LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Los Angeles may be best known for two things: producing incredible Hollywood movies and producing equally incredible rush-hour traffic. Yet, if the tech startups that have been flooding into the area over the past few years have their way, Los Angeles will soon also be known as a booming tech epicenter, rivaling Silicon Valley and the Pacific Northwest.
One such company staking their claim in the Los Angeles tech landscape is Coding Dojo, which is launching its third campus directly outside of LA, in Burbank, completing a logical expansion for the company to complement the two existing campuses in Seattle and Silicon Valley. Founded in 2011, Coding Dojo began with the express purpose of creating a coding bootcamp that emphasizes excellence, inclusion and potential within their students.
One such student that learned of his own potential was Aaron Chung, who left his job as a middle school math teacher in southern California to take advantage of the expanding tech industry. As an alumni of Coding Dojo's 14-week development program – which is the only 3-full stack education in the industry – Chung was able to gain the coding skills and technical knowledge to complete both front and back-end development, something he would not have been able to achieve from other coding bootcamps.
The time and energy invested with Coding Dojo was certainly worthwhile for Chung. "Shortly after I graduated from Coding Dojo's Silicon Valley campus, I was contacted by dozens of recruiters and had two different job offers within a week after I moved back down to LA," Chung said, having since accepted an offer as a technical product manager with TouchCommerce, an online engagement company.
The success of post-graduation hirings for alumni like Chung should come as no surprise, as the employment opportunities in the tech sector of Los Angeles continue to skyrocket. With more than 368,500 high tech jobs according to a report published by Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation in October 2014, the tech sector of Los Angeles accounts for more than 9% of all employment in the county -- exceeding the tech employment levels of New York City, Boston-Cambridge, and even Silicon Valley.
"We sought out a location in LA because we see it as a growing tech sector," says Coding Dojo CEO, Richard Wang. "Los Angeles is also becoming a thriving ecosystem of entrepreneurs."
It seems that a plethora of potential developers and entrepreneurs have been piqued by the arrival of Coding Dojo's rigorous bootcamp to the burgeoning tech mecca of Los Angeles. More than 210 applicants vied for one of the 33 spots in the first LA cohort that just kicked off, and already 52 applicants are waiting in the wings to start their own journey at the LA campus during the next cohort this October.
Perhaps most exciting for the dozens of students about to begin classes, and for the hundreds waiting on the sidelines for their chance to enter the Dojo, is the prospect of what comes next following completion of the 14-week program. With an astounding 92% job placement within 60 days of graduation for students that have passed all proficiency testing, the success stories of students enrolled in Coding Dojo's LA campus are sure to be transformative.
About Coding Dojo
Coding Dojo is an immersive learning environment that helps individuals from a variety of backgrounds and skill levels transform into professionally trained junior to mid-level developers in as few as 14 weeks. Coding Dojo's intensive three-stack curriculum teaches the most important elements of computer science and web development in a collaborative setting, tackling real-life team projects and other exercises to master key concepts. Our advanced technical and professional development curriculum produces graduates – from all walks of life - who are prepared to make valuable contributions in the world. Learn more by visiting www.codingdojo.com.