How to find a entry level software developer job.

Thanks for sharing. In my opinion, this is the key sentence: "I don't think any of them can live up to their promises reliably" Who is to say those people, e.g. who worked on wall street, couldn't have gotten jobs on their own or for far cheaper? Bootcamps that cost like $22K for 13 weeks is crazy expensive, if the correlative factor to getting a job is luck + background. Maybe paying for a network increases your luck, and when it works, is worth $100K, but $22K just averages that out across 5 people - one of whom gets lucky and the rest are ripped off. The AI programs rolling out, like the one at Codesmith is $4600 for ONE MONTH at 15 hours a week! Even more expensive per hour... **Anyways, my point is that the bootcamp model is broken and doesn't work anymore because most don't deliver fundamental value for their cost.** If you take all the harvard grads who want to switch to SWE, you can help them network and prepare for interviews for far cheaper than $22K and a completely different model is needed. All you need is a Udemy course with a Slack that gates people on having an ivy league degree. BloomTech's Gauntlet AI course is a bit like this - you have to pass an IQ test and score in the 90th percentile to get in and then it's entirely **free**. Now imagine charging $22K AND requiring you to be exceptional to get in... that sounds like a scam, and that's why bootcamps are failing.

Almost all of the banks supporting these loans backed out in 2023/2024 so I don't think anyone had a real job guarantee in writing anytime recently, and if they did, I expect the bootcamp will go bankrupts pretty soon. Correct me if I'm wrong.

In general, I highly recommend holding your job for 2+ years before job hunting and then you'll be good, especially if you are promoted during that time as well.

Feel free to DM me more details if you want .more specific advice based on your exact background but this could be a tricky situation. The market is too competitive right now that if you don't have at least a year at your company, you will get overlooked at a lot of the top companies, even if you were awesome and a layoff wasn't your fault.... just too many other people that don't have either on their resume. A negative pattern I've seen over and over and the bootcamp grads that job hops every 8 months for 2-3 years, maybe you end up with a higher title, and then have a crazy hard time making the next jump. A tiny number of people go through this and get amazing jobs after and go against the trend. Most do not, and it's psychologically intense for them having to rebuild their identities and some just quit the industry. I'm not trying to create fear and I'm not selling you anything, just giving my views since you seem like someone who prepared a lot. The simplest advice is to do what you need to do stay at the company for one year and ideally two. (If one year, make sure your second company is well over a year). If you have a choppy history, then you can look at special programs like Meta REng.