I came into tech being self-taught and then through a bootcamp many years ago. At that time there were hardly any resources helping people do the same so I made a pledge to myself to help as many people as I could do the same!
I found my feet and started giving back to the aspiring developer community, hugely. Helping more self-taught developers and bootcamp grads land their first roles in technology. Through CV reviews, advice, mentoring, technical interview tips and way more.
I wrote a book '11 Steps To Tech, What the Bootcamp Does Not Teach You', and founded juniordeveloper.careers as well as actively helping people on LinkedIn. Receiving hundreds of messages I decided it was time to take my work and my content global by helping self-taught developers all over the world stand out and land their first or second junior developer roles!
hey thanks for sharing your exp.. that is really helpful.. im assocaite software engineer but aslo work in gen ai and ml mostly but though of moving to data engineer but so unclear about what it will look like thanks for clarification now im gonna make my fundamentls more stronger in software..im dropping my plan of moving to data since like u said i wamt recoginztrrion that the think will boast me and api's are my fav i dont waanna miss that
I'm thinking about to explore Data Engineering and already studying about it. But, i'd want to stay as a backend player too!. Would you guys recommend me that?
Firstly, we need to understand what data engineer is. Is it just for building pipelines, some batch or streaming jobs, or build some APIs, deploy models? These stuff just as half of data engineer, which is engineer/software engineer/backend engineer. The rest part is data, which requires DE to understand the data and have domain knowledge. These requirements could be much challenging, when DE need to know what is the meaning of data values in the database/table/column/etc in business, so that for them to build data warehouse, especially, datamarts. These things need a lot of tranformations and aggregations but assure the correct business logic and performance. Besides, DE could be a data governance, such as identifing and not exploding sensitive data. DE often do not target to customers but more focus on supporting internal members, such as marketing, sales, DA, DS. But in some companies, DE aggregate data and build APIs to explode the aggregated data for BE/FE teams to build report features of apps serving customers, here, DE are recognized from customers, not just the internal side. DE in fact could have many job titles, such as data pipeline engineer, data platform engineer, cloud engineer, Data analytics engineer, since big corps expect specific responsibilities for teams.
Check the Gov website, if you Google skills bootcamps you will get a list of providers and you can check what they teach. I do not think there is a just Python bootcamp, though.
The compensation for Data Engineering roles tends to be higher, but this may not be suitable for individuals who prefer more client-facing roles, such as frontmen. Some prioritize financial compensation over recognition. I couldn't care less about recognition; show me the money.
not necessarily true.. this is mostly true at junior levels, but senior SWEs earn way more than senior DEs at most MNCs... the ceiling for SWEs is way higher
Thanks for the feedback. I was considering move from SWE to DS in my uni. My objections for SWE were networking/security module, 2d/3d human interaction, advanced op system. where i preferred data related module, AI and programming.
Salam Alaykum brother thanks for the videos. I have some questions; I'm not sure which BootCamp to choose in UK government funded, I know you have shared some course providers' names but when I look at the reviews of these course providers some comments are very bad and it makes me stop to apply these course providers, Please advise me on what to do? Should I still pick the BootCamp even if there are some bad reviews? I hope you will reply :) thanks.
No matter what you do you will always find good and bad reviews as each persons circumstances are different. So, your best approach is to think what is best for you. Speak to the bootcamps, they normally have enrolment officers who will be able to answer your questions and then pick one. Just remember, the bootcamp isn’t a final solution. It’s a stepping stone to take and then continue your learning and work.
Good reputation. Strong teaching team. I know a few of them. I think you’ll have the same issue as every other bootcamp in struggling to land a job after it’s completed.
@@ishaqhamin thanks for the reply, I'm not so worried about them getting me a job after, I was more worried about if I'd learn anything via their teaching.
@@TyronneWilliams-k2v I would say speak to them, ask questions and ask a few other bootcamps about their syllabus, number of teachers, teaching style, etc.
Would love to see a video only on Communication skills such as how do I have proper grammar, pronunciation, cohesion with the English language while speaking. I also liked your Adaptability point where you mentioned "to keep yourself up to date with new technologies", may I ask you which resources I can use to know about more recent updates and technologies? Thanks 😀
Yeah, it helps a lot. Honestly, Twitter or X was a very good place to follow people but I don’t use it as much anymore due to how much bad content is on there. LinkedIn is good. And newsletters from Substack, medium, etc.
Have you had any interaction with someone who completed Software Engineer bootcamp with Skill city? If yes, are you able to tell me what was their overall experience like please?
Yes, a few people. They’re a good bootcamp with good teachers. I find the issues they have are common amongst most bootcamps. A lot of Information in a short period of time. Lack of jobs on the market. Not great support from tutors in a 1-1 setting.
@@ishaqhamin "Not great support from tutors in a 1-1 setting" I found the same issue when I was doing the bootcamp with NorthCoders. It was difficult to understand what those teacher were teaching sometimes and they were also inconsistent while explaining topics. So what's left Ishaq? Please spread some wisdom. I want to get into Tech and right now I'm doing freeCodeCamp tasks. I really want to do the Bootcamp and finding the one which is really good is difficult.
@@engineeringmadeasy right now I’d say Northcoders probably have the best reputation. You can also look at Code Nation and Skills City which both seem to be doing well.
@@ishaqhamin Thanks for your reply. Northcoders are not allowing me as they dropped me last year in October. Code Nation does cover the area where I live so it's not possible to get the funding. Skills City - I still have to check them out. What do you think about "School of Code" and "Code Institute"?
Hahaha. Well, look. This was my experience. Yours may be different. I worked with a tonne of clever people who absolutely love data engineering. You’ve just got to weigh up the pros and cons. What’s the worst that could happen? Switch back?
I would be glad if someone could give me some advice. I was backend Django developer for 8 months in a company (after finishing academy for 1 year). I left the place because the company was not the right one for me. But I actually was okay with the type of work. Now I am looking for something new and I have opportunity as Junior data engineer making ETL's and pipelines. I am afraid I will make a bad decision if I say yes to this offer. Working with data, cleaning it and sorting it sounds borining. Should I even try it or keep looking for other stuff like another company with backend?
@@maximvassilev172 honestly, it comes down your personal situation. Right now the market isn’t great so if you need the money then take it. Learn the job, you may enjoy it, then look for another role whilst working.
@@ishaqhamin recently I am very confused of which part to take in the IT field. I know it is better to learn 1 language and stick to 1 thing than learning 10 languages and trying 10 things and still being confused. I don't mean it is not good giving a chance to things but I don't want to be constantly hesitant... Btw I don't mind working it if it is a a'little bit boring. I am just afraid it will be automated and not so well payed in future. This is my main concern. It is super easy to find a non-qualified job. But if I will put so much effort in learning DE, I don't want it to be automated in 5 years ...
@@maximvassilev172 well, the thing is you can try a few different things and see what you like. If you want to code more then go for front or backend. Backend is more aligned to DE. Either way, there’s nothing wrong with taking an opportunity as it comes to you and then moving on if it isn’t a right fit. You’ll never know until you try.
I'm recently employed and worked for a month, I was hired as a data engineer but these people are making me work on very boring stuff that includes SAP Business Objects as a reporting tool and service now tickets, in my college i have made few projects in MERN stack I have also learnt data engineering tools like Snowflake, Databricks, Pyspark I like both the things Software Development as well as Data engineering in what field should I switch into based on the future scope, and remote jobs availablity 3:34 3:36 3:38
Think about which one you will enjoy the most then double down and go for it. Data does encompass a lot of things so likely you will never just be coding.
@ishaqhamin I am trying to switch to data engineer role from SAP and everyone on RU-vid say that SQL is the most important concept that a data engineer needs to know, could you tell me more about your responsibilities as data engineer were you involved in data cleaning and data transformation ? and can you let me know what kind of data engineer responsibility may need more of SQL? Thanks
@@barneystinson8235 hey. So, depending on the company you will get different answers. Essentially, data engineering can be a really wide role or super siloed. What I mean by that is some companies will see data engineering as just creating data pipelines, so you’ll be using Airflow, Python, A cloud storage like AWS, some SQL, etc. Other companies you may be doing g data ingestion, and data warehousing - so you’ll do the above but also run SQL queries on the data warehouse. For most engineers, knowing SQL and Python are likely your best bet as everything else you can learn on the job. I hope that makes sense.
I moved from SDE to Data Engineering and was wondering if I made the right choice. I purchased many courses and i had no interest in learning, though I am forcing myself,I miss software engineering, I miss creating things, writing logic, and building 1000 APIs. Thanks for sharing! It's good to know I'm not alone.
Oh yes, I can certainly relate. I moved back to full stack engineering and I have honestly not looked back. Don't get me wrong, data is a good area but I just love to build. Keep me updated on how it goes!
I'm doing an internship as part of my studies that I thought was gonna be more programming oriented (I' should be doing backend), but turned out to be drag-and-click pipelines with oracle data integrator, and I just feel so bad everyday.
@@ishaqhamin And not worth the cost either -- that's why I gave you a 100% discount for life on your account. Insha'allah, you won't have to pay for it again!!
@@MehranMoin You have totally lost me. I am not sure that is even a thing? Lol but you can go on my LinkedIn through my profile and send me a message as I am confused! If that is the case though you are an absolute HERO!
Hmm, I would not say they are super important but you will likely get some experience in them as you will be deploying projects and working a lot with cloud services. e.g. AWS and S3 for storing data. Airflow for pipelines, ec2 for building instances.
Hi, I will be pleased to read/hear some advice. I had intership in .net. I was moved between a few project (first was desktop, second was web (backend plus frontend) and third would be Blazor). So .... they planned to lay off me, but in the very last day of my employment they wanted to give me Blazor project. I refused because i was THAT stressed out about future and cost of living went higher. I back to my old industry. Now I want to try once again in IT. But ... is it better to learn new things and go with Data Eng career path or relearn tons of things and try once again to become SDE ?
Hi, I just graduated from college, and i am really confused about whether I should go for the backend or Data Engineering I really love coding, working on very complex projects, Learning new things Can you give me an advice where should I go
Hey, sorry for the late reply. I was having some time away. If you enjoy more coding, backend would be better. Data consists of a lot more config work and a lot of firefighting, e.g. resetting airflow pipelines and working out why they went down.
Thanks for the video, i really would like to have your opinion on my situation. Im a bms engineer, I've started studying computer science about 12 years ago, I have experience and knowledge of different languages (all at basic level). Every time that im trying to find a coding bootcamp I stop, most of them I've found them very basic and dated. That really scares me into starting one, I wouldn't want to waste 4 months for a program I already know isn't job ready. I don't know what to do!
Hey, sorry for the late reply. I was having some time away. Honestly, it sounds like you are already a step ahead. Build some projects to showcase on your portfolio and start applying. I do not think you need to waste time nor money on a bootcamp!
People sometimes suggest books, but I reckon the points raised come first and reading books later as then you relate to them and take ideas from them instead of reading and coding. When I started out I remember buying the ios6 Development book, and PHP cookbook and it nearly scared me out. Years past after some experience I was able to pick up and read them and all made sense and helped me with my career. Also, I will recommend frontend masters, most tuts you have to ask the question and wait for them to reply. In frontend masters, most of the time the question you are thinking get asked by the audience and it gets answered in the video which makes it a bit more interactive in my experience.
Good input! Yeah, a lot of people struggle with books and I think especially if you’re just starting out they can be very hard to learn from. I do love frontend masters. It’s quite expensive but well worth the money and is definitely a great resource.
Hi , I'm a fresher, just spent almost a year in my new job and hardly getting to do new development/coding, mostly it's some lambda functions for some automation or some other kind of functionality or the aws CDK code for Infrastructure as code, I'm feeling bored but I don't know what should I do now, I have tried react in depth also explored nodejs, and recently did springboot with java , i enjoyed node and Java wasn't bad , but since I don't have work experience in software development nor my skills will be as good as someone who's into software development for a year moreover people here in my country are asking system design dsa and tech related in depth questions, so need to preoare hard for that , I am thinking to learn sql in depth by doing it in depth (I don't even do sql a lot snd mostly it's adding few pyspark transformations) , then I'll try to make my springboot better since my company already have people working on springboot although i don't know if I'll enjoy it , then will try to switch to a company with thah experience. can you give me some advice. I'm almost 24
Hey. So, yeah. That pretty much is what data is all about config, firefighting and more. It can get quite boring unless you are working for a startup. I would recommend trying an internal move first, I did that and moved from the data team to full stack development in customer services and tooling. If you enjoy Java and springboot then definitely follow it up, Node is quite popular and so is Go. I think your first opportunity will be to try for an internal move. Also, do not worry about years of experience, what matters is your willing to learn and get stuff done.
@@ishaqhamin also I was thinking to move to software development first internally and not sweating on which future technology would I get the job on , so would try to develop my springboot knowledge with microservices since my company mostly has Java openings . But I was thinking since even my current job requires SQL and might be in future SQL might help me and in my work although I'm not getting a lot of SQL, I was thinking to build a habit of solving 1-2 SQL questions everyday and make it to intermediate level, do you think is this right or I'm jumping into too many boats at the same time ?
I think Java and microservices is a great idea! Both are used extensively across many companies and you’ll definitely have fun, feel challenged and grow a lot of skills. You can learn SQL too just don’t do to much too soon and get burnt out. It sounds like you’ve got a really good plan
Hey - I read that in the UK it's better to go down the .NET route rather than the traditional frontend path as that is oversaturated...do you have any thoughts? Thanks.
It’s an interesting take but ultimately it all comes down to what you want to do. The market right now is down across the board so just wouldn’t make sense to think you’ll get more opportunities depending on technology. If you want to be a .net developer than give it a try and report back to let us know. Although if you’re going down the backend route I would suggest Node, Java, Kotlin and Go is becoming quite popular.
Thanks for the video, I feel I am in "tutorial hell", I have been studying HTML, Css for 4 months now , just following the instructions' to "change this to that" and" colour to that" give a false sense of learning , I am switching between codecadmy and freecode camp. just feel some video support would be good to explain how things work. Thanks for the tip on using AI to explain things, will give it a go. Yes I have to start wring my own stuff now I feel. Is Leetcode ok to try for complete beginners ?
Using AI is a great way to explain things but the other way of really cementing knowledge is to build stuff off of your own steam. So, once you feel comfortable enough to build a website, do it. As you progress attempt more challenging things.
I don’t think you’ll find one specifically for Lua it’s a very particular programming language. You can check out the Roblox coding tutorials as they’re all free and you can start building games on the platform which is all written in Lua.
@@ishaqhamin Are here some that Include lua, but also maybe teach other languages such as python, or just a course made only for lua, I've tried to watch tutorials on youtube and udemy, but I feel like I will be able to understand it only when I am in person with a teacher or someone, I am open to learning other programming languages too, other than lua, just trying to find if there are any bootcamps that do that.
I am 48 year old software engineer pushing three decades of experience. Here is my advice to young people: Think why would you want to spend your life sitting all day on a chair, looking at a screen and typing code? I am finally seeing the absurdity of this work after nearly 30 years. I have seen all the fads start and go, all the way from 1990s to today. Why, rather than doing this, you can do a meaningful job? It is just a waste of life. Live your life, don't just sit all day and type code, that is beyond moronic career choice. Life will just pass you by!
Appreciate your input, John. I think there needs to be a balance. Quite often for many people software is a means to higher earnings and a better work life balance. With that. They can then go on to fund more meaningful hobbies and pursue interests outside of work. I do agree with your sentiment. Humans aren’t designed to just sit all day long. Thats why I use my career to fund my lifestyle.
@@ismaila5962 I am OK. I work quite flexibly which means I can do the school run. Work from home means spending more time with my family. I earn better than most so we are not starving. It is a good life.
Definitely a great cideo and thanks for taking the time to make it. How do you think your video has held over the past 11 months as AI/ML learning has been increasing in popularity? Do you forsee the demand for entry jobs to decrease due to either ML or the increase in bootcamp supply?
That is a really good question, likely time to make a new video! Over the last 11 months, the market has dropped drastically. Not just for junior engineers but all across the board. I go over it in this video - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O9w6yL7iH64.htmlsi=LefHhOZHgkg8EApH - The issue we have seen is government funding which turned bootcamps into money-making machines. AI and ML are not going to have the impact of people not hiring junior engineers, not for a while. As much as is touted about it, it cannot replace people, though, and execution. As someone who uses it regularly, I can say that with confidence. Longterm, we are living in a technological era, industry 4.0 the demand far outstrips the supply of engineers across all disciplines, Cyber, Software, Data, Mobile, AI, Embedded systems, etc etc.
Unfortunately, in Germany they want to see this although they're not allowed to ask you for it. There's so much psychology behind this all. I'm sick of it, and I am sure that's what is costing me interviews, but I can't prove this point.
Hello everyone! I'm considering a transition from a Scala software engineer to a Scala data engineer. I've found that being a Scala dev is very challenging for me , but I'm not ready to give up on Scala just yet. Can anyone share insights on whether working as Scala Data engineer (Sql ,Spark) might be a smoother path for me? Appreciate any advice!
Scala is an amazing language and very specialised. If you stay with it you’ll be in a unique position with a unique language. Which makes you valuable. Working with scala as a data engineer is different as you’ll have different problems. It won’t all be scala you’ll have a mix airflow, and other config and setups plus likely some python. So a mix of variety and likely not as intense.
I completed an online degree 2 years ago, and I have been looking for my first role for about 2 years now. I have had loads of interviews, but I keep getting the same response , you dont have enough experience. The market is tough.
Sorry to hear that! Yes, it’s horrible and quite the slog right now. In your position, your best bet is to build. Keep building and creating and developer showcase to show off.
Do a software project even if it's for free. At least you will have something to talk about when experience comes up. It can be something fun or valuable to you.
@@camgereDidn't work for me so I just went full-time into SaaS and gave up on ever getting a tech job. Probably is a more future proof skill to have as well.
Thanks for this, Ishaq. Has the government not clocked on yet that the gap isn't being filled by all of us bootcamp grads? I'm brand new to this and completed a bootcamp in March. I naively fell into their pipe dream trap and exactly two months later, I've had enough of clicking on ads that I don't have enough experience for even at entry/junior level! 😂 Gonna build a stronger portfolio first before I even think about applying for another tech job.
Yeah. They get a lot of people with the pipe dream. Honestly, it’s doubled right now with the downward market however, it is starting to pick up. You’ve got the right idea. Time to build, build, and build. I would say keep applying whilst you’re building as you never know when the right opportunity will arise.
@@ishaqhamin I mean picking up ever so very slightly, yeah. Thanks for the advice. I've since enrolled on a diploma course with Code Institute but I'm leaning much more to going the self-employed route now.
Thank you so much for this incredible video! I wanted to share my journey with everyone here. I completed a bootcamp and landed a job as a Junior Developer, but after a year, I was made redundant. Now, I'm back on the job search grind, and it's been about two challenging months of searching. To everyone out there who's struggling, hang in there! Remember, every setback is a setup for a comeback. This tough time will pass, and there will be a beautiful silver lining waiting for you. Stay strong, stay motivated, and keep pushing forward! 🌟✨
I love that and thanks for coming to spread a positive message. Just remember, you have a year's worth of experience now so it will not take you as long to find a role. You can even start applying to mid-level roles.
I agree with everything you said. I left my job in Dec 22 to train in a coding bootcamp. I've been searching for my first entry level role since last June. Its been a rough rollercoaster! Looking back, I wish I networked a bit in my former company but I had no knowledge of people in IT. I also left because I couldn't stand my old industry (Design). Fortunately, I'm relying on savings, building and learning as I go along. I've gone from barely any call backs last year to 1-2 interviews a month this year. My mind has either gone blank during coding interviews or took too long to solve a challenge. Companies reject you without feedback and you don't explicitly know what to imorove on. I truly believe I'll come out of this one way or another. If i could turn back the hands of time, I'd enroll in a part time course which runs after work.
Yeah, the market right now is difficult however, you are doing all the right things to be in a good place once the jobs start coming back. Like I said, markets go up and down and tech hiring is no different. A lot of people feel the same way, part-time courses are the way to go. You will 100% get there, keep building, keep networking, and keep going. Just remember, there is no shame if you need to go into a part-time role or any role to get by whilst looking. We all have bills to pay.
I find tech tests really challenging, but I know it's not because I'm not capable-it's the pressure that makes them tough. The best way to improve is by practicing with mock interview-style tech tests. With more practice, I know I can get better and more confident!
It is tough even for us Senior devs but will say keep the fire burning, worst thing you can let happen is forget the craft you have learned, so keep learning. Watch videos, read a book and contribute to open source. So when things pick up and a job comes through, you are still prepared for it all.
>go to networking event This. This is super important. In fact, some companies may choose to sponsor a networking event instead of hiring a recruiter. And sometimes, companies will hire straight from the referrals without even posting a job listing, so networking is super duper important.
Brilliant explanation! And yes, my events get sponsored by some huge companies and it’s the recruiters who come and do all the setting up, and meeting people, etc. I always tell people, the person sitting next to you at the event could be your future referral or employer.
You dont need to work for a Tech company to be a SE. Theres plenty of oil and gas companies wanting SE's because right now they lack the digital infrastructure and want ambitious people who will want to learn. They pay extremely well.
That’s a huge shout. Yeah, there are a tonne of industries outside the typical tech scene which pay very well and give you the opportunity to solve some really interesting problems. Never thought about oil and gas, though!
@@ishaqhamin I laughed when I saw a heap of SEs got laid off in Austin and it never came to their mind they are literally in Texas which is the oil capital. All these companies are going heavy into data analytics and ML.
@@ULTIMARAGNAR0K haha, yeah I should imagine the oil companies out there would be snapping them up! But I suppose unless you know you won’t apply. I bet they pay on FAANG level as well, if not more. I moved out of data a couple of years ago but I’m banking on ML and starting to dip my toes into a little prompt engineering and AI. A couple of decent udemy courses can boost the credentials.
People don't seem to realize that Tech companies are not the only places to work but the challenges are different. And there is more that NY, CA out there. The days of being a new boot camp grad and getting paid ridiculous money is over. Economy is totally different now.
I'm a college student working towards an embedded systems engineering certification, but i will graduate in 4 years! I'm 20 and I feel like starting my career when i'm 24 would be too late, and I'm trying to work harder on my own and learn development on my own and hopefully get a job before I graduate? I wanna know if that's feasible or realistic. (I know a few people who are a year or 2 older than me and they were able to land jobs in the CS field while still in college, so I know it's possible but are they just outliers and just a really rare case?)
I started writing code at 30 😁 the whole age thing is a myth. You’re nowhere near being phased out. You’ve chosen a really good area if you want to go into embedded systems. It’s more unique and has a higher entry point so your competition will be a lot less than say frontend development which every bootcamp grad is going for. I wouldn’t stress about it. You’ve plenty of time and you’re putting extra pressure on yourself for no reason. Work hard in college. Learn as much as you can. You’ll make plenty of money and by the time you’re ready to work the market will have been back to normal for a while.
@@ishaqhamin Thank you! I appreciate the insight, your words really alleviated much of my stress. You're a great inspiration and your content is really honest and useful. Especially for young people who are just getting into all this! I believe you will be a major name in the RU-vid CS scene and your valuable content will eventually get the attention it deserves! Looking forward to keeping up with your videos to further expand my knowledge while I develop my career!
@@OATHOFVIRTUE you’re too kind. Honestly, if I can reach someone like you and give you that little bit of guidance and reassurance then that is definitely enough for me.
@@GuyWithBeardButNoMoustache 100% it’s easy to compare ourselves to those around us but we’re all on our own journey and our arrival times are all different.
Thanks for your honesty, I am in early stages of self taught paid 4k for a bootcamp and they have given me codecadmy, what a rip off. (which is hard with full time job/family). will keep plodding on hopefully things will pick up.
Any chance of getting your money back? That’s terrible. I agree, it isn’t easy. I did the same with a family. I would honestly just set a target, or goal and keep in in your mind. Work towards it for 4 hours a week.
$4k for a boot camp is a guaranteed scam. More reputable bootcamps start out at $15k with a money back guarantee if you do not land a job in a certain time frame.
It also depends on the bootcamp, though. Some in the U.K. are about that much - £4-£8k but currently the government is sponsoring a lot of the places so they’re essentially now free. But I agree. There are a lot of scummy ones out there hunting on people and then just giving them codecademy or some second rate education.
@@irahazda believe it or not yeah. They’ll mix some of the course with a group activity. Quite rare though, thankfully and at least in the uk they’re regulated now if they’re an official bootcamp.
