Bootcamps vs School vs Self-learning

In this episode Wes and Scott talk about developer education — what to look for, what to avoid, and how to be a life-long learner with good problem solving skills.

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3:59 - Our experiences

• Scott:

  • Went to college - Go Blue!
  • Worked odd jobs while self teaching
  • Was mentored and taught more while working at my first job
  • Self directed since then
  • Started teaching via LUT in 2012

• Wes:

  • Went to university for Business Tech - entirely self-taught
  • Led and created part-time HTML + CSS program at HackerYou
  • Led and created first bootcamp at HackerYou
  • Led and created first JS part-time at HackerYou
  • Been offered jobs at colleges + universities

10:02 - School - $$$

• Pros

  • The best thing about school was unrestricted free time to find out what I enjoyed, which lead me to coding
  • Co-ops can help you find what you like and what you don’t like
  • Life skills that involve you being on your own and figuring things out more
  • You are exposed to interesting people and ideas
  • CS Degree work can open more career doors
  • Professional networking
  • Many companies wont hire you without some sort of bachelor’s degree (this might change)

• Cons

  • Not everyone has the time or money to devote two to five years to school — especially to something they might not end up enjoying
  • Potentially outdated staff and course material
    • Wes was often asked to lead a video editing course, print design course and a web development course
  • Lot’s of distractions

23:10 - Bootcamp - $$

• Pros

  • Very fast, lots of info, but can be a bit overwhelming
  • You can get up-to-speed extremely quickly
  • Focused on hire-ability and job-ready skills
  • Focused information
  • Personality is really the deciding factor here - lots of people do well, and some don’t

• Cons

  • Hit or miss — quality of bootcamps aren’t vetted, so do your research
  • Talk to someone who took it, find out who the instructors are
  • You absolutely must continue learning after the bootcamp
    • The bootcamp is just a push and you are expected to continue learning once you are done
  • Not great for individuals that can’t handle the pace
  • You have to quit your job

37:09 - Self-Taught - $

• Pros

  • Self-directed people will prevail here
  • Can be drip-fed while earning money at another job
  • Can be supplemented by a job (e.g. you are front-end and want to go full stack)
  • Can get real world experience as a freelancer while you evolve

• Cons

  • Not for everyone
  • Can be difficult to self-motivate
  • Hard to get help - sometimes you can be stuck for hours on a two-second fix
  • Potentially discouraging
  • You might go down the wrong path without guidance on what you should learn

47:11 - Part Time Programs - $

• Pros

  • Fantastic way to get up to speed with a new tech
  • Goes at a good pace - twice a week usually
  • Offered on weekends and evenings where you can maintain a regular job
  • Very low risk - you can try it out

• Cons

  • Might not be as fast as you like it
  • Quality is all over the map

49:55 - Mentored Self Learning - $

• Pros

  • Best to do with a mentor on the job
  • Mentor can help steer what to learn in your free time
  • Good feedback and a place to ask lots of questions

• Cons

  • Can’t be done without someone willing to mentor you
  • Only as good as your mentor

52:55 - What approach would we take?

• Bootcamp > then immediately supplement with courses

• Notion

• Scott: Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
• Wes: American Kingpin

• Scott’s React Hooks For Everyone
• Wes’ All Courses

• Scott’s Instagram
• LevelUpTutorials Instagram
• Wes’ Instagram
• Wes’ Twitter
• Wes’ Facebook
• Scott’s Twitter
• Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets