Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#21

Post by germs12 » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:18 AM UTC

ldd wrote: post #19

so, um, as someone who has considered entering into a bootcamp program, I have a question: Why are there so expensive? (10k is more than what I am paying for my BSc degree at McGill)

In my experience they're operating like for-profit colleges. They charge so much because they can. People want to believe that they can sign up for a course and leave a new person. The reality is that you have to put in the hard work to be good enough to hold your own at development shop. So those that are hirable after doing a bootcamp are mostly likely the ones that would have been successful developers if they had just stayed at home and studied. Those that are less than desirable hires make up the majority of the students. Bootcamps are cash cows.

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#22

Post by germs12 » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:20 AM UTC

oliyoung wrote: post #20

Hired a guy who took himself halfway around the world to crash-course in dev for 3 months after graduating a science degree. Absolutely would hire again. Not just because he's damned skilled for a "junior" but the commitment to give up everything and haul ass across the world says something that coding literacy can't.

I've worked with 5 developers that have come out of the bootcamps. Only 1 of them was a "good hire". He exhibited the same behavior your guy did: commitment.

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#23

Post by ajkjk » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:21 AM UTC

S4M wrote: post #15

ajkjk wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I felt that in my CS degree program I didn't really learn a lot that set me up to be a professional software developer either. It made me do some coding and learn some algorithms, and gave very basic familiarity with how computers work, but that's about it. The coding projects were, in hindsight, pretty pathetic compared to what I can do now. I wish the program had forced us (or tricked us) into becoming more mature…

I guess the best students of your program managed to find something they liked a lot (like machine learning, compilers, embedded, etc.) and got specialized in it, while the majority of the students just followed along somewhat passively - I don't mean to be condescending, it's sort of to what happened to me as well, and still now I regret not to have taken more time to think of what I wanted to do and pick my courses…

Yeah, I think that's common. A lot of people also worked on coding projects outside classes - people came in with experience setting up LAMP stacks, that sort of thing. Others ran the school newspaper's website or played around with startup ideas.

But there's not a class where you learn Linux + shell commands and basic sysadmin-y things, and for those of us who didn't really know what we liked and just followed along through the coursework, it was easy to pretty much not learn any of that useful stuff.. ever. Not before graduation at least.

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#24

Post by pjc50 » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:27 AM UTC

ajkjk wrote: post #4

danpalmer wrote: post #2

I'm also interested in this question, not because of the issue of saturation, but more because I am skeptical that a bootcamp that lasts ~12 weeks could teach someone enough to be a professional software developer.

I felt that in my CS degree program I didn't really learn a lot that set me up to be a professional software developer either. It made me do some coding and learn some algorithms, and gave very basic familiarity with how computers work, but that's about it. The coding projects were, in hindsight, pretty pathetic compared to what I can do now. I wish the program had forced us (or tricked us) into becoming more mature…

It's a strange dichotomy. Programming in the real world has its theoretical side, its "craftsmanship" side, and its soft skills. It's entirely possible to get through a CS degree without learning craftsmanship, which is more amenable to a traditional apprenticeship structure.

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#25

Post by mobman » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:29 AM UTC

my company had a special internal 1 month bootcamp for new hires and unfortunately so much was taught to them, that when they were sent to production they forgot what they had learned on day 1. Moral : It's about individual skill. Put them into production and the committed ones will always perform better no matter they are from bootcamp or not.

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#26

Post by yitchelle » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:32 AM UTC

bmbootcamp wrote: post #7

I'm a graduate from a bootcamp, and I can quite confidently say my company would hire again. I've been there almost a year and feel as if I contribute a significant amount to the team. Feel free to ama

While working, how much mentoring did you get from your company, and at what level was your position (eg from junior to senior dev)? Thanks for answering...

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#27

Post by mariogintili » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:38 AM UTC

I was a bootcamp graduate, feel free to ping me at mariojgintili@gmail.com :)

So far so good in my company! But I've only worked in web development ever since I graduated, would like try something new later on

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#28

Post by rhia » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:43 AM UTC

ldd wrote: post #19

so, um, as someone who has considered entering into a bootcamp program, I have a question: Why are there so expensive? (10k is more than what I am paying for my BSc degree at McGill)

What you must not forget is the fact that a bootcamp only costs you 8-12 weeks in full-time salary on top of the 10k, whereas a BSc costs you 3-4 years of full time salary. I don't think that all that many people would do highschool-bootcamp. Most people have a BSc and at least a semi technical background. For them a second BSc is not really an options because it would take them out of the loop for too long.

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#29

Post by lfender6445 » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:48 AM UTC

we hired an english teacher from a local rails bootcamp and he has been great. wouldn't look back. this speaks more to personality than experience of course, but in a market strived for developers I am glad to see those with an interest in the field getting the opportunity to explore it professionally.

Re: Ask HN: Those who hired bootcamp graduates, would you hire them again?

#30

Post by harel » Thu, May 28, 2015, 10:49 AM UTC

We hired from one a while back. Guy was good/ok but came with some attitude issues for someone in his first role. Having said that, some of our best hires have been interns that stayed as full time developers (not from bootcamp per se, but straight out of Uni or equivalent diploma courses). Those were some of the best people I worked with.