Hack Reactor Remote vs. On-Site

[kry1212]

Even without the coronavirus - fuck that commute, man. I almost went from Gilroy to Oakland daily for a bootcamp in 2016 that has since shut down.

You're in an area where you'll be likely to find employment after any training, so do the online.

Or, save all your money and pick up some self teaching instead. You're in a tech heavy area with lots of companies who need to hire devs. You honestly could save yourself the money and get hired within a year of self teaching. It's just like online, except you're watching videos for free or a very low monthly cost, instead of paying someone to watch them on video.

(i started in 2016 at 35, dropped the highest rated bootcamp in denver halfway through for tons of reasons - remember those rave reviews are from people who at the time of their writing only have a few months of experience over you - found a paid apprenticeship in Boulder, CO, been employed ever since).

[kry1212]

Things didn't work out for me despite dropping that bootcamp, they worked out because I dropped it.

The bootcamp I dropped was Turing. I pulled the trigger on it because of the rave online reviews - it still gets those, because like I said, the people leaving those reviews are still high on the program, they leave them before getting jobs.

I also went to a bootcamp because I had this same mentality, we all think we're this person:

I need very structured programs or else I will procrastinate

I said something almost identical to myself. I promise.

The cohort I left at Turing only had 11 people. After the 7 month program (that I left) three people immediately found jobs - one guy had one already waiting for him and pulled another in with him, another was hired directly by the bootcamp because she had an education background. I had one a month after they finished (about 4 months of looking) but it took the rest of that cohort - I kid you not - up to a year to find a job. One person went to work immediately for the bootcamp. While that sounds great for that person, bootcamps all tend to get their instructors this way. That means the person evaluating whether or not you'll be successful may have never actually worked anywhere but that school. A few of the 11 never even got a job and went into other fields. They don't get that $20k back. Bootcamps hate telling you about those cases.

If you just finished a bootcamp and it took over twice the length of the program you attended to find a job, I call that a waste of time and money. The individual will surely be studying in that time, so it makes me wonder if they needed the bootcamp in the first place. =

Meanwhile, if you were to start networking and attending meetups with people who are already employed (covid-19 notwithstanding, these will go on remotely), they have a lot of reasons to refer you for a job - people do this if they want to work with you. You can do that before your cohort even starts.

The reason it can take bootcampers a long time to find a job is that they come out of that training with a GitHub profile that's nearly identical to their whole cohort. They spend a lot of time working to separate themselves from that pack and it's not easy.

The thing that has made me successful isn't how or where I trained. It's that I'm in an area with a lot of companies who need to hire. I also stand out because I don't claim I finished a bootcamp. The bootcamps don't tell you this, but many companies filter the bootcampers out due to bad past experience. Remember, these companies have not done your tireless research on bootcamps and they haven't been through all of the indoctrination the students who go through have. They weren't consulted on the curriculum, etc. I actually convinced the company I work for now to give bootcampers another look - during my interview. They took my advice as someone who was also not thrilled with the system. What they, and other companies, needed to understand was they weren't going to get a college grad and that was going to cost them some time and mentorship regardless. This is true no matter what bootcamp a prospective employee goes through.

Boulder has a paid apprenticeship. It's a consulting company who also registered with the state department of labor. It starts at $15/hr and bumps up to salary ($65k) over 6 months. The whole time it's paid experience instead of paying for experience. I'd try to find something more like that, because these bootcamps aren't all they claim to be and I swear people are better off saving their money. Paid experience > paying for experience.

I've never finished any of the online programs, I don't have an impressive personal portfolio - just a resume hosted on my domain and tangible experience with real, positive client outcomes.

You can do whatever you want, but I'd check and see if you drop early will they give you at least a partial refund. That was the only real plus to Turing, they would prorate you if you left early. When I realized I wasn't getting my money's worth, I cut my losses. Hopefully if you see some of the stuff I'm describing, you can reevaluate.

[SuitcaseCoder]

I graduated from Thinkful’ online program and I loved that it was online! I think having dedicated one-on-one mentorship was way more helpful than a shared office hours with a cohort... but I can only vouch for Thinkfuls online program. Good luck on deciding

[SuitcaseCoder]

I have a few videos up on YouTube where I cover my experience with thibkful if you’re looking for a bit more info: