I’m not against bootcamps, but there are so many caveats.
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Most bootcamp instructors have no business teaching. They have no qualifications for it, and rarely have the experience to teach the subject matter.
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Many bootcamps are owned by agencies or companies looking for cheap labour, with many making false promises on employment - because they give them a temporary contract to get cheap devs. It was painful to see so many bootcamp grads last year, entering an empty market.
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They are often very expensive, to the point where I’ve worked with people woefully unqualified, who put up with so much shit because they’re in debt. They were promised a career, only to be taught just enough to do basic tasks in React, and then being limited in what they can do.
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You end up with a horrendous amount of imposter syndrome, in an industry where people already feel like frauds.
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I’m in the UK, and you wouldn’t believe how many people go to bootcamps and assume we’re all making £100k salaries. Hell, where I live, I regularly get roles for senior engineers that are £40k a year. A woman I used to work with gave up her £30k a year job to be a front-end developer for £20k, with zero benefits, no union, etc.
My bootcamp had pretty great instructors, but also a focus on learning how to teach yourself. It was a bit longer than some because it was full stack. I think it’s like university, you get out what you put in. Some folks got nothing from it, I did great. Got my first job for 70k the same week I left. 5 years later I’m making over 160k.
