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Finished bootcamp mid 2014, currently a Software Developer (full stack) making 105k base (110k total package) with some great benefits (and no state income tax)

Finished bootcamp mid 2014, currently a Software Developer (full stack) making 105k base (110k total package) with some great benefits (and no state income tax). I had zero background before the bootcamp, and the bootcamp itself was pretty shocking. The biggest part of the bootcamp was having it on my resume - giving my limited knowledge "legitimacy". EDIT: My starting salary was mid 40s after I finished bootcamp. And I felt like I knew nothing for a good 6 months - luckily many employers are happy to take chances on you if you're willing to learn and have common sense. I'd advocate something like freecodecamp to others looking at bootcamps that can't afford the "good" ones (hackreactor etc)

aiyodev 9y ago
Would you put freecodecamp on a resume or just the projects they work on?
- handbanana 9y ago
  I'd list the certificates and the projects. Obviously the projects are going to be more beneficial (job seeking and knowledge wise). The bootcamp I went to did a group project at the end (that was a complete failure and waste of time) - however, I made it seem quite the opposite during interviews. I also built my own side project for a real business (very simple app, basic CRUD) that took 2-3 weeks to build (business owner is a family friend). Talking about these 2 projects in interviews was invaluable, as was brushing up on common questions/terminology (SOLID, OOP, REST vs SOAP etc) and basic programming problems (FizzBuzz, fibonacci etc)
_e 9y ago
Hiring three people at $40k/yr each at the beginning is safer than hiring one experienced person at $120k/yr. Maybe one or two of the three don't pan out but, at least, you didn't invest all your time into one person who might ultimately be the wrong fit.
- cylinder 9y ago
  Wish more companies understood and practiced that.
  - handbanana 9y ago
    From my experience, smaller private companies do. They don't have the prestige/money etc to attract top talent
- jaequery 9y ago
  on the contrary, if you find the right experienced developer, he/she will run circles around 5 or even 10 jr developers.
  - flavio81 9y ago
    Agree. My experience is that an experienced (7-10 years experience) developer can do 8x the throughput of a junior developer.
    - busterarm 9y ago
      I don't really use years experience as a metric. We hired a guy with 7 years experience to be our Lead Frontend dev and he basically built nothing usable for 4 months before we fired him. He made twice as much as me but my title was still Jr at the time. He didn't add a single piece of infrastructure to make his workload easier. My boss and I threw out all of his work, split it up and got it done in a month. 7 years of experience can very easily end up being 7 years of 1st year experience. I want to see some kind of scale in their responsibilities/accomplishments. There are some junior-experience people out there with the potential to get a lot done right now.
  - _e 9y ago
    I stand corrected. Reflecting on my own experience you are absolutely right.
- busterarm 9y ago
busterarm 9y ago
handbanana, no! P.S. How did you know I like baked goods?

aiyodev 9y ago

Would you put freecodecamp on a resume or just the projects they work on?

handbanana 9y ago
I'd list the certificates and the projects. Obviously the projects are going to be more beneficial (job seeking and knowledge wise). The bootcamp I went to did a group project at the end (that was a complete failure and waste of time) - however, I made it seem quite the opposite during interviews. I also built my own side project for a real business (very simple app, basic CRUD) that took 2-3 weeks to build (business owner is a family friend). Talking about these 2 projects in interviews was invaluable, as was brushing up on common questions/terminology (SOLID, OOP, REST vs SOAP etc) and basic programming problems (FizzBuzz, fibonacci etc)

_e 9y ago

Hiring three people at $40k/yr each at the beginning is safer than hiring one experienced person at $120k/yr. Maybe one or two of the three don't pan out but, at least, you didn't invest all your time into one person who might ultimately be the wrong fit.

cylinder 9y ago
Wish more companies understood and practiced that.
- handbanana 9y ago
  From my experience, smaller private companies do. They don't have the prestige/money etc to attract top talent
jaequery 9y ago
on the contrary, if you find the right experienced developer, he/she will run circles around 5 or even 10 jr developers.
- flavio81 9y ago
  Agree. My experience is that an experienced (7-10 years experience) developer can do 8x the throughput of a junior developer.
  - busterarm 9y ago
    I don't really use years experience as a metric. We hired a guy with 7 years experience to be our Lead Frontend dev and he basically built nothing usable for 4 months before we fired him. He made twice as much as me but my title was still Jr at the time. He didn't add a single piece of infrastructure to make his workload easier. My boss and I threw out all of his work, split it up and got it done in a month. 7 years of experience can very easily end up being 7 years of 1st year experience. I want to see some kind of scale in their responsibilities/accomplishments. There are some junior-experience people out there with the potential to get a lot done right now.
- _e 9y ago
  I stand corrected. Reflecting on my own experience you are absolutely right.
busterarm 9y ago

busterarm 9y ago

handbanana, no! P.S. How did you know I like baked goods?