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Coding boot camps are becoming increasingly popular these days as more and more students are opting for it and getting quick results. In 2017, IBM’s vice president of talent Joanna Daley said that about 15 percent of her company’s U.S. hires don’t have a four-year degree. She said that instead of looking exclusively at candidates who went to college, IBM now looks at candidates who have hands-on experience via a coding boot camp or an industry-related vocational class. (sources: CNBC). Soon, many big companies including Google, Apple followed the same. Apparently, the time has gone when the employers used to prioritize a candidature based on academic qualifications instead of skills and this is definitely attracting more and more career changers to look for intensive programs focused on skill-development.
And it reflects : 'the market has 11x growth since 2013' (sources: coursereport)
Let’s look at what are the advantages if you join a coding boot camp:
- Time is a big factor. Most boot camp programs are quite short (3 - 5 months ) compared to the University degree ( 12 - 36 months ). People who want to do a career-shift in a short time and can not afford a long period of time commitment due to family or other responsibilities find it very useful. It serves the purpose as well as helps them acquire skills fast.
- Rolling admission across the year. A majority of boot camps admit students throughout the year (they start alternate months or even sometimes consecutive months) which means the students do not have to wait long if they missed a particular deadline.
- Job-centric Syllabus. The syllabus is very practical, career-focused and based on the latest skills required by the local job market which ensures that students do not waste their time . Many boot camps prepare their courses with the help of industry professionals who have a wide experience in their domains. It definitely helps the learners become job-ready quite fast.
- Work environment. From Day 1, a student works like he/she is an intern in a company. So, one has to perform all the tasks, e.g., attending daily stand-ups, creating task lists, communicating updates to the mentors, participating in team activity / brainstorm sessions, presenting business cases in front of the audience etc. , which simulate the real working environment and help in easy adaptation in the job later.
There are also a few disadvantages which can be dealt with proper attitude:
- Expectation Mismatch. In our past experience, we have seen a small proportion of students feel like the boot camp will spoon feed them and this leads them to think they can approach a mentor for help without putting efforts on their own and this kind of attitude is a red signal for both students and the program. This generally causes the lack of motivation among students when they start to fall behind their peers. So, having the right attitude and proper commitment are very crucial for the successful completion of a boot camp as well as getting into the industry.
- Short Duration. The short time of the program can be beneficial as well as a problem for some students. Many students feel like they need more time to understand the theories. However, boot camps have started to work on that to find the right balance between theory and practical assignments. So, it is not really ‘time of the program’ but ‘the efforts put by the students’ that counts in the end.
However, there are many factors that should be considered before choosing a boot camp so that students can make the most out of it, otherwise, the experience would not be as expected. A good self research on the syllabus, job market, ‘skill sets one wants to acquire’, the campus etc. would be the first steps to follow before one decides to join a boot camp.
We, at Code Academy Berlin, have designed the programs in such a way that can help people from a wide range of educational backgrounds, professions and cultures. Our primary goal as a boot camp is to make students feel comfortable with the environment and make them have a great learning experience. Many times, we have seen students do not know how good they are at stuff they never realized before and so, we not only provide structured guidance but also encourage students to have their own freedom to exercise their own interests.
As we are progressing fast, the technologies are getting obsolete even faster. In this new era, re-skilling employees has been one of the major strategies for all of the IT / Software organizations. As an individual, it is equally important to stay up to date for the same reasons and in this regard, boot camps can play a crucial role in helping people to attend short term courses, get acquainted with the latest software skills.
If you are one of them who are passionate about technologies and want to start a new career or even progress inside the current organization in the field of Web Development or Data Science, please check out our Courses. We would be more than happy to help you with all of your career related questions and be part of your journey.