Syracuse and Onondaga county. According to a June report by PEACE inc., despite making up 9% of the New York state’s population outside New York City, Black residents accounted for 18% of new cases of the virus in the state.
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Hack Upstate will be launching a Spring cohort of Careers in Code in 2024!
Spring, 2024 (AEI)
Our sixth cohort will launch this Spring in partnership with the Alliance for Economic Inclusion and Onondaga County. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to continue working with AEI and Onondaga County this year.
Fall, 2024
We will have more details on this soon. If you're interested, join our waitlist and our mailing list you'll be one of the first to know when applications open.
The program lasts for 24 total weeks.
Our Spring, 2024 cohort of Careers in Code will be a hybrid approach of both in-person and virtual instruction. Based on lessons learned from both fully in-person and fully virtual classes, we believe this will provide the best experience for the students.
We plan to offer a mix of in-person and virtual classes over the 24 weeks. We also plan to have some in-person weeks. We’re fortunate to partner with Commonspace to be able to provide venue space for our in-person classes.
Cohort 5 (2023)
Our fifth cohort of Careers in Code graduated on September 28, 2023.
Cohort 4 (2023)
Our fourth cohort of Careers in Code graduated on March 16, 2023.
Cohort 3 (2022)
Our third cohort of Careers in Code graduated on September 8, 2022.
Cohort 2 (2021)
Our second cohort of Careers in Code graduated on August 26, 2021. These determined students endured the pandemic to engage in our virtual classroom and ultimately graduate from Careers in Code. We’re so proud of our second cohort of students and are so pleased with their hard word throughout the duration of the program! So far, we’ve seen 4 out of 11 graduates of our second cohort gain employment with local employers like CenterState CEO, Kirkwork, the City of Syracuse, and Density.
Cohort 1 (2019)
In 2019, Hack Upstate launched Careers in Code in partnership with Onondaga County, the Alliance for Economic Inclusion (AEI), CenterState CEO, and The Technology Garden. The first cohort of Careers in Code has generated profoundly rich and life changing opportunities for eleven un- and underemployed women and minorities from our first cohort of students. Not only that, it has helped to offset the current talent shortage our region faces when it comes to hiring software developers and engineers.
Measuring Success and Outcomes
We will measure success based on the percentage of students who obtain software developer jobs with local employers following graduation and their corresponding increases in annual income. We have a system in place that we use to measure success. The most important metrics and objectives we are tracking include:
- Metric #1: The percentage of students that complete the full 24 week coding bootcamp.
- Metric #2: The percentage of students that obtain jobs and internships as software developers within 180 days of graduation.
- Metric #3: The average compensation for students that receive jobs and internships as software developers within 180 days of graduation.
- Metric #4: The average increase in annual salary for students who complete the full 24 week coding bootcamp within 180 days of graduation.
You can view the outcomes and success of our cohorts on our website. We report data associated with placement, job creation, and wealth creation. Learning how to code can change your life. Hear from the graduates of Careers in Code on how it changed theirs.
Cohort 2 (2021)
For our second cohort, the percentage of students that have obtained jobs, internships, or consulting arrangements with local employers within 180 days of graduation is 4 out of 11 students with an overall salary increase of 82%. View our full outcomes report here.
You may also be interested in some of our student success stories:
- Kyle Gilbert (coming soon)
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: LaTonia Mertica — November 15, 2021
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Sara Dow — December 20, 2021
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Melaquan Saffold — December 22, 2021
Cohort 1 (2019)
For our first cohort, the percentage of students that have obtained jobs, internships, or consulting arrangements with local employers within 180 days of graduation is 8 out of 11 students with an overall salary increase of 104.10%. View our full outcomes report here.
You may also be interested in some of our student success stories:
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Dana McMullen — October 31, 2019
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Kaitlyn Warboy — November 26, 2019
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Elizabeth Metcalf — December 20, 2019
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Eva Carafa — February 21, 2020
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Dakir Thompson — February 26, 2020
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Kelly Corey — March 10, 2020
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Karin Thorne — March 23, 2020
- Careers in Code Student Success Stories: Tim Liles — May 14, 2021
CIRR Certification
CIRR (Council on Integrity in Results Reporting) is the industry standard for placement stats. We’re very proud to say that Careers in Code is a CIRR certified school. We offer fully transparent results and meet all of CIRR’s standards and are committed to publishing trustworthy graduate outcomes. You can learn more here and view our CIRR outcomes report from our first cohort here (our second cohort’s report is in progress).
We plan to continue to use our CNY-based, custom Careers in Code curriculum. To develop this curriculum we solicited feedback from local employers. Their feedback as well as their hiring needs were used to inform the curriculum’s content as well as its structure.
Our instructors first begin with content that introduces students to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and then guide them through project assignments that are fueled by current market demands. We will continue to iterate upon and refine our curriculum each year and ensure it is tailored around the unique needs of our partners and local Central New York companies.
You can view a few previous cohorts syllabuses here:
We plan to alternate in-person and virtual classes over the 24 weeks. We don’t have a set number of in person weeks, but given our lessons learned from operating a fully in-person and fully virtual cohort, we think this will create the best experience for our students.
Our in-person classes will be held in a conference room at Commonspace located at 351 S Warren St, Syracuse, NY 13202. Please enter the building from Warren St entrance (the side one with Pavones and Subway).
We cannot grant every student access to the building, so we will let you in.
Classes will be from 5:30pm to 8:30pm Monday to Thursday.
Yes! Classes will be cancelled on Federal U.S. holidays (view holidays here)
- Memorial Day
- June 19, Juneteenth
- July 4, Independence Day
- September 5, Labor Day
- October 10, US Indigenous People’s Day
- November 11, Veterans Day
- Nov 24, Thanksgiving
- December 25h, Christmas day
In order to minimize as many barriers as possible when it comes to fighting poverty, accepted students receive the following.
Full Tuition Scholarship
The average tuition per student for a coding bootcamp is $11,900. This does not include additional costs for equipment such as laptops or service fees like web hosting and 3rd party API usage. Those living at or below the poverty line are simply unable to take advantage of the opportunities a coding bootcamp provides given their expense. This is unfortunate given low-income students see the largest increase in salary upon graduating from a coding bootcamp.
Students admitted on grant-sponsorship will be offered a full-tuition scholarship for the Spring and Fall Careers in Code cohorts in 2023.
Loaner Laptops
We will provide loaner laptops for students enrolled through grant-sponsorship. Students will return laptops upon the completion of the program.
Spending Stipend
Students will have access to a spending stipend where they will be able to use funds to pay for anything they need to successfully complete the program. Each student will receive $1400 for their student stipend for our Spring cohort.
Student Success Representative
Our Student Success Representative supports the program by helping our students navigate and eliminate any potential barriers, challenges, hurdles, or problems they might have throughout the program. They’ve worked closely with our students to ensure their success and support them to the best of their ability. We’re determined to have every student that matriculates our program graduate in good standing.
Career Coach
Our Career Coaches help to support the program by ensuring that all of our students are prepared to enter their job search with confidence and competence. They’ll help students with everything involved in the job search process and prepare them to land an internship or entry-level software development position. This includes (but is certainly not limited to): LinkedIn consultations, building a personal brand, resumes, cover letters, job boards, interviews (behavioral and technical), mock interviews, and negotiating offers.
Community Involvement & CenterState CEO’s Tech & Culture Network
Developing students’ skills outside of their technical abilities is an integral piece of Careers in Code. Students participated in networking events, local developer meetups, mock interviews, and were fortunate to be joined by 17 guest speakers. You can learn about our guest speakers here.
Tech and Culture is a CenterState CEO initiative, focused on the technology industry and is dedicated to community engagement efforts that promotes diversity and inclusion in tech. This initiative is funded by the JPMC AdvancingCities grant and aims to drive inclusion into the Syracuse Surge plan. Tech and Culture seeks to connect local and national professionals, entrepreneurs, and tech potential candidates to the work through innovative programming and events focused on diversity in the tech sectors. You can learn more on the Tech & Culture Facebook page and GoodLife CNY website.
Our program is free for those who meet all eligibility requirements.
If you do not meet the eligibility requirements and you are interested in enrolling in the program, please reach out to us at jesse@hackupstate.com. We offer tuition-based entry to a limited number of applicants based on enrollment.
No coding experience required! We’re seeking folks with a passion for technology looking to transform their careers. During our screening process, we'll make sure that you have the ability to solve challenging problems and learn quickly.
Applicants for our Spring, 2024 cohort must meet the following criteria:
- 18 years of age or older
- Current resident of Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Oswego or Onondaga County
- New York State residency
- A woman, person of color, or underrepresented individual. All applicants are considered, so we encourage you to apply.
- Currently living at or around the federal poverty line or be in a situation where the pandemic has affected your employment status or financial situation
You can review the admissions process that details how to apply and what to expect next. We will be actively reviewing applications submitted to us.
While we review applications, prospective students might find the following helpful:
- Prospective students page where you can learn more about the program.
- We’d encourage you to check out the following groups to get involved with the local CNY tech community. They’re all awesome ways to dive in: OpenHack, Syracuse.io, Women in Coding.
We’d also encourage you to join the Hack Upstate slack and the Syracuse.io slack to connect with our awesome developer communities! Feel free to say hi when you join.
Please reach out to us at jesse@hackupstate.com. We will work with prospective student on a case-by-case basis depending on their situation.
We’re exploring a pilot program on a case by case basis for a limited number of students for our Spring and Fall cohorts. Please reach out to us (jesse@hackupstate.com) to obtain more information.
The only thing we'd recommend having setup beforehand is Zoom. Our instructors will walk you through everything else to get software and a development environment setup.
Loaner laptops
We will provide loaner laptops for students enrolled through grant-sponsorship. Students will return laptops upon the completion of the program.
Can I keep the laptop after I graduate?
For our second cohort, we were fortunate enough to work with Working Solutions who helped to provide laptops for our graduates so they can continue their journey in software development. We intend to identify a partner who can pay for the cost of the laptops of the students for each cohort.
What are the laptop specifications?
We will purchase Macbooks for each student.
Can I use my own laptop?
You are welcome to use your own laptop for the program, but we recommend utilizing the loaner laptop for the program.
If you’re excited to apply for the next cohort of Careers in Code, but find yourself waiting on the next cohort’s application to open up, fear not.
Get involved with the local developer community, all are welcome always. Here’s a link to some local developer meetups to get your feet wet.
When it comes time to apply, read the application instructions carefully and complete the steps as early as possible, best of luck!
If you are a beginner, don’t worry, you’re not required to have any prior coding knowledge before joining the program. That said, any knowledge of any program will be helpful along the way, as this program pushes students to go above and beyond their own self-expectations.
After graduation, alumni are expected to search for, apply into, and obtain entry level positions or internships with local software developers.
We are here to help and we provide a number of critical networking skills and trainings during the program that alumni use as they transition into job searching.
We’re seeking first-rate instructors to help support our Careers in Code bootcamp. They’ll help to teach our students the fundamental skills they’ll need to obtain internship and entry-level positions and be successful as a software developer.
We’re seeking motivated individuals (preferably with some teaching experience in the coding/computer science field) to assist with our Careers in Code coding bootcamp. Teaching assistants will help support our instructors, students, and the overall classroom.
We are unable to offer any sort of internship, co-op, CTP or school-related credit for Careers in Code instructors or teaching assistants.
Hiring capable software engineers that are local is really, really hard, but we’ve got you covered. We’re a tech talent pipeline for local organizations.
Here are some ways you get involved with us. We’d also really appreciate it if you’d submit our business partners survey for getting involved!
Part of the Careers in Code initiative is not only to provide our students with the technical skills they need to become developers, but also to teach them the necessary soft skills needed in the professional world. We’ve found that the best way to expose them to such important topics is to bring in industry professionals who are passionate about sharing knowledge about their own experiences.
We are looking for folks to come talk to our students about important skills they should have upon graduation (soft and technical skills). These workshops include topics such as: interviewing (behavioral and technical), networking, social media, personal branding, people skills, getting involved in the tech community, open source, etc.
Sign up to speak to our students here! Once you sign up, we’ll be in touch in the coming weeks for you to schedule a slot to speak to our students.