Dev Bootcamp

About seven months ago (Jan 2016) I did a ton of research on bootcamps, including reading every relevant review on Course Report. The most important question I was trying to answer was 'will I get a job afterwards'? That's probably where you're at right now.

Unfortunately I can't answer this question quite yet as I've only sent out one application so far, and that was yesterday. The good news it that I got a coding challenge in reply and will have an interview at the start of next week (assuming I finish the coding challenge), with a hiring decision made by the end of the week. I'll update this review as things progress.

Apart from employment, I can say that the experience was fantastic. Most importantly, Kevin and Mark are intelligent, thoughtful instructors who care about each student individually. They did an excellent job across the board, and that's coming from someone who was an English teacher for the past seven years. Kimbra, Brianne, and Amanda are positive, helpful, work hard to give DBC the largest footprint possible in San Diego, and are also constantly networking with employers in Los Angeles and SoCal. I personally benefited greatly from weekly counseling sessions with our clinical psychologist Terra, and Gia was a fun yoga teacher who kept classes appropriately challenging. All said, the staff surpassed my expectations.

I gave the curriculum four stars because I don't feel that it's perfect yet. I think the material was great, very relevant, and helped us cover a wide range of subjects in a short amount of time. That said, the presentation/submission format using Github was unwieldy at times (although to be fair it did give us lots of practice with Github) and difficult to keep organized. I think there is progress that could be made there, although as far as the educational content of material itself is concerned I give it five stars.

As for job assistance, I give it a solid four stars. DBC specifically states that they aren't a 'job finding service'. I seriously debated other bootcamps who offered things like tuition reimbursement if you don't find a job within six months, but in the end I decided that if I was going to bet on anything then I would bet on myself doing well in the course and being a strong candidate afterwards. I'm happy with that decision so far. Apart from that, as I stated before Brianne works tirelessly behind the scenes to grow the employer network, is in the process of setting up an apprenticeship program with local companies, and organized a very helpful career week which included eight guest speakers who currently work in the industry. So what could be improved? Well, nothing that they're not working on already. DBC is still pretty new in San Diego so the connections that they have with employers isn't as strong as other bootcamps that have been here for over a year, but they are catching up quickly. Also, I think the focus on finding a job could be emphasized earlier in the program. For example, in Phase 0 (the 9-week remote portion) it would have been very useful to read articles on the current state of the tech industry, who the big players are here in SoCal, info about good tech Meetup groups, making connections on LinkedIn, starting a tech Twitter account/online presence, etc. I did some of these things on my own, but felt overwhelmed when career week started and I realized how much I still had to do. I've given Brianne and Kevin feedback and I feel confident it will get passed along to the people in charge of Phase 0.

There are only two other things I'd like to cover. One, the workload. Previous to Phase 0 I had decided that I was going to be the hardest working, most applied, strongest student in my cohort and would have job offers within the first week of finishing the course, if not sooner. At the time it felt ambitious, but doable. Then we started Phase 1, and let's just say that I had severely underestimated the scope of the material that we would cover. For nine weeks I was generally the first one to arrive and the last to leave, spending over 80 hours a week at DBC, and I couldn't get all the work done (granted, I had zero prior coding experience). What I'm trying to say is don't underestimate the amount of information that you'll cover in a bootcamp. If you're thinking you can be a rockstar and learn everything, think again. After graduating from a bootcamp your value as an employee is less what you know, and more about how quickly you can identify, research, and implement new technology. Of course you should learn as much as you can,don't get me wrong, but it's important to have realistic expectations going in. You're climbing Mount Everest, and no bootcamp experience will get you more than 5% up the mountain, although they will give you all of the tools you'll need to the summit.
Lastly, perhaps you're wondering how various bootcamps in San Diego (at the moment of writing this there are only two others that I'm aware of, LEARN and Origin) stack up against each other in terms of quality of education. I can't say for certain, since I've only attended one of them. However I have been to four of their 'demo days' where students display their final projects, and I'm satisfied with having chosen DBC. That said, I think you'll get a very similar experience and gain a solid skillset at any of them, and I would counsel going with the bootcamp that best matches your needs in other areas (main programming language, location, tuition amount, class size, etc.) to help make a decision. You can contact for more specific info on that topic, if you like.
All in all, it was a wild ride. I pushed myself and got to places that I never thought I would, and although I am now aware of how little I know (which is still a lot!) I do feel prepared to join a team and be a contributing member from day 1. I've got some of the skills, but more importantly I've got the mindset. I know it can't be any more difficult than what I've faced here at DBC, which I overcame.
If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at gabrielbonner at gmail dot com. I'd love to be of assistance to anyone else who is faced with the same tough decisions that I made seven months ago. Also, I'll update this as soon as I get a job, which I'm confident will happen in the next few weeks.
Oh, and if one of your doubts is whether this is field that you'd like to get into, coming from no coding background I can now say that I love it more than I ever thought I would have. My only regret is that I didn't find out about it sooner. :)

(UPDATE)

Yay, I got a job!  I finished DBC on July 15th, and started work on August 29th.  (That's 6 weeks and 3 days, for those keeping track.)  My title is Jr. Software Engineer, and I'm working with Django, Python, Backbone, Angular, and an iOS and an Android app.  It's been quite a challenge getting up to speed, but I'm really enjoying myself.

Anyways, a few things to note.  I got the job through another student from my cohort.  They had done some front-end contracting work with the company before, and after they finished DBC they were offered a full time position with said company.  The CEO mentioned that he was looking for a few jr. devs, and my cohort-mate gave me a referral.  What's the take-away?  From my experience, 75% plus of my cohort that have gotten jobs have gotten their initial interview through their network, so make sure you spend time building and maintaining contacts, they will be by far your best resource when looking for opportunities!

Another thing I'd like to note is that I did much better on the technical interview this time around.  The first interview I went to (that I mentioned in my initial CourseReport review), well, I wasn't really prepared.  I had the technical knowledge to pass it, but I hadn't spent enough time practicing algorithms with someone watching me, and talking aloud about what I was doing while I was doing it.  My strong advice is to practice on Pramp (pramp.com) at least an hour a day once you finish a bootcamp, that will really help you seal the deal if you get to the technical interview.

Overall, 13 of the 18 people from my cohort have found jobs so far (although it should be noted that three of them didn't start the job search right after finishing DBC, two went on vacation and one went to Burning Man).  We're 2 months out as I write this, so I feel like that's a decent success rate.  I've been trying to help those who haven't found work yet, but it's tough.  The job search grind is a long, slow process, and can be quite demoralizing if you don't stay busy.  For example, one person sent out 81 resumes before finding a position.

Like I said before, I can be contacted if you'd have any specific questions that I didn't address here.  All in all, although I didn't get a job quite as soon as I originally thought I would, everything worked out more or less according to expectations.  I wish you well in your decision making process, it's a tough choice that has no guaranteed outcome.  It's a calculated risk, one that you're researching now and that may eventually end up in a 'leap of faith' if you decide to entrust your time and money to a bootcamp to prepare you for a career change.  For what it's worth, I can say that I'm very happy that I was a part of DBC San Diego's 2016 Pocket Gophers cohort.  I'll leave you with a quote from John A Shedd that I find inspiring.

"A ship in harbor is safe; but that is not what ships are built for."

Best of luck.

I blogged about my experience going through Dev Bootcamp as it was happening. Check it out here, or read on for a more general take on my experience as a whole.

I imagine that different people get different things out of this experience. I came to DBC lacking in self confidence and self worth. I had spent the few years prior in jobs that had sapped my energy and all but obliterated my natural optimism. This program was my last ditch effort to find something, anything, that I could be good at.

So my story was quite dramatic. In the span of 19 weeks, I went from feeling like a nobody to feeling like I had real value to add to society. If I had the option, I would go back in time to repeat the experience, it was that rich. There's was always more to do than there was time for.

Regarding the space itself - I'm not sure what it is, but it's like there's magic in the air. Returning as an alum, the feeling is still there. Partly, it's NYC. DBC NYC is on Wall St., and the energy and ambition there practically thrums. Add in this sort of reckless, unapologetic optimism from DBC, and the resulting mix is unforgettable.

On a more practical level - I chose to go to Dev Bootcamp because I wanted a software job and I couldn't find anyone that would hire me with no experience. It took me only a month and a half after graduating to get a very nice software engineering job at a company with a fantastic culture. In fact, they've been listed as one of the top places to work in DC for four years now. From a personal financial perspective, my return on investment was spectacular.

In doing Dev Bootcamp, I rediscovered my natural optimism and was able to build my self-confidence back up to normal levels. That, more than anything, is what has allowed me to be successful now, in another city hundreds of miles from my fellow DBC developers. I attribute this to the structure of the program itself and to the commitment and energy the DBC staff bring to work every single day. I am a success because of them. And I hope that one day someone else will be a success because of me.

I absolutely 100% loved my experience at Devbootcamp.  The educational experience there was amazing due to a few factors: the holistic, emotional intelligence approach; integrated pairing/group work; and just the fact the plain and simple fact that everyone was really excited to learn.  Even though I was at a higher knowledge base coming in (and as such, requested some adjustments to my own learning experience during Phase 0), I chose DevBootcamp because of the culture.  They are extraordinarily okay with failing, with making your own learning choices, and in general, just really care about you and your educational experience.

 Other reasons why I chose DBC over others: good price point, the teachers actually have industry experience (some bootcamps only hire grads which makes no sense), raving reviews from friends, after graduation career support, and they were just so dang friendly and welcoming.  Also, who doesn't want yoga and therapy sessions available?

More reasons that I found out DBC was awesome while in/after the program: The program is really, really open to feedback and actually incorporates your feedback on a weekly basis.  I was unhappy with the technical interview training that DBC provides and how prepped I feel for jobs, and so they instituted some new changes to their careers program.  Also, the space is available afterwards to alumni to work in, and the community/alumni events are frequent and great.  

The actual educational experience itself was so great.  It was collaborative, supportive, and most of all, really fun.  It was long hours, but not as long as other bootcamps (which I was afraid would eat me alive).  It was a good pace, with the curriculum and materials all building on top of each other.  The instructor/student ratio was really great (at least 1 instructor for every 12 students).  I didn't need to take advantage of the option to repeat, but I know some many people who did and said it was the best thing they did.  

The only downside I would say are some things with the career program: there is very little technical interview training, the employee network that they tote is limited in scope (you are only allowed to reach out to a total of three companies), and they don't have a careers person that has actual technical interview experience.  However, I know they are currently working on changing and updating the program, which is a testament to how much DBC cares about making the program the best it can be for their students.  

All in all, I would happily recommend this experience to anyone.  I literally found it to be educational paradise.  

I highly recommend Dev Bootcamp for anyone who wants to learn to code.  It's and intensive immersive experience that gives you about 1000 hours of rigourous, self-reinforcing learning in a community of people driven to learn.  That's about as good as it gets.  It's not easy and it's not perfect, but it's one hell of a start.  

This was a great option to grow yourself personally and really stand out from other boot-campers. And even if you didn't end up wanting to be a developer, it's worth the time and money spent to develop intensely on a personal level and truly learn how to learn for the rest of your life. 

You really learn to give and get feedback better along with strengthening your self awareness. The yoga is an amazing value-added thing as would be the counselors if you had more time and they didn't seem a bit detached (understandable given everyone there is used to saying goodbye every few weeks).  

The downsides being that the cohorts are really big. I think this takes away from one of their fundamental values in connecting with people better and I often felt lost in the crowd or fallen in the cracks. 

An intense personal situation also got worse because one of the counselors on staff thought that the situation would be better resolved by having a group session without any context or speaking with the individuals first. The whole thing was escalated by the staff despite strong resistance from the party who chose to give uncomfortable and private feedback during the weekly survey. This created a lot of distrust about giving feedback that was promised to be confidential. 

I agree with the two guys below. I attended the Chicago cohort and none of my friends have a job, there is a few, but not many. I don't think it's worth all the money now that I look back. Just because no ones talks about it, doesn't mean its not going on. Learn MEAN stack, Rails in this market is become obsolete. If you are junior and want to find a job I would recommend consulting companies like remote tiger, those guys help juniors get place in good companies like Disney or Apple as conrtactors, but they pay decent and are very helpful to get newbies started.

Dev Bootcamp was not the funnest experience of my life, but I wanted to learn to code and to get a job as a software engineer and, after finishing, I was hired right away and have been working as an engineer for nearly a year now. I love my new job and that makes the pain of getting through worth it.

I think a lot of what makes Dev Bootcamp grads successful is their ability to be flexible and learn quickly. This is not something you can teach in a brief bootcamp program, but if you have these characteristics, then you will likely pull through the very intense program and be successful in the industry.

For me, I felt like there was a bit too much emphasis on the etra-curriculars (things like doing impov with your team and improving yourself as a person -- which, of course, is not a bad thing, just not what you likely paid the tuition to learn/do), but other people really loved that stuff. And on the whole, the program perpared me and my cohort mates who made it through for good jobs ahead.

I finally learned how to learn. I embrace being confused becaue it means I'm making progress learning something and that not being confused is a state of complacency. Sure, I learned SOLID principles, OOP design best practices and closures in JavaScript. But more importantly, I learned that I can pick up enough in a new programming language in a few hours to build a ToDo app or in a few days to build an app. 

The instructors are amazing because they focus on guiding learning through so many channels - delivering lectures on new technical knowledge, creating resources to reveal more learning opportunities, through fostering and encouraging relationships that provide opportunities in deepening my emotional intelligence and leadership skills and habits. 

It's a positive, quirky space that invites you to be YOU. To bring your whole self and dive into learning and build meaningful and beautiful projects. 

Plus the yoga, counseling and balance of independent and team work make it a well-rounded place to learn! 

The actual space could use a facelift but doesn't deter from the work environment or the culture of learning and community that is cultivated and celebrated. 

There are many programs like Dev Bootcamp now. I attended back in Summer of 2013 and I will say that it was an incredbile experience. Everyone helps each other, and you truly feel like you can shape the processes and lesson plans.

Things that set DBC apart:

1. Polish. They've had the most time to iterate on their program as it is one of the oldest of its type.

2. Engineering Empathy. It is not all about the code, it is really all about how to learn, be open, and humble.

People who succeeded:

- Prepped a lot before coming

- Arrive early, leave late

- Do more than the challenges required

- Hustle

People who did not succeed:

- Complained about others not doing enough for them (can be a valid complaint, but you need to step up too)

- Arrived late, left when the teachers did

- Tried only to complete assignments, not learn what was behind each assignment, how things worked exactly.

Today I work as a Senior Software Engineer at a growing startup getting paid a good amount of money and working on interesting things. I worked very hard in the program, and worked hard afterwards to find a good job. If you do this program, give yourself to it 100% and it will pay off. Do not try to do this part time, or if you just had a baby, or along with any other time consuming life experiences.

My experience at DBC was top notch!  I came in with a strong analytical mind and did very well in the algorithms phase (the first phase).  However I initially struggled with the web developement phase (rails) and was very lucky to have the opportunity to repeat.  I think this is something that sets DBC apart from other schools.  I came out of DBC as a great candidate and got a job 3 weeks after I graduated.  DBC is a great place if you are willing to put in the work and ask questions when you are stuck.  Career services (in the NYC offices) are pretty weak.  My career coach didn't help me too much but everyone else was awesome.  If you attend DBC-NYC, talke to Sererna as much as you can.  She is unbelievable at her job and gives great advice.  If you attend DBC leverage everyone you can.  It doesn't matter if they aren't your cohort lead, career coach, or instructor, everyone at DBC is there to help you learn and get a job.  LEVERAGE THEM!