Episode 27: March 2018 Bootcamp News

In our March 2018 technology bootcamp news roundup, we discuss all the industry news that we've been talking about at Course Report! We have some fun celebratory announcements, we looked at news about the positive impact bootcamps are having on individuals and companies, and the debate continued between coding bootcamps and computer science degrees. We heard about some great student experiences at bootcamp, some wonderful diversity initiatives, and new scholarship opportunities. Plus, a good number of new coding bootcamps and campuses launched in March. Read the roundup below or listen to the podcast!

Congratulations!

• Tech Hire is turning 3 – remember TechHire is the Obama-era initiative to foster the tech pipeline in cities around America.
• Grand Circus bootcamp in Detroit is celebrating their 5th birthday.
• 42, a bootcamp in Paris and SF, is also turning 5!
• The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Neal Sales-Griffin, who is the founder of Starter League (acquired by Fullstack Academy), is running for Chicago Mayor. We’ll need to follow his candidacy!
• Online coding bootcamp Thinkful announced a $10 million fundraise from Leif! Leif is a fintech company and they’re going to drive Thinkful’s Income Share Agreement (ISA) program.
• The team at Thinkful used supervised learning to predict the Best Picture Oscar winner, and they got it correct - The Shape of Water!  
• Al Jazeera reported that Thinkful also created an interactive online map so that people can see their reps’ positions on net neutrality.
   

Hiring and Getting Hired From Bootcamp

• The Albuquerque business journal and KUNM looked at how coding bootcamps and online courses are increasing the workforce supply, and companies in the area are growing.
• L.A. Biz looked at how hard the job search can be for code school graduates with no experience, and gives tips for surviving.
  • Related: How to Make Your LinkedIn Stand Out Without Coding Experience
  • Related: You Graduated From Coding Bootcamp: Now What?!
• Steven Norton from The Wall Street Journal looked at how Liberty Mutual is sending its employees to coding bootcamps to upskill in a partnership with The Software Guild.
• TechRepublic looked at how Coding Dojo found that students with a high school education can double their salary after graduating from the coding bootcamp.
  • Related: Course Report 2017 Outcomes & Demographics Survey
• Udacity recently scrapped their job guarantee for their Nanodegree Plus, and Cait Etherington from eLearningInside wonders if other bootcamps will follow.
• eLearningInside also put out a podcast about Mined Mines bootcamp in Pennsylvania, looking at what Mined Mines promised, why it was founded, and why it failed.
• nationSwell looked at education options veterans get when they transition out of the military, and profiled NPower, a nonprofit specializing in tech and soft skills training for veterans to land jobs in tech with a 26-week coding bootcamp.
  • Related: The GI Bill and Coding Bootcamps Podcast
     

Coding Bootcamp vs CS Degrees

• The University of Toronto News website talked to a university professor about the differences between CS degrees and coding bootcamp curricula.
• The American Genius compared apprenticeships to coding bootcamps, college, and self-teaching. The piece looked at how apprenticeships may be a better way to accelerate careers and they mention one of the few success stories – Digital Creative Institute which is a 12-month digital marketing apprenticeship based in San Antonio and Austin, Texas.
• A new apprenticeship program launched in Idaho called Code-to-Career and it’s a partnership between Apprenticeship Idaho and the Idaho Technology Council.
• The Daily Texan looks at the Trilogy Education bootcamp at the University of Texas and talks about the unknown outcomes of coding bootcamps versus CS degrees and how much of a risk it is to enroll in one.
• Jaxenter.com analyzed the 2018 Stack Overflow Developer survey to look at whether ethics education for coders is adequate, comparing the approach at colleges versus coding bootcamps.
   

Student Experiences at Bootcamp

• A graduate of Case Western Reserve University Coding Boot Camp writes about her experience for Cleveland Magazine, including the emotional cost of learning to code, and her background as a musician and content migration specialist.
• Hypepotamus highlighted a graduate from DigitalCrafts in Atlanta, Seth Zimmerman, who was working at Disney World, then went to DigitalCrafts, and is now looking for his first job as a developer.
• Startland News profiled a number of LaunchCode grads including an Afghan immigrant, a mother of six, an English grad who switched careers, and a man now able to provide for his family.
   

Diversity in Tech

• UK Tech News looks at the lack of diversity in tech, and talks to Evgeny Shadchnev, the CEO of Makers Academy programming bootcamp in London, who says that 35% of students are women.
• Built in Austin talks to 4 local tech companies to find out how they promote diversity in their companies. Atlassian partners with organizations like Galvanize to provide scholarships for underrepresented women; and other companies partner with groups like Girls Who Code and Blacks in Technology to engage with the community in their outreach efforts.
• 512tech.com shared how one of the first speakers at South by Southwest was French activist Joséphine Goube, the CEO of Techfugees, which helps refugees around the world with resources like free Wi-Fi, blockchain-enabled cash, and coding boot camps to help migrants learn tech skills and integrate into societies.
• Fereshteh Forough is the founder of Code to Inspire, a bootcamp for women in Afghanistan – she was interviewed in Daze Digital magazine in March, and then she was highlighted as one of Vogue Australia’s Game Changers for 2018. Go Fereshteh!
• Forbes, The New York Times, and Mashable reported that model Karlie Kloss is expanding her Kode with Klossy classes from 15 camps in 12 cities to 50 camps in 25 cities, with the aim to teach 1000 girls aged 13-18 per year.
• Rebecca Greenfield of Bloomberg looked at whether coding bootcamps have been successful in increasing diversity in tech and how some tech companies are still trying to help the skills gap problem.
• Forbes profiles Paria Rajai, who used to work at Hackbright Academy and now works at MissionU, about her own personal mission to drive tech accessibility.
• In an article about optimizing your company for an exit strategy, Entrepreneur looks at how investors may think twice about acquiring less than diverse startups, and how you can diversify your team by avoiding employee referrals, and hiring coding bootcamp grads, and veterans.
   

Coding Bootcamp Scholarships

• Henry Kronk of eLearningInside looked at how free, nonprofit coding bootcamps are gaining popularity. He gives examples like Meridian partnering with Grand Circus, and free bootcamps like Founders & Coders and Ada Developers Academy
• Edtech company 2U announced that they will provide $150,000 in scholarships and $240,000 in apprenticeships to low-income students at Flatiron School and WeWork’s new coding bootcamp initiative, Access Labs.
• Facebook is partnering with Claim Academy to offer full tuition scholarships for residents of Missouri. But you’ll need to act fast - class runs from April 7 until June 30.
   

New Bootcamps/Campuses/Courses

• Next Pittsburgh covered the announcement of Tech Elevator’s new Pittsburgh campus opening in May. The first course in Pittsburgh is 14 weeks and will focus on Java.
• Northcoders coding bootcamp in Manchester, UK is launching a new self-paced curriculum.
• New River Community and Technical College in Beaver, West Virginia is now offering an intensive 12-week software development bootcamp class to prepare students for jobs.
• Let’s Code Algoma iOS bootcamp launches on April 3rd in Sault Ste Marie in Ontario, Canada. The course is an intensive 8-week bootcamp for students aged 18-29.
• Flatiron School is opening a campus at a London, UK WeWork.
• TechCrunch profiles NextGenT, a 16-week online bootcamp for getting a certificate in network management. The program will cover the basics of network engineering, the IT industry, and students will work on a project which simulates the rollout of an HQ facility, before getting certified to enter the workforce. NextGenT also includes career coaching and will cost $12,000.
• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shared that i.c. stars is launching in Milwaukee. i.c.stars teaches technology and other skills for free by focusing on projects from local employers. Students are paid a $150 per week stipend. The four-month program is followed by two years of coaching, professional development, and job search support.
• Coder Foundry is back after filing for bankruptcy. CoreTechs, owned by Bobby Davis, who also owned Coder Foundry, has bought the bootcamps assets for $20K, and will start classes again in May.
• A 12-week coding bootcamp will soon launch in Traverse City, Michigan to prepare applicants for open jobs in the area.
• Metro reports that Columbia University in New York is partnering with Trilogy Education to offer a 24-week, part-time coding bootcamp. Enrollment is open now, the bootcamp costs $12,995, and classes begin on June 5.  
   

New Schools on Course Report

• Code Immersives, New York City
• Momentum, Durham, NC
• Dataquest, online
• Techtonica, San Francisco, CA
• MediaTech Institute, Houston & Dallas, TX
• NPower, NYC and Dallas, TX
   

Favorite pieces on the Blog in March

Liz Eggleston

• Liz enjoyed moderating a webinar with Jeff Casimir from Turing School and Rebekah Rombom from Flatiron School about how to get a job after a bootcamp. We talked about:
  • How to structure your job search once you're on your own
  • Whether you should accept an apprenticeship/internship
  • If factors like education background and age impact salary after a bootcamp
  • Jeff & Rebekah's feelings on networking and meetups

Lauren Stewart

• Lauren loved interviewing Ed Jasper of Flatiron School. Ed graduated from Flatiron School 4 years ago and tells us about his career journey including his background as a personal trainer, his full scholarship at Flatiron School, and finding developer roles in fashion tech. He also shares his experience as a person of color and a person within the LGBTQ community and how that has impacted his life in tech. He’s now a Front End Developer at Rent the Runway!

Imogen Crispe

• I really enjoyed working on two video pieces focused on finding jobs after bootcamp. The first was a video on What To Expect in a Data Science Job Interview, where I interviewed Andrew Savage, a career adviser at Metis Data Science bootcamp about the sort of interview questions to expect, and how to prepare for your data science interview. The other piece was a video with Fullstack Academy and Grace Hopper Program careers lead Ceren Depree, who explained how to craft your LinkedIn and resume to get a job as a software developer, even with NO relevant work experience!

FURTHER READING/LISTENING

• February 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup and Podcast
• Podcast: All Women's Coding Bootcamps
• January 2018 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast

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About The Author

Imogen is a writer and content producer who loves writing about technology and education. Her background is in journalism, writing for newspapers and news websites. She grew up in England, Dubai and New Zealand, and now lives in Brooklyn, NY.