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Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

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Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#81

Post by alasdair_ »

dmoneyblah wrote: post #39
k-mcgrady wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strange I thought that's what a masters degree was - a bachelors + 1 year. Is there another type? I always thought the extra year would have to be in the same field of study but apparently not. I don't think it even has to be in the same 'school' (i.e. someone with a BS can do a 1 year engineering masters).

This term may depend upon the country. In the UK, masters programs are 1 year full.

Typically they require a BSc with honors in a related field. So mathematics would be fine for comp sci but not basket weaving

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#82

Post by anon456 »

bctaway wrote: post #60
rickytomatoes wrote: post #29

I am a graduate of the Flatiron School. With some reservations, I would say that it was a great investment. However, I would not say the same of General Assembly and some of the other boot camps. What was great about Flatiron: - Really good faculty that cared not just about tech, but about teaching - Really good curriculum that fosters basic CS skills and an 'engineering mindset' instead of just 'learning Rails' - Fo…

I am a graduate of a code/bootcamp school. I will say that the instruction was good but definitely were areas that were lacking. I think the short timeline is the biggest factor in that. Most of these schools are ~12 weeks but I think an additional month would be better suitable. Where this school did lack however, is the staff. The people behind the scenes that are supposed to be helping us find jobs and get us read…

...are you willing to name the school you attended?

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#83

Post by serve_yay »

The last place I worked (I finally left this past August) certainly was looking at such candidates. They're a really great place to work in general, but not an engineering shop, so experienced engineers get tired of the poor engineering practices and eventually quit. So they decided to start hiring less-experienced devs and have them learn on the job -- they hire them in cohorts with a temporary contract and permanently hire the ones who do well. That decision exacerbated the type of problems that cause the experienced devs to leave, and so they have a real "Dead Sea effect" going on now. Good people get tired of the BS and leave, and the people who do stay, stay because they can't really get as good of a gig elsewhere.

But all in all, not a bad place to spend a couple of years when you're inexperienced! Just gotta learn when to move on and not get distracted by the free pizza and all that stupid shit.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#84

Post by percept »

Anecdotally, I pushed very hard to have a bootcamp graduate from one of those programs hired, because I was very impressed by his learning and commitment, as well as the achievements in his previous career.

However in the end I was overruled by others unfamiliar with the specific technology and relying only on raw years of experience numbers.

I think he accepted a different offer and relocated--unfortunately, another case of management not listening to the front-line troops (but not so for him, as he's better off elsewhere).

(And as another poster noted, I believe he was one of the few in the program who was fairly new to development.)

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#86

Post by at-fates-hands »

mdholloway wrote: post #49

I just finished such a bootcamp and I'm looking for a job. I'm in an geographic area where there's somewhat of a shortage of tech talent. My plan was to save up for Hack Reactor or similar (I have some experience, but not professionally, and no CS degree) but I had the opportunity to do this one for free. We've had several companies interested in recruiting, albeit not the coolest startups on the block. I do not anti…

Well, in development, it's all about experience. Any way you can get experience is a plus. Don't think about the companies you're going to work for, if you can learn about agile, work on a small team and deal with source control issues, bugs and get some real world project experience, you're salary requirements will escalate pretty quickly.

Just as an FYI, I'm a self starter. Got a huge break at a large corporation. My salary was mid 50K there. After two years, I left and got a startup gig in the 70's. After six months there, I left and did contracting. My first agile, big project work was paying $45/hour. Less than five years into my dev career, and I'm already at six figures.

Sure you start at 50K, but you will move up fast. Also, if you're sigle, with no family and can move, I'd look at going to where the jobs are - it will make a huge difference. More open spots, less developers means a big leap in what companies need to pay to get warm bodies in seats.

Either way, just keep pushing forward, it will be worth it, trust me.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#88

Post by basicallydan »

sp3n wrote: post #18

yes i hired a guy who had been through a general assembly course in london, he had also had a couple short of internships before he got to us. hired as a junior javascript developer and he is doing very well

Hey, GA Instructor here! Did he do FEWD or WDI?

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#89

Post by duboff »

duboff wrote: post #87

I graduated from Makers Academy and now work happily at Alphasights. We have already hired 4 guys (myself included) from different bootcamps (Makers, DevBootcamp & Flatiron). So far people seem happy with how things are going.

Also some of our grads ended up at very famous places in the London Ruby community such as Pivotal Labs, 8th Light, New Bamboo, Pusher etc.

I need to add that the quality of the grads on average in my opinion is pretty low. But if you are able to filter them successfully, then the top 4-5 people in the cohort are usually worth it.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?

#90

Post by JohnInArizona »

I know this is WAY off subject, but as many people reading this thinking of getting into this field, I see so many options and have no idea which way to start, or more accurately to find out if I have the aptitude (Barely made it past college algebra 2nd year, diagnosed ADHD guessing is why I'm horrific at math) for programming. My thinking so far is I should probably take an online programming course like udemy,udacity,edx,etc and if that turns out well then look to switch my major (2nd year) and then possibly boot-camp after school? During school? NOW? Any input is greatly appreciated.
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