You are in the right place if a thorough review of Outco is all you need before giving the platform a try.
You may not be a fan of spoilers, but that opening contains a subtle one.
Outco, like every other tech interview prep platform, has its fair share of solid points and weak areas.
Speaking of the latter, as you will see in this review, two prominent ones stand out.
I will just go ahead and reveal one. Sorry, course duration.
That said, there are plenty of reasons why purchasing Outco might make sense. So to be fair, we will walk through the pros and cons.
And in the event that Outco just doesn’t satisfy you enough, I will present another competent contender to you.
Believing you are in, let’s take a deep dive.
TLDR;
Outco, like every other tech interview prep platform, has its fair share of solid points and weak areas.
However, its course content and price is questionable. It also has a lot of mixed reviews. So, not something I recommend.
If you are looking for a course that has helped others land high-paying FAANG jobs, I recommend the Tech Interview Pro course by Patrick Shyu, an ex-Facebook, Ex-Google software engineer.
The course has produced over 200,000 student success stories with some of the students getting high-paying jobs with FAANGs and other top tech companies.
You get lifetime access to the program, a private community of software engineers and possible hiring managers, biweekly live sessions with the instructor and also get your resume reviewed by Patrick.
Hence, why it is my #1 recommendation.
You can save 40% OFF the price by using this discount link.
Overview
Basically, Outco is an online program used by software engineers (SWEs) to prepare for tech interviews.
The training is somewhat on the middle ground between skinny and complete. You get technical training and some behavioral skills training as well.
Heading into the package further, we find that it goes the way of online classes. It’s a choice to make learning more accessible no matter where you are.
It’s a good thing that you don’t have to leave your home to attend classes, but then, there’s some real scheduling to be done here.
Number one, the classes hold for a month. During that period, you will have to set aside some time every week to sit at your desk in front of a screen.
It’s compulsory that you don’t miss classes. If you do, there are no recordings to fall back on.
Outco seems to have a lot going for it. From the course outline to the mock interviews, there are the usual features in every tech interview prep course and then some that are unique to Outco.
The free visitor’s class and free info session are examples. Long story short, they allow you to get better acquainted with Outco before purchasing the course.
The free visitor’s class allows you to taste what an entire class on Outco looks like but without the fees.
For the application process and what Outco is about, that’s the free info session’s job.
The last thing to talk about in this overview is the course outline.
It’s a basic one, and a mere glance at it will be enough to convince you that Outco was built mainly for beginners.
That’s not to say there are no advanced topics in the curriculum. They are there but not in a way that the average Joe would get lost.
The course outline starts from the foundational topics and then moves on to the following stages: basic, intermediate, advanced, and mastery.
To crown it all, the rest of the benefits you enjoy from the course, e.g., lifetime access and community support, et cetera, are grouped as the growth stage.
What I Like About the Program
A few things, actually. Outco isn’t really bleeding with features that aren’t found anywhere else.
But don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to diminish its good sides based on their numbers. They do count regardless of how many they are.
Let me go ahead and spell out the top features that, in my opinion, add up to a better user experience.
1. Free Visitor Class
Other platforms give you a taste of what they offer through free trials or some amount of free information.
The visitors class is just a one-hour class that is a sample of what the typical Outco class looks like
I can’t say it’s necessarily better or worse than what other platforms offer, but at least you have a way to peek inside the course itself.
2. Mock Interviews
Okay, now I do think this is a top-notch inclusion.
The mock interviews are rehearsals of what the actual interviews are.
Admittedly, if you get familiar with the conditions and situations that prevail in an actual tech interview, you are in good stead of acing it.
Not many other tech interview prep platforms include mock interviews, so its inclusion here is welcome.
3. Support for any Programming Language
Ever found yourself having to learn a new programming language just to understand the solutions presented in a course?
You know how frustrating that can be.
With Outco, you can learn patterns and solve coding problems in any language of your choice.
4. Lifetime Access
Learn and go is not the hashtag here.
In Outco, you can have forever access to every resource it contains. Talk about weekly alumni classes, career coaching, and all that.
If you need a tech interview prep course that will be your lifetime mentor, maybe Outco is it.
What I Don’t Like About the Program
Yes, there are things that I find unbecoming in Outco, and I’m sure many others would also share my opinions.
1. Course Price to Length Ratio
Outco’s training lasts for just four weeks. If you think about it, that’s not nearly enough time to prepare adequately for all aspects of a tech interview.
You’ll understand more about why the price is out of proportion when you check out the pricing section in this review.
2. No Soft Skills Training
I guess this part is absent just to cut corners to arrive at a course that trains you in just a month.
But there are no two ways about it. Soft skills are in high demand anywhere we go.
Most companies rate soft skills as highly as technical skills.
That’s because interviewers and recruiters want to know your ability to relate well with others on the job.
Qualities like leadership, teamwork, communication, et cetera measure how well you can work with others to achieve the company’s goals.
3. Pricing
Outco’s pricing is something that calls for much debate when you are considering it as your go-to tech interview mentor.
The money you pay for the four weeks class is comparable to the tuition fee of a college.
I guess that’s because the classes are held live. They’ve got to pay the instructors and all that.
However, there are other ways to dish out such training that will be just as effective without you needing to slice your account.
How Much Does Outco Cost?
The entire program costs $5500. This money can be paid in three ways, as explained below.
You can choose to pay all of the money upfront as option one.
The second option is to pay $1500 and pay the balance with 6% of your first-year salary.
And finally, you can opt for the real money to be paid when you start working. In that case, payment will take up 10% of your first-year salary.
Outco vs. Tech Interview Pro
If the cons I spoke about have got you thinking of an Outco alternative, then look no further than Tech Interview Pro.
Tech Interview Pro is led by the veteran software engineer, Patrick Shyu, aka Techlead.
Techlead is an ex-Google engineer who has worked as a recruiter and interviewer in other big-name companies.
He also spent years preparing for his first successful interview.
He knows much about how recruiters think and the mistakes candidates make, common and rare.
Add to that his personal experience, and you get a course that is brimming with the best of ideas on how to pass both the technical and the soft skill side of tech interviews.
Below is a snapshot of everything the course covers:
Online Course
- Coding
- Data Structure & Algorithms (DS&A)
- System Design
- Communication
Live Q&A
Coding Sessions
Mock Interviews
Resume Review
Access to private Facebook Group
Additional content & lessons
Lifetime Access
As you can see, Tech Interview Pro offers a more complete learning experience than Outco.
You can compare and contrast the features of Tech Interview Pro and Outco and see what users of the latter are missing out.
Tech Interview Pro’s pricing is also way more budget-friendly than that of Outco.
The course is priced at $997, but for a limited time, you can register now and get it for just $400.
Wrapping Up
And this is where we draw the curtain on Outco.
The course has enough to be a good platform for tech interview prep but not nearly enough to recommend it.
This becomes clear as we factor in the brevity of the course and the costly pricing.
Tech Interview Pro, however, takes the best part of Outco and some of its own to make for a user experience that wows.
This makes Tech Interview Pro easy to recommend over Outco.
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