A question I hear from people is whether or not a bootcamp is right for them. There isn’t a straightforward answer to this, as it really depends on the person. Some people are fine to learn on their own, and some get overwhelmed with it.
I myself did a bootcamp, but only after I taught myself the subject (in this case, iOS programming). I did this for a two reasons. First, I wanted to make sure I filled in any gaps I missed in my own learning. Going through the precisely laid out course and being able to ask questions of an instructor, accomplished this. The second reason was that I wanted the real-world experience of working with a group of people on projects. This would be as close as I could get to how an actual job would be, before having a job.
The Problems I Observed
Doing a bootcamp was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and it really gave me the confidence to get into the field professionally.
That being said, there were people in my cohort who struggled. Ultimately these individuals were not able to land a job afterwards, or if they did, it was short-lived. I can chalk this up to a couple factors:
- Inability to confront the tools and activities of the trade (lines of code, problem solving, being able to stare at a screen for hours on end, concentrating)
- Not fully understanding the basics
I could add persistence as one of these points, but for the most part I didn’t see a lack of that with students as they were on the course (the job hunt afterward may be a different story). Most students understood that the program depended on their drive to get through it.
The Solutions
Fortunately, these points above are resolve-able. The only question is, can they be handled in the short time span of a bootcamp, and will help for these barriers be provided. For many people, the answer is no.
The solution I recommend is to have a very solid grounding in the basics when you come into the bootcamp. This doesn’t mean you need to learn every single bit of what you’re going there to learn, but you do need to understand concepts like object oriented programming, functions, variables, knowing what is actually happening when a program runs, etc. I would learn, rather fluently, the primary language you’ll be using before arriving to the bootcamp. Know the terminology well, and look up any word you don’t understand.
You should do actual programming before you start the bootcamp. Write apps, run them, debug them. This doesn’t need to be incredibly extensive, but should be done to the point where you are comfortable doing it and working with the tools (this covers the confront point above). This could take a number of hours.
Summarizing
Realize that you are going into a program that is not like a typical college class, where you are passively being lectured to and taking notes. This is a very practical, real-world training program. Your success with it completely depends on how much you put into it. If you come into it well-prepared, you’re much more likely to do well.
So, if after reading this you feel like a bootcamp would be a good fit for you, I say go for it! As I said earlier in this article, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and it was the starting point to a very successful career.
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