u/Niebla396 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
I graduated Jan 2023. I had some interviews here and there for junior roles and internships but always got the feedback that they were looking for people with more experience (which is wild to hear for internship level roles, imo). I managed to get a short (1.5 month) contract jo
u/michaelnovatireplied·★ FEATURED
Thanks for sharing. This is the path Codesmith is calling the "Modern Engineer" by the way, which I strongly disagree with.... you aren't a modern engineer and instead took non SWE roles, and that's ok!!
I think your path is great for a bootcamp grad and while you aren't a SWE yet, you found a way to apply.yoir new technical skills to a more interesting job and it took a could of hops to get there.
Congrats! And good on you for keeping the motivation going.
u/6789dive wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
My experience is atypical. My cohort has ~25% employment a year after graduation, so I def wouldn't bank on it sadly.
u/michaelnovatireplied·
Thanks for being transparent about that. I personally love reading success stories, but they also shouldn't sway people to do bootcamps right now.
A less extreme version of a lottery winner saying "hey lottery worked for me, but you really shouldn't bank your own life on winning the lottery"
u/Exotic-Train288 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
It just isn’t what I thought it would be;
20% of my job is coding, if that.
I work for a large corporation, so I imagine other devs might have a different experience depending on where they work and what kind of teams they find themselves on.
The most frustrating part about
u/michaelnovatireplied·
Hang in there. The transition to SWE isn't about the first job... the job is the BEGINNING and not the END.
If you stick it out 2 years, try to get promoted along the way, you are in good shape to transition to a new company that is hopefully more exciting.
Try to be open minded about how the day to day works though. I see a number of bootcampers get laid off or hit a wall down the road because no one prepared them to succeed on the job.
u/ChooseWhyZlee wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Working as a web developer. It's not full time but it's something. Since I got that on my resume I'm getting a lot more people reaching out.
Just to remind everyone about the inherent nature of confirmation bias on the internet and reddit in particular.
Not trying to sound
u/michaelnovatireplied·
This is why I try hard to contribute up to date analysis based on what information is publicly available out there and synthesizing it.
I take some heat but I think it's important for people to know the reality of the market and make the decision to join a bootcamp for the right reasons.
u/Soft_Welcome_5621 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Why are you so aggressively commenting? Are you working for a boot camp?
u/michaelnovatireplied·
I don't work at a bootcamp no, I'm a moderator of the sub and I use Reddit from notifications and I also am VERY engaged and comment a lot. For this post I got notified because of certain thresholds and then reviewed them and commented things I felt like commenting on.
u/Soft_Welcome_5621 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Hmm it doesn’t note you as a mod so. Did you ever work at boot camp?
u/michaelnovatireplied·★ FEATURED
Moderators list on the right hand side maybe?
My partner ran a bootcamp called Buildschool, which was a free in person iOS bootcamp from 2017 to 2019.
That turned into Formation when I work now, which isn't a bootcamp but I absolutely have bias as a result. We work with engineers who are already employed as SWEs prepare for upcoming interviews and job hunts. So I've worked with a lot of bootcamp grads later on in their careers (about 1/3 or so of people we work with).
As a result I hear a lot about a lot of the top bootcamps.
But I'm also bias because the more people that go to bootcamps the more people need Formation later on.... but ironically I get yelled at for bias AGAINST bootcamps for some reason, which makes no rational sense to me.
u/Soft_Welcome_5621 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
You just dominate the comments sections and feel pushy and sound defensive. Maybe you’re just anxious but it makes you seem like you have an agenda. Also the comment on the mod list feels snarky and not very good. Good luck…
u/michaelnovatireplied·★ FEATURED
I'm defensive of the truth and facts yeah. But I totally get the dominating conversation issue. It's a downside of commenting so much and it can be intimidating to others. I try to balance my commenting and only comment if I have something I feel will add to the existing conversation. But I'm a person and have opinions and a personality too.
Sorry my comment felt snarky.
I do have anxiety problems and other issues yeah, but I don't have an agenda, I'm here because I'm a big fish in a small pond and I feel like I can give a lot of advice that's missing.
The Codesmith subreddit literally has conversations amongst 2-3 people who are all low acitvity accounts almost exclusively commenting and posting about Codesmith... that feels completely fake and disingenuous - [https://www.reddit.com/r/codesmith/](https://www.reddit.com/r/codesmith/)
Even if you don't like me, or don't agree with me, you can judge that clearly and choose to not engage with me or take my advice and you can't do that when people manipulate conversation through anonymous identities.
u/garik_law wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Went to Codesmith and got out in March 2023--1000+ apps and almost entirely nothing. I've been writing YouTube videos for Let's Get Rusty and doing some contract work for my brother, but even with the slightly better resume haven't had any bites. Not worth it at all for me as I'm
u/michaelnovatireplied·★ FEATURED
Can you elaborate on the "slightly shifty resume" means for your?
I'm also seeing this that unless you shifty-it-up to 2 YOE, you won't get any callbacks.
I'm trying to shout this loud and clear - and that Codesmith grads taking non-SWE jobs isn't because they are getting "modern engineer" roles and is because they aren't get SWE roles because they don't exist.
u/TylerSweet_ wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Im gonna take codesmith Lol preparing cohort at Oct and try to pass the technical interview.
u/michaelnovatireplied·
What's your current background?
u/walkunafraid wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Finished April 2023 and had an offer in three weeks (mid-level full-stack SWE). Promoted March 2024. I have been with my company over a year now and love my job.
u/michaelnovatireplied·
How many other people in your cohort are employed as of a year later in April 2024?
u/TylerSweet_ wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Fashion designer Lol. Im Conepletely beginner But its ok 2 months are enough for me to prepare CXS course + one freecodecamp course.
u/michaelnovatireplied·
Yeah that timing seems pretty good. They have a free version for NYC residents if you apply in the next week or so.
I've stopped recommending going there as of a week or two ago, especially if you don't have a professional mathy/engineeringy background or prior experience to spin into tangential experience.
Otherwise if you are happy spending $20K to build some basics and then take a tangential role at a fashion related tech company, I could see that as a reasonable goal in general.