People are getting high paying tech jobs without leaving Minnesota for Silicon Valley. They are doing so by learning in their local communities. The tech community in Minnesota is growing as students of all ages learn to code and apply technician skills to a wide variety of real-life problems. Communities are joining together to teach coding to young students of color throughout the Twin Cities.
There are many ways to learn coding skills to land a tech job. Here are a few local resources that can put you on the path to landing a tech job close to home while learning with a community of your peers.
1. General Assembly
General Assembly is a coding bootcamp that offers in-person classes in Minneapolis. The publication Fast Company named General Assembly one of the most innovative education companies focusing on quickly teaching students coding skills. Graduates from General Assembly get hired by top Silicon Valley companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
You can pick one of three learning styles: immersive, evening and weekend, and on-demand learning. Immersive courses are the quickest and most intense. You will spend over 400 hours learning how to code. They run 12 to 24 weeks and give you the experience you need for entry-level employment. Evening and weekend courses are shorter in length but offer crash courses in different skills.
2. The Software Guild
This coding bootcamp focuses on in-demand skills in the tech industry. The hyper-focused courses mean that graduates will be on their way to experts after coming without knowing a thing about JavaScript or .Net/C# before starting their classes. Focusing on a specific skill is a great way to get the attention of employers looking for certain skills instead of a jack of all trades. Of the bootcamps in Minneapolis, this one is most exclusive to the city, with only one other Kansas City location.
3. Thinkful
Thinkful is another excellent resource for learning a wide variety of technical skills. There are tech jobs other than software developers. People make a living in the tech industry as digital marketers, data scientists, and product managers. They also offer multiple ways to pay your tuition. Thinkful is so confident you will get a job in the tech industry they will let you attend for free and won’t make pay tuition until after you land a job in the tech industry. For those in need of a flexible schedule, you can learn in their self-paced module to graduate in six months.
4. Nucamp
Nucamp offers beginner and online courses for students. If you are unsure if a tech job is right for you, there is a four-week $349 class that will give you a basic overview. This class will cover the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Over 500 students have taken this skill-building course in Minneapolis. If you like the experience, you can graduate to their front end or full-stack development courses, which only take 17 weeks to complete and cost less than $2,000.
5. Prime Digital
Through Prime Digital, you can learn to be a full stack developer in 20 weeks or a UI/UX designer in 18. Over 800 students have learned these skills in the greater Minneapolis region through Prime Digital. The school fosters collaboration between its students and faculty to create a supportive environment for all learners. With so many graduates in the Twin Cities, it’s a great school to build a network of fellow computer science industry peers.
6. Tech Academy
Learning to code isn’t only for adult learners. Tech Academy is a local school that offers computer skills to students from the ages of 4 to 15 and serves students in the CTV north suburbs viewer area. Tech Academy holds summer bootcamps for students to get their crash course in coding. These STEM summer camps give students hands-on experience with robotics, coding, video game design, and engineering. Students can learn to make their modifications to the popular game Minecraft through fun Python projects.
Tech Is Growing In Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a growing tech hub. The multitude of options to learn technical skills is rapidly upskilling the greater Twin Cities area. Tech companies in Minneapolis are still hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether you are in primary school or the parent of a primary school child, there are amazing ways to learn tech skills and start a new career.
