My friend recently graduated from Bootcamp. She is finding it hard to get calls from companies for junior engineering positions. She is reasonably good at data structures and leetcode style questions. Can other bootcamp grads share their experience ? Or any other information that could be helpful. It would great if others can share the companies that are willing to consider bootcamp grads for internship/apprenticeship/entry-level positions. Edit: I see a lot of posts which are either hate towards bootcamp grads or how it is not possible to get a job because of X, Y and Z. The original intent of this post is to hear stories or insights how bootcamp grads got their FIRST job , if you DO NOT have an experience that relates to this please REFRAIN from posting here. There are so many other trending topics on BLIND to post to, why waste your time here.
Because of the amount of college grads getting CS degrees and engineer grads that can code, boot campers are only considered if the company is either cheap or desperate.
How did your friend build a good portfolio for his/her resume? It seems like just one final bootcamp project wouldn't be enough, would it? I also know somebody who recently graduated bootcamp and needs help as well.
What code academies don’t want you to know is that it’s extremely hard to land an engineering job after them. Employers typically don’t like to hire from the bootcamps as the perceived quality of the talent is low. I personally have seen three responses from the hiring managers: 1) No bootcamp grads, period. (70%); 2) I consider if they have quants undergrad/ grad degree and a github repo (20%); 3) Hey, let’s hire 3 or more for cheap, keep only one at the end of the trial period (10%). In my view, the only way out of this pickle is to work at a small startup, often for free to pick up some experience as an engineer. Good luck!
These are probably fang/tech places though, right? Not a six branch car dealership that wants to automate their sales reports
Not really. Examples of each: 1) TalkDesk, Gusto, Branch, Samsung; 2) Rackspace, Series A startups; 3) Udemy and Twillio.
Boot camps are great for coders who are well versed in other coding languages or abilities - for example a java/c coder who goes to a .NET bootcamp. They will have a leg up But that’s because they already have all that other experience. If attendance at one Boot Camp is all they have, it’s going to be pretty hard to get in the door right now… In 1999 a Boot Camp and a pulse would get you in anywhere.
Graduation just happened all over the country… Those jobs are going to recent CS and EE type grads, not people who completed a single Boot camp. Rather than applying to the big ones, your friend should apply to small companies and even start ups to get some experience.
DM me if you want to consider us. We generally want people who can do work. Experience is definitely a huge plus, but passion and eagerness to learn really matter at a fast-pace startup. In the future, I recommend your other friends never attend bootcamp. Expensive and useless for most. Getting a degree is way better: start from community college if $& and schedule are problematic. In NYC, go to CUNY. The only place I see real value going is what’s formerly known as Hacker School, now called Recurse Center. Informal learning but the place is run by the most prominent VC today. No $$ for attending except you need to move to NYC. That place is the only true “bootcamp” you can get real connection with the tech companies.
Why are the bootcamps allowed to say over 98 percent of our grads get an offer within 4 mos?
I suggest she find useful public/semi-public projects to contribute to via volunteermatch.org Much better than random personal projects or the usual, contribute to open-source, suggestion. Like Larry said, she should not be applying to the giants, especially between May through July.
Thank You
What did your friend do before bootcamp?
A Google manager once told me he considered a portfolio to be worth roughly six months of experience
Thanks! She has applied to Google! Does FB have opportunities ?
Always, but I don't think either company is eager to hire people with nothing but a bootcamp behind them