What To Expect from A Coding Bootcamp

Hello, my name is Alex and I recently just graduated from a coding Bootcamp. I won’t disclose which one in particular, but the last week I have been reflecting on all the things that I have learned in and outside of the camp. After much reflection, I felt as though I could really help someone who is very much in the same position that I was seven months ago. Before starting the camp, I didn’t have any sort of coding experience and I genuinely mean that. I enrolled because I wanted to simply change my career’s trajectory and I have always been enamored by people that could code.

To make this blog as digestible as possible I am going to break it up into three parts. The first part will be about what my preconceived expectations were before heading into the camp and what I wish I would’ve done differently to prepare. The second part will be discussing how I approached the Bootcamp what worked well for me and what didn’t in the sense of studying habits and trying to manage the feelings of being burnt out. Spoiler alert everyone in my cohort experienced burnout at one time or another. Then the last section will discuss was it worth it? Did the majority of the people in my cohort get a job? Lastly, I will wrap it up with some closing remarks about things I felt were important to put into writing but just didn't fit the flow of this blog post.

The Calm Before the Storm

Leading up to the Bootcamp I was STRESSED because I came to the realization that I just spent thousands of dollars on something, that I wasn’t sure I even liked. (Very Silly on my part but sometimes the heart gets what it wants without the brain's oversight.) Since I signed up for a camp teaching the MERN Stack (Mongo dB, Express, React, and Node) I decided to start studying Javascript using CodeAcademy. I am going to preface what I am about to say by just pointing out before this I never really took any sort of class in High School or College that was logic focus or even heavily math-focused. The highest level of math I have ever achieved was college algebra. In short I was really struggling. I probably spent 20 or so hours trying to get through the JavaScript modules but I kept getting errors and was really getting frustrated because I wasn’t making any progress. I eventually got to 17% and told myself that I paid money to be taught so I will figure it out then. Other than that, I completed the prework for the class which I found invaluable because it really helped me connect the dots a lot easier early on compared to those that chose to not complete the work because it was optional.

Summary and Takeaways

• Make sure you complete the prework if it is offered because it will really set me up for success early on. Also, it could help by making you realize that you don’t want to continue down this path and hopefully the school you enroll through will allow you to get a refund if you paid upfront like me.
• It is impossible to try and learn everything. When I started my first unguided exploration into the world of code I remembered trying to bookmark anything and everything I thought would be interesting or valuable to know down the road. Hint most developers just google what they need when they need it. I can guarantee there isn’t a developer that will claim they know how to do everything off the top of their head.

The Storm

The Bootcamp is truly a marathon not a race. When it started, I bought any and all books that my mentors recommended because I was fortunate enough to be able to pursue this endeavor without working. So I had the idea if I don’t stop studying then by the end I will have to be able to get a job. For the first three months I did exactly what I set out to do. I continuously studied for hours upon hours a day. I would argue realistically 7-10 hours a day and I was making progress. I felt very confident in my abilities. I thought I was doing all the right things. I felt as though I always had the answer when my teachers would ask a question in class. Of course, what I was doing wasn’t sustainable and I would argue it eventually led to diminishing returns. There would be days where I truly felt like I wasn’t able to think because my brain was so worn down from my relentless pursuits of knowledge; be it from either class or a book and or watching YouTube videos while I fell asleep. After my fourth month in the Bootcamp, I felt so burnt out and jaded, that I couldn’t focus on what I was coding. I felt like I was coding just for the sake of getting through it. In short by the end of the Bootcamp, I found that I typically worked best when I chose to code between 1-4 hours a day. When I say “code” that can mean various things like looking up cool new concepts or rehashing old YouTube videos and or just simply coding.

Summary and Takeaways

• What really helped me learn hard concepts early on was to finding someone that either knew more than I did or just someone else to bounce ideas off of and laugh when we got stuck with some simple error.
• Make sure to take breaks and when I say breaks, I mean entire days off, because your brain needs a break from learning new things.
• Be patient with yourself, because it’s so easy to be hard on yourself or at least it was for me whenever I got stuck on a concept for more than 30 or so minutes. Even now when I get stuck on a problem for more than an hour, I sometimes think that I am not cut out for this and it would just be easier to give up and put my efforts elsewhere. I can guarantee every programmer gets stuck and a lot of times it’s a lot longer than one may want to admit. There were always stories about how someone in my cohort or even myself would get stuck on something for several hours and then in the end it was just a simple typo. Gotta love programming haha.
• If you get stuck for more than 30 mins take a break. Trust me coming back after taking a break is kind of a superpower once you learn how to have patience with yourself task will feel less daunting. Admittedly I still struggle with this one because I just want whatever it is to work before my next break but trust me taking even a 10-minute break can potentially save you hours of debugging.

The Results of The Bootcamp

Coding is tough and I mean really tough and I feel like a lot of people underestimate the time commitment that is involved to become employable. I believe a lot of people think coding is similar to most college courses where you can do the bare minimum and then once you get your degree/certificate then you will likely be able to find employment in the field you studied. I say this because my cohort started with 40+ people and by the end, we had 16 people left. Did any of us get a job immediately out of the Bootcamp? Surprisingly to my knowledge none of us received a job offer at its conclusion. Do I believe that the experience was worth it? Absolutely! The Bootcamp experience was so valuable in the sense that it really teaches you how to break down problems into much more manageable components and really teaches you how to learn when working with new technologies. It also gives you a road map so you can really focus on learning compared to focusing on learning while trying to figure out what you need to learn next.

Summary and Takeaways

• Networking during the Bootcamp is extremely important. I made a really good friend by just asking my classmate if they would be willing to teach me more about JavaScript because I found out that he had been coding a year or so prior to enrolling. The information he taught me was invaluable and really helped me conceptualize JavaScript very early on.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I was that annoying student that always asked questions and trust me others are asking themselves the same thing but were simply too afraid/shy to ask. I know this because I had people after class send me a message thanking me for asking for x question. DON’T BE AFRAID OF SOUNDING DUMB programming is extremely hard and concepts build upon one another.
• Lastly, I don’t know how to say this without being blunt but there is no magical way to learn how to code without putting in the time to learn. I learned best by rewatching previous lectures and simply just coding my own projects which I would 100% recommend doing if you have the time too!

Closing Remarks

If you made it this far, I just wanted to thank you so much for reading. If you want to ask me more about my Bootcamp experience and or you are just looking to connect feel free to add me on Twitter @AlexDotDev.

-