A decade ago, there was an extreme push to earn your degree from an accredited college and land a job within the field you studied in. I was a product of that mentality myself. I went to a private school for four years, earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Sports Management. I didn’t end up using that degree for sports specifically, though I gained useful information about the buisness. I ended up finding myself within a few sales positions before getting let go due to the pandemic. I’m not using this as a platform for sympathy, I just wanted to express my opinion that a four-year college education isn’t the ‘best’ way to become a successful individual in this world. There are many, many other routes to take. For instance, while I was sitting around the house, jobless, quarantining; I found myself constantly wasting time scrolling through my phone on social media allowing time to pass by. As I laid around feeling bad about myself and pretty lost on what to do next (I thought I had my career path set with the previous job), I came across this mentor platform Career Karma. This is a totally free, app-based buisness that relies on individuals either soon-to-be completing their course work within computer science specialties (UI/UX, Software Engineering, Data Science, Cybersecurity) or already in those fields. I started their #21DayCKChallenge by opening up their app daily and working through their suggested steps in becoming familiar with how to code. One of the first steps was to download other free apps such as Grasshopper, Sololearn, and Codecademy Go. These apps guide you through starter code to begin to learn software engineering basics and get a feel for what the computer science world is like. I kept up with the check-ins and even had 1-on-1 time with my mentor whom was soon to finish her self-paced bootcamp, learning Software Engineering. After a few conversations with her getting to know me and the professional background I came from and degree I had, she suggested I try learning about Data Science instead of SE; since I liked math growing up and had a buisness background (helpful to relate to your employer in a non-technical aspect).
So here I am, no computer experience other than being fortunate enough to be born in the 90’s when computers just started coming into play; utilizing them for entertainment mostly. I hadn’t ever thought I would take interest in utilizing them as a career! I digress. Part of this challenge is to pair up with one or more bootcamp schools and start the application process of getting into one of them with a non-technical interview and technical interview. The non-technical interview is more of an introduction of you to the school and vise-versa. The school representative will explain the school’s structure and how the application process works. They get to know your background and how you would fit within their programs. You explain why you are interested in their program and basiclly sell yourself to the idea that you would be a great prospective student for them. Once you have this meeting, you will begin to take on a pre-assesment task where you dig deeper into the curriculum and learn on your own with these code-along assignments. Once you complete their pre-assesment and feel comfortable with the information you were given, you will set up a time for the technical interview where you then demonstrate your knowledge to an instructor with two or three problems provided to you. Either pass or fail the interview. If you pass, you’re onto the admissions part of signing up for the course and begining your bootcamp journey. If you don’t pass, you recieve feedback right then and there during the end of the interview. You have an opportunity to take the constructive feedback and solidify your knowledge for the next interview a month later.
Fast forwarding through the whole bootcamp experience…
I wanted this to be a reflection on how I percieve bootcamps over traditional degrees. In my perspective, I learned SO MUCH over the course of a year (10 months actually). The school I ended up going with was Flatiron School within their Data Science program. They are one of the best in the industry and provide you with the experience of programs and tools that current professionals utilize to this day. There isn’t anything dated years ago that you are trying to learn today. The tech industry is constantly evolving and expanding. A traditional degree may be helpful when learning concepts and history of how the industry has become what it is today, but in my opinion, bootcamps will teach you the same principals and concepts as a traditional degree will for a fraction of the price and time. My instructor was always there for help and guidance (shoutout to Yish Lim!!). I am pleasantly happy with the knowledge and experience I’ve recieved from the school. I feel confident that I will accept my first technical position and know I was given the most up-to-date information and curriculum to help me succeed tomorrow.
One more observation to note with this bootcamp is that you are exposed to multiple avenues you can specialize in once you get into the professional field. It’s really about what you liked the most and want to expand on that will guide you into a niche of your preference. Once completing the curriculum, you are paired up with a career coach that will aid you in the process of landing your first position. This may be unique for this school, but it was a HUGE selling factor when deciding on a school to attend. The coach will assist with your resume, profesional social media presence, inform you of opportunities around where you live with comparable skills required. They will also help you with mock interviewing!
In summary, I wish I knew about bootcamps/opportunities like this when thinking about college. This reflection isn’t bashing technical schools either. I merly wanted to compare my two experiences and hope you find some sort of guidance on what you want to do with your future. Traditional college is great, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed all four years of beigh there. I was an athlete all four years, made life-long friends and gained a lot of social experience along the way. The bootcamp I enrolled into was completly online. HUGE difference in what I knew before. It was definitly a challenge and at times I wish I was in-person, but with the pandemic halfway through it’s time (I enrolled in July), there was so much uncertanty and I knew that if I stuck with it, I would gain valuable knowledge to set myself up for a fantastic career that pays well, has great benefits, and will always have the opportunity to work from home if needed ever again.
With all being said, I’m fortunate I was let go from my sales career path and scrolled through my phone daily until I came across this fantastic opportunity.
Cheers to the new me and hope for those of you that took the time to read this, I cross paths with and can share experience and knowledge about ourselves. The best way to gain perspective is to know other’s perspectives.
Find me on LinkedIn or GitHub!!