Ready to Ditch Your Degree?

🎓 The Age of the Technical Bootcamp

What is a Technical Bootcamp?

A technical bootcamp is a streamlined, immersive educational experience designed to equip individuals with the necessary skills to thrive in the tech sector. Through a concentrated curriculum that balances theoretical knowledge with hands-on experience, students can transition into proficient professionals, ready to meet industry demands in a matter of weeks or months. Emphasizing practical skill development and networking opportunities with industry leaders, a technical bootcamp serves as an accelerated gateway to a promising career in the dynamic world of technology.

Why Choose a Bootcamp Over a Traditional Degree?

The job market in today’s society has traditionally been oriented towards the university graduate. However, the tech industry has always been ahead of the curve and the playing field is beginning to level out, making technical bootcamps a strategic move for several reasons:

1. Focused Curriculum: Technical bootcamps usually offer highly specialized curricula that are tailored to meet current industry demands. This ensures that you acquire the most relevant skills needed in the job market.

2. Time-Efficiency: Bootcamps are typically shorter than traditional degree programs, allowing you to enter the job market more quickly, sometimes in just a few months.

3. Cost-Effectiveness: While typically less expensive, bootcamps can also offer a more cost-effective route to acquiring the skills necessary for certain tech roles compared to years-long degree programs. Some even offered deferred payment plans that better align incentives for placement.

4. Networking Opportunities: Many bootcamps have partnerships with tech companies and start-ups, providing networking opportunities and sometimes even direct pathways to job placements.

5. Hands-On Experience: Bootcamps emphasize practical, hands-on learning experiences, often providing you with a portfolio of projects that demonstrate your abilities to prospective employers.

6. Flexible Learning Options: Bootcamps often offer more flexible learning options, including part-time and online programs, which allow you to learn at your own pace or while managing other responsibilities.

7. Career Transition: If you are looking to make a swift career transition, bootcamps can be an ideal choice as they focus on equipping you with job-ready skills in a shorter span of time.

8. Dynamic Learning Environment: Bootcamps often foster a dynamic and collaborative learning environment that mirrors the pace and innovation of the tech industry, helping to acclimate you to the industry's work culture.

9. Skills Over Degrees: In the tech industry, skills and practical experience can sometimes weigh more than degrees. Bootcamps emphasize skill acquisition, potentially making you a strong candidate for many roles in the tech sector.

Below you can compare some high-level differences between the two educational pathways with typical length and average cost showing the highest contrast:

Okay, but will I get a job when I’m done?

According to the CIRR (Council on Integrity in Results Reporting) statistics, nearly 79% of coding bootcamp graduates secure employment within 180 days of completing their programs whereas 68% of traditional computer science degree holders who find employment within a year post-graduation.

While these particular statistics refer to coding bootcamps, the data offers similar insights across other tech fields (i.e. UX, data science, etc.). Ultimately, even though the inputs vary between bootcamps and degrees, the job placement outcomes are relatively similar.

How do bootcamps help their students get hired?

Technical bootcamps often have high success rates in getting their students job placements because they offer much more than just lessons in tech skills. The top bootcamps go the extra mile to make sure their students are ready to impress potential employers and land a good job. They often provide services like:

• Practice interviews

• Help with sprucing up resumes

• One-on-one job advice

• Tips on how to negotiate a better salary

• Introductions to companies looking to hire

• Events where you can meet and network with other professionals and company representatives.

So, which bootcamp should I choose?

The table below presents 10 leading coding bootcamps, ranked according to their job placement success rates. The information was obtained from CIRR reports or directly from the respective school's websites.

• Fullstack Academy - Fullstack Academy offers a range of online bootcamps in software engineering, AI and machine learning, data analytics, product management, and cyber security.

• Thinkful - Thinkful bootcamps are available part-time and full-time and cover subjects like software engineering, data analytics, and UX/UI design. Students have access to 1-on-1 mentoring and six months of career support.

• Tech Elevator - You can study full stack software development online or in person at one of Tech Elevator’s locations in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, or Pittsburgh.

• Launch Academy - Launch Academy, in Boston, MA, combines online and in-person learning in its software engineering immersive program.

• App Academy - App Academy is a software engineering bootcamp with in-person and online classes and flexible scheduling options ranging from 16 weeks to 48 weeks.

• Actualize - The coding bootcamp founded, designed, and taught by expert educators

There’s really no shortage of bootcamps out there, and the right fit will be dependent upon a number of personal factors. So if you’re interested in pivoting within tech, or initially breaking into tech, bootcamps are an extremely viable path to take!

📉 Postings in high work from home metros declining

Indeed Hiring Lab recently published their findings on the current trends in job postings, particularly focusing on the decline in postings in metropolitan areas where a significant share of jobs can potentially be done remotely. Here are the key takeaways:

• Decline in Job Postings: Job postings have been declining more rapidly in metropolitan areas where a large portion of jobs can be done remotely. This decline is not solely attributed to the geographical aspect but also involves a shift in the sectors that are hiring.

• Impact on Remote-Friendly Sectors: The sectors that traditionally had a high share of remote-friendly jobs, including tech and sales, are experiencing a significant decline in job postings. For instance, postings for software development roles have decreased by 58% compared to August 2022.

• Geographical Distribution of Decline: Metropolitan areas known for their tech-heavy industries, such as San Francisco, Seattle, and Austin, have witnessed a substantial decline in job postings. In the San Jose metro area, job postings have decreased by 40% year-over-year, a trend echoed in other tech hubs.

• Stability in Remote Work Interest: Despite the decline in job postings, the interest in remote work has remained relatively stable, both from the employers' and job seekers' perspectives. This suggests that the decline is more associated with a decrease in jobs that can be easily performed outside an office rather than a diminished interest in remote work opportunities.

• National Impact: The decline in job postings is not confined to the so-called "superstar" cities but is a nationwide phenomenon, affecting cities across the country.

Ultimately, as a job seeker, staying flexible with job sectors, geographical location, and skill set will provide the highest chance of employment success in the current market.

🛠️ Job Seeker Tools of the Week

Wonsulting - NetworkAI

wonsulting.ai

Wonsulting has a suite of AI tools for job seekers, but their NetworkAI is fairly unique and potentially your pathway into the minds of hiring managers.

1. Just tell it your target role, current role, and target company—and their AI will write a custom LinkedIn introduction message for you.

2. Their AI uses the latest technology in machine learning to instantly write you a natural, powerful—and totally human—LinkedIn introduction message.

3. Copy your message and click the LinkedIn button to start connecting with industry pros! All your messages are automatically saved, so mark your favorites and track their success!

Sonara

sonara.ai 

Sonara is the first-ever AI-powered job search automation platform that finds and applies to relevant job openings until you're hired.

Peerlist

peerlist.io 

Peerlist is a professional network of designers, developers, product managers, founders, and investors with robust & verified work profiles!

Check out Offboard’s Job Seeker Tool Directory for more platforms to give you an edge in a competitive market!