Hi, I’m Patrick, I write about the job search. After graduating from Cornell, I became a content lead at UBS where I helped professionals at Fortune 500 companies understand their stock options, salary, and benefits. When I’m not writing about the hiring process, I write novels for teens. Check out my review of Helio Training.
- What does Helio Training do?
- Who is Helio Training for?
- What does Helio Training cost?
- Ratings and reviews of Helio Training
- Alternatives to Helio Training
- How does Helio Training compare to Pathrise?
What does Helio Training do?
Helio Training is an online bootcamp that helps people learn the technical skills necessary to land a job as a web developer or UX/UI designer. Students can choose between full-time and part-time options in Salt Lake City. Due to Covid-19, the program is currently remote. So, students can participate in live classes with 1-on-1 support from anywhere.
Before starting a Helio Training bootcamp, students must complete online pre-work, depending on their course. The pre-work curriculum features recorded lectures, assignments, and coding challenges.
Web dev
The 13-week full-time web dev bootcamp meets Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Students in the 14-week UX/UI program meet Monday-Wednesday, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.
The 22-week part-time web development program meets Monday-Thursday from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The part-time web dev program has two, sequential levels. Level 1 lasts 14 weeks and Level 2 lasts 8 weeks.
Helio students participate in lectures, workshops, programming challenges, pair programming exercises, and other hands-on projects. The programs also include career assistance. Students craft polished resumes, participate in mock interviews, and learn best practices for the job search.
The web development courses teach students how to design and build a website from end-to-end. The curriculum includes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Node.js, NPM, Express, and APIs. They also work on MongoDB, Mongoose, MySQL/PostgreSQL, test-driven development, Git, RESTful API, and more. By the end of the program, students can create a functional and responsive web app.
UX/UI
The UX/UI course teaches students design principles, HTML/CSS within a framework, Figma, Sketch, Apple UI principles, prototyping, component-based systems, material design, and much more. Students prototype and iterate their own designs to produce polished user interfaces, interactions, and user experience projects. These projects help students land a job as a UX/UI designer.
After graduating, students can return to “shadow” the bootcamp at any time over the next year to review what they learned and sharpen their skills.
Who is Helio Training for?
People with no experience in web development or UX/UI design but want to move into these careers can benefit from the Helio Training bootcamps. The program is especially helpful for people who are based in Salt Lake City or seeking a curriculum that is light on theory and heavy on practical application.
What does Helio Training cost? How much work is involved?
Tuition for Helio Training depends on the course. Students who enroll in the full-time web development course pay $11,400. The total cost of the part-time web dev course is $11,450. Level 1 costs $5,800 and Level 2 costs $5,650. The part-time UX/UI course costs $5,100.
Financing is available through Skills Fund. Rates and repayment plans depend on an applicant’s credit history. A $1,000 scholarship is available for active duty, reserve, and veterans of the U.S. Military for the part-time or full-time web dev courses. Military personnel are eligible for up to $500 scholarship towards the UX/UI course or a single level of the part-time web dev course.
A Women in Tech scholarship of up to $1,000 is available for the full-time or part-time web dev course, and up to $500 is available for the UX/UI course or for a single, part-time web dev level.
Students who take the part-time or full-time web dev courses are eligible for an income share agreement (ISA). Students pay $500 upfront then pay nothing until finding a tech job. They do not list how much the students need to pay back using the ISA.
The Helio Training admissions process starts with a written application asking candidates to share their background and motivations. After submitting their application, candidates participate in a behavioral interview. Unlike many other tech bootcamps, there is no technical interview or coding challenge. Students have to do work before the course begins.
Ratings and reviews
Helio Training has mixed reviews. They hold a 3.9/5 star rating on Career Karma and 4.1/5 stars on CourseReport. Helio Training graduates praise the program for its pace and practical approach to learning, but some graduates have mixed feelings about the curriculum’s organization and job support.
On CourseReport, students said that they learned a lot from the web development and UX/UI courses, though some students were frustrated by the curriculum, which they described as “disorganized”. One reviewer praised the dedicated instructors and hands-on nature of the program, but felt “my only regret is that I wish the curriculum and program had been more structured and defined before the first class began.”
The top review is more critical, remarking that “The course material has been rewritten a few times” and “we spent too much time in class talking about things that don’t matter.”
On Career Karma, a recent grad was impressed by the instructors, describing them as “very knowledgeable, very patient and willing to teach and re-teach at whatever pace students needed.” However, the grad was “underwhelmed with their job support” and felt frustrated that “there was zero networking or assistance in helping connect you to potential jobs.”
Helio Training is rated 4.48/5 stars on SwitchUp, where students praise the hands-on approach to web development and UX/UI design. However, graduates reported disorganization, one student remarking “I would have liked more consistency in the schedule.”
Another student felt it was “misleading when the advisor said that the instructor will provide a lot of support” and that “support was unavailable at times, and I had to seek out my own resources.” Overall, however, reviewers seemed satisfied by the practical curriculum and the tech skills they took away from the program.
Alternatives to Helio Training
If you decide not to enroll in Helio Training, there are a number of alternative bootcamps and courses that can help aspiring web developers and UX/UI designers learn the skill needed to move into these careers.
- Flatiron School and allWomen Academy teach courses on topics like UX design, software engineering, and data science.
- Aspiring designers and web developers can consider Berkeley Bootcamps, Eleven Fifty Academy, GW Bootcamps, Perpetual Education, and V School, which offer courses in both topics.
- Or, they can look at Bloc, Ironhack, and Big Nerd Ranch. They all cover web dev and design.
- Similarly, Designlab is an online bootcamp that teaches the necessary skills to land a job 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.
- Coding Dojo, Georgia Tech Bootcamp, DevPoint Labs, and Austin Coding Academy are good options for those looking to start a career in software engineering or web dev.
- One of the most well-known bootcamps is General Assembly, which offers full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
- The popular bootcamp BrainStation offers programs in web development, UX/UI design, data science, marketing, and product management.
- The popular bootcamp Lambda School offers courses in web dev and data science.
- Similarly, Thinkful and Holberton School also have tracks in software engineering, UX/UI design, and more.
- Students can also consider Kenzie Academy, a full-time bootcamp that offers in-person and online courses in software engineering & UX design and front-end engineering. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
More alternatives
- edX is one of the largest online learning platforms. They have courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
- For students seeking lower-cost web development and UX/UI courses, Simplilearn, Learn UX, Treehouse, and Pluralsight could be good options. While these programs may not have as much support as a full-time bootcamp like Helio Training, they offer thousands of courses to help students start a career in tech.
- Students can check out Udemy, which has thousands of affordable video courses on web design and computer science. Individual classes cost around $10 each.
- Similarly, Codecademy is one of the most popular coding programs online. They provide free courses on many different programming languages. They also offer membership options ranging from $20 to $40 per month for more course options and greater support. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
- The online educational resource Udacity offers courses in web development, UX design, and many other technical subjects. Learn more about Udacity in our review.
- Similarly, Springboard is an online learning platform that hosts thousands of courses on a wide variety of tech subjects. Learn more about Springboard in our review.
- In addition, UX Pro Academy, Avocademy, Memorisely, Design Sprint School, and Miami Ad School have UX design courses for beginners as well as more experienced people.
How does Helio Training compare to Pathrise?
Helio Training is a bootcamp for people interested in learning the skills needed for a career as a web developer or UX/UI designer. While an interest in tech is recommended, most Helio Training students start from scratch.
Pathrise job-seekers should already have some background in their chosen field to get the most out of the technical curriculum. A full service organization, Pathrise works with fellows with all parts of the job search, including resume and portfolio optimization, cold emailing and reverse recruiting, technical and behavioral interviewing, and negotiation. Our curriculum is tailored to our program fellow’s needs, workshops and 1-on-1 mentorship focusing on whatever fellows need help with.
Our program is flexible, with only 2-4 hours of sessions and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled as needed. On average, fellows in our program find a tech job within 3-5 months of joining. The Pathrise income share agreement (ISA) means that fellows don’t pay anything until they start working at a new job they love and we never require upfront payments or deposits.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentorship. If you are interested in working with one of our mentors to land your dream job, join Pathrise.
Apply today.
