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Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

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Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#191

Post by swyx »

bacontacos wrote: post #53
swyx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

bootcamps are pretty light on backend/devops type knowledge which turns out pretty critical for "real" jobs. Do you think this can generally be picked up later or should people in bootcamps do something like an AWS certification (just to pick an arbitrary skill proof point) to be sufficiently well-rounded?

I've never done an AWS class or have any certs, so I can't say for sure if its worth doing. In my case, I've mainly learned on the job and have had some really fantastic mentors to work with who have trusted me to make decisions and let me run with them. I also read a ton of books on design patterns, architecture, deployment, ops, etc.

thank you. if you have any architecture/deployment/ops books to recommend I would love to hear it.

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#192

Post by swyx »

postnihilism wrote: post #39
swyx wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the Google interview process is notoriously tough especially for bootcamp grads. how did you navigate the process (apart from the usual CTCI stuff)?

After HR I stayed on for three months as part of their Hacker in Residence program. During that time I prepared and delivered lectures on various algorithms and data structures, which was great preparation for whiteboard interviews. I also planned for the Google interview to be relatively late in my job hunt. I already had offers in hand and a lot of on-site practice going into it. I doubt I would have passed had it…

that sounds like excellent strategy. i will follow this path.

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#193

Post by swyx »

stale2002 wrote: post #32
swyx wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the Google interview process is notoriously tough especially for bootcamp grads. how did you navigate the process (apart from the usual CTCI stuff)?

The Google interview process is tough, but it is predictable. You know exactly what they are going to question you on(algorithms), so it is straightforward to prepare for (which is not the same as "easy")

thank you

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#194

Post by swyx »

huntermeyer wrote: post #38
swyx wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is a fantastic answer. Have you blogged about developing and launching JrDevJobs? (presumably this is a side project that brings in a small amount of income? how do you market something like this?)

Your presumption is correct :) I've thought about blogging, but I just haven't made it a priority. I'm so thankful for the people out there that do. - Especially when I find their post about an obscure problem that I'm needing help with!

well, you know where to post it when you get time to write :)

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#195

Post by marcosdumay »

jacquesm wrote: post #164
smallnamespace wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can, but presumably your situation is rare? GP is specifically making an argument about selection bias, where frequency matters.

> You can, but presumably your situation is rare? That's exactly how my career started. Which still doesn't mean it is not rare but maybe a bit less rare than you thought it was.

All that matters is if P(reads HN | works on IT | completed a bootcamp) is different from P(reads HN | doesn't work on IT | completed a bootcamp).

If they are different, one can not make statistics out of the comments here.

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#196

Post by markdavis33 »

christinahuang wrote: post #56

what are your thoughts on all-women coding bootcamps (ie hackbright in sf and grace hopper in nyc)?

I run product at Fullstack Academy (parent school of Grace Hopper, www.gracehopper.com) and can say that the students who come through GH are some of the most talented and motivated students we see.

The all-female environment is special. It's a "safe" and nurturing environment, as the students work together through a rigorous program.

And the hiring outcomes (180 days+ after graduation) are positive:

https://cloud.fullstackacademy.com/immersive-hiring-outcomes...

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#197

Post by escribmac »

I attended Fullstack Academy in NYC, completed in February of this year. I had some CS fundamentals under my belt from college before I attended. I'm currently employed as a developer and I feel like my education has properly equipped me for the Junior Dev role. Many people in this thread are saying that they must continue learning after the bootcamp - I'd be really surprised if any CS major decided to stop learning about programming after completing college. I'm extremely happy with the quality of education I received at my school, but I can't speak to other programs.

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#198

Post by kolatts »

I'm in my second job as a .NET dev after boot camp. My salary has nearly tripled since when I attended the boot camp. The technical skills I learned at boot camp were a great start, but I'd say the biggest change is just how slow work gets done at an enterprise. Most of the work I've done since has not used the newer tech (Angular, ORMs) I learned at the bootcamp, but I've been a rather successful advocate for them.

Needless to say I am pretty happy about my choice, the ROI manifested in the first year. I'm not so certain the rest of my class did as well, as many of them struggled with the material and most of them did not understand our final team project. I would also have not gotten very far if I stopped learning independently and pushing myself after bootcamp.

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#199

Post by kolatts »

I'm in my second job as a .NET dev after boot camp. My salary has nearly tripled since when I attended the boot camp. The technical skills I learned at boot camp were a great start, but I'd say the biggest change is just how slow work gets done at an enterprise. Most of the work I've done since has not used the newer tech (Angular, ORMs) I learned at the bootcamp, but I've been a rather successful advocate for them.

Needless to say I am pretty happy about my choice, the ROI manifested in the first year. I'm not so certain the rest of my class did as well, as many of them struggled with the material and most of them did not understand our final team project. I would also have not gotten very far if I stopped learning independently and pushing myself after bootcamp.

Re: Ask HN: People who completed a bootcamp 3+ years ago: what are you doing now?

#200

Post by mabbo »

abeyer wrote: post #65
mabbo wrote: post #35

Note some selection bias may exist in the answers. If you did a tech bootcamp three years ago and it went fantastically, you're probably reading HN today and will see and reply to this. The more success you had, the more likely you're a developer today! If it went terribly, you might still be working at Starbucks and don't read HN very often.

You can't work at Starbucks and read HN? Seriously, though, after some early career burnout I did a stint at a restaurant job to pay the bills while I decided what I wanted to do with my life...and that was by far my most productive period of time as far as keeping up on general tech news, personal projects, academic research/reading/conferences, etc... A non-code day job can be a great way to have the mental energy…

> You can't work at Starbucks and read HN?

My point isn't that non-programmers can't or don't read HN. My point is that there are more programmers reading and posting on HN than Starbucks baristas. If you hated your boot camp, the odds of you reading HN is lower. Selection bias doesn't mean absolutes, it means probabilities.

> after some early career burnout I did a stint at a restaurant job to pay the bills while I decided what I wanted to do with my life

I really respect that. I think I'd like to do the same, but the mortgage can't be paid on minimum wage.

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