So, you just finished your application for the Lighthouse Labs Bootcamp, what you expect to be the kickstarter to your awesome new career as a developer or data scientist. You’re pumped about the life changing experience, the intensity and the amount that you’re going to learn over 12 weeks...until you realize that you need to interview in order to get in.

Cue the “What?! Why?!”, and a few choice four-letter words that would make your mom wash your mouth out with soap.

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We get it: applications and interviews are nerve-wracking, and we at admissions try to make sure that the process is as relaxed as possible for you as a potential student. We have our admissions process not just for the sake of ensuring that awesome people are in our program, but also to answer your questions and to help you make sure that Bootcamp is right for you.

Above all, we are looking for students who are going to make incredible developers or data scientists. We want people who are passionate about making a career change, who have the grit to go through the intense 12-week bootcamp (it’s called a bootcamp for a reason!), have an aptitude for coding (or data), and are a fit for the unique culture of Lighthouse Labs. Our favourite interviews have been people come from zero background, but simply love problem solving and pulling things apart to learn how they’re built.

Step 1: Submit Your Application Online

While not everyone who comes in to our program has programming or data experience, we always recommend people have the basics under their belt. If you've never coded before, we recommend exploring our free HTML & CSS Essentials course if you're interested in web development, or our free Python course if you're interested in data science, before submitting your application.

To be clear though, no experience is required to apply for and attend bootcamp.

Step 2: A Group Interview (1.5 hours)

Once we receive your application, we’ll look over your experience, education, and work background. We want to know more about you and where your starting point is before inviting you for a 90-minute group interview with our team. This interview is done virtually through Zoom, so tune in from the comfort of your home. We will send you a link to book the interview in the email once you apply to our bootcamp.

The interview is more of a conversation - it’s the best way for us to learn about your unique personality and passion for coding! You can also expect a brief logic assessment to look at your overall aptitude for code.

There’s no need to prepare, as the logic test does not require any coding experience, but we do it to see how you approach solving different problems!

The 90 minutes you have with us goes by very quickly, but we love to get to know you and cover all of the bases for what the program will practically look like.

You can book in for your group interview during the application process, otherwise you will be emailed with a link to book it in later. We want to meet you, get to know you better and talk all about bootcamp. This is also your opportunity to ask us anything and potentially to meet some of your future classmates!

Step 3: 1:1 Technical Interview (1 hour)

After the group interview, successful candidates will be sent over some material to study so they can prepare for our logic and technical assessments. You do not need to have prior experience in coding or data science to perform well on these tests, and we will provide you with all the resources you need to successfully complete them!

These are both multiple choice and done online on your own time within a 2-week period of your group interview.

Why the strict admissions process?

Our admissions process allows us to bring in people who are passionate about programming, and who have the grit to persevere through bootcamp - that's why we only end up accepting about 30% of people who apply.

We make sure that our community is one that will continue to grow, and that our students are coachable, resilient, and are ready to jump into industry immediately upon graduation. After a 12-week program, you will not be an experienced programmer, but you will have incredible potential and a hunger to keep learning. We’re all about “developers developing developers,” so we make sure that our alumni go forth embodying our values and are contributing to the tech community.

As our program continues to grow, our admissions process will continue to grow with it. However, we will always continue to accept students from a variety of backgrounds, as we believe strongly in the potential of any person passionate enough to gun for a spot in bootcamp. We’ve accepted applicants who have never touched code, to candidates who live and breathe 0’s and 1’s. We’ve accepted 17-year-olds, 56-year-olds, engineers, musicians, and those with no post-secondary education at all. There is no ‘one size fits all’, and the ingredients that make a great bootcamp student are so much more than experience.

Advice from admissions:

We view admissions as the foundation upon which we build our bootcamp. What we do, we do to elevate our community of hardworking, passionate, and like-minded individuals. We seek applicants with incredible grit, a love for learning, and a willingness to be uncomfortable.

We are of a firm belief that to be a developer or data professional is to be a craftsperson, and to be a bootcamp student is to be a workhorse. While bootcamp is an incredibly rewarding experience, it is one riddled with day-to-day challenges and adventures into the unknown. Our teaching staff firmly believes that anyone can learn to code, or learn to use data, but the immersive, intensive, and accelerated learning environment of bootcamp is not for everyone. As our instructor Don Burks says, a lot of people love to cook but not all are cut out to be chefs. And distinguishing the cooks from the chefs… that’s what we do in admissions.

As our instructor Don Burks says: a lot of people love to cook but not all are cut out to be chefs.

When coaching our students on Demo Day presentations, it can be said that: “Put your best foot forward. That means showing up and presenting the best version of yourself.” That's sage advice.

We want to get to know you - let your quirkiness shine through! We’re not looking for perfect answers; just honest ones. The interview is casual in nature so there’s no need to put on your fanciest interview outfit, but again: present the best version of yourself. Ask lots of questions, and prepare by doing your research. We want you to know what you’re getting into, and we want to hear why you think you’d be a great fit for our immersive & fast-paced learning environment.

Above all: be ready to adapt. Our interview is not scripted, and it is not formulaic. We like having meaningful conversations where we dig into your passions, goals, and strengths. If you think you’re up for a conversation, or think that you would make an awesome bootcamp student, we encourage you to submit your application!

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