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BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

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Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#111

Post by MivLives »

malikNF wrote: post #53
MivLives wrote: post #52

I graduated Lambda School and currently have been hired and work in a software position. I don't encourage people to go to... Bloomtech they're calling it now. AMA. I was earlier in the life of Lambda. I got what I needed out of it but I watched a lot who didn't.

What do you wish they could have done differently?

Honestly, not much. I'm one of the success stories. I think I was just early enough to have small classes and knew enough basic html and programming concepts from doing IT work to have the bootcamp work for me. I was also incredibly lucky the company that hired me had a program where they took on essentially fresh college grads and boot camp grads, and funneled them into Junior positions with a project before you were assigned a team. It took me a lot of interviews before I actually got a job.

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#112

Post by bigDinosaur »

gamblor956 wrote: post #101
austenallred wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will happily defend everything I’ve said in a courtroom if necessary.

Quoted post unavailable.

This seems unnecessarily aggressive as a general comment. Part of what makes HN interesting is the CEO's (and other high profile individuals at least in the tech industry) that sometimes comment. Certainly I think a CEO should have the time to write something on HN.

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#113

Post by kirillbobyrev »

MivLives wrote: post #52

I graduated Lambda School and currently have been hired and work in a software position. I don't encourage people to go to... Bloomtech they're calling it now. AMA. I was earlier in the life of Lambda. I got what I needed out of it but I watched a lot who didn't.

Where _would_ you encourage people to go for similar purpose with higher quality? Are there any particular bootcamps/online schools you think are good?

Some of my friends and family are eager (and IMO perfectly capable) to learn CS and enter the Software Engineering field, so I'm curious what would be a good way for them to do so (without spending 4 years on college again).

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#114

Post by [deleted] »

JamesBarney wrote: post #103
user3939382 wrote: post #93

If I may comment on the abstract: I don’t get these bootcamps. I’ve been programming for 30 years and I still feel like there’s another 60% of the craft to learn. More data structures, algorithms, functional strategies, large system architecture, read/write fanning, I’m just getting into websockets now. The list goes on. These people are getting hired as programmers? To do what?

People hire junior devs everyday. These people are at least a prepared as most of the folks coming out of CS programs. And are definitely more prepared than I was.

[deleted]

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#116

Post by user3939382 »

austenallred wrote: post #96
user3939382 wrote: post #93

If I may comment on the abstract: I don’t get these bootcamps. I’ve been programming for 30 years and I still feel like there’s another 60% of the craft to learn. More data structures, algorithms, functional strategies, large system architecture, read/write fanning, I’m just getting into websockets now. The list goes on. These people are getting hired as programmers? To do what?

If your point is one must understand 100% of computing before being hired as a software engineer none of us would ever be hired. You can produce value long before you understand everything there is to know, of course, and a lot of being a software engineer is being able to problem solve on the job. BloomTech exists to help people get to the point they can do that and create value. No school can pretend to teach every…

My point isn’t to learn 100% but how about 5 or 10? The complexity of the work just doesn’t seem to match the duration of these programs.

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#117

Post by chrisfosterelli »

gamblor956 wrote: post #101
austenallred wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will happily defend everything I’ve said in a courtroom if necessary.

Quoted post unavailable.

Is that how we now treat execs who bother to come directly address criticism aimed at their companies on HN?

This is one the few places on the web that happens. You can still disagree with him if you want, but coming here to talk with us directly is respectable IMO. Focus on the arguments and not ad hominem.

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#118

Post by MivLives »

kirillbobyrev wrote: post #113
MivLives wrote: post #52

I graduated Lambda School and currently have been hired and work in a software position. I don't encourage people to go to... Bloomtech they're calling it now. AMA. I was earlier in the life of Lambda. I got what I needed out of it but I watched a lot who didn't.

Where _would_ you encourage people to go for similar purpose with higher quality? Are there any particular bootcamps/online schools you think are good? Some of my friends and family are eager (and IMO perfectly capable) to learn CS and enter the Software Engineering field, so I'm curious what would be a good way for them to do so (without spending 4 years on college again).

I do not have this knowledge. There used to be a site that categorized boot camps by results. Maybe try that?

My general advice is to get some one to try https://www.theodinproject.com/ as it's free. If they try it for a bit and find they don't like it, no harm they can just stop. If they want to continue after a bit and still want to go a boot camp they're more likely to succeed at any of them.

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#119

Post by chrisfosterelli »

MivLives wrote: post #106
onetimeusename wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why weren't lambda grads able to get good jobs? I think that was the main controversy. Was it the instruction or what went wrong there?

Most of the people I saw get successful were people were people doing like... extra stuff outside of the classes. They were taking what they learned and applying it. Others organized groups of people, and essentially formed a small support network of people in a similar position. I completely understand that not everyone has the time for that. I think two things happened over Lambda's life span that effected the qual…

> Most of the people I saw get successful were people were people doing like... extra stuff outside of the classes.

Ironically this is not that different from my university experience.

Re: BloomTech, previously Lambda School, cuts half of staff

#120

Post by austenallred »

gamblor956 wrote: post #101
austenallred wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will happily defend everything I’ve said in a courtroom if necessary.

Quoted post unavailable.

That's a totally fair question.

When we were a much smaller company I would take a lot of time to respond to communicate with folks directly, and I learned a lot from it, and think everyone benefited from that level of direct communication.

As we got bigger we got an expensive PR firm who built a big wall around me and put everything I said through review 8 times to massage it for _just the right tone_. There are too many other variables to know whether that was the right move or not, but it always felt wrong to me.

I now regard that as a mistake, as I do many other "big company" things we did. (Broadly, my mental model for success was that we needed to grow up and become a "big company." Now I'm of the opinion that to be a successful company should actively fight against everything that feels "big company." Fewer meetings, more focus on the little details, etc.)

So I don't know that it will work, but I'm intentionally carving out time to keep my ear to the ground and be responsive directly.

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