Coding bootcamps · Career change · Learning to code
If you are reading this, you are probably considering a coding bootcamp. I have been on both sides: I spent a year teaching myself to code, then co-founded Sigmaschool. A bootcamp is not an easy button or a guaranteed ticket, but used well it can be a powerful catalyst. Here is what to know before you commit.
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The short version
Tech is exciting: good salaries, remote work, building things and watching them come to life. Bootcamps promise a fast track, teaching in a few months what a computer science degree takes years to cover. From working with hundreds of students, I see three common reasons people look at this path.
01
You want in fast
You are not looking to spend four or five years on a degree. Intensive programmes of a few months are designed to take you from complete beginner to someone an employer would pay. It is a sprint, not a marathon.
02
You are willing to sacrifice
Many students pause their lives, sometimes quitting a job, to focus fully. That can mean months of the course plus a job search with no salary. It is a big financial and mental commitment.
03
You want structure
Not everyone thrives in self-learning. A bootcamp gives you a curriculum, instructors, mentors and deadlines, like a personal trainer for coding. If you have tried YouTube tutorials and felt lost, this matters.
A few years ago I taught myself Python, JavaScript and Ruby on Rails, then settled on Vue and React, with Express on the back end and services like Supabase, Hasura and Google Cloud. My bet was simple: if my startup worked, great. If it failed, I would still have a skill that let me work remotely and build things myself.
Spoiler: I never became a full-time engineer at a big tech company. Instead, coding let me communicate with developers I hired, architect solutions and turn ideas into prototypes quickly. It helped me work far better with my CTO. Eventually I co-founded Sigmaschool because good developers were in short supply and we needed to train our own pipeline.
I do not regret learning to code for a second. Naval Ravikant talks about code as leverage: you write software once and it runs millions of times, creating value while you sleep. There are many possible outcomes from learning to code: a developer job, entrepreneurship, product management, data analysis. But whatever the goal, you have to earn it through effort.
Let us address the elephant in the room. Some bootcamp ads sell the dream of a six-figure engineering job in three months. To be blunt, some of that is marketing exaggeration. Bootcamp graduates can and do get well-paid jobs, but it takes hard work, timing and a bit of luck. There is no magic pill.
The junior market is more competitive now. There have been high-profile big tech layoffs, and far more people have learned to code through bootcamps and online courses, so the supply of juniors has risen while entry-level demand has cooled somewhat. Reuters reported that one US bootcamp saw the share of graduates employed within six months fall sharply between its 2021 and 2023 cohorts, and one frustrated graduate said they had been sold a fake dream.
I am not telling you this to scare you off. I am telling you so you go in with your eyes wide open. If you do a bootcamp, you must come out with genuine coding skills and projects that prove them. For a Malaysian view on whether it pays off, read is a coding bootcamp worth it in Malaysia.
AI coding tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT have become very good at generating code, and some people argue they are eating the junior tasks that used to be a foot in the door. The same Reuters piece quoted an investor calling AI the nail in the coffin for coding bootcamps. Yikes.
I do not think it is game over, but the game has changed. A good developer today is not the one who can churn out basic CRUD apps fastest, because AI can do that. A great developer knows which problems to solve, how to break down complex projects, how to integrate systems, and how to hand repetitive work to AI while focusing on the creative and critical parts. Everyone has access to the same AI tools, so the question is still who can build better, faster and cheaper for users.
Think of AI as a super fast but slightly unreliable junior developer sitting next to you. You become the team lead and architect for your AI teammate, and to do that well you need stronger fundamentals, not weaker ones. The best programmes now teach students to use AI to brainstorm and get hints, while going under the hood to understand why the code works. And every industry, from healthcare to finance to government, is becoming a tech industry, so the skills open many doors. More on this in is coding still worth learning.
“Think of it like having a super fast but slightly unreliable junior developer at your side.”
Despite the doom and gloom in some US coverage, I genuinely believe output-based, project-based learning is the future. As AI displaces tasks across every industry, more people will need to start new careers, and going back to university for years is not realistic for most.
Course Report's data shows bootcamp enrolment growing from under 20,000 students in 2015 to around 100,000 in 2021. The World Economic Forum expects 23% of jobs to change by 2028 because of new technology, and many business leaders report significant skill shortages. Employers have warmed up too: one report found about 69% of employers felt bootcamp graduates were as effective as other hires. Bootcamps, done right, help close that gap by producing job-ready talent quickly.
Go back to first principles. Why would anyone hire a junior developer? Because you can solve a problem and deliver more value than you cost. Whether you study at a bootcamp, university or on your own, the mission is the same: gain the skills to solve real problems with technology and demonstrate them convincingly.
A bootcamp offers a structured way to accelerate that. A curated curriculum removes the "what should I learn next" paralysis. Hands-on practice through lots of projects is how you actually get good. Support from instructors and peers gets you unblocked instead of stuck on a bug for days. Accountability through deadlines and daily schedules keeps you consistent. And career services help with CVs, mock interviews and introductions.
Reduce it down and you need skills, proof of skills, and the connections and confidence to get in the door. It is like an intense sports camp. I box and run as hobbies. In boxing you drop your guard and get hit. In coding your punch in the face is a program that crashes. The first 2km of running leaves you gasping, and a month later 5km is your warm-up. At the start, building a simple website feels like climbing Everest. A few months in, you are comfortable with full-stack apps. But the coach cannot do the workouts for you.
Do your homework. Not all bootcamps are equal. Some have dedicated instructors and strong alumni; others are money grabs with fancy marketing. Look for published, ideally audited outcomes data, read reviews, and message alumni on LinkedIn. Ask hard questions: how long do graduates usually take to find work, and can I speak to a recent graduate? If they dodge, that is a red flag. Our checklist on how to spot a legit coding bootcamp helps here.
Plan your finances. Factor in living costs and the opportunity cost of not working. Read the fine print on income share agreements and deferred tuition, because some end up costing far more than the sticker price. Plan for six to nine months across the course and job hunt so you are not panicking about money while you learn. Juggling a bootcamp with a part-time job is brutal if you can avoid it.
Set realistic expectations. A certificate does not guarantee a job, and Course Report finds the search often takes a few months after graduating. Your first job might be a smaller company or a contract role, and that is fine. It is your launch pad.
Embrace the grind. Treat it like more than a full-time job. The students who do best go beyond the minimum. Build projects that matter, two or three deployed ones you can send as a link, ideally solving a real problem rather than another to-do list. As someone who has hired developers, a live project tells me far more than a certificate. Use career services and network with alumni, meetups and online communities. And keep learning after it ends: code daily, add complementary skills like TypeScript or cloud deployment, and treat the job hunt as a job with daily targets.
Stay humble and open to feedback. A good bootcamp will humble you, and that feeling of how much there is to learn never fully goes away in tech. DHH said in a recent interview that, despite all the AI helpers, there is still joy and value in hands-on coding and solving problems yourself. That craftsman mindset carries you through tough debugging nights.
Remember why you are doing this: a better life for your family, a love of building, the freedom of remote work. Keep that north star in mind when it gets hard. There will be days you doubt yourself. I did, and still do. But there will also be moments like fixing the bug that has haunted you for days, or deploying an app that people actually use.
If you decide to go for it, go all out. If you want to feel what a structured, fundamentals-first programme is like before committing, our free trial lets you try real coding with AI first.
No bootcamp can hand you a job. A good one gives you a structured curriculum, hands-on projects, support and career services, but you still have to build real skills, create a portfolio that proves them and run a disciplined job search. Be wary of marketing that promises a high-paying job in a few months with little effort, and ask any bootcamp for evidence of how its graduates actually fare.
They can be, if they teach strong fundamentals and how to work with AI tools. AI can generate basic code, so the value has shifted to problem solving, system design and judging whether AI output is correct. A programme that teaches you to understand code deeply and use AI as a teammate prepares you better than one that teaches syntax alone.
Look for published, preferably audited outcomes data, honest reviews and alumni you can contact directly on LinkedIn. Ask how long graduates typically take to find work and whether you can speak to recent graduates. Check the curriculum includes real projects and modern AI tools, and read the fine print on any financing such as income share agreements. Evasive answers are a red flag.
It varies, but you should plan for a job search of a few months after graduating rather than expect an offer on the last day. Course Report's surveys suggest many graduates who find work do so within about one to six months. Budget for six to nine months across the course and the search, keep coding daily and treat the job hunt itself like a job.
Your next step
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