Yes, you should do a coding bootcamp!
Tags: learning, bootcamp, school, degree
Published: 2021-05-01 14:05:15

*Disclaimer: I have treaded the bootcamp path myself, to switch careers into web development in just over 6 months.*

This is a question I keep getting: "should I do a software development bootcamp?"

For clarity, I'm going to assume anyone who asks that question intends to become a professional in the tech industry, and they mean a bootcamp as opposed to a CS degree or self-teaching.

The short answer is: **yes, you definitely should!** You are leveraging **the most valuable resource of all**, which is **time**. So you can stop reading here and go learn, or better yet, sign up to any reputable bootcamp, and thank me later! But if you'd like to continue reading, let us expand on this topic.

### Bootcamp vs a CS degree

Often, people will argue that a Computer Science degree teaches so much more, and graduates get better-paying jobs. **And that is undoubtedly true**.

However, the enormous benefit of 3+ years saved, amongst other minor ones, vastly outweighs that of a comprehensive learning approach.

The reason for this is that Bootcamp grads will be employed anyway, albeit in a more junior role, shortly after they finish the programme. So we are talking about **3+ years of work experience and salary**.

But what if I don't find a job, you ask? Well, **if you're even semi-competent, someone will hire you** - it's that simple. This is a consistent outcome of several different coding bootcamps (see examples below on [Flatiron School](https://flatironschool.com/jobs-reports/) and [Le Wagon](https://www.lewagon.com/blog/infographic-how-to-accelerate-your-career-in-weeks), respectively). It's also the reason why many schools will allow you to pay nothing until - and unless! - you become employed.

![Flatiron School employability](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/iyjtv5ie6e1efsjnqopr.png)

![Le Wagon employability](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4vzn6cg6zoh0v3vu6st7.png)

Think about that - if you sign up for a bootcamp today with zero experience, then between prep time, bootcamp time and job hunt you will realistically be working in the tech industry within 6-8 months.

Someone starting from zero, who has never seen Hello World code before, will likely start in a very junior position. That's OK! For many people that still means a salary greater than they were making for years in other lines of work, and by the time they put 3 years in, their learning will have been far more significant than that of most CS students. You might be making 6 figures on salary alone.

I once heard it said that you learn 30x faster on the job vs school, and I don't think that's *too* exaggerated.

The other advantage is the cost. Time, beyond being valuable, is also costly for many. Take my experience as an example: stopping my professional life to pursue an intensive bootcamp cost a lot of money. I was in London at the time, and in the 6 months I spent just studying and then job hunting, I had to pay rent, childcare and expenses, and commit to the exorbitant (albeit deferred) bootcamp fee. It set me back something like £40k, perhaps more, which built massive debt at the time. And mine was a 3.5 month programme! I managed to do it because I had support, between loans and family, but even for a privileged man such as myself, it was simply not an option to sustain a monthly spenditure of £4-5k for 4 years.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the unique value of a CS degree. Highly structured learning, the covering of all bases with things such as computer architecture, lower level languages, security, and even non-CS topics like Physics and Calculus, all ensure the student becomes a more well-rounded professional. And the network and relationships built over 4 years are also incredibly valuable - this can't be matched in 3 months with a bootcamp cohort.

But a lot of these things are not out of reach for a bootcamp grad - you can choose to spend some of the time you saved by studying on your own, with the benefit of knowing what you truly need to learn for your professional goals.

So while the CS degree is a worthwhile investment for those with zero monetary cost - which is a thing for many middle class young people still living with their parents, for example -, I would still recommend the bootcamp path for all the focused learning, saved time and flexibility of choices post-programme.

### Bootcamp compared to self-teaching

With all the content available online, much of it for free, it's entirely possible to go from zero to employable by yourself, in your own time and pace. And this is an incredible possibility for those that cannot get their hands on enough money to pay for formal education.

But if you can sustain yourself for up to a year while pursuing the bootcamp path, however, I 100% recommend you do so.

There are some key benefits here that have everything to do with human nature and, again (as ever!), the value of time.

Firstly we have the value of a well-defined curriculum. It can be daunting, discouraging and ultimately deal-breaking to be faced with so many languages, frameworks and fields of software development out there. Should I learn Python or Javascript? React or Vue? Can I even call myself a developer if I don't master VIM? And [what the actual fuck is dependency injection](https://www.jamesshore.com/v2/blog/2006/dependency-injection-demystified)?

The bootcamp curriculum **removes all of this mental overhead**, allowing the student to focus on learning what's in front of them with the confidence that they will be job-ready by the end of it.

Secondly, it's incredibly hard to emulate the environment of a bootcamp. You are surrounded by like-minded people with the same struggles and ambitions, with whom you can even share some healthy competition (and the occasional beer in times of despair!). You also enjoy the support of instructors to get you that little push that you need to get unstuck.

Thirdly, and this is just how us humans function, you're just more likely to get off your ass and do the work when you have to be somewhere at 9AM and sit there until the day is over. It's more like 8AM to 9PM by the way, if you're doing it right, but I digress. Additionally, you naturally want to prove to your peers that you can do this. Because let's face it: it's just too damn easy to take breaks or give up when you're doing it by yourself, and people end up taking 9 months or more with a curriculum they could have completed in 3 months within the bootcamp structure. So while this path will save you money, it will cost you time. Which is more valuable?

But hey, if you do have flawless discipline and a couple of developer friends that can guide your learning and tell you when you're ready for the job market, the self-teaching path might just be a good bet for you.

### Some final thoughts

Remember that **it's all about the effort** the student is willing to put into it, regardless of the path you choose. **Take the half-assed approach and reap half-assed rewards**.

For me, that meant that from the moment I decided to study in an intensive 15-week bootcamp, I was all-in. I was going to learn all the things thrown at me, and I was going to make the most of my investment. Trust me, you don't want to spend 30% of your $15,000 course without having done all the prep work to know the basics.

A funny thing - finishing my studies and starting to work is a bit of a blurry time, because I just simply continued to learn on my own, and still do quite frequently, albeit in a more focused fashion.

The tech industry is very particular in that we all have to constantly learn to have a chance at levelling up professionally. I like that because it allows those who have the drive to really accelerate their growth. Though if you're into the sort of work that you can do mindlessly and just get small promotions over the years, you can totally still do that as a developer, so again - go and enroll in that bootcamp you've been thinking about doing, and thank me later.