The Ultimate Guide to Programming Bootcamps in 2021

Imagine learning a new skill for 6 months and landing a job of $50000-$60000 without any prior experience. Welcome to the world of programming bootcamps.

A career in software development is highly lucrative today. Even without a degree in computer science, you can learn relevant skills and become a software developer. If you are thinking of kick-starting your career in software development, this is the ultimate guide for you to know all about bootcamps and how they can help you upskill and land you a life changing job.

What is a programming bootcamp?

Programming bootcamps are intensive educational programs that give you a structured learning path along with resources to learn programming and software development. They offer short-term courses in different tech stacks like MERN Stack, MEAN Stack, Android Development, etc. These courses are highly focused and are aimed at making the student have expertise in one set of skills that are applicable in a large number of startups today.

College degrees are one to gain these relevant skills, but are increasingly becoming outdated. Programming bootcamps fill gaps between education and job requirements.

Bootcamps can be cohort based, self-paced, part-time, or full-time, depending on the course and the place. You can choose to do it at your convenience. Once you finish the course, which typically takes 7 months to 1 year, you will have a portfolio of projects and skills that would be in high demand, thus increasing your chances of employability.

If you are wondering how to choose the right bootcamp, you are in the right place. Choosing the proper bootcamp is important since it requires a lot of your money, and even more time. Read on to know about the types of bootcamps, skills that are in demand today, and career paths of a software developer.

How does a programming bootcamp help you learn software development?

Becoming a good software developer requires building and shipping a lot of projects. Programming bootcamps provide you with resources, fellow students, and mentorship to learn and build apps that increase skills and develop teamwork capability. The feedback loops are great to correct your mistakes at each step.

Types of Bootcamps

Bootcamps are immersive and community focused in nature. Programming bootcamps are especially strong in this sense. Post the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a fundamental shift in the way bootcamps are run now. These are the major types of bootcamps in India and globally as well -

1. Online cohort - You sign up for the course and learn along with a set number of peers, online. This creates a close-knit community of students and a virtual support system.
2. Online self-paced - This is a good choice if you are a self-learner who prefers to move at your own pace.
3. Online part-time - If you are a working professional, this is a great choice where you can dedicate time for learning while also continuing your day job.
4. In-person - These are fewer in number nowadays owing to the present situation in the world.

From a financial perspective, a majority of the coding bootcamps in India and abroad fall under these categories -

1. ISA model
2. Upfront payment model
3. EMIs

Bootcamps with the ISA model, though highly popular, are a proven hindrance to students when they start earning. They end up paying a lot more than the actual fees, and it becomes a burden rather than an investment.

Upfront payment is always considered the best and the cheapest way forward, since you pay the fee first and then focus only on learning. There is no interest amount to be paid, and once you get a job, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, without a huge debt over your head.

EMIs (Equated Monthly Instalment) can ease the burden in the beginning since you pay the fee in fixed amounts over the duration of the course. There is usually no interest but it depends on the bootcamp and the course you are opting for.

We will discuss more on the pricing factor in a later section below.

How to Choose a Bootcamp

Choosing the best programming bootcamp can be confusing given the vast number of choices today. You should give equal importance to all factors, especially financial, since this is going to be a big investment on upskilling. Consider these major factors to know how to choose the right bootcamp to learn programming -

Technology

What technologies will you be learning? Are they in demand today? What is the salary offered? Keep these questions in mind. MERN stack - MongoDB, ExpressJS, ReactJS, NodeJS - is in huge demand in the last few years. There will be at least 8 lakh developer jobs by 2024; the industry needs a lot of skilled web developers. Front-end jobs as a React Developer pays handsomely as well. If you want to learn how to become a full-stack developer, your career can grow by leaps and bounds.

Choose a bootcamp that can give you the roadmap to become a MERN stack developer. With the web ecosystem increasing in usage, your skills will be transferable.

Mentorship

Whether you are from a tech or non-tech background, having a mentor who can show you the ropes will be necessary. Learning web development takes quite a while to master, and having a mentor with experience and expertise to guide you, can save you lots of time and effort.

Your learning needs to be focused more on strengthening fundamentals and building projects, rather than being lost in each and every single hurdle you face. Mentors can help you overcome these hurdles and cement your concepts firmly in your mind.

Resources & Roadmap

Bootcamps make your learning easier by giving you a proven roadmap to master programming and build apps. As a beginner, do not waste time searching for resources. Choose a bootcamp that gives you a proper structure to learning as well as ample number of practice materials to completely understand each topic.

Community Support

The best thing about becoming a software developer is that you get to network and learn with fellow developers. A bootcamp is a great way to meet other students and cultivate a community learning environment. This community will push you to better yourself and also learn from each other through collaborative projects, doubt clearing, and more.

Alumni Network

The best way to get insights into a bootcamp is to talk to graduates who are currently working. Find out what kind of support they received and how the course helped in their placements. Alumni are almost always ready to help and you can benefit from their knowledge.

Pricing of Bootcamps

Payment is a major factor in deciding to enroll in a bootcamp. Investing in upskilling is always an investment; yet, bootcamps need to be worth it. Choose a bootcamp that will not put a deep hole in your pocket. An investment should not come at the cost of huge debts.

So which bootcamp should you choose and how much should you invest? Bootcamps can seem to be expensive - and for good reason. They offer high quality education focusing on specialized skills that enable you to land much higher paying jobs than the average IT jobs. As a developer, you will always be in demand to build new products and apps for companies. Learning to program is a long-term investment and bootcamps prepare you for a great career.

What is the cost of a coding bootcamp?

The cost of a coding bootcamp is usually on the higher side. But choosing the right bootcamp smartly will be easy on your pocket. The salary of a full-stack developer in India is 6 LPA to begin with. There is no upper limit to the salary since great skills will get you better packages regardless of experience.

Based on this salary figure, you should invest no more than 20% of your first annual income beforehand. The math checks out, as can be seen in this article. ISAs are an expensive affair, accounting for more than 60% of your first annual income, which puts you in debt for at least 3 years.

Which is the best bootcamp to learn coding?

Bootcamps are ranked on 2 major factors - cost and placement. If you are looking for the best places to learn coding, there are lots of good resources online to start learning. But bootcamps are always beneficial compared to places like Udemy. As mentioned above, factors like mentorship, roadmap, and structured curriculum should be your priority.

Job placements matter since students look for good packages and opportunities once they graduate. Bootcamps have a network of companies that you can apply to and interview, making the hurdle easier. Portfolio preparation, interview techniques, coding puzzles, etc., are some of the important things which bootcamps can help you gain mastery.

At AltCampus, we understand all the pain points of learning software development and landing a job. Our full-stack web development course is geared towards helping you gain web development skills. You can kickstart your journey by taking a free trial here - Free Trial 🚀