Coding or Software BOOT CAMPS?

[rachel83az]

Hello all,
So this site one of my coworkers told me about: https://www.appacademy.io/course/app-academy-open

It IS a “boot camp” style but if you went part time, it takes a year to complete going online for class for 3 hours Monday through Thursday and then 9am-3pm every Saturday.  Additionally, you have about an hour of homework a night.

Also, you don’t pay tuition unless you land a job paying at least $50,000.   They also have you create a portfolio of your projects over the course of the year that you are completing the class.  They also have job placement advisors that work full-time with their soon-to-be graduates.    

Has anyone heard of this?  Or even with everything I mentioned above about this school, still stay away from it?

Thanks in advance everyone.  


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You can do this yourself, for free, via the OSSU link in a previous post. OSSU doesn't have job placement, per se, but if you join the Discord server then there are people there who can advise you on how to proceed. Some of them are already in the industry, and have been for years. Others have recently finished the OSSU program and have been hired. Overall, for time/money investment, I'd trust OSSU over paying App Academy.

[Pikachu]

You say you have zero coding experience. Does that mean zero/near-zero knowledge as well? 

Most bootcamps assume you have at least a beginner level of knowledge (HTML/CSS) and they move at a very fast pace. The hey-day of bootcamps when every bootcamp graduate was getting hired is long gone. They might still be worth it though. The biggest problem with only self-learning as a newbie is that the field is vast and most people end up lost and rapidly lose motivation. Search /r/cscareerquestions for recent threads from bootcamp graduates and read their experience. Go to LinkedIn and search for recent alumni of the bootcamps you've shortlisted, then message those people individually asking about their experience. 

I'll give you a few tips if you're just after the money...

What you should avoid:
- Don't learn PHP, Java, C++, C, C#, Ruby et al
- Don't do IT either
- Don't do certs. Certifications are only worth doing in IT (especially in networking) and cybersecurity. They are almost useless in coding/programming. Employers do not care. Although certs can be used to keyword-stuff your resume which can help your resume get past the ATS.

I personally disagree with the poster who said IT can be just as lucrative as coding. You can look at base salaries shared on levels.fyi and the total compensation figures shared on Blind and be your own judge. 

What you should do:
- Learn JavaScript. Then learn React. If you can't get your head around JS then you can learn Python first and then switch over to JS. Python was my first programming language.
- Prefer fontend over backend
- Leetcode: do the Blind 75 + Neet150 if you want a 6-figure job right out of the gate. If you aren't as ambitious then the easies + a few mediums should be enough. Practically every high paying software dev. job interview will feature leetcode. The difficulty of the leetcode questions asked depends on the company, obviously. Check leetcode forums - a lot of folks post their recent interview experiences there.
- Register on TeamBlind and beg for referrals. 

For learning on your own, avoid FreeCodeCamp or Odin. They're not focussed enough. Instead, complete Fullstack Open. It's a free, quality course from University of Helsinki. 

If you have the money, buy books from Apress, Packt (my preference), and O'Reilly. Packt allows you to download DRM-free epubs and PDFs. For React, I like Robin Wieruch's courses. LinkedIn Learning is also good, see if you can get it for free through your library.

I hope my post doesn't intimidate you, lol...

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@rachel83az - Google IT Automation with Python would give OP access to BigInterview as well and would be better than Google IT Support for him.

[rachel83az]

@rachel83az - Google IT Automation with Python would give OP access to BigInterview as well and would be better than Google IT Support for him.

Cool, I haven't done that one (or any of the other Google certs), so I wasn't aware it also gave access to BigInterview.