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The conventional wisdom used to be that many people would go back to school during a recession. I certainly did that in after getting laid off in the tail end

The conventional wisdom used to be that many people would go back to school during a recession. I certainly did that in after getting laid off in the tail end of the dotcom bust. The timing of getting a degree during a normal recession cycle might work out simply because 1 or 2 years after you start school, you might be graduating when there's no longer a recession and hiring has picked up again. If you go to a 3 month bootcamp during a recession, you're likely to face a recession when finishing the program.

thaumasiotes 7y ago
An interesting implication of this line of thought is that a lot of the value of getting a degree during a recession is not so much the degree as having something respectable to say you were doing with your time.
- pm_me_ur_fullzz 7y ago
  I never thought of it that way, are you sure? I think people just thought the degree would be there forever, but instead they are just paying it off forever - in the states.
  - PopeDotNinja 7y ago
    I'm still paying my off :P
  - thaumasiotes 7y ago
    Being more explicit: 1. In the hot market, you can spend multiple years getting a degree, or you can spend a few months at a bootcamp. At the conclusion of either process, you get a job. By hypothesis, the bootcamp provides as much value in terms of knowledge as the degree does. (Just go with it.) The bootcamp is much better, because you waste less time not having a job. It's cheaper in cash outflow, but it's even more cheaper in opportunity cost. 2. In the depressed market, you can spend multiple years getting a degree, or you can spend a few months at a bootcamp. After a couple of years, the market is no longer depressed, and you get a job. By happy coincidence, if you got the degree, you go on the market at this time, and you look employable. If you did the bootcamp, it's still just as good, but you've been unemployed for a couple of years, and you look unemployable. The bootcamp had a higher opportunity cost than the degree. (Still lower cash outflow.) In this case, the only reason you'd want the degree is so that, when you interview for a job that chooses to hire you for unrelated reasons having to do with the overall health of the economy, you don't have to admit to having been unemployed. If the cash price of bootcamp is 20% of the cash price of the degree, then this respectability concern is at least 80% of the value of the degree. More, if you assume it's generally nicer to be unemployed than to be studying for a degree.
alexhutcheson 7y ago
Lambda’s programs are 9+ months.

thaumasiotes 7y ago

An interesting implication of this line of thought is that a lot of the value of getting a degree during a recession is not so much the degree as having something respectable to say you were doing with your time.

pm_me_ur_fullzz 7y ago
I never thought of it that way, are you sure? I think people just thought the degree would be there forever, but instead they are just paying it off forever - in the states.
- PopeDotNinja 7y ago
  I'm still paying my off :P
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  Being more explicit: 1. In the hot market, you can spend multiple years getting a degree, or you can spend a few months at a bootcamp. At the conclusion of either process, you get a job. By hypothesis, the bootcamp provides as much value in terms of knowledge as the degree does. (Just go with it.) The bootcamp is much better, because you waste less time not having a job. It's cheaper in cash outflow, but it's even more cheaper in opportunity cost. 2. In the depressed market, you can spend multiple years getting a degree, or you can spend a few months at a bootcamp. After a couple of years, the market is no longer depressed, and you get a job. By happy coincidence, if you got the degree, you go on the market at this time, and you look employable. If you did the bootcamp, it's still just as good, but you've been unemployed for a couple of years, and you look unemployable. The bootcamp had a higher opportunity cost than the degree. (Still lower cash outflow.) In this case, the only reason you'd want the degree is so that, when you interview for a job that chooses to hire you for unrelated reasons having to do with the overall health of the economy, you don't have to admit to having been unemployed. If the cash price of bootcamp is 20% of the cash price of the degree, then this respectability concern is at least 80% of the value of the degree. More, if you assume it's generally nicer to be unemployed than to be studying for a degree.

alexhutcheson 7y ago

Lambda’s programs are 9+ months.