Good full stack bootcamps?
Can anyone give share your experiences with full-stack bootcamps? Specifically: **If you used a bootcamp yourself:** - Which did you choose and why? - Your level of expertise beforehand? - Pros and cons during the experience? - Do you think it helped your career? **If you are a hiring manager:** - Will you phone screen a person who has gone through a bootcamp and has decent personal projects? - Are there specific bootcamps that are considered reputable to you? - Have you hired anyone coming from a bootcamp? How is that going? Context: my bestie wants to make a switch from an existing STEM field (M.S. in Geology) into SWE. I want to help lift her as best I can, so any anecdotes would be super helpful. 🙏
I didn’t even know there are full stack boot camps available. There are so many technologies to cover from Jenkins to k8s to aws etc..
There are quite a few actually. Hence, any anecdotes.
Also never heard of full stack bootcamps
Lol, it’s not STEM to tech. It’s STEM to SWE.
Fair retort. Will update.
Someone here once said that they design phone screens so that they can't be passed by someone who went through bootcamp. So the odds are against your friend. Note that this is for top tech companies. Also I would note that I feel there is antagonism from people that work 4+ years to learn the subject, fundamentals etc towards people that cram for 2 weeks or however long it is and compete for the same jobs.
I appreciate all of that insight. I don't think she is looking for top-tier entry at this point, and really just to find something to make a difference. Yeah, I can understand that antagonism, but for web product development, I tend to think most of our tools do the comp sci for us. I completed a B.S. in computer science, but it's so rare that I'm dealing with Big-O issues. That doesn't mean that we don't deal with them, though.
No one here really answered the OPs question. I do work with SWEs, who went to boot camps. From what I’ve seen - it’s not a substitute to a 4 year degree, but comes close enough to be able to work well. Also, I do know someone, who is going through a boot camp right now. Google for the top tier boot camps - their grads get jobs easily. Admissions process is hard and the boot camps are intense, unless you do a part time program, where available. Level of prep is quite strong - so, disregard biased BS from above comments. Your friend will have to work very hard and, most likely, will have to get a startup job at first, before being able to try to get a job at FAANG. Startups are strapped for funds, so they have to hire promising talent vs. experts - it’s a win-win for someone from a boot camp. I’m actually mentoring someone, who’s going through a boot camp now. They make you work on challenging and practical problems - some of them are challenging even for me. Level of intensity is very high - deadline and scope-wise. After your friend graduates from a boot camp and works for a while - if she realizes she loves coding, she can always think of getting a formal CS degree.
This is so very insightful! Thank you for taking such time for an in-depth perspective. Would you mind if I DM you for a few follow-up questions?
May you share the names of top tier bootcamps in the Bay?
For women or non-binary folks, I strongly recommend Ada Developer Academy based in Seattle. It’s free. They have a very high job placement rate. They provide a guaranteed internship. They are very selective though. Google has offered full time jobs to Ada candidates upon completing their Ada-Google internship.
Thanks so much for the rec! She and I will check this out!
Stay away from Lambda School, Holberton School, and all those SF bootcamps
Can you explain why?
They don’t teach you all that you need to know to be competitive with CS grads. Some of these topics include: networking, kernel, distributed systems, NALSSD, and the math needed to do AI/ML *correctly*. Sure, they’ll make you a developer, but you won’t be an actual engineer that can go from working on web app to working on robotics. Also, you’ll be looked down upon by those holding STEM degrees because you can cheat your way through a boot camp but you can’t cheat entirely through a 4 year degree
I would phone screen top tier college grads over bootcampers any time of the year. Top tier >= anyone with solid work experience > mid tier > low tier >= bootcampers
I understand that perspective, and I would too. She was top tier and published with a masters in geology. My question was: would you phone screen?
He didn’t ask your opinion. He just asked if you have used it before. Don’t be a jerk.