Coding Bootcamps and your plan to succeed as a Software Developer

Who will benefit from a Coding Bootcamps

So, my students ask me this all the time, right, and the question is usually “Is it worth investing a chunk of money to complete a Bootcamp program, a three-month immersive program to learn software development?” And my answer is usually it all depends on what kind of student you are and how far along you are in the journey of learning software development.

So, if you’re let’s say you have six months of experience learning on the side, developing and maybe you created a few basic apps then you know go ahead. This Bootcamp will help you, all right.

But if you’re just starting fresh, here’s my advice to you. Let’s say you have learned the basics of a programming language with concepts like if-else statements and loops and how to use an IDE. You are a beginner. So you got to continue your self-study journey because you’re not ready yet.

Why a beginner will face difficulties

Information overload

Even if you pass the entrance exam for a boot camp, you might still not be ready because most coding boot camps pack a lot of information in a three-month curriculum. And I don’t think you can effectively learn software development this way.

Because that’s information overload. Someone new to coding will feel like they’re getting fire-hosed with a lot of information. And the worst thing is after you spend thousands of dollars for three months, you come out with bits and pieces of information and you’re lost.

Lesser time to absorb knowledge

For a beginner, three months of a full-stack software development program seems way too rushed. The information takes time to stick in your head.

Here’s why. A full-stack development requires learning a variety of things, all right. You got front-end topics like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and then learn a web development framework like React, Angular, or Vue JS. Later you got back-end technologies like Django with python or spring with java, then databases with SQL, and Linux commands. And then learn CS concepts like Data Structures and Algorithms, Networks, Security, RESTful services, Test-driven development, Version Control, and the list goes on.

As you can see, there are a lot of technologies and concepts to learn in just three months. You have to absorb a lot of knowledge and it’s very hard to do that in a three-month time frame, all right.

More time necessary for important skills like SQL

Another problem is that most of the full-stack programs don’t give the priority to important topics like SQL. Now, SQL for databases is very important because data is now every company’s biggest asset. Every company needs data engineers to plan and manage their data as well as run data analysis through SQL. That’s a topic that deserves concentration. And many programs rush through this.

Personal interviewing example of Bootcamp graduate

His strengths in projects

I’ll tell you a quick story. This is my personal experience when I was interviewing a Bootcamp graduate for a startup software developer position. So I asked him a few questions on JavaScript and he was able to get those right. He also had a portfolio to share on ruby on rails apps that he had built over time. So I asked him to describe the data model that was used for one of those apps because they were data-driven apps.

His weakness in databases and SQL

Now, he wasn’t able to even discuss how the data model works. He couldn’t discuss the table structures, and what the primary key and foreign keys are. He didn’t know that. So, I dug a little deeper and realized he didn’t even know SQL, which means there was no way we could have him work with our company’s data. Data was critical for us.

This candidate told me the Bootcamp only spent two weeks covering databases and SQL. Because the rest of the time was spent learning non-relational databases like MongoDB and rails data mappings. Here’s the thing, most of the companies out there need SQL in their day-to-day operations! So obviously this candidate didn’t get the job. Because I realized that he had only spent a few weeks on SQL.

Despite attending a three-month Bootcamp, the candidate had only a limited understanding of each of the topics. He was a jack of all trades and master of none.

Personal advice to get the foot in the door (Data Analyst path)

All of us want to get a job after we learn software development, right? Therefore, you should focus on the most important skills that companies are looking for in software engineers.

One of those most important skills is Databases and SQL. Do a quick job search and you’ll find how many tens of thousands of Database developer positions are open right now. So the recommendation I always give my students is to learn Databases with SQL and you can get pretty good in just three months. And get hired as a database developer.

So your goal should be first to get hired as a SQL developer, get that experience, work in a company, working with data. Then continue learning on the weekends, if you want to eventually get into the full stack development role. The full-stack software developer path that I teach should take about a year because you will be learning so many technologies.

That’s what I preach and that’s what has worked the best for most of my students. And, in my opinion, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to break into the IT field. You need to invest the proper time that’s required in the major areas and that will get you hired!

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