The COVID-19 crisis has affected everyone in some way, including our students and their families. We’ve taken important steps to allow our students more flexibility as they adjust, and provide maximum learning support as they continue to safely build their professional network and future career. The following letter from our President, Dan Friedman, outlines the recent changes we’ve made.
Hello to everyone in our Thinkful community,
We hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy. We know the coronavirus crisis is causing a profound impact on your lives and the lives of your loved ones, and we’re writing to let you know what we’re doing to support your study.
First: all programs continue without disruption. Our team remains committed through this period of uncertainty: our instructors, mentors, graders, academic success managers, and career coaches are all working with students from their home offices, as most already did.
Second: for students experiencing any one of the many disruptions being thrown at us – illness, a lost job, kids kept home from school, sick parents or loved ones who need care – we’re extending the following flexibility to help you balance learning with unexpected responsibilities you may now have:
- Students in Flex programs have been given the ability to pause for an additional two weeks. If you need the time to adjust to a change to your circumstances, reach out to success@thinkful.com.
- For students in synchronous programs: please reach out to your ASM if you’re sick, have kids at home, or need to care for someone who is sick so we can work together to find the right solution based on your situation.
Third: a number of you have reached out about how to navigate the job search. Our careers team is as active as ever and while the pace of hires has slowed, it has not stopped: in the last two weeks, grads have accepted offers from Ticketmaster, Vanguard, Accenture, and plenty of others. We’ve offered graduates currently searching for a job the option to learn advanced topics or complete another capstone with support from our team at no additional cost to keep their skills sharp for interviews as businesses reopen. To help accommodate areas in the US where public meetings such as meetups, job fairs, and other tech events have been canceled due to COVID-19, we’ve also developed a networking contingency plan for you. Finally, we’ve extended career support for graduates who were at least 120 days into their job search as of March 1.
As the situation evolves, we’ll continue to work with you to navigate whatever comes. Our commitment remains unchanged: We are on your team, and we’ll support you towards your big future. But, we understand that you may need to take care of the present right now.
As always, if you have any questions, need accommodation for your situation, or just want to talk, email us at success@thinkful.com or reach out directly to your Academic Success Manager.
Wishing you and your families the absolute best.
Dan Friedman, President
Darrell Silver, CEO
Erin Rosenblatt, VP of Education Operations
Even in the midst of a turbulent economic environment, our students are graduating and securing jobs they love. For those who are new to Thinkful and have lost employment due to COVID-19, we’ve made it easier to start your path to a new career, backed by our tuition refund policy: pay us nothing until you land a job.