Hey guys, some advice for a career changer please.
I’m planning to change careers and start an online CS Masters program. However, my Bachelor’s is in Aerospace (math heavy) and any Master’s program requires I take remedial foundation courses first.
This extends the MS programs footprint to at least 2.5 years in most cases. Would it be beneficial to attend a coding bootcamp first to get a job in the field before beginning the Master’s program?
Or do companies routinely hire students who are partly into their masters or who have certs from freecodecamp?
In short, i’m asking if a bootcamp would be needed to be hired prior to completing the MS program, or if freecodecamp coupled with some graduate courses would be enough in the eyes of some employers. Thank you!
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Bootcamps are great since you have easy access to the instructor and you would find a community to code with and work on exciting project.
Other than these two, I think if you are already taking some CS graduate courses and have no problem self teaching yourself or practicing programming daily you can get your job without any bootcamp.
Employers and HR recruiters really care about what you have done in terms keywords and how long you have done them. what can really help them find what they want is personal projects and specially freelance ones which you got paid for. I think having a couple of them would definitely be more fruitful than a cert by itself.
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Thank you for the advice. Sounds like i’m not missing out on as much if I don’t attend a bootcamp.
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Boot camps are usually overrated. Experience is experience, boot camps do give you some experience, but it isn’t inherently better than going off on your own and building something on your own.
If you already have a STEM degree you just need to show some experience with programming. You could do a boot camp/FCC, or just build something decent and apply. You technically could go in without doing any of that and apply for entry positions, since your degree is “impressive” enough to get you some jobs here and there, but actual programming experience will increase your chances. Odds are you will get training regardless so don’t think you need to know everything before applying for job, especially for entry level.
Software engineering is one of the careers that doesn’t require a masters, for some it doesn’t require a degree at all if you have enough experience. Better/more relevant degrees do get you thru more doors, but for the most part your actual experience is what gets you the job or not. (Along with the other soft skills 
)
Good luck!
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Thank you for the advice! Sounds like they’re not really necessary, just another avenue available.
The FCC curriculum has been great. I think I’ll stick to that and start applying after finishing the front end libraries certification.
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