Are Coding Bootcamps Worth It_

The coding boot camp industry is quite similar to the fake guru, entrepreneur, mastermind

super expensive business coaching and seminar industry. Let me explain. Now, this video probably won't win me a ton of friends in the world of coding boot camps

If I ever decided to do sponsored videos on this channel, then this could possibly even prevent me

from getting some sponsorships. But I'm fine with that because I want you to know the truth

Let's be real here. Even though the software development industry is awesome and has life-changing potential

it's just not going to be everybody. A lot of folks who start down this journey aren't even going to make it to the point where they can apply for jobs

And others will start applying for jobs, but they're going to give up before they ever get an interview or before they get a job offer

Some folks blame an oversaturated industry. The same thing was being said when I first started out

And others say it's too hard. Well, it is really hard. Yet a lot of people do succeed

And there are a hundred other excuses or scapegoats out there for why people aren't able to succeed

My big concern is that in software development, there are four different groups of people out there

and two of these groups are easy to take advantage of financially. In the first group, you have the people who just don't have an aptitude for coding

or there's just a lack of interest. They might dip their toes into coding, but they quickly realize it's not for them and they move on

Group two are the Wana coders. These are the people who are trying to live the programming life or project that lifestyle

without actually living the life. The third group has put in a lot of effort

but they wash out right before the payoff. They just need a little bit more perseverance

maybe push away their fears and not give in to excuses. They're so close, they could make it but give

up a couple feet before the finish line It just over the edge of the hill and they might not even know how close they are to the finish line If this is you just keep going you closer than you think The fourth group of people are the ones who put in hard work

They persisted through the emotional and mental challenges and eventually got a job

We're not going to focus tons on groups one and four because the outcomes are pretty obvious

Instead, let's focus on groups two and three. Now, I worry that these groups are pretty large and that a lot of coding boot camps seek to profit off of them in predatory ways

Juana coders. These people are always in a state of learning to code, or at least they talk like they are, but they usually aren't doing much. They might blow $3,000 on an expensive laptop that their favorite programmer uses, and they're always working on an app or some tutorial. They'll be ready in six months, which turns into years. They blow money on freaking expensive courses and boot camps, but they always seem to be stuck in this pattern of spending money without getting anywhere. So what is up with that? Well, for these people, it's not actually about becoming

a programmer. Staying in the cycle lets them live off of the dopamine that comes from anticipating

the lifestyle. It's not until they get a wake-up call like being booted out of their parents' basement

or they run out of money that the truth comes out and their fake identity fizzles. The laptop

the expensive boot camp are just social signaling. It gives them something to flex. Think about it

Why would someone pay several years' worth of college tuition to attend a three to six-month boot camp

especially when there are more affordable options out there. Because just like fake entrepreneurs like to flex expensive business guru programs

these people want expensive boot camps in order to signal or project their success

that they're being part of the cool club. And if you in this group two you just got to wake up before you end up going broke Find something to actually do something that actually interests you so that you can make something of your life And it not just Group 2 who gets sucked into paying high prices for a boot camp

Group 3 is also susceptible to overpaying, but for different reasons. Paying for an expensive boot camp is a way that lets you trick yourself into believing that

you are better than yourself or more qualified than you are because you took a more expensive

course, which should in theory look better on a resume and hopefully provide better education

Makes you feel like a success and subconsciously you hope it means that you'll avoid a lot of that pain of trying to get that first job

The truth is, no one is going to give a flying turd about your boot camp

You could have taken a $5,000 coding boot camp or a $20,000 boot camp

It doesn't matter. It's not going to stand out like a computer science degree

What matters is you and your skills and how well you can sell those skills

That's it. That is what matters. If we're being honest here, the problem is you

You simply lack confidence because you just have. haven't put in the time to develop the skills

This isn't just a software industry thing. High-paying companies tend to want specialized employees that fit a specific need

It's just how it is. Going to a coding boot camp does not guarantee you a job

And the more topics that the boot camp tries to cover in a short period of time, the less prepared you might actually be

For a lot of people, the solution is time and effort, putting in the time to develop enough skills, to prove that you can do it

And it took me around nine months to start feeling like I was grasping things. to where I could really work independently

I then looked for opportunities to use those skills, to build things on my own, and for my employer at the time

I ended up doing a lot of software development things for that employer before launching off into the tech industry

And guess what? I still felt completely unprepared and in a lot of ways I was There was just a ton of stuff that I didn know about building software in an enterprise environment Not to mention that I had to deal with a ton of imposter syndrome But what is really important here is that I had reached a point where I was

confident that I could figure things out, that I could demonstrate my potential to hiring

manager who then ended up going out on a limb and gave me a chance. And to be clear, it's not my

intention to scare you away from becoming a software developer. I just don't want you to feel compelled

to dump tens of thousands of dollars into a program because you hope that doing so will be some

magic pill for success. The coding boot camps know you have self-doubt and they count on this. They're

preying on your insecurities and sell themselves as that magic pill, but don't buy into that marketing

hype. We all have self-doubt and insecurities. I have insecurities and you're most likely much more

capable than you think. Yes, some people could benefit from the structure, but seriously

how much is that worth? Take one-tenth of what you would spend

on a boot camp and put that into some high quality online courses

And so long as you have a plan and you set aside a lot of time to learn and to build things

you can get there and save a ton of money. And don't even buy all those courses up front

Just buy one of them as you need them and then buy another. And you might find out that you don't even come close to spending one-tenth of the cost of the boot camp

by the time you are actually ready to do things and just to be out working on your own

Or if you start with free resources, you might not end up spending hardly any money at all

when you feel like giving up keep pushing forward because you're almost there and if

there's one thing that you could take away from this video it is that I want you to

remember that if you have it in you to succeed with a boot camp you have it in you to

succeed without a boot camp just saying anyways here are some of the things that I

wish I knew when I was starting out thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one late