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Full disclosure: I work at a coding bootcamp. This is a weird article. It's more focused on one bad school then the industry as a whole. Everyone quoted in the

Full disclosure: I work at a coding bootcamp. This is a weird article. It's more focused on one bad school then the industry as a whole. Everyone quoted in the article got a job as a software developer. It seems the biggest issue is that expectations are not set correctly by most schools. Some people find a job asap and some people take a lot longer. This quote seems particularly shortsighted, “When people go to coder camp, they’re never going to be part of the in crowd,” Dinan, the recruiter, said. “There’s way more to success than just having the software education.” As a former recruiter I cringe seeing this. Someone is NEVER going to be 'part of the in crowd' because of their education? 1 year in? 3 years in? 5 years in? 10 years in when they are in a management role they still will be an outsider because they went to a coding camp?

dovdovdov 10y ago
The only issues I see is that many coding schools give the fake illusion (god forbid, advertise) that you are industry ready after a 3 month 'training'. Sorry no, you are not.
- zdragnar 10y ago
  Depends on which sector of the industry you're working in. I've participated in the hiring process (technical interviewer) for several candidates from bootcamps. What they clearly lack in expertise (which can be learnt) they more than make up for in intangible qualities of character- self-driven, hungry to learn, motivated not only to do well, but to do better each time. Many come from backgrounds that are also useful, but not commonly found in degreed programs, such as former project managers, academic researchers, etc. If you can afford the time and effort required to have a green developer on your team, they can be some of the best hires you'll ever get. With regard to your specific call out of 3 months, the one I'm familiar with had something like 50-60 hour weeks. Most people were learning non-stop, focused primarily on easy-access web tech such as html, css, front-end and server-side JS, and mongodb. However, many of them also dabbled in a variety of other languages on their own time, such as python, c, java, as well as graph and SQL databases. They graduate coding bootcamps with more ready for web development than many learn at more degreed programs. It's entirely possible that that level of expertise simply isn't enough where you work, and that's totally fine. But don't imagine that there isn't a place for these people within the industry. (For reference, I've been in the industry myself for 7 years, and have never personally attended a bootcamp)
norea-armozel 10y ago
I never went a coding bootcamp but I work for an employer who has hired a few people from one in the Minneapolis area. In my opinion, they seem quite capable as programmers even if they have no formal education. I think a formal education is fine if you can afford it but honestly, how many jobs really need a full four year degree as a requirement? I think degrees as a gatekeeping mechanism are being abused especially in entry level programming positions which I genuinely believe can be done by anyone who's literate and curious (I even think a HS diploma can be considered optional if they can read, write, and do arithmetic reasonably).

dovdovdov 10y ago

The only issues I see is that many coding schools give the fake illusion (god forbid, advertise) that you are industry ready after a 3 month 'training'. Sorry no, you are not.

zdragnar 10y ago
Depends on which sector of the industry you're working in. I've participated in the hiring process (technical interviewer) for several candidates from bootcamps. What they clearly lack in expertise (which can be learnt) they more than make up for in intangible qualities of character- self-driven, hungry to learn, motivated not only to do well, but to do better each time. Many come from backgrounds that are also useful, but not commonly found in degreed programs, such as former project managers, academic researchers, etc. If you can afford the time and effort required to have a green developer on your team, they can be some of the best hires you'll ever get. With regard to your specific call out of 3 months, the one I'm familiar with had something like 50-60 hour weeks. Most people were learning non-stop, focused primarily on easy-access web tech such as html, css, front-end and server-side JS, and mongodb. However, many of them also dabbled in a variety of other languages on their own time, such as python, c, java, as well as graph and SQL databases. They graduate coding bootcamps with more ready for web development than many learn at more degreed programs. It's entirely possible that that level of expertise simply isn't enough where you work, and that's totally fine. But don't imagine that there isn't a place for these people within the industry. (For reference, I've been in the industry myself for 7 years, and have never personally attended a bootcamp)

norea-armozel 10y ago

I never went a coding bootcamp but I work for an employer who has hired a few people from one in the Minneapolis area. In my opinion, they seem quite capable as programmers even if they have no formal education. I think a formal education is fine if you can afford it but honestly, how many jobs really need a full four year degree as a requirement? I think degrees as a gatekeeping mechanism are being abused especially in entry level programming positions which I genuinely believe can be done by anyone who's literate and curious (I even think a HS diploma can be considered optional if they can read, write, and do arithmetic reasonably).