Hi, so a little background about me. I’ve been learning web dev/software development for 6 years now. I am confident in my Javascript abilities, and alright with HTML/CSS if I’m replicating a design. I’m also comfortable with React and Nodejs. However, I’ve had difficulties finding anyone willing to hire me.
That’s why, back in May, I decided to sign up with a coding bootcamp. I went with the one sponsored by Trilogy, but now I’ve been hearing bad things about it, and honestly, a lot of the stuff they teach is stuff I already knew learning online for free.
Now I’m kind of worried because I’m now $10k in debt, and I don’t know if I’m even going to be guaranteed a job. I’ve been doing well on the projects so far, getting mostly A’s, but what should I be doing to guarantee a job at the end? I already don’t make a lot of money at my current job, and they are really going to be clamping down on me with loan payments at the end of the program.
There are no guarantees. There is only the extremely likelihood that if you keep at it, keep doing the right things, that you will eventually get that very difficult to get first job.
I once wrote a doc on my thoughts on getting that first job.
Yeah, I mean it’s all out there. There aren’t any secrets that the bootcamp is going to have that are exclusive to them, some JavaScript that only they know.
You go to a bootcamp because you want the structured environment and many bootcamps have connections that help you get jobs - learning on your own doesn’t have that.
I went with the one sponsored by Trilogy, but now I’ve been hearing bad things about it
I would have hoped you would have done your research before buying. But I don’t know anything about them. And in the tech world, no matter what it is, there is someone complaining about it. But I don’t know Trilogy specifically.
A lot of bootcamps have alumni services, that help people find jobs or at least connect up with employers. Is that not the case here? If not, then you’re just in the same boat as someone self-taught, but you at least have a piece of paper saying that you’ve gone through some kind of program.
There are also a lot of threads here on getting jobs. I would read through them all.
Then I would exploit those career services as much as you can - that is one of the big advantages of a bootcamp. Also connect up with other students - a lot of job opportunities come from “knowing someone”.
You don’t want to be the guy on the shore with a single fishing pole, leaning against the tree, relaxing with his hat pulled down over his eyes, smoking his pipe, confident that he will get his fish. You want to be the guy with 27 poles in the water running back and forth, checking and rechecking them all - the more poles you have in the water, the better. It’s not forever, it’s just until you get that first fish. And (to break out of the metaphor) after that first job, with a few years experience, getting the second job will be MUCH easier.
Keep knocking out the applications, make sure you have at least one standout project, and that your cv is good (your bootcamp should definitely be helping you with all that and also introducing you to employers)
Your experience level sounds very good so just keep going you will land something eventually.
Learn python and or Ruby to add to your portfolio, create projects on github that show you what you can do, and don’t just get hired by a company near you. Projects within companies change constantly and programming languages are just tools within this process. When we program in varied projects, we find new problems and new solutions that will add to our knowledge. This is the experience that is expected of you.