Self-taught vs bootcamp: why I think the bootcamp route is overrated for career switchers

I spent 8 months self-teaching Python and SQL after my accounting job burned me out. My buddy went to a $14k bootcamp in Austin and finished in 3 months. Guess who got hired first? Me. The bootcamp rushed through projects and he couldn't actually debug anything on his own. I built a real portfolio with a few messy but working apps. Has anyone else found that employers care more about your actual projects than where you learned?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly.keith9d ago

Buddy of mine from my old job did a bootcamp in Chicago, dropped $16k, and he still calls me for help with basic git stuff. Meanwhile I just showed a recruiter my clunky food truck tracker app and got an interview the next week.

abby_carr579d ago

I mean, the bootcamp thing is almost a red flag sometimes. Recruiters see a bootcamp and they know you memorized stuff for a test, not that you can actually build anything. A real project, even if it's janky, proves you can see a problem through to the end. That's way harder to fake than a certificate. People sleep on how much just finishing something shows about you.