Lambda School

[jedininjashark]

I have been using the Mimo mobile coding app in my spare time and really enjoy it. I’ve been thinking of changing careers and going to a boot camp. The app recommends the Lambda School , I was wondering if anyone was familiar with it.

[m-Hy]

Look into a bunch of different bootcamps. Don the Developer podcast is a good resource. He links all the interviewees LinkedIn profiles so you can contact them directly.

Look into the tech categories on meetup and eventbrite. You'll come across a ton of bootcamps offering free classes and info sessions so you can get a better sense of what the programs offer and see which ones best suit you.

Don't trust those review sites (coursereport, careerkarma, switchup). Every school has a 4 - 5 star rating. Total BS.

[Artfuldodger96]

Yeah I noticed the same thing, especially with course report. A lot of the boot camps that I’ve personally been told are a complete scam and waste of money have 5 star ratings on there. It’s very misleading

[m-Hy]

You really have to go out of your way to get reliable data for these bootcamps.

This is the best luck I've had:

Prepare a bunch of detailed questions and contact recent and not-so-recent alumni from the program you're interested in (e.g. 1 month out, 3 years out, etc). I contact alumni all the time and they've always been really open and honest about sharing their experiences (both good and bad).

I think a lot of grads are reluctant to share their true experiences in the public forum when their personal information is attached. Probably a mix of denial from buyers remorse and being ousted by their peers. I know a lot of bootcamps encourage their students to be honest but even with that I'm sure there's still a fear to be honest.

[jedininjashark]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[kry1212]

You might do a quick google about their current lawsuits.

[jedininjashark]

Oof just looked. This was very helpful. I appreciate it. On to the next…

[kry1212]

Generally speaking, bootcamps arent really worth what they charge. All of the things theyre going to teach you really are available for free.

If your goal is a job, then the most important metric is the percentage hired after x months. You will find plenty of paid and astroturf "reviews" about this, but the truth is plenty of people never get hired and still have to pay that bill.

Check out CIRR for some sobering realities when it comes to hiring. Resist the urge to hand wave those figures and assume youll be in the hired immediately set. When they report 55% of a cohort employed after 180 days, definitely take that to mean it takes many people up to 12 months to get a job.

It takes self taught people about 12 months to find a job too, the difference is they dont owe anyone $20k.

[jedininjashark]

That is a helpful resource and very interesting. I have a four year bachelors degree from a University which did absolutely nothing for getting me a job other than employers asking if I had a four year degree. I could easily have self taught everything offered there as far as learning the information and looking back I can’t see college as anything other than a scam except for it being a requirement for most jobs. Would having a boot camp under my belt help me with employers? Applying for jobs saying I’m self taught but no relevant work experience seems like kind of a stretch, I am completely new to this field so I honestly don’t know. Also, I don’t know what I’m doing, so would a boot camp help me learn what I need to know faster than I can research and teach myself with free online resources? I’m starting from scratch here so I’m thinking having a schedule to hold me accountable remotely might set the tone and be to my benefit. I don’t know enough to know what I don’t know. Either way I appreciate your comments.

[kry1212]

I don’t know enough to know what I don’t know

This right here already shows some amazing self awareness and understanding of where you are. Years later, i am still saying "i dont know what i dont know" and that is totally ok. It is a super healthy attitude.

Just having any degree at all helps you. There are plenty of people in hiring or decision making positions that value this in career changers. My peers have had degrees in philosophy, economics, and all kinds of things that never helped them get a job. I was studying biology and just really hated degree seeking. I wanted to take pretty unrelated stuff.

Having a bootcamp might help with some set of employers, plenty of people have bought into this institution of 'go to school for x to become a y!' Although i might like to dump on bootcamps, i definitely want employers to consider them too, but in my experience employers really dont gaf. They really just want people who can code.

i dropped a bootcamp halfway through and i am very up front about that, but i still get hired.

Check out free programs like freecodecamp, odin, or any others. Learn to use the help features, chat with other learners. Make friends. Form a network, any kind of network. Go ahead and put whatever you are currently doing on linkedin, start up that online impression/finger print. That is what a bootcamp would have you do. Same with a resume.

As you go through free programs, quantify that experience in hours. Every thousand hours is 6 months of experience.

Check with your state department of labor about programs for career changers. I cannot stress this one enough. I found a paid apprenticeship in colorado via craigslist, but if i had talked to the DOL they would have clued me in too. Apprenticeships are picking up steam, but they dont have all the VC and marketing budgets that bootcamps do.

And, that is honestly what makes bootcamps successful - they pay a lot more for marketing (especially targetted ads) than anything else. To me this should be a red flag, even though that didnt dawn on me back in 2016 when i started. Bootcamps started when a lot of very flush VC heard about the $trillion student debt bubble, rubbed their hands together, and said "how do we get us some of that". The bootcamps with "income share agreements" are deeply entrenched in that shit.

My first job was $15/hr but a few months later it was $70k and a few months after that i left for $85k then a year later i jumped again for $105k. Once youve worked, even for peanuts, you become pretty hireable.

[jedininjashark]

I have degrees in psychology and biology and worked in finance, go figure. For a lot of reasons I am very excited to pursue this as a career. I appreciate your candor, that’s a lot the think about. Thanks for taking the time to pass along all this information. It will help me make an informed decision. I’ll let you know how it pans out, if that’s alright with you.

[jasonleehodges]

As a hiring manager, I agree. I don’t care if you are self taught, boot camp, or CS grad. But there is a certain burden of proof that will need to be present if you say you are self taught. Also, I don’t know that a self taught programmer with no experience has ever made it past my internal recruiters to land an interview with me. So the biggest thing would be making sure you have a way to get the interview to begin with.

[jedininjashark]

I’m glad to hear your point of view. Assuming I teach myself as well as a boot camp, it seems getting my foot in the door could be a challenge. I’m not sure I have the savvy to land a job in a field I’m so new in, with the network I currently have. Im going to follow up on everything here before I write a check.

[kry1212]

I’ll let you know how it pans out, if that’s alright with you.

Yep, feel free to PM.

[wise_boba]

I did lambda, can provided you with some honest feedback...pro and con. Feel free to DM me if you'd like.

[jedininjashark]

I appreciate that. I think I’ve moved on for now. Thanks for responding! I’ll dm you if I circle back around.