For the most part, Revature was a good experience. Through the training and initial experience working on client. There are 3 points though which I think make it much harder for me to recommend. First, is the tech stacks offered. If you get trained in Java, Angular, or React, that is perfect since they are all widely used tech stacks which have tons of Job openings. Most of the Trainings Revature does are these three tech stacks, but they also teach swift, pega, and appian which are MUCH harder to find a job in but at Revature and outside of Revature. I know some people who were in Pega and Swift batches had to wait 6 months after their batch finished to get hired. The second negative point is the pay. During training and interviewing, you get paid minimum wage, and while working on client, you only get 45,000 your first year. Depending on where your client is located and if you have to move, 45,000 does not leave much for extra (say $2500 a month after tax, 1200-1700 for rent, and cost of food, utils, gas, insurance). Keep in mind a lot of tech companies are located in cities or higher cost of living areas. The third con, which was the biggest for me, was a lack of transparency and the deception that occurred while at Revature:
When I initially applied, I knew that my contract with Revature lasted 2 years, and the only ways to break that contract were getting let go, paying the termination fee, or having my client buy out my contract. I asked MULTIPLE times before and throughout the training "Is there any restriction on when my client can buy out my contract?" and I was told, "No, there is no restriction". 9 months into working with my client, they said they wanted to bring me on full-time and buy out my contract. They started the background check process, etc and I called my manager to ask what I needed to do on Revatures side, and they said "Oh, they cant buy out your contract for 12 months". Revature has an agreement with the clients that hire us which stipulates how long you have to work with them before they can buy out the contract but keep in mind, that they previously said this didn't exist. After explaining the situation that our manager (on client) was pretty sure our contract could be bought after 9 months, they agreed to let them hire us in earlier Aug, but our contracts with our client was set to end in July and would have had to been extended by x months to hire us on in Aug. In the end, we ended up getting hired on after 9 months, and it really felt like Revature was playing with my (and two of my coworks) future and career for a bit extra profit. It was a really disappointing way to end my mostly positive experience with Revature.
Cons:
- Some tech stacks which are taught are much more niche and would be harder to get a job with
- Pay isn't great, especially given that most tech jobs are located in higher-cost-of-living areas
- The deception of lack of transparency I experienced (read the second paragraph if you haven't)
- Ultimately, Revature cares most that you get hired by your client and not as much about your career (which makes sense since they are a business). The main issue is I know of some people that got on with great companies, Capital One, College Board, etc. but I also know people that got really unfavorable jobs such as a printer technician.
- People in Revature training groups are a mixed bag, like anywhere. In my training batch, quantity making it through was more important than quality. Revature knows one of their clients (InfoSys) basically takes anyone. That may be good news for some people looking at Revature, but a bit frustrating for others. It is just a bit disappointing to me.
