Breaking into tech can be life changing. It’s not uncommon for someone to double their previous salary within a year or two of getting that first tech job. Yet the industry is rife with gatekeeping, systematically excluding early-career developers—disproportionately women and people of color—from its ranks.

The Collab Lab exists to help early-career developers, especially ones from historically excluded groups, land that first job in tech. We do that by providing remote, collaborative project practice where developers are mentored by professionals in the field. We augment the project work with targeted career advice and feedback to help developers get and do well in tech interviews.

We run 4 cohorts per year, kicking off new teams in January, April, July, and October. Our developers come in with a baseline of skills in React.js and an eagerness to learn how professional software teams collaborate. Over the course of our 8-week projects, they pair program, submit pull requests (PRs), both give and receive code reviews, demo their work on a weekly basis, and contribute to retrospectives where their team improves how they work together.

Our mentors range from recent alums of our program to engineering leaders with 20+ years of experience in the industry. You can see all of the developers who have been a part of The Collab Lab over the years on our website.

If you are…

• An early-career developer: Welcome! Apply to be part of a future cohort!

• A professional web developer or engineering leader: Consider becoming a mentor!

• A tech recruiter: Hire our alums! They are truly some of the strongest early-career developers you will meet!

• Someone with expertise to share: Consider giving a Tech Talk to our community!

• Someone who just appreciates what we do: Consider donating to help us cover our operating costs. The Collab Lab is 100% volunteer-driven and free for participants. We like to say that our mentors make Collab Lab happen, but our donors make it possible!

All activities run by or sponsored by The Collab Lab are governed by our Code of Conduct.