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I do agree that one persons success with something (getting a job, losing weight etc) isn't a very good prediction on most people's result using the same techni

I do agree that one persons success with something (getting a job, losing weight etc) isn't a very good prediction on most people's result using the same technique. And yes, I don't think all aspiring developers should do a bootcamp either. It wont replace a CS degree, and there are tons of ways to become a developers just using online tools/courses. My motive with this article isn't to encourage more people to go to bootcamps, but help those who want to go do bootcamps do better research before they apply, as there are a lot of bad bootcamps out there. Given the lack of web developers and demand for the skill, I don't doubt that some schools have 90 percent hiring rate.

scottwhudson 11y ago
I applied to a bootcamp in Austin a few years back that was boasting about its insanely high placement rate, so I did a little research. They gave all students a "developer intern" title or something similar and told them to go update their LinkedIn profiles. A quick search on LinkedIn showed that they were including people who failed at getting engineering gigs and went back to their old jobs in their placement figures, which seemed super misleading. I messaged a few grads that didn't have developer titles and got some very sobering responses. I don't blame bootcamps for not getting everyone hired, but touting these ridiculous figures with hooks like "our avg dev grad makes $75k straight out of our program" seems to incentivize people into thinking there's a short path to solid pay, and not emphasizing how hard the work is. It just felt so much like a miniature for-profit program that I pulled my application and got a job after building some stuff on my own.
- codebcthrowaway 11y ago
  I worked at a place that had the opposite problem. We never asked students to add us to their profiles but they did anyway. Subsequently it tanked the value of being an actual employee there.

scottwhudson 11y ago

I applied to a bootcamp in Austin a few years back that was boasting about its insanely high placement rate, so I did a little research. They gave all students a "developer intern" title or something similar and told them to go update their LinkedIn profiles. A quick search on LinkedIn showed that they were including people who failed at getting engineering gigs and went back to their old jobs in their placement figures, which seemed super misleading. I messaged a few grads that didn't have developer titles and got some very sobering responses. I don't blame bootcamps for not getting everyone hired, but touting these ridiculous figures with hooks like "our avg dev grad makes $75k straight out of our program" seems to incentivize people into thinking there's a short path to solid pay, and not emphasizing how hard the work is. It just felt so much like a miniature for-profit program that I pulled my application and got a job after building some stuff on my own.

codebcthrowaway 11y ago
I worked at a place that had the opposite problem. We never asked students to add us to their profiles but they did anyway. Subsequently it tanked the value of being an actual employee there.