Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 229 posts

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#121

Post by dilemma »

tschwimmer wrote: post #92

Yes you are. I'm a PM and researched this decision myself a few months back. Most of the "well regarded" bootcamps teach basic front skills (HTML/CSS/JS). You're going to struggle to get a job in any of the the exciting technologies you've listed with this skillset. It's also not widely talked about, but I get the sense that there's a bit of negative signal associated with these boot camps a la ITT/University of Phoe…

Management is becoming more, not less, important.

Good management is the number one competitive advantage an enterprise has.

Management essentially means running the corporate machine and directing the efforts of its tens or hundreds of thousands of employees. If poorly directed, effort is wasted.

As the world is seemingly centralizing into a handful of large corporations, good management is more important than ever because the power of organizations is so much larger.

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#122

Post by rvense »

tux3 wrote: post #60
Cyph0n wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> # Elixir + Phoenix is the future -- Python/Ruby/Java are too mainstream for us >> vi main.ex >> # No tests needed thanks to BEAM ;) >> git add -A >> # No need for descriptive commit messages; we spend our time on the important stuff ;) >> git commit -m 'New commit' >> # Rockstars push straight to production >> git push origin master Am I doing this right?? /s

Don't forget to git push --force to resolve conflicts!

Also next time you need to deploy you can just use --amend to avoid having to think of new commit messages

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#124

Post by sotojuan »

tynes wrote: post #120
aetherson wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if it makes sense for the OP, but I'll stick up for coding bootcamps as a general concept. I don't agree that most people can just self-study in the same time period and get as effective an education, and I do think that the credential is important. A friend of mine just did a bootcamp -- from a stalled career as a lab technician in which she was making something around $60k/year (in the Bay Area) -- and…

I know of multiple bootcamp grads that currently work at Google. It is a thing

The only bootcamp grads who got a job at Google right after that I know of went to App Academy which is as hard to get into as a great university. Where did the ones that you know of go?

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#125

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

PURE INSANITY, even if you are TRULY passionate about it You work at a top 3 tech company. You are in the best place in the world to learn exciting new tech. I'd kill to get a peek at the codebase of a top 3 tech company. Leverage your job as your coding bootcamp. Maybe you can negotiate 1 day/wk for learning CS.

If you can, take a sabbatical. If you can't and live in an ethical gray zone, go to a psychologist and get disability time off of work. Depression and some other mental maladies are treated as disabilities, at least in the state of CA.

Otherwise, find time outside of work. I assume you are able to teach yourself if you graduated from a top 3 school. Teach yourself to code. There's more than enough resources on the web that show how to go from 0 to capable engineer. Keep in touch with devs from work. Hang out in dev chat rooms/forums on IRC, discord, slack, or MOOC forums.

Coding bootcamps and online resources don't teach you truly how to code. The ultra basics they teach. Only actually coding, failing, refactoring, repeat teaches you how to code.

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#126

Post by ajmurmann »

AtheistOfFail wrote: post #119
tux3 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget to git push --force to resolve conflicts!

We have a company taser for people who do this. You have to self-tase one second for every commmit you blew away. Top score is 4 seconds.

I'm not a fan of complicated git flows, but are there really people who force push to resolve conflicts? I mean professional developers who do this on real projects?

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#127

Post by AnonymousPlanet »

AtheistOfFail wrote: post #119
tux3 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget to git push --force to resolve conflicts!

We have a company taser for people who do this. You have to self-tase one second for every commmit you blew away. Top score is 4 seconds.

your company is a frat house?

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#128

Post by drawnwren »

tschwimmer wrote: post #92

Yes you are. I'm a PM and researched this decision myself a few months back. Most of the "well regarded" bootcamps teach basic front skills (HTML/CSS/JS). You're going to struggle to get a job in any of the the exciting technologies you've listed with this skillset. It's also not widely talked about, but I get the sense that there's a bit of negative signal associated with these boot camps a la ITT/University of Phoe…

Former high salaried person who jumped ship for a coding bootcamp here with some quick thoughts.

1) The negative image of coding bootcamps on HN is worse than in industry, not the other way. There are plenty of coders who came from bootcamps now working in industry. I agree that you aren't as well regarded a CS major, but it is definitely better than self taught.

2) The things you listed he should do are pretty much the things you'll do at a coding bootcamp. If you can stay on a good course and keep yourself motivated, it is completely reasonable to think you can be in a similar position in the same time frame (with an extra 10-20k in the bank.) However, you should be very honest about those two qualifications. It's quite easy to get side tracked/not do as much work as you think you will.

3) You're right on about the new tech. The reason that we think it's cool is because it's the thing that everyone is talking about on HN. The reason there is so much traction with all of these topics is because there aren't a lot of applications for them and a lot of people are playing with them. I'd expect an entry level coding job to be writing REST APIs and front ends for CRUD apps. You might be pleasantly surprised, but I wouldn't quit your job expecting otherwise.

a) The thing that isn't frequently talked about wrt bootcamps is that you don't get a job after the bootcamp. I'd expect 30-60 days of applying and interviewing before you get the job, just FYI.

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#129

Post by zubat »

Nobody can say! But the main thing technology is doing now is pushing us to engage design skills and critical thinking. Just "knowing ML" or "knowing blockchain" makes you a potentially useful product or service, but not a change agent. And being good enough to command the big bucks is a superstar game played per subfield and specialty. The people who are really, really into engineering work latch on to a challenging problem and can't let go - it's a pretty rare mindset and most working programmers don't actually have it, as they are there to fill seats and go to meetings and unambitiously do enough to get by. And most businesses employing them don't need a level of technology much above that either - that's why bootcamps are succeeding.

This is a world where you really need to aim to be the best in what you are doing, though. It's so competitive and there is no reason to expect that to let up. If you aren't doing that you can get stuck or hit a career deadend when the market shifts and those surface-level bootcamp skills become irrelevant.

So in my own space I am focused on a mixed stack of design, coding and leadership skills that is more in line with founders. The ability to pitch, to write up planning documents, to prototype and hold a vision, to study the marketplace and identify opportunities, to hone the vision through philosophy, as well as PM-type managerial duties. Those things are robust to changes in the technical landscape and they build on my own background.

Re: Ask HN: I will quit my job as a PM to join a coding bootcamp. Am I crazy?

#130

Post by iamben »

I avoided replying to this earlier, but I've thought about it a bunch, so here's my 2cents.

You're crazy to do this. I've been (largely) a developer for years, and I struggle to get excited about client work now. It's amazing to be able to MVP something myself, or throw up a project over the weekend, but that's kind of it. Kids are younger and hungrier than me. Having experience is fantastic and certainly helps with day-rate, but I just don't have the time or the energy to keep on top of everything anymore. Now it's time for me to transition to other things.

In your position - keep the job. But invest time outside of that to learn to code. Build fun things. Experiment, learn, grow. Having an idea of what can be done, how it can be done and the time it takes will make you 10 times more valuable in your roll and moving forwards. You will be better positioned to talk to clients and talk to developers.

If or when the time comes that you want to run your own business you will be in a better position to recruit and to muck in yourself.

But for now, spend your spare time learning, and save as much money as you can to take a chance when and if you're ready.

That said, good luck with whatever you choose. Right or wrong, you can only learn from your choices :-)

Post reply on HN