Hi, I’m Polina! Formerly, I worked as a senior digital marketing manager and now I am a marketing mentor at Pathrise. I help people land great marketing jobs through workshops and 1-on-1 mentorship. Check out my review of Digital Workshop Center.
- What does Digital Workshop Center do?
- Who is Digital Workshop Center for?
- What does Digital Workshop Center cost?
- Ratings and reviews of Digital Workshop Center
- Alternatives to Digital Workshop Center
- How does Digital Workshop Center compare to Pathrise?
What does Digital Workshop Center do?
Digital Workshop Center is a vocational school that offers bootcamps and certificate training programs that help people launch new careers in tech. They teach self-paced training courses in digital marketing, UX design, web development, and data science. The program boasts an 82% employment rate with an average salary increase of $16k for students who were already employed. While students can usually learn online or in-person at their campuses in Fort Collins or downtown Denver, all classes are currently remote due to Covid-19.
Certificate courses are self-paced and feature about 100+ hours of content. However, students are still required to complete the material in under 1 year. All students participate in live lectures, hands-on assignments, and career counseling. Mentors meet 1-on-1 with students as they build a real-world project that they can add to their portfolios. Class sizes are small and feature live instruction from industry experts. Many courses require pre-work on free tech learning platforms like DataCamp.
Digital marketing certificate
Their digital marketing certificate course teaches students the skills they need to become a digital marketer. Students learn to examine marketing analytics, identify target audiences, and craft content that speaks to potential customers. The curriculum also covers marketing channel conversion rates, testing marketing campaigns, determining KPIs, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns, content marketing, and even budget planning. In addition to building soft skills like storytelling and customer engagement, students work with in-demand marketing tools like Facebook ads, Google Analytics, and Adobe Photoshop for content creation.
Data science certificate
Students in the data science certificate course focus on Python as they learn to analyze and visualize data. The curriculum covers descriptive statistics, data plotting, linear regression models, big data, and machine learning. In addition to covering soft skills like problem-solving, the course also teaches practical data usage like data analysis for business, automation of repetitive tasks, and automated report creation. All students get a formal certificate that they can add to their resumes to help them get a data science job after graduation.
Web development certificate
The web development certificate teaches students the front-end development skills they need to build websites. Students master HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React as they start coding for the web. The curriculum also teaches some web design and SEO best practices such as monitoring web traffic and using Google Analytics. Students even use Photoshop to wire-frame designs. A bootcamp version of the certificate course is also available for an even deeper dive into the curriculum and a more intense pace.
UX design certificate
Students in the UX design certificate course learn to become a UX designer who successfully crafts all aspects of the end-user’s experience. The 123-hour curriculum covers UX design vocabulary, personas, target audiences, user flows, and customer journeys. In addition to working with in-demand UX tools Adobe XD, Figma, and Sketch to prototype designs, students also work with some UI tools like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Students build both a paper and digital prototype to test their designs, creating their own style guide and digital assets for team projects.
Career services
All certificate courses include career services. Career coaches meet 1-on-1 with students to craft resumes, optimize their online presence, and create job search strategies. Students also participate in career workshops to hone their soft skills and prepare for the job search. Once a certificate course has ended, grads get 1 month of mentoring support and 1 year to retake the same course for free.
Who is Digital Workshop Center for?
People with little to no experience in digital marketing, UX design, web dev, or data science who are looking to move into these fields could benefit from a Digital Workshop Center certificate course. The program is especially helpful for people seeking a self-paced learning experience with a hands-on curriculum and 1-on-1 mentoring. Students seeking a program with an income share agreement (ISA) could also be a good fit.
What does Digital Workshop Center cost? How much work is involved?
Full tuition for the data science and front-end web dev certificate courses is a little over $8,400. Students pay $8,200 for the UX design course and $5,405 for the digital marketing program. No-interest monthly payment plans are available, but students who pay upfront get a discount. US veterans and their families can also pay with the GI Bill.
Students can also pay with an income share agreement (ISA), which means they owe nothing until they land a job. Once grads land a tech job that pays at least $40,000, they pay 10% of their income for 36 months or until they reach $12,000. The ISA also comes with a 3-month grace period so students don’t have to pay immediately.
Unlike many other bootcamps, Digital Workshop Center does not have any formal application requirements. Candidates only have to fill out a form and chat with an admissions advisor. While no past experience is required, accepted students may have to complete pre-work before starting their certificate course.
Ratings and reviews
As a relatively new bootcamp, Digital Workshop Center does not have too many online reviews but the reception has been positive so far. They hold a perfect 5 star rating on Course Report based on only 1 review. The grad described the staff as “professional and friendly” and appreciated that mentors offer “great support” and “create an individual plan for success.” The program is also rated 5/5 stars based on 17 Facebook reviews, where grads praised the “knowledgeable” instructors who “took his time and made sure we understood.” Other students like that the curriculum was “presented in a straightforward and helpful manner.” The projects and assignments based on real-world issues were also a big hit.
The program holds a 4.8/5 star rating on Birdeye and 4.9/5 stars on Google reviews. One grad liked that they “customized the training” and felt that the staff was “friendly and helpful.” However, one student had an issue with the course’s management team and failed to work out a scheduling conflict. Overall though, most grads seem satisfied with the course’s hands-on curriculum and supportive instructors.
Alternatives to Digital Workshop Center
If you decide not to enroll in a Digital Workshop Center course, there are a number of alternative bootcamps and resources that can help you launch a new career as a UX designer, web developer, digital marketer, data scientist, or data analyst.
- The popular tech bootcamp General Assembly runs full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like digital marketing, coding, UX design, data analytics, and product management. The program boasts 19,000+ hiring partners, mentoring, and a job placement rate above 91.4%. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
- Similarly, BrainStation is a tech bootcamp that offers courses in coding, digital marketing, UX/UI design, data science, data analytics, and even product management. Students build projects, develop their professional skills, and get access to thousands of hiring partners including Google, Facebook, and more.
- Students seeking a remote bootcamp can check out Thinkful. Students in their courses build portfolio projects as they work 1-on-1 with mentors. Like Digital Workshop Center, their program offers an income share agreement (ISA) so students can pay with a percentage of their income after they land a tech job.
- Another self-paced tech bootcamp is Springboard. They offer courses in software development, data analytics, and UX design with a 6-month job guarantee. Students in career tracks also build over 14 portfolio projects with weekly mentorship meetings. Learn more about Springboard in our review.
- People seeking self-paced courses with mentoring can also look into Udacity. They offer free intro courses, as well as paid “nanodegree” programs for a more intense experience with greater support. Nanodegree students meet 1-on-1 with both a technical mentor and a career coach as they build projects. Learn more about Udacity in our review.
- Aspiring digital marketers and designers can look into GrowthX Academy, a tech bootcamp with courses in growth marketing, UX design, and sales and business development.
- The full-time tech bootcamp Kenzie Academy offers in-person and online courses in 2 tracks: software engineering & UX design with front-end engineering. Like University of Minnesota Bootcamps, Kenzie Academy features a hands-on curriculum with mentoring. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
- Another coding bootcamp is CodeX Academy. Their program is self-paced and includes mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
- Aspiring UX designers can look into Designlab, a tech bootcamp that teaches students all the skills needed to launch a career as a UX designer. Read more about Designlab in our review.
- Students interested in taking online self-guided or instructor-led product design courses can check out DesignerUp. Learn more about DesignerUp in our review.
- Similarly, Bloc is a flexible online platform that hosts courses in both UX design and web development. Like Digital Workshop Center, their program features 1-on-1 coaching and projects students can add to their portfolios.
- Aspiring data scientists can look into Metis, a bootcamp with both introductory and more advanced data courses. Like Digital Workshop Center, their program is hands-on with portfolio building opportunities. Read more about Metis in our review.
- Data Science Dream Job is a self-paced data science program to help aspiring data analysts land a job. Their program is flexible and includes career assistance.
- Students who want to start a data career can also check out DataCamp, an online resource with 300+ data courses that only last about 4 hours each. Digital Workshop Center uses their short courses as pre-work for their data certificate courses.
- People seeking hands-on courses on a budget can check out Codecademy, one of the most popular coding programs online. They host free courses on web dev, dozens of programming languages, and even data science. They also offer membership options ranging from $20 to $40. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
- Students seeking university courses can check out edX. This online learning platform hosts self-paced courses from top schools like Harvard and MIT, and even big tech companies like Microsoft. Students can choose to learn the fundamentals or dive deeper into specific topics, like digital marketing or data analysis for business. Read more about edX in our review.
How does Digital Workshop Center compare to Pathrise?
Digital Workshop Center offers courses to help people start a career as a digital marketer, UX designer, web developer, data scientist, or data analyst. Most students start with no prior experience and complete pre-work before starting a bootcamp. Pathrise job-seekers should already have a background in their chosen field to get the most out of the technical curriculum.
While Digital Workshop Center prepares students for the job search with mentoring and professional skills workshops, they do not help grads through the job search. Pathrise is a career accelerator that has already helped 900+ people land their dream job in tech by helping with all phases of the job search. Our mentors work 1-on-1 with fellows on their resumes & portfolios, reverse recruiting and cold emails, behavioral and technical interview preparation, salary negotiation, and more.
Like Digital Workshop Center, Pathrise is a flexible program tailored to the needs of each learner. Fellows in our program only have only 2-4 hours of group sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled as needed. Digital Workshop Center also offers a 10% income share agreement (ISA) for 3 years. The Pathrise ISA is only 9% of the first-year salary. We never require any upfront payments or deposits.
Pathrise optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentorship and technical training. Fellows in our program see their interview scores double and their application responses triple, landing a job in only 3-5 months on average. If you are interested in working with any of our mentors to land your dream tech job, join Pathrise.
Apply today.
