Coding bootcamps

- Bootcamps can be a fast way to get the skills you need to get into the developer field quickly. They are designed to teach the practical skills necessary to get a job in the industry in a condensed timeframe. According to a 2018 survey, these programs have an average tuition of $12,000, and courses are an average of 14 weeks long. They graduated 20,000 students in 2018, and that's up 20% from the previous year. The firms surveyed have an average placement success rate of 88% within 120 days. Now this is a full-time, in-person, immersive experience. Many camps run 40 hours or more per week. But that hard work often pays off. Why? Well, they teach skills not often taught in schools, like peer programming, test-driven development, and cutting-edge tools. However, many bootcamps have pretty low acceptance rates compared to traditional schools. They pick and choose the students with the highest chance of success, and not everyone is prepared for 10 to 12 weeks of intensive training, especially if you have a current job and have no other means of support. So, this can be a tough proposition. Now, too much practical knowledge without an understanding of why you should do something, can also be a disadvantage. Not everyone knows exactly what they want to do when they first go to college. Only about 50% of college graduates have jobs that relate to their degree. Over 30% of college educated workers never find jobs related to their major. Case in point, my B.A. was in Journalism. I learned other concepts, like design, by taking different college classes, which were helpful to a development job. So, the opportunity to explore and learn a broad range of skills is a big plus for college. Majority of bootcamp attendees are college graduates, so most students are already prepared for the type of intensive training required in a bootcamp. Bootcamps can be great if you're sure that being a web developer is what you want to do. Committing to an immersive program, and the financial challenges, are not for everyone.