What I learned from attending a coding bootcamp and teaching another one

Published Aug 17, 2017

They’re not (all) scams.

I recently saw a question on Quora asking about coding bootcamps. Every answer was speculative and negative, either slightly or overwhelmingly so. I wrote a response which I’d like to flesh out here.

My Experience

I attended a three month intensive full-stack engineering program. I went from knowing very basic JavaScript to building entire websites. Two months after graduation I got a full-stack engineering job. I also teach part-time at another coding bootcamp.

The Problem

As a developer, you can no longer learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and call it a day.

A full-stack developer is expected to have working competency with at least one item from most of the categories in these flowcharts. These are made by Kamran Ahmed.

From https://github.com/kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap

If you’re starting out in your web dev journey, this is a little intimidating to say the least. With no direction aside from opinions on the internet, you have to get yourself from where you are now to the end of both of these flowcharts. This includes going down to the ends of many of the branches.

While learning, you’ll spend time scouring the internet, unsure of what to learn or where to learn it from. Problems and bugs you run into will be on you to fix.

You won’t have an expert available for help when you need them. You won’t have access to a group of people learning the exact same technologies you are. You won’t have progress checks ensuring adequate mastery of concepts. You won’t have feedback.

It doesn’t have to be this daunting.

What Bootcamps Provide

A coding bootcamp can make this journey an order of magnitude easier. Your instructors are industry professionals focused on teaching the concepts used by tech companies today.

They’ll pick the items from those stacks that are the most in demand. You’ll learn to put these all together through full-stack group projects. You’ll come out able to build complex websites.

Other Factors

Beyond the direction, bootcamps provide several other factors that make them extremely valuable.

Excellent material & resources
Learning-focused environment
A network of motivated peers
Constant support
Feedback and progress checkpoints
Access to world-class professionals for technical help and mentorship
Career services

Learning by Yourself

Yes, it’s possible to learn this all by yourself. You can even get together with some people to build projects, all without paying a dime. Thousands have done this using sites such as FreeCodeCamp.

Personally, I don’t think a year of self-study would have taught me as much as my bootcamp did in three months.

Financial Consideration

I firmly believe a motivated, adequately intelligent person will learn more in a good three month bootcamp than they will in a year on their own.

Breakdown

For most, that already makes it a better financial decision. Pay $15,000 and go to a three month bootcamp, and spend another three months applying for jobs. This means six months from payment date, start earning, let’s say $70,000/year.

In the next six months, you earn $25,000 with taxes subtracted. That minus the $15,000 leaves you at a net $10,000 for the year.

Compare that to spending a full year studying on your own. You end up with a net $0, still potentially unemployable.

That extra six months of full-time work also means six more months of professional experience. This means an earlier switch to a higher-paying job or an earlier salary boost.

It means six more months of building your resume, getting real experience, and a faster path to getting exactly where you want to be.

Even Better Numbers

Note that these calculations consider an expensive bootcamp. The numbers will be better the cheaper the bootcamp. There are good ones under $10,000. You end up with more money than you put in and end up 6 months ahead in life.

The necessary disclaimer is that, no, a job is not guaranteed. It’s on you to put in the work applying and preparing for interviews. It’s on you to gain master of the material presented. And of course, there’s bad luck.

Teaching a Bootcamp

I currently work part-time as a TA at another coding bootcamp. We’re 75% of the way through with the current cohort.

There are students who came with zero experience and put in the effort they needed to. They did their work well and some attempted the extra credit assignments when they could. They can now build good, large websites in teams and by themselves.

There are students who came in with zero experience and didn’t seem to try very hard. Unfortunately, they’re not getting much value out of the bootcamp at all.

It’s up to you whether you’ll succeed in a bootcamp and whether you’ll get the most out of it that you can.

TL;DR

My main point in all this was, don’t dismiss bootcamps as money-hungry, useless programs. Although there are many that pump out low-quality engineers, there are good ones that produce real results. Financially, they’re generally a worthy investment.

Do some research, talk to some staff, and talk to some alumni. Talk to professional developers you know to get their opinion on the curriculum.

If you end up taking a bootcamp, know what you’re getting yourself into. Know your own abilities, choose a good one, and work your ass off. It’ll be worth it.