Most people know Netflix for its streaming service and for bringing joy to 222+ million members in over 190 countries – but, at its core, Netflix is a tech company. They want to entertain the world. It personalizes members' title recommendations, offers a user-friendly menu, and brings stories to members from around the world. These projects require expertise in data science, UX / UI Design, and Advanced Java, among other skills. Now, Netflix is teaching these skills to potential future employees – for free.
St. Edward’s is proud to be among a specially selected group of minority-serving institutions to partner with Netflix and 2U, Inc., a global education technology company, to offer students access to three Netflix Pathways Boot Camp programs for Fall 2022:
1. Advanced Java
2. Applied Data Science
3. UX/UI Design
The 16-week courses are taught online during the St. Edward’s semester and award course credit toward your degree. And they’re free! You’ll learn from seasoned Netflix employees and have access to career coaching from 2U’s team of advisors. Students who have taken the courses get first priority for certain Netflix internships. Find out how to apply at Netflix’s information sessions starting Wednesday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 26 from 6–7:15 p.m. CST.
Four students who completed the courses last year shared their insider tips.
Why You Should Apply
“When I started taking UX classes in my major, I already had a solid foundation – not just with software tools, but conceptually. I knew what we were talking about and what the process looked like. I walked away from the Netflix course confident enough to apply for internships in UX.”
– Noah Carrico ’23, Video Game Development and UX/UI major, Netflix UX/UI course
“Beyond the content, I learned a lot of skills — like how to deliver a project under pressure, and how to present a project. Also, team collaboration, meaning, doing what’s best for the team, and deciding who does what. When students complete the program, they are employer-ready, as we were taught real industry practices and processes.”
– Emilio Cardenas Palomino ’24, Computer Science major, Netflix UX/UI course
“When I interviewed for jobs, at every interview the people were surprised and excited about all the information we learned. The course helped me get a job as a data scientist at General Motors.”
– Marisol Mondragon ’21 (December), Mathematics major, Netflix data science course
“The class taught me a lot of hands-on skills and industry standard tools. I want to get into backend software engineering, which focuses on the structural side of web applications, and it really helped me dive deeper into that.”
– Sabur Khan ’22, Computer Information Science major, Netflix advanced Java course
How It Works
The courses meet on Zoom twice a week for three hours each session, with breaks and time for questions. An instructor (and, in some classes, assistant instructor) present topics and have students break into groups to do exercises. You’ll have homework to complete each week. Up to a third of each class session is dedicated to optional “office hours,” where you can get help or talk about careers.
You’ll be in a class with about 25 students total, from St. Edward’s and the other six Netflix partner universities. “That was a really cool aspect of the class, because I was able to meet people from universities out of state and became friends with them,” says Mondragon.
You’ll complete projects with a team of students from different universities. “The group projects were the most fruitful part of the experience for me, because we were applying what we’d been taught,” says Carrico. “It was the part of the course most like real life. We were given a problem and used the process we’d been taught to solve it.”
How to Make the Most of the Opportunity
Know that the courses involve a lot of information and work. “It was incredibly intense, but I learned a lot. It will be the biggest commitment you have for the semester,” Carrico says.
To keep things manageable, consider registering for 12 hours plus the Netflix + 2U course.
Connect with the other St. Edward’s students who are taking your class, so you can puzzle out tricky homework assignments together.
Ask questions of your instructor and TA. They often stay after class for virtual office hours.
Be aware you might not grasp or remember all the content taught, but realize that the instructors are essentially curating a list of important topics that you can explore more on your own time later.
By Robyn Ross