What do you think of coding bootcamps?

[jsd]

This is in reply to the MCSE thing. My husband and his brother were two of those who paid $10,000 for MCSE and other certifications. First, there was really nowhere else to gain the knowledge they gained (this was 1998). Second, it was self-paced, and super fast. They flew through the classes in less than 3 months. CC would have taken 2+ years, IF they could have found somewhere that offered computer courses like that (there weren't any near where they lived).

BUT, they got out, and IMMEDIATELY got great jobs. They both have had very successful careers making many multiples of that $10k. I think he started at $40k, and moved to $80k within a couple of years. His brother started working for Cisco for maybe double that. They both paid off their loans within a few months of getting out. So, I would say that it was WELL worth the cost.

Oh yeah, and my husband was 22 with no experience in computers, and his brother was 19 and just graduated from HS for a few months with zero work experience.

Definitely not a scam.

I'm happy it worked out for them, but in 1998 it was pretty easy to pass those exams cold, even more so than today, if you had any experience in the field or a hobbyist fascination with computers. My coworkers are some of the people who did just that in the late or mid 90s, and they're not the kind of people I'd rely on.

Your husband and brother in law may be the type of people I WOULD rely on, and I'm sure they're earning every dollar that they're being paid. But I'd wager their MSCE certification has little to do with that.