We know that the majority of graduates are finding jobs after coding bootcamp, but what happens in their careers two years down the line? Flatiron School recently surveyed more than 150 alumni who graduated 1 to 4 years ago to find out how their careers have progressed. We asked Flatiron School’s VP of Career Services, Rebekah Rombom, what coding bootcampers can expect their career trajectories to look like, and how they can position themselves for raises and promotions. Watch the video or read the summary.
Your First Job
What can Flatiron School graduates expect in their first jobs after bootcamp?
- Your first job is an extension of your learning.
- You’re now working for a real company, and your primary responsibility is to build value for them, produce code, be a contributing member of their team.
- 53% of Flatiron School graduates take internships or apprenticeships when they graduate, 39% take full time salaried jobs, and 5% are freelancers.
Salary after Coding Bootcamp
How much are they getting paid?
- Paygrades vary widely.
- Internships can start at $12 to $15 per hour, and can go up to $50 per hour depending on the company.
- For full-time roles, the average starting salary is around $74,000 in NYC, and around $65,000 across the country.
Are Flatiron School alumni getting raises and promotions?
- Students who took full-time jobs after Flatiron School have a starting salary of $74,000 on average.
- At end of one year, the average salary moves to $83,000.
- At 24 months, they see an average of $91,000.
- At 36 months that average rises to $110,000.
- Alumni are taking on more responsibility, and becoming more valuable members of their teams.
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EXAMPLE: Steven started at New York company Streeteasy.com as a junior developer. Four years later, he is managing their entire team of engineers.
Career After Bootcamp
What does the Flatiron Alumni Survey show about Career Progression?
- Students come to Flatiron School not just to get a job, but to start a career.
- Students continue to learn in their first jobs, then are able to progress their careers to a lead role, or a more senior technical position as a contributor, or some become entrepreneurs or move into product.
What types of jobs do you see after two years?
- Some graduates take junior engineering jobs for a year or two then move into product management.
- Some are individual contributors at first, then begin to lead a team.
- Students who start out in individual contributor jobs as junior developers will often become entrepreneurs and start their own companies, using that baseline of skills from Flatiron School and in their first couple of years on the job.
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EXAMPLE: Chris graduated in 2013 and went on to start his career at a finance firm as a developer for a couple of years. With his background in hedge funds, he was able to use that experience to make himself an extraordinarily valuable contributor to the engineering team, and is now a VP at that firm.
How can bootcamp grads position themselves for promotions and added responsibility in their jobs?
- It’s really important to understand precisely what your manager expects of you.
- Sit down with your manager and talk about goals!
- As your job progresses, understand if you’re meeting expectations.
- At the end of your first year, you should be in a great position to negotiate for increased responsibility or higher pay.
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EXAMPLE: Sam started at a startup right after he graduated, writing JavaScript for their core app. Within a year, the company grew so quickly that he started hiring other grads and became a lead for the position he had held the previous year. Now he’s three years out and he’s a Product Lead, traversing the tech team and the business team.
Flatiron Alumni Network
How does Flatiron School keep in touch with alumni?
- The alumni community makes it a priority to keep in touch.
- Right after graduation, the Flatiron School team sees graduates in Slack helping other students with interview prep.
- Graduates who are one, two, or three years out still keep in touch and organize events with each other.
- Last year, Flatiron School had conversations with over 100 alumni about kicking off new job searches, or negotiating a raise.
- They’re really excited to keep in touch with alumni and hear about what they are doing a couple years after school.
Find out more and read Flatiron School reviews on Course Report. Check out the Flatiron School website.
