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Rebekah Rombom
Hi there - I’m Rebekah. I run Career Services at Flatiron School - and that’s been my job since 2013. Over 800 graduates have entered our job-search process while I’ve been around.
I still lose sleep over graduates who aren’t able to succeed in their job search (2% of our job-seekers, historically). Our entire team still celebrates every single time someone gets a job (the other 98%).
Instead of why bootcamps fail to deliver, I’d ask a different question here. Actually, two:
Let’s tackle these one at a time.
1. What works?
There are really only two components to any of these programs: The students, and the school experience. Obviously, both sides of this are really complex. But let’s touch on each one:
With a lot of elbow grease from our amazing students, the above has worked for Flatiron School grads. Our grads work at Google, Facebook, Apple, Etsy, Kickstarter, IBM, Spotify, Betterment, and hundreds of other companies. One guy even ended up at NASA. He used to be a film production assistant - now he is a literal rocket scientist.
2. Are bootcamps telling the truth about their numbers?
Almost two years after a group of 10 bootcamps signed a letter to President Obama vowing to release transparent, rigorous, third-party audited outcomes reporting, eight out of ten schools still have not done so. (Flatiron School and Wyncode have; Turing School of Software & Design’s 2015 Outcomes Overview is also transparent, straightforward, and third-party verified.)
Flatiron School’s outcomes report includes real data on every single student, examined by a third-party CPA firm - that means that, in addition to checking our math, the firm actually verified with the students themselves that these results were accurate.
If the numbers a school releases are misleading or flat-out wrong, then the expectations that school is setting setting are incorrect. And that’s why they’re not living up to them.
The fact remains, that nobody just graduates from one of these programs and is handed a job. But with the right expectations and commitment as a student, a curriculum that prepares you to contribute as an engineer and helps you hone the ability to learn fast and improve, and clear guidance and expectations about the job-search process, you should be well on your way.
If you don’t believe me, ask Michael.
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Hi there - I’m Rebekah. I run Career Services at Flatiron School - and that’s been my job since 2013. Over 800 graduates have entered our job-search process while I’ve been around.
I still lose sleep over graduates who aren’t able to succeed in their job search (2% of our job-seekers, historically). Our entire team still celebrates every single time someone gets a job (the other 98%).
Instead of why bootcamps fail to deliver, I’d ask a different question here. Actually, two:
- What works? Why does anyone ever succeed at getting a software developer job after only 12 weeks or so of training?
- Are coding schools being honest about their job placement statistics and outcomes information?
Let’s tackle these one at a time.
1. What works?
There are really only two components to any of these programs: The students, and the school experience. Obviously, both sides of this are really complex. But let’s touch on each one:
- Students: Anyone can learn to code. We truly believe that. Not anyone can learn to code to a level of professional readiness in 12 weeks through a full-time program. Maybe it takes you longer than the length of the program to master the concepts. Maybe, actually, this isn’t the right career path for you, and you don’t find the content compelling. Maybe you don’t have the support at home to give 110% to that experience, so you’re distracted and don’t live up to your potential in the course.
Our admissions team works with students to make sure they have the right expectations coming into our programs - and actually, we rarely admit anyone to Flatiron School if they haven’t taken a stab at writing code already. We even launched a totally free Bootcamp Prep course to help applicants (to any bootcamp!) get up to speed before starting, and an Online Web Developer Program for students who know an full-time, in-person program isn’t right for them.
Being prepared for this experience and having the right expectations are half the battle. Be ready to work harder than everyone else. If anyone’s telling you this is easy, be very, very suspicious. - Program: I could talk about curriculum, what languages schools teach, and what kinds of information you’ll be asked in interviews, but this really comes down to three things:
- Did you learn the content? Entire books have been written on this topic - it’s hard to figure out whether learning has occurred. We’ve built a set of graduation requirements that have worked for us over the past four years, and I’m sure every school has their own set of standards. But in lieu of a silver-bullet answer (there isn’t one), be really honest with yourself: How well do you really understand what you’re doing? Could you reverse-engineer that gem, and build it back up? How rigorous are the requirements of your course? How thoroughly have you mastered what you’re learning?
Passing an exam will never be enough to prove you’re job-ready. Programs that work hold students to rigorous, market-aligned standards. And in the end, that should all bear out in the outcomes data - more on that below. - Did you learn how to learn? On day one of their first job, nearly every single one of our graduates is using a tool they’ve never seen before. We can’t teach everything you’ll need on the job. No bootcamp can. If, however, you’re prepared to jump into a totally overwhelming problem you’ve never encountered and tackle it until it’s solved, you’ll be prepared for a job.
You’ll never learn everything you’ll ever need to know in 12 weeks. A reputable school will tell you that at the outset - and will reiterate it many, many times during your course. - Do you have the right tools to succeed in the job search? Graduates don’t just get jobs because they know how to code. The job-search part takes work, too. And those skills - how to write e-mails that get responses from employers, how to articulate your value as a career-changer, what to do to get your foot in the door at companies - often have nothing to do with coding.
At Flatiron School, we set very clear expectations with graduates about what it takes to get a job, and we match every grad up with a Career Coach, who gives constant feedback and guidance along the way.
Having the right expectations for the job search, and getting feedback along the way, can be the difference between landing a position and flailing for a long time.
- Did you learn the content? Entire books have been written on this topic - it’s hard to figure out whether learning has occurred. We’ve built a set of graduation requirements that have worked for us over the past four years, and I’m sure every school has their own set of standards. But in lieu of a silver-bullet answer (there isn’t one), be really honest with yourself: How well do you really understand what you’re doing? Could you reverse-engineer that gem, and build it back up? How rigorous are the requirements of your course? How thoroughly have you mastered what you’re learning?
With a lot of elbow grease from our amazing students, the above has worked for Flatiron School grads. Our grads work at Google, Facebook, Apple, Etsy, Kickstarter, IBM, Spotify, Betterment, and hundreds of other companies. One guy even ended up at NASA. He used to be a film production assistant - now he is a literal rocket scientist.
2. Are bootcamps telling the truth about their numbers?
Almost two years after a group of 10 bootcamps signed a letter to President Obama vowing to release transparent, rigorous, third-party audited outcomes reporting, eight out of ten schools still have not done so. (Flatiron School and Wyncode have; Turing School of Software & Design’s 2015 Outcomes Overview is also transparent, straightforward, and third-party verified.)
Flatiron School’s outcomes report includes real data on every single student, examined by a third-party CPA firm - that means that, in addition to checking our math, the firm actually verified with the students themselves that these results were accurate.
If the numbers a school releases are misleading or flat-out wrong, then the expectations that school is setting setting are incorrect. And that’s why they’re not living up to them.
The fact remains, that nobody just graduates from one of these programs and is handed a job. But with the right expectations and commitment as a student, a curriculum that prepares you to contribute as an engineer and helps you hone the ability to learn fast and improve, and clear guidance and expectations about the job-search process, you should be well on your way.
If you don’t believe me, ask Michael.
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
