CODING BOOTCAMPS: What is it and should you go to one?! 

I've gone to a 'part time' boot camp not even meant to give you a job. I was probably last in the pack of the class too. I struggled with the basics. Sat there looking clueless. It was demotivating. The bootcamp had no promises of finding a job or refunds after six months if you don't find anything. But i worked hard there, got an internship built experience and have been doing software for almost three years now. It wasn't the bootcamp that got me the job though. It was learning how to learn. If I can do it, anyone else can!

Directions not clear. Went to boot camp. Wound up in Iraq

I went to a boot camp, and they actually paid me to attend. The only two downsides were I had to work for their company for 4 years afterwards and it was the army. Don't do it.

I went to Wyncode in Miami about a year and a half ago and definitely the best decision of my career life. Took me 3 months, 177 job applications, and 3 more apps after completing the program to get my first QA role. Still 100% worth it. But not a hard comparison between that or going back to the shitty $10 an hour manual labor jobs I was doing before... After a month being there putting in a few extra hours after work and showing my portfolio to a few people, I got another offer within the company for both a Software and DevOps Engineer role in the same day. The major take away from boot camps is really learning how to learn and not giving up. Lol funny how the most cliche advice is usually the truest but it's always easier said than done you feels me. Some solid advice I always like to recite is the question "If you knew youd make it in 5-10 years would this current stress still be stressful?" You can do it, proper actions yield desired results. If not, keep trying or switch up the plan fam. Either way, you still got this

Killed it per usual! Congrats on getting sponsored as well! FWIW, I have a family member who went to flatiron and was able to secure a job only 2 months later. Definitely a bootcamp supporter!

It's very interesting topic. Here, in Poland where I live, bootcamp aren't popular at all and probably won't be any time soon. There is one huge reason for that: university education is free in here (there are some private, paid ones as well but in most cases they are worse than public ones). Coding bootcamps on the other hand cost quite a lot. I've found some random one really quick. It costs about as much as I earn in 4 months as a junior java dev and it is 360h long. Of course it allows you to gain necessary knowledge but I'm not sure if having no degree won't block some career paths tho.

"No one is formally teaching you these things even in college" LMAO. I'm here mostly because they aren't teaching me crap in university. almost at the end of 2nd year and all i really know is how to make a linked list in Java and a alittle bit of introduction to C. Everything else I know is what i've been working on myself. wasting money doing a bunch of other subjects that isn't totally relevant to me(bio, environmental studies, etc). wasting me and my parent's money here tbh.

I need a software engineer in Wadiya.

I'm currently in a coding bootcamp in Hawai'i called DevLeague. The bootcamp has several different courses, and the one I'm taking is the Cyber Security Professional as part-time. I'm about half-way through the class, and it has been incredible. Been learning a lot about networks, reconnaissance, reverse engineering, threats and vulnerabilities, etc.. What I like most about the bootcamp is the hands-on practice. There's a few times throughout the week we have lecture, but most of the time we're working on labs, projects, exercises, and capture-the-flag. I'd say the most difficult part is having to balance class with my full-time job and life. We do have assignments outside of class, and it can be overwhelming. But I still enjoy class no matter what because I want to have a career in tech and I have a passion for it.

I have seen my friends use bootcamps as a hail mary pass or last resort career change because they just did.. not... love their job. They were working rigorous and odd hours in accounting, analyst work that lead in low direction or sales that could get repetitive. Bootcamps are a great way to get your foot in the door, but the most important thing I don't see is how they match your passion to a true career path. The worst part is being paired with debt + (I've seen up to a year and a half) of soul searching and not being formally trained to nail the interview process or have mediocre / incomplete showcase projects to sell. It's emotionally draining. So I definitely challenge people that enter these programs to really understand what they are devoting their next years (or their future lives) to. You can boot camp to be a PM, a product / ux / ui designer, a marketer.. any field. Just make sure you identify what you truly work hardest in and love.

Hello Mayuko! Love your videos and keep up the awesome work! I recently just finished a 'part-time' bootcamp with Trilogy Education associated with UCSD Extension. It was very challenging because they go over a wide variety of technologies, practices, and other skills quickly over a short period of time. I'm still in the process of finding a job and beefing up my coding skills. One useful thing that I found is going to Meet-Ups related to programming. It's helpful on learning new things happening in the industry, practicing with the basics, and networking with people working in the industry!

I actually went to UCSD and graduated with Computer Science this past year, but didn't feel too ready for the work force. I ended up going to App Academy and just finished this past week! I thought it was a great experience and added good projects to my resume. Hoping that the job search goes well :)

I'm currently doing a second degree in computer engineering and bounced often between the ideas of finishing the degree or going to a bootcamp. I decided not to take the shorter route because I find it difficult to believe that you can get set up to be a competent software engineer without taking the time to understand the fundamentals of CS. Despite all of my hard work I feel that years of studying have not been enough to qualify me for the workforce, so I doubt that 3 months is sufficient. You'll need to put in a lot of self-study time to catch up to a CS/CPEN grad.

I think this comment section will be split between people who argue that cs degree is a better option and people who think doing a bootcamp is good enough as long as you get a job. Either way you need to learn a lot to become an cs engineer regardless of which way you go! I don't think people who do a bootcamp get it any easier. This is a personal choice. I'm glad this alternative exists, even though I go to college myself.

I live in Vancouver, Canada and I went to a local coding bootcamp here called CodeCore. I think bootcamps are very fair to the student: what you get out of it is what you put into it. The job searching process afterwards is really just a numbers game. It's all down to how hard you want to push yourself not only during the bootcamp but also job searching afterwards. Personally it took me 2.5 months to land my first job as a software engineer.

I went to Code Fellows in Seattle and it was a great experience. I can agree that finding the first job is difficult. I am going through that process right now. You are going up against applicants with computer science degrees so networking is basically the only way to stand out in the crowd. If I had to do it all over again I would have gone to my local community college that offers an IT focused bachelors degree that is basically their version of a coding boot camp, but you will at least have the bachelors degree to show for it instead of a certificate. Check your area for similar programs.

I'm about to be officially enrolled at University of Pennsylvania's LPS coding program. I'm stupid-nervous, but extremely determined.

Udemy, and Coursera are more than enough to get in this field I got my degree but I also use these methods of learning.

I went to a bootcamp in Canada. I was one of the bottom in the class when it came to backend programming (if not dead last). I was however, about 3rd or 4th rank on the overall frontend (out of 12 in our cohort) and maybe 1st or 2nd rank in styling. I made a portfolio page, and 3 freelance pages after we had completed our training. After that, I applied to a job and was hired 2 months after completion. It is well worth it, in my opinion. Even if you take 1 year in finding work, you can still train yourself until then. Compared to a 2 or 4 year program in college, you would still be hired before they finish, with a lower level of debt upon completion.

I'm currently going to thinkful's bootcamp and loving it! It's very difficult but very rewarding. It's a remote bootcamp that is 5 months long and pretty expensive. Thinkful recently acquired bloc and I have to say the support team is great to have. I'm on the west coast but since its remote, its available nationwide.

It sounds like a contradiction to say "We need more people in tech" and a moment later say it's extremely difficult to find a job. If it's very competitive, then why do we need more people?

Thanks a lot for this. I really appreciate the information. I am going to start a coding Boot Camp for UCF here in Florida that will last 24 weeks. Wish me luck!

I really like her personality...

Starting a full stack bootcamp in June. I already have a 4 yr degree in Finance/Economics and I have been doing quite a bit of SQL in my current job for the metrics we have. I want to make a career switch to something im a bit more passionate about and the bootcamp in my area is a viable option to build a portfolio to compliment some of the experience I have. The only down side for those on the struggle bus with money is that my program costed me around $8500 upfront and its a 24 week program but there are about 30+ companies (in my area) affiliated that hire their grads.

🙋🏻‍♂️ self taught and continually self teaching. Didn’t have the opportunity to go to college and parents never had the $$. Got married, kids came along and bootcamp was an option for me but I wasn’t making enough money to cover the costs. 2 years later after self teaching I was offered a job as a Software Dev making 3x the money I was making. Thanks for this video.

I did a coding boot camp, overall good experience. I landed a 6 figure salary (NYC) after 7 weeks of graduation. Beyond just the BootCamp, you will need to shore up CS fundamentals and study DSA questions. A BootCamp wont provide you with everything, but it does get you started. YMMV.

Great videos ! It took me a long time to figure out a way to go. Ultimately, because I did a 4 year BA in Criminology at U of T I ended up deciding to start software engineering at a college and take some university courses as a non degree student for some much needed theoretical training for interviews and things like that. It's hard to figure out what to do because you have camps of folks with degrees who swear by their necessity, those who have them but think they were useless in a day to day job duties sense, those who do boot camps and got jobs and loved it, those who didn't and everything in between. I've done a bunch of career fair research to see what employers are looking for and I'm doing more hackathons so I'm content with the path I've chosen but of course the proof is in the pudding so we'll see if it works out ! Also as an aside - as part of my career fair research, some companies straight up won't hire students or fresh grads who don't have uni CS degrees. But for my college specifically students still end up there just not as a first job so that is something to keep in mind if people want to work at the biggest tech companies right off the bat.

you will be great in this industry, just keep focusing keep hard working, you name will be seen on the top list...

My recommendation is to do your research on the bootcamp in question. Presently I'm in my second week of a bootcamp in Detroit at a place called Grand Circus. It's not cheap and rang in around $8000 up front though there are options to lessen that cost - especially if you live in Detroit where they offer full scholarships to those who don't have the means to pay for it. So what did I do before deciding on this one? Well first, they actually offer a couple of free classes. The first one I took was an intro to coding class that they teach once a week or so. They have an instructor that walks you through creating a javascript program. I did this and really liked the instructor and class overall. However, I was more interested in back end and fortunately they also offered a cheap weekend course called Intro to Back End programming. This was a two day 9-5 course that's held on weekends and once again I had a great time and learned a lot. They also have a similar one for Front End. Although this course was $50, the money paid to it would also go toward the tuition for the 10 week course so in a way it was kinda free. Finally, I toured the school and they showed me around. I scheduled my appointment around 1pm but got there around noon which is when the students were let out for lunch. Because the students have a communal lunch place, I was able to hang out and ask questions. If possible I recommend you do the same as the students were happy to relate their experiences with the course so far. Ultimately however, what really sold me is just meeting random people in my day to day life. I like to play boardgames and meet up at a weekly event at a bar near my house. While making small talk, I mentioned that I was considering doing this bootcamp and one of the guys piped up and said he did and now he was working as a software developer. This same situation happened to me on several occasions and was the biggest factor in choosing this school. Other things I did was to google the school as well as to look it up on Reddit. On reddit, posters were quite favorable of it while they were considerably less so towards an alternative I was considering. Presently I'm now two weeks into the bootcamp and am really enjoying it so far. There's about 20 of us in the class and our instructor and TA are awesome. No matter what questions we throw at the instructor he always seems to have an immediate answer. As for the experiences of those in class, there are several who are new to coding ("learn to code in 12 weeks!" says the sign on the window facing downtown Detroit), a few others like me who have had some experience coding but nothing professional, and one with a computer science degree who decided to take the course to get more real world experience. From what I can tell, those who are new to coding are struggling a bit but they definitely haven't given up and I have every confidence they will learn it given all the support the school and we classmates provide. In the bootcamp, your classmates become not just your new professional network but a family as well because make no mistake that this is an intense and accelerated experience and only by working together will you make it out. Perhaps the person with the degree can do it but for the rest of us, it would definitely be a lot harder individually than as a group. As for help getting a job, this school also does that. Every Friday is a soft skills day where they teach you all sorts of important things. Our first Friday was about Imposter Syndrome - the feeling that you don't belong or shouldn't be where you are. It was a great lesson and, I feel, helped a lot of my classmates feel more at ease. By week 4, we'll be expected to start applying to jobs and eventually will need to apply to several every week on top of also keeping up with our classwork. Our final project, I'm told, will be to create a website that accesses a database, uses an API, and is full stack (front and back end). It's going to be quite the rush but I'm so excited and happy to be doing it. As for the school, it's Grand Circus in Detroit. Thinkful is another school in the area (although their website doesn't list Detroit as a location - I did research on this and they're definitely in the Detroit area) However, reviews on reddit aren't the greatest for them as their schtick is to assign you a mentor that you can work 1:1 with and at your own pace. While that sounds appealing the problem is that the quality of your mentor is everything. If you get a good mentor then you'll be happy. But if you don't, then you'll likely be miserable as well as out several thousand dollars. To me, that was too big a gamble to be worth considering. A bootcamp isn't for everyone. It's a ton of work and you won't be able to work if you do the 12 week full time course. Between class and homework there simply aren't enough hours in the day to also work. Thus, being in a position where you can take care of yourself financially for two and a half months is something one can't ignore. If you're considering it think of it like buying a car. Do you really want to drop thousands of dollars on something that turns out to be a lemon? Really do your research and really think about your situation and whether or not you'll be in a position to take it on. Hopefully this post has helped you out dear reader :). Good luck.

I went to the University of Denver Coding Bootcamp for web development (they also offer bootcamps for cyber security and data analytics). It was one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of my life! It is disheartening though to now be on the job market against people with a BS or MS in computer science. It's hard to be taken seriously only doing an intensive program for 6 months, but I have talked to CS majors and they don't cover nearly as much practical development languages. I learned 11 or 12 languages in 6 months, and had to produce projects using all of them. That being said, I feel like I really dedicated the time to learn the languages, whereas a lot of my peers copied and pasted projects, so the quality of programmers coming out of the program are certainly varied, perpetuating the lack of trust in bootcamp alums amongst hiring managers in the tech industry.

I worked as a recruiter for multiple tech startups and from my experience, coding bootcamps are not a good way to build a long-term career. For almost all entry-level positions we were inundated with hundreds and sometimes thousands of job applications most of which were from bootcamps. The vast majority of "graduates" didn't know really basic stuff or if they did know how to solve a problem they didn't know the correct terminology to accurately describe what they were doing. Communication is a huge part of working on any team both front and back end. That said, none of my bosses ever even considered a single bootcamp applicant for a back end role because they simply didn't have the CS foundation for real problem solving. Most if not all bootcamps are designed to teach you about really basic stuff on all the "hot" languages like ruby on rails but it's really shallow knowledge. Graduates rarely had any useful experience other than maybe designing a really simple template website or coding an 8 bit game like snake. I'm not saying we never hired a bootcamp graduate. I remember hiring maybe two or three bootcamp graduates but they were for front end positions so UI stuff, not super CS heavy. The things all those graduates had in common was that they had actual practical experience. They were mainly self taught coders who took bootcamp more for the connections than the lessons or someone with a CS degree from a decade ago that just needed to get up to date. They were already way ahead of the regular bootcamp curriculum. But we'd almost always hire the fresh grad with an actual CS degree than anyone from a bootcamp even if they had some jobs under their belt. The problem comes down to a good foundation. If you were a really fast study and top of the bootcamp class we could ask you to do something like put in a module somewhere. But if we had a problem and you had to come up with your own solution, nobody ever knew how because they didn't have the foundation that CS degrees usually give. There's no comparison to what you'd learn in a few months VS four years. So I can't endorse bootcamps unless you're a self taught coder who's been eating breathing code since they were 14 and just needs connections or an older coder who's been out of the game for a while OR you're just a prodigy that needs a less expensive structured environment.

Thank you for making an informative video without going on and on and....kudos to you for getting straight to the point!

I am planning on attending Hack Reactor in SF early 2019. Studying and making sure I safe enough money, cheers!

im a newbie software engineer and just wanna say thanks to all programmer youtuber whos making the tutorial and coding related video and posted it on youtube. my parents cant afford me to get me into college but im grateful youtube is like a college for me thanks !

Still prefer college. For me it's not about the degree, but for the connection and stuff.

Hi Mayuko! I attended Hack Reactor Remote (11 hours a day from home), and got a job 3 weeks before I finished! Basically went from nothing to software engineer in 9 weeks! I’m excited to be part of this field and to keep learning and growing!

I’m in the prep course for Thinkful’s engineering immersion boot camp. I’ve yet to commit to the full-time program as I have to still pass a tech eval, but the program seems to have a great track record. They publicly display their stats and guarantee you a job within 6 months of graduation or you get your money back. The best part is it’s online with video based mentoring sessions from actual devs in the industry; pretty cool for people like me living in rural areas. Anyone here attend a boot camp with Thinkful?

I attended Wyncode in Miami FL and was a fantastic experience! Thier support system was excellent and they really make you feel like a part of the family + you really grow close with your peers. I actually just got my first job offer today!!!! I deffffff recommend bootcamps to anyone interested but definitely make sure you're interested and 100% dedicated first. I saw many of my peers quit early on because they didn't know what it entailed. We started with 24 and completed with 15, it's something you need to dedicate all of your time to at least for the time being lol. But if you think about it the ROI it is undeniable... I also struggled with the basic concepts but found out later that the cool thing about programming is that many of the basic concepts I struggled to understand are similar across the board! I reccomend learning some simple stuff, maybe take some treehouse, freecode camp, or codecademy courses first fashoww! Definitely learn things like data types and loops MINIMUM before attending. I reccomend creating a basic CRUD app or being somewhat exposed to the stack or framework your bootcamp works with IS A MUST. Something I think is cool specifically to Team Treehouse is that they have an integrated IDE on the site so you dont have to install any enviorment on your computer which can be veryy mentally intimidating when you've never dealt with something like that before. If anyone in south fla is wondering about a good bootcamp Wyncode all dayyyyyy!!!!!!!

Well am graduating from CodeFellows (based out of Seattle) next week in advance full-stack JavaScript with react, redux and node.js. Lots of work and 18 weeks long. Can’t wait to hit the ground running!

Enjoyed it, good info, thanks, keep up & I always love that "Byyyee" in the end 😍

In Portugal, we have another one. Eddisrupt Coding Bootcamp. If the person is a student or unemployed the course is only 1100€.

Free Bootcamp! 42 US, located in Fremont California, is one of the more interesting software engineering schools due to that one fact. Seriously, all your code is yours too. To get admitted you have to pass a 4 week "piscine" where you code your heart out alongside several other students in the hopes of getting accepted ( restricted to ages 18-30 however ). The curriculum of peer-to-peer (no teachers), gamification, 24/7 access, and project-based learning is interesting because it complies with the revised Bloom's Taxonomy, plus it may be a solution to Bloom's 2 Sigma problem. The program ranges from 1 year accelerated or 3-5 years for standard (self-paced w/ internship breaks). So far I'm interested in attending, who knows, if I like the whole coding non-stop thing I may as well. For me I just want to be able to work on cool projects and talk with others who are also as passionate. I can't say that's the case for my current college situation (although the people are friendly). Here's a link: 42.us.org/

Loved your videos. Keep producing more and more content and just for your style you'll end up being super famous. Keep creating! :)

Hey Mayuko, congrats on getting a sponsor for the video! Could you do a video on how life long learning and self teaching is huge part of the software development industry? I'm particularly interested in what it takes for an IOS programmer to stay up to date on all the latest technology.

I went to App Academy's pre-bootcamp, which taught me the essentials to ace bootcamp entrance tech interviews. Afterwards, I went to Full Stack Academy. App Academy takes a % of your salary for x amount of months. Full Stack's Grace Hopper program had a tuition deferment model, charging increments totalling around $18K after you get a job. Results definitely depend on the individual. Coming out of the bootcamps, some of my classmates have jobs at JP Morgan, Etsy, Amex, etc... All in all, FS Academy provided quality education. I do agree that there is less emphasis in actual comp sci.

I'm actually going to a coding bootcamp this summer. I've also been practicing Javascript and C++ on the side so that way I can get a head start on the class. Can't wait!

A bootcamp most definitely can NOT replace a CS degree, however, you will understand how to use a specific framework that the market currently demands.

I’m excited to watch! I want to learn how to code

The point of school / college is to make the connections to get a job (you need to develop the study skills and discipline on your own). If you already have a (unrelated) degree, then you already have the diploma and the study habits, then you can study on your own (and may still be paying back student loans). I get the feeling that boot campls are aimed at people who hate their current job, and have an idea that they may want to get into software development. For someone who has a technical background and the money for it, then I say sure, go to a coding boot camp, they may help you write your resume at the end of the program. If you do not have a technical background, then you need time to absorb the concepts. I spent a year of just tinkering with code and following tutorials of different programming languages, made fun side projects on my own. Once I had time to let programming "sink in" I felt I had a handle on it and then studied it seriously and then dived into the more complex parts of programming. Can you learn to program, yes? Since the average person does not have a technical background, I would give yourself atleast 6 months to try it on your own before you throw down the money for a coding boot camp.

Completely agree, infact its not even necessary to get a degree for development. I myself was an electromics engineer shifted to web development after some courses on lynda.com and tbh its been amazing. Been working as a full stack developer in a startup and the learning here has been great. In a year i have familiarised myself with javascript, react, nodejs. Opt for a college degree only if you plan on studing further for masters etc otherwise you can just do development for a few years and possibly start your own startup after some experience.

I am in Hack Reactor right now. Just 1 week in I've learned a ton.

Many bootcamps are sleezy. Flatiron school was sued by NY state attorney general for lying about their job outcomes.

I went to a boot camp for the mean stack. I still don't have a job 2 years later in that time I've also furthered my skills. I can use the entire Adobe suite, code at a basic level in php, mysqli, js ,html, css, c#. Maybe it's where I live in FL by Gainesville. I'd say overall if you like to learn new skills go, if you're looking for a job don't go. save thousands and just do some udemy courses and make things for your portfolio.

Software “engineers” have 4 year degrees. The engineer title gets thrown around way too much. Software developer is a more accurate title.

I'm currently going to a coding bootcamp in Australia that goes for 25 weeks and it's seriously amazing! It is intense but so captivating, if any of you guys are in Australia you should check out coder academy! The best part is I get placed in an internship for the last month of the course which will most probably help with lading the first job

I was joined to a bootcamp after applying at my current company. Good thing they offer that, for I think I need to learn more about the best practices in programming and software engineering. That's mostly what they teach us, because every client or business differ from each other. In the acadeem, I used to work on my own and be a visionary of the product I am dealing with, but I'm sure I lack a lot. The bootcamps creates an atmosphere of confidence to starters in the industry. ☺

Totally agree with @jpmmcbride, the video downplays the difficulty of getting a job after completing a bootcamp and doesn't stress enough the narrowness of the resulting skillset. It is also worth mentioning that it may be worth to join a bootcamp in Bay Area, but if you are at an area with less demand for specialized entry-level engineers maybe getting a degree is a better option.

Even UC Berkeley starts their coding bootcamp program right now. Whether it's worth go to boot camp vs traditional 4 years, coding bootcamp is surely the best method of raising money for the school for sure.

congrats for 1 lakh sub !

I´d love to join a bootcamp but its just too expensive considering that there are all these free or cheap resources online. However, it would be totally awesome to have a small group of like-minded people studying together like in a bootcamp, but selforganized and without the huge financial investment. Some benefits of the coding bootcamp would still apply - like an environment that holds you accountable, a fixed schedule and the possibility of doing group projects. Love you mayuko!

Currently in a bootcamp(end of term1) for Ruby,Rails, HTML, CSS, Javascript, React and NodeJS, GIT, Github and some other technologies and i'm enjoying it fully! The campus organises excursions to big companies (Like Atlassian!) in the area to meet the CEO's and the hiring agents for those companies and giving advice on getting a job. Also at the end of our 3rd term we get an internship at a company which often ends up in a position at that company according to previous cohorts. I guess it depends on what bootcamp you go to and how long it goes for, ours is only 6 months. Although I will only graduate my bootcamp with a diploma in IT i don't want to stop with the technologies we study my first love was C# ! I totally recommend going to a bootcamp because depending which one you go to you can end up with the same or even more connections in the industry. Just a heads up though bootcamps aren't for everyone if you don't love to code you will fail or drop out we've already lost 3 people out of 30.

Ive been denied by bootcamp they are very selective and honestly coding isnt hard to me i grew up loving math so i pick it up quickly but i bombed the interview cause i have anxiety. Definitely need alot of confidence in the interviews.

Thank you and keep uploading these helpful videos :)

Thank you for talking about this! Sadly, this is not a big concept in Mexico. There was once a Kodea in the capital but it's still a distance from here and I just found out they've closed their doors.

If you're unmotivated then bootcamps are for you. Otherwise there are so many free and low cost options out there. Freecodecamp is one i recommend and then use Facebook Meetup to Meetup with local coders. Just remember that whatever path you take ALWAYS be coding. I can't stress this enough.... ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS build projects upload to GitHub and contribute to open source code...no matter how stupid or lame the project sound. Use it as your basis for interviews. I know a lot of people looking to get into software engineer from studying STEM (I came from 2 years of med school) and think they know their shit when reading and understanding from a video or book but trust me when i say you don't know anything unless you code and practice. It's not like any STEM courses...it's not about memorization but more like a sport. You can watch how to play tennis all day and take notes all you want but you know nothing about tennis until you step on the court and practice.

To me i still choose University , not only that you can get friends and connection but also you social skill. Working on SE is not all about coding, youll have to work together with your co workers. Plus i dont know about other Universities, atleast mine only study for 3 years , while the last ussualy learn about real-life problems through internships. So when you graduate , youll have 1 year of working experience

I just went to a part time boot camp. By the time I graduate, there is only 30 out 50 left in my cohort. I would have to say being part time makes it rough at times as it takes a lot of work and time. The TA there are helpful but most of them can only help you so much as they usually have a full-time job in the industry as well. To sum it up, I would say find your style of coding, learn how to find answers that are "helpful" and do not think boot camp as a shortcut to what you wanna do.

Just started going to Nashville Software School. Full stack year long camp. It's a non profit so the price was very reasonable for a year's worth of instruction. They have a 6 month day program, and a 12 month night program. I personally do better in a classroom surrounded by help, but can see why people don't choose to go, and stick with independently training themselves. School has a good rep, and a very high success rate. Plus they host a lot of local meetups, and are partnered with a lot of opportunity. I was skeptical about it at first, but I knew I wanted to go to school again. Really didn't want to spend 4 years on a degree having to take loans out for classes that had nothing to do with coding. This was pretty much my only other option out here in Nashville if I wanted an actual classroom. I just started a couple weeks ago so I cant speak on the full experience yet, but from what I've seen so far I think I made the right choice. While paying to learn at a school isn't for everyone i do believe the networking, and resources you can get with programs like this are valuable. You could definitely network, and find resources without attending, but being someone who's pretty antisocial, and only hangs out with my partner and our kid I think I'm being pushed to get this done. Excited for the next year, and hoping this leads to me finally having a career instead of a job. Anyone else go here, or to another boot camp that has some advice, or experiences to share?

I think you dedicated more time to your sponsored content than to actual content...

I'm in the ironhack bootcamp in Mexico City, and it's been one of my best experiances. I'm only 19 years old.

There is an App Academy in New York that I plan to apply to soon! Go programming!

Mayuko, Thank you for posting your stories. They have been very helpful! I am wrestling with the idea of going back to school so I can get some type of programming job. I haven't decided on what specific job yet, but I know I want it to be computer science related. I have a bachelors in mechanical engineering and am currently working a full time job. Would getting an online masters degree in computer science be sufficient for a programming job or would I be better off getting my bachelors in computer science or going to coding boot camp?

It’s hard to be a software engineer if you don’t have experience. I recommend every freshman in college find a startup in the college and intern there. Right now I am interning in a startup and it taught me so much about ionic 2, angular Js for web app development

Intriguing. Yeah I'm d!cking around with apps on my smartphone for html, css, and Javascript. Just the basics.

Sometimes it's not about time, but more so money. Yes, maybe 4 years at a university prepares you better, but it's also an order of magnitude more expensive so the investment is much greater. There's no secret sauce that magically gives you a job. If you understand the fundamentals of coding and are willing put in long hours to circumvent the cost of college, do projects and create a portfolio, you'll get a job.

Your hair looks so fluffy

Is coding dojo a good boot camp? What do you recommend if I want to go into a bootcamp

Once you got in as a software engineering gig, you have to learn new things (tech, methods, languages) so much faster than what the coding boot camp training. If you want to stay relevant in the field. (Software engineer since 2006)

Have you heard much about bootcamps for UX design? Would your advice be the same?

I love your hair! So pretty :) Ok, now that that's out of the way, we have a coding bootcamp here in Atlanta. Tuition costs $14,000. Honestly, that seems ridiculous to me. Salaries here aren't even as high as they are in the bay area. But I'm really struggling to learn on my own, so I may not have any other choice!

If you’re from South Africa. Check out CodeX, WeThinkCode and iXperience😀

I'm at a 16 week coding boot camp in Glasgow, Scotland. I feel like I've learned so much but the pace it goes at is so intense, and I am worried about going against people with CS degrees to get a job. I've got 3 weeks to go so fingers crossed I manage to get a job after!

waited sooooo long for you to update your new episode

My experience wasn't so great at a small bootcamp that costs about $6000. I decided to go to Hackbright and much happier there.

Learn and network. Nothing is guaranteed.

My experience with programming bootcamps has been great, but I think the city in which you do it and try to find a job in will ultimately have the greatest bearing on landing the first job. In Singapore, for example, it's (still) quite common for most bootcamp grads to be hired as a junior software engineer within 3-4 months of graduating! But like you said, it's harder for that to happen in the Bay Area. In case anyone's interested to read a full review of the bootcamp I went to (General Assembly in Singapore), here's the blog post I wrote - www.nickang.com/general-assembly-singapore-review/ Thanks for sharing your thoughts on programming bootcamps Mayuko! I believe they're a great way to get started in tech. It's what I did 1+ years ago, and it's one of the best things I've done so far :)

Definitely would go to a boot camp if mayuko was there

I think bootcamps should be used as supplementary to one's overall education/transition into SE. I began learning on my own just to see if I had an interest/competency in it. I still am learning on my own as well as studying towards my MCSA/MCSE certifications. We live during a wonderful time in human history where a college education in SE can be closely replicated. Many universities are transparent and consistent with their course catalogues and course content, and even better is that most university bookstores are open to the public. More than once I have spent a Saturday at a campus bookstore looking through what textbooks they have while simultaneously looking up reviews on my phone. Coupled with MOOCs, YT, and bootcamps, it's a solid workaround. Going tens of thousands of dollars into debt for a CS degree, especially if you have a Bachelor's or higher in something else, is unnecessary and unattractive if you have access to a university bookstore and their CS course catalogue.

Ooo love your new 💇 I did a part time coding class so let me see whether I had the grit to get thru the program before i quit my job. It was really hard handling day job and the coursework. I was glad I was able to find out I wasn't cut out for it before quitting my job. Plus learning about sprints made me realize I preferred my no OT lifestyle already. The course did lead me to starting my website again. So even if ppl learn they aren't cut out or too old to change vocations there is other web work like digital sales seo and lead generation also needed in todays latest skill sets

So we must choose Coding bootcamp or Online Learning ? :(

Thank you very much for your videos, Mayuko. They keep me very motivated. I really hope to work as software engineer as you someday. I have question: What do guys think of Ruby on Rails? I mean, It's worth to try it yet? I'm currently coding in Python, but I'm thinking in get involved with web development with Rails in the next months. Any advice would be appreciated! I wish you all a nice week! :-)

Actually, most US universities have some places called “career center”. They offer resume examples, correct your resumes, and available for scheduling fake interview appointments (they will pretend like the recruiters and ask you possibly questions in real interview). But, the main reason that bootcamp career services are better because they are forced to help you get jobs in order to have their tuition money.

Programming be it an IT or CS is an actual job. Not much theoretical compared to Law or Doctorate. In computer programming, the significance of the job is in the actuality and what you can produce not much on what you learned in theoretical fashion. Yeah, theoretically bookish it can be for college degrees but still the fight is generally in actualization. In bootcamps they go directly on what is necessary and attack it(provided the learner had prerequisite passion and dedication). I may refer it to as if doing what is more relevant and necessary. But still in the job world it doesnt pay attention as to what info you learned but what can you do that adds up value. In the end they are all both programmers: *one is from a so called HackReactor and the other one from University of Anything.*

Could you please do a video explaining income as a software engineer and show actual numbers? Yearly salary, health benefits, retirement savings, etc. Not too intrusive, but I'd like a real life tangible account of a software engineer's finances. Not a random and averaged figure posted on a college's website telling you how much you'll make if you graduate from them. (Probably biased, unreal, and outdated data)

I learnt coding from coding bootcamps, too.

Do I see Orwell's 1984 on the shelf?

Steve Wozniaks has his own boot camp which are teaming up with the Art Institutes

Don't waste your money. Learn yourself there are plenty of resources online.

I am 70 years old and have been through some interviews and I abhor all interviewers I don't believe that interviews should ever be that form of hiring interviewers are ruthless & very hateful because the interviewee come with their best intentions and the #1 thing the interviewer can simply say is WE have many more interviews to go and WE'll call you once WE have done our due diligence!!! in the mean time, the interviewee still doesn't have a job and that was a part of the understood part of taking a very sophisticated curriculum course was to get hired before graduating that has happened to me way more than once and that is very wrong there seriously need to be some type hiring Justice in being told promises just to learn and then graduate with high honors regardless of age I'm just saying graduating with high honors needs and must be a successful hiring PROMISE KEPT

hi, im 33 and no degree. can i learn python and html and switch career at this age? i have a management diploma and position of ops. manager. i hope you can giv me an advice.