Time definitely is running fast. Now, our beloved coding bootcamp has entered its 4th batch. Looking back, if I remember correctly, at exactly 8 months ago before we even started, there are already many changes. Among them, the change that i felt the most is our approach in terms of marketing and brand awareness.
At the beginning of this bootcamp, I was involved in the preparation of the campaign. At that time, we do not have any material whatsoever. Yet, it push us to experiment with many things. We even submit an open letter to Awkarin with a preconceived precondition. We challenged Karin, a young adults Indonesian who happens to be a social media phenomenon, with her background as math prodigy and somewhat a role model to Indonesian millenials, to participate in our 3-month bootcamp class where only God knows we'll go. And we already prepared many plans in case she answered. Amongst them is that Taufan Aditya (CEO Refactory) will accompany her directly during this process.
Yet Karin never replied, no matter how hard we tried to fan the campaign with the help of young media. Long story short, this campaign died in the gutter. A moment later, i, who refuse the idea of failure, had an idea to contact her management, which is now i began to think as a blunder, because it will only drop our campaign to the gimmick category, since the essence of this campaign is an experiment to see how far a person can be a profesional programmer with their own strong determination, and supportive environment we'll provide.
Then we met Indonesian Iron Man. His real name is Yudi. Rather than Tony Stark, his condition is starkly contrasted. Everyday, he'll circle around Jakarta, wearing Iron Man suit, for the sake of selling the suit that he made himself. Prior to this meeting, Taufan found out in an online video that this man burned his educational certificate due to frustration of the injustice he experienced. Several times despite guest starring on television, never turn his living conditions for the better. So yeah. Here comes someone who's livelihood was so modest that we assumed that he's willing to grab any chance offered. And when we offer him a way out, to be a programmer, he accepted our proposal. On a flight home from Jakarta, we are thrilled to imagine what the future holds for him. I EVEN BOUGHT AN IRON MAN PLUSHIES. Yet unfortunately, a few days before bootcamp started, he bounced out. My Iron Man plushies now stacked in the corner of my room because i never liked Marvel personally.
Fast forward to the present, we already had our own realistic Unique Selling Proposition which is far away from gimmick. The first one is that our bootcamp, Refactory was listed on Course Report as one of the official bootcamps representing Indonesia. And the second is, Batch 1 Refactory give us data that we publicly open as it is.
86% students graduated, 77% hired, with an average salary of at least 10 million.
And the data will be continually updated along with the completion of Batch 2 Refactory Bandung which are currently on the progress. And my approach to campaign changed a little bit now. In the past, I will desperately sell this data to you, telling you how good this data is. But now i'll keep my silence. You need to decide it for yourself. Because for the longest time I accompany this bootcamp process, the participants' determination is the key point that will determine whether they deserve to be the programmer that could fullfill many companies need. So far, our effort is to provide the environment that could support this determination.
Now, Batch 4 started. Although we use different marketing approaches, there is one thing i am thankfull that i get the glory to witness in every batch. That is the hopeful faces of Indonesian youngster who are determined to change their destiny through their careers as programmers. There are a very fitting remarks from Glend Maatita (CHRO Refactory):
"Welcome to our bootcamp, don't forget to have fun, and hopefully, at the end of the bootcamp, you'll become a competent programmer, fit in today's digital industry."
And that's what we want to create. An unforgettable 12-week learning experience, where at the end of the journey, will open up a new path for them to pursue a career in the higher spectrum of programming world. So tighten your seat belt. This train will keep going fast! Godspeed.
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This article published first on Refactory Blog. Visit to read Indonesian version.
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