What's next after a coding bootcamp?
Published: 2021-04-12 04:06:24

I just graduated from a coding bootcamp, and I am now in the land of the unknown. The scariest part about shifting careers is simply the in-between part. Why is this? In my particular case, I am not sure what potential employers want when they are looking for candidates other than what's in the job descriptions. Figuring out what employers want is only part of the battle.

Just because you graduated from something doesn't mean that's where the learning stops. There is a whole lot more you need to accomplish until you land that next job. In the case of becoming a software developer, you need make sure you are keeping with as much as possible, because if you don't...all that you worked for in those 10 months in a coding camp was for nothing. A lot of coding camps do not provide direction after you graduate, so if the one you've graduated from does provide that help...take advantage of it.

What are the things in particular that you need to do after a bootcamp until you land your next job as a software developer? The first thing is you need to lay a plan out for your weeks to help support you job search activity. The next thing is research companies you want to potentially work for **before** you apply. The second point is very subjective only because you will have interest in working for some companies, while sometimes you will come across a job postings for a company you have never heard of before, and you will try to research them as much as you can before you apply. The third thing you will need to do is utilize LinkedIn as much as possible for networking with people that are working in these companies you are interested in or applying for through connections. The downside is you will not get a lot of responses for a lot of reasons. An alternative to this are meetups, or talking to people you know that may know other people.
The forth thing is your resume. Its a good idea to get with someone to help you put your resume together to be mote appealing to potential employers. There is a certain way resumes need to be depending on the industry you are trying to work in. Review samples as there are several all over the internet. The fifth, and final thing I'll mention is keep up with your coding skills. You can be building something, cranking out problems on HackerRank or Leetcode, contributing to a open source project, learning other languages, learning data structures and algorithms, etc. Something I will point out about this forth point is a lot of people like me at one point get themselves spread out too thin, instead of being strategic about their learning priorities. This is because when we look at a job posting and we see that it may require you to know particular programming language for example, but doesn't mean break your back to learn the language. I recommend you make learning that language as a goal, but don't waste your energy trying to learn what is required of one job when there are several other jobs you can likely get into first. 

Everything I've said can be taken with a grain of salt, because what I say will not workout for many, while there are a few that will use this advice, or improve upon it to make a little more for them. Coming out of a coding bootcamp is like graduating from college, because in the end...we are all looking for jobs, and guidance can be appreciated when needed.