What are your thoughts on coding boot camps?
I'm sure it's been talked about before on here, but I don't think it would hurt too much to bring it up again. I've been hearing more and more about these boot camps, and about how they guarantee you a job after three months.
There are a lot of difficult classes in a computer science major. higher level math (Calc I, II, III, ODE, LA, Discrete), physics, assembly/architecture. I spent many, many hours in those classes (and am not done yet). I would kind of feel pissed off if someone could get a shortcut into a job, and would be able to miss most of those classes. I'm not even saying that you need to have a degree. If you are a great programmer who's been programming for years, are really talented and genuinely have a passion for it, then I really have no issue with you getting a job.
I guess one variable is how long someone has been programming (and how good they are) before they enter into one of those boot camps. But, other than that, even medical specialist degrees (x-ray tech, radiology tech, LVN, etc.) usually take about 2-years to get. To be able to land a nice paying salary after a 3/4 month boot camp seems bizarre, and I'm not sure how much of it is hype and how much is truth.
There are a lot of difficult classes in a computer science major. higher level math (Calc I, II, III, ODE, LA, Discrete), physics, assembly/architecture. I spent many, many hours in those classes (and am not done yet). I would kind of feel pissed off if someone could get a shortcut into a job, and would be able to miss most of those classes. I'm not even saying that you need to have a degree. If you are a great programmer who's been programming for years, are really talented and genuinely have a passion for it, then I really have no issue with you getting a job.
I guess one variable is how long someone has been programming (and how good they are) before they enter into one of those boot camps. But, other than that, even medical specialist degrees (x-ray tech, radiology tech, LVN, etc.) usually take about 2-years to get. To be able to land a nice paying salary after a 3/4 month boot camp seems bizarre, and I'm not sure how much of it is hype and how much is truth.
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Technically a temporary contract would be a job. There is plenty of demand from companies who would hire just about anybody for a few months to patch this or update that because they don't want the overhead of a full time programmer. It used to be that you could make a very comfortable life for yourself on these kinds of short term contracts but, at least in the US, the IRS made a few changes to the tax code a few years ago that pretty much screwed anyone who did that for a living. Basically you could no longer be classified as an independent contractor under these kinds jobs so you lost a lot of credits and deferments. The demand is still there, so there is no doubt in my mind that these "Boot Camps" could find you a job. But it isn't what I would call gainful employment.
As for programmers with full four year degrees, it doesn't sound like a bad way to pad your resume if you're feeling self conscious about it. You'd basically be taking a refresher course on stuff that you've been studying in depth for the past few years. Imagine how good your report card or whatever would look from a place that is used to catering to people who haven't gone through college.
As for programmers with full four year degrees, it doesn't sound like a bad way to pad your resume if you're feeling self conscious about it. You'd basically be taking a refresher course on stuff that you've been studying in depth for the past few years. Imagine how good your report card or whatever would look from a place that is used to catering to people who haven't gone through college.
From a little browsing, it seams that most of these boot camps have little to no overlap with what you learn getting a CS degree. For example, in one, you learn nothing but Ruby on Rails. A computer science program teaches mostly just theory and fundamentals. You learn a little bit about a lot of aspects of computation such as programming language design, compiler design, operating systems, architecture, theory of computation, etc.
Because most real CS degrees don't teach you much web development ( if any ), I could see how people going through these boot camps could be more attractive to some employers than people fresh out of college ( assuming the boot camps are selective as they say they are ). If you are going to be a web developer, what use is most of your CS education except as a brain exercise and a little general programming experience?
The thing is that if you go to boot camp to learn Ruby on Rails, it's only going to help you get a Ruby on Rails job. If you have a CS degree, your employment options are more flexible, you might be eligible for a wider range of jobs, including jobs other than web dev using technology X.
This is just what it seams like to me.
And no reason to be upset at someone for having it easier than you. Jealousy can be poisonous.
Because most real CS degrees don't teach you much web development ( if any ), I could see how people going through these boot camps could be more attractive to some employers than people fresh out of college ( assuming the boot camps are selective as they say they are ). If you are going to be a web developer, what use is most of your CS education except as a brain exercise and a little general programming experience?
The thing is that if you go to boot camp to learn Ruby on Rails, it's only going to help you get a Ruby on Rails job. If you have a CS degree, your employment options are more flexible, you might be eligible for a wider range of jobs, including jobs other than web dev using technology X.
This is just what it seams like to me.
And no reason to be upset at someone for having it easier than you. Jealousy can be poisonous.
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A person getting a 4 year degree getting taught multiple computer science concepts, and a decent knowledge of math is going to get an upper hand over a person doing a boot camp picking on a specific emphasis like web development, or IOS ,android applications. If a potential employer can't differentiate you from a guy who did a 4 month boot camp then that's on you.
I see many job postings requiring a bachelors. People who do enroll in boot camp will have a tougher time selling themselves to even get an interview,especially for a well paying company.
I see many job postings requiring a bachelors. People who do enroll in boot camp will have a tougher time selling themselves to even get an interview,especially for a well paying company.
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