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Kathleen Mullaney
Yes! Many Nanodegree graduates have gotten jobs. I head up career programs at Udacity and have personally worked with many of these individuals.
Since this question was last updated, there have been a few updates regarding Nanodegree graduate outcomes that are worth noting:
Other notes about Nanodegrees:
From Kristin Hoppe of Flatiron in a previous answer: “one crucial way online education has succeeded so far is by opening access to educational content to a wide range of people. While some participants may fail or drop out, of those who finish some will very much succeed and find jobs or advance their careers.”
I totally agree! That is why many employers are so keen to hire Nanodegree graduates--they demonstrate self-motivation and grit by virtue of completing these programs. And as Kristin also accurately cited, we don’t expect all employers to have heard of Nanodegrees or Udacity-- that is why we focus on having you build a job-ready portfolio of work, have it posted publicly on GitHub, LinkedIn or even your Udacity Profile or personal site--this evidence is significantly stronger than the reputation of a credential. The best part is that this portfolio also acts as a great discussion point in interviews.
Resources if you’d like to dig in further:
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Yes! Many Nanodegree graduates have gotten jobs. I head up career programs at Udacity and have personally worked with many of these individuals.
Since this question was last updated, there have been a few updates regarding Nanodegree graduate outcomes that are worth noting:
- With Nanodegree Plus, launched in January 2016, we are now offering a money-back job guarantee. If you don’t get a job within 6 months of graduating, we will refund the cost of the Nanodegree (note this program is available only in the US and for some programs--for now!). As of May 2016, we are seeing the first graduates of these programs and they are actively getting jobs with our assistance.
- Also in January, we published the results of an interview-less hiring pilot program we ran with Flipkart (tech giant in India) where we presented candidate profiles with associated project code reviews, student referrals and other details we could gather. Flipkart gave offers to 3/4 of the final candidates we presented and the individuals working at Flipkart are thriving. This is one of many pilots we have worked on and will continue to work on.
- The first pilot of AT&T internships last year led to 75% of interns getting full time offers.
- Based on feedback from both graduates and partner employers, we continuously add/improve our career services. Most recently, we have added more interview practice with a course on Algorithms and Data Structures (+live practice options!) to help graduates gain more confidence in this style of technical interview.
Other notes about Nanodegrees:
- Nanodegrees are built in collaboration with companies who have the specific intention of hiring graduates, as well as using the program to train their existing employees. This is particularly true with Google and AT&T, who are some of our biggest customers.
- Nanodegrees are a fully online program, with flexible hours, no admissions and are actually affordable. We do not require admissions (like most comparable programs) and believe that if you want to go at it, you should have the opportunity and support (from us) to do so. Even so, our programs are completed in 6 months on average.
- Career services for the Nanodegree programs have comprehensive coverage: unlimited 1:1 appointments with career coaches, resume/LinkedIn Profile/GitHub reviews and interview practice are part of our core offer, but we also see many people taking advantage of cover letter reviews and guidance on their personal websites. I’ll also note all these reviews? They’re personalized and turned back to you <24 hours (on average).
- Final note: all the above? It’s included in the subscription--$199/month with 50% back if you finish in <12 months (average completion is 6 months) and $299/month if you opt for the job guarantee, where we give you priority services and additional direct placement assistance.
From Kristin Hoppe of Flatiron in a previous answer: “one crucial way online education has succeeded so far is by opening access to educational content to a wide range of people. While some participants may fail or drop out, of those who finish some will very much succeed and find jobs or advance their careers.”
I totally agree! That is why many employers are so keen to hire Nanodegree graduates--they demonstrate self-motivation and grit by virtue of completing these programs. And as Kristin also accurately cited, we don’t expect all employers to have heard of Nanodegrees or Udacity-- that is why we focus on having you build a job-ready portfolio of work, have it posted publicly on GitHub, LinkedIn or even your Udacity Profile or personal site--this evidence is significantly stronger than the reputation of a credential. The best part is that this portfolio also acts as a great discussion point in interviews.
Resources if you’d like to dig in further:
- Flipkart and Udacity want a world without job interviews -- More on the interview-less hiring pilot between Udacity and Flipkart
- Student Spotlight Archives | Udacity -- highlighting student job success on the Udacity blog
- Technical Interview | Udacity -- Algorithms & Data Structures Tech Interview Course + Practice
- Art Gillespie's answer to How many thousands of dollars does it cost in total to attain one of Udacity's nanodegrees? -- For more on cost of Nanodegrees
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