3 ms·

The most important part is missing from the article: how they found and got accepted for the first job. The hardest part of switching isn’t attending the bootca

by otras 4y ago

The most important part is missing from the article: how they found and got accepted for the first job. The hardest part of switching isn’t attending the bootcamp, it’s finding a company that is willing to take a chance on your lack of experience and future growth potential. Doubly so for switching into the industry during Q3 of 2020 and fully remote. Did they get extremely lucky? Did they go to school with the hiring manager? Was it something in between? Articles like this are appealing because they paint a rosy picture of easily jumping into it, but in reality, it’s usually much harder. Those details matter.

jriggs 4y ago
True. I have experience working as an instructor at a bootcamp. I've had the opportunity to learn more about bootcamps as an industry....The best bootcamps (highest placement rates) without fail offer a career services portion as well. That gives you interview prep, LinkedIn support, resume building and most importantly networking with hiring partners. I have no doubt someone can become a dev in from no experience in 3 months, because I've seen it happen personally hundreds of times. But without the career services it is far more difficult to break in.
taurath 4y ago
Correct. I am self taught but it is only through my somewhat relevant experience as a project manager and in IT that a company would even give me an internship based on a small demo and a recommendation from a lead engineer that I had promise. I have no idea if I would have been able to “break in” otherwise. They paid me next to nothing and I could afford that. It’s a lot of privilege and luck that got me in. I don’t recommend others try to follow my path, but I also wish it were easier to do so. After a year of experience I was getting legit decent offers - initially almost entirely via referral. I stayed around the initial company because I was still learning a lot. Many years later I am a senior engineer. The world does open after the first job but getting the first one is hell. Don’t underestimate the class signaling that companies and hiring managers look for. Being some person with a portfolio and no experience almost never seems to make anyone take notice or consider an interview. I haven’t figured out how one would best repeat what I did - there’s lots of very viable and capable (and diverse!) people I know who’ve never been given the chance. I’d love if there were companies that offered apprenticeships - plenty of people out there would take low pay to get some real experience.
jrochkind1 4y ago
Yep, went to the article curious about that, went back and read it twice to make sure I wasn't missing it, and came here to say this! They don't say if they actually have found a job yet, which makes a pretty big difference to how we understand "how I successfully became a software engineer"! If they have, I'm curious if the boot camp played a role in placing them and what that was like if so, otherwise how difficult it was to find a job, and either way if the working conditions and salary were what they had hoped for or expected, etc.
kidgorgeous 4y ago
Just apply for jobs on indeed for 4 hours a day and go through all the coding challenges and bullshit interviews and rejections. Stop making this an impossible mission. Companies are paying you to solve problems through software and yuo can't solve your own? fuck outta here
- otras 4y ago
  I’m surprised by your tone and assumptions, and I think you may be misinterpreting what I wrote. If the author had gone through that process and included it, it would be a much more honest and accurate article. As it stands, the lack of any mention of the process makes the article shallow and overly “anyone can _easily_ do it”. I think an important part of representing switching into software is being realistic about the hard parts as well, and I found that lacking in the author’s story. Source: I switched into CS and applied for jobs for 4 hours a day and went through all the coding challenges and interviews and rejections

by otras 4y ago

jriggs 4y ago

True. I have experience working as an instructor at a bootcamp. I've had the opportunity to learn more about bootcamps as an industry....The best bootcamps (highest placement rates) without fail offer a career services portion as well. That gives you interview prep, LinkedIn support, resume building and most importantly networking with hiring partners. I have no doubt someone can become a dev in from no experience in 3 months, because I've seen it happen personally hundreds of times. But without the career services it is far more difficult to break in.

taurath 4y ago

Correct. I am self taught but it is only through my somewhat relevant experience as a project manager and in IT that a company would even give me an internship based on a small demo and a recommendation from a lead engineer that I had promise. I have no idea if I would have been able to “break in” otherwise. They paid me next to nothing and I could afford that. It’s a lot of privilege and luck that got me in. I don’t recommend others try to follow my path, but I also wish it were easier to do so. After a year of experience I was getting legit decent offers - initially almost entirely via referral. I stayed around the initial company because I was still learning a lot. Many years later I am a senior engineer. The world does open after the first job but getting the first one is hell. Don’t underestimate the class signaling that companies and hiring managers look for. Being some person with a portfolio and no experience almost never seems to make anyone take notice or consider an interview. I haven’t figured out how one would best repeat what I did - there’s lots of very viable and capable (and diverse!) people I know who’ve never been given the chance. I’d love if there were companies that offered apprenticeships - plenty of people out there would take low pay to get some real experience.

jrochkind1 4y ago

Yep, went to the article curious about that, went back and read it twice to make sure I wasn't missing it, and came here to say this! They don't say if they actually have found a job yet, which makes a pretty big difference to how we understand "how I successfully became a software engineer"! If they have, I'm curious if the boot camp played a role in placing them and what that was like if so, otherwise how difficult it was to find a job, and either way if the working conditions and salary were what they had hoped for or expected, etc.

kidgorgeous 4y ago

Just apply for jobs on indeed for 4 hours a day and go through all the coding challenges and bullshit interviews and rejections. Stop making this an impossible mission. Companies are paying you to solve problems through software and yuo can't solve your own? fuck outta here

otras 4y ago
I’m surprised by your tone and assumptions, and I think you may be misinterpreting what I wrote. If the author had gone through that process and included it, it would be a much more honest and accurate article. As it stands, the lack of any mention of the process makes the article shallow and overly “anyone can _easily_ do it”. I think an important part of representing switching into software is being realistic about the hard parts as well, and I found that lacking in the author’s story. Source: I switched into CS and applied for jobs for 4 hours a day and went through all the coding challenges and interviews and rejections