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Ask HN: Which Developer Boot Camps Are Most Respected?

20 points by 11thEarlOfMar ↗ HN
I am considering applying to a developer boot camp in the SF Bay Area. They all tout that an impressive percentage of their alumni are hired within a few months. But I want to hear from hiring managers directly: Are there boot camps that you take more seriously than others? Have you hired anyone out of these camps and if so, how did they do?

27 comments

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c0110
I've worked with 2 graduates from Dev Bootcamp who contributed a lot on the team. (~5-7 developers total) One of them came on as an intern (originally we weren't going to take him on, but we re-interviewed him. The second time around, he really prepared for the interview) and we converted him to fulltime. Another of our team members went to Dev Bootcamp later and recently landed a position as a backend dev.

Also worked with a HackReactor grad who did some good work on web and embedded stuff (which he learned on the job). One of the common traits of these bootcamp grads is that they were willing to build stuff and took time to learn (ask a lot of questions).

I think DBC also has hiring coaches and a good community for career help. Also, I think DBC alums often go back and mentor new developers in the program, which is nice.

liquidcool
It's mixed, see here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8844848

If you're looking for a job, I'd want to know way more than percentages. Companies, positions, salaries, etc.

I do recruiting and have seen a number of boot camp grads, and their first job is usually an (unpaid?) internship. Boot camps are at most 6 months of study (often compressed to 3). That's not a lot, compared to BS or MS in CS. You may want to look at remote masters programs, like Georgia Tech's.

leekh
Random question, what is your opinion about the GT's remote masters?
chlee
It's legit.

The quality of education that you receive through the GT online masters is on par with the in-person version, and you'll receive the same ms degree as a "regular" student. It is not watered down at all.

However, since you'll receive the same education as a regular ms student, the coursework is heavy and intense especially if you hold a FT job.

leekh
Cool thanks! I'm thinking about applying.
phaus
Are you going or have you gone through that program? If so, how much time per week do you spend on it? I work a full time job, I have a family, and I'm looking for a master's program.
chlee
I have not personally gone through the GT OMSC program. However, I do have colleagues and friends who are/were responsible the GT OMSC program at Uadcity.

From what I heard, a typical student in the program takes about 2 classes on average per semester due to the workload, and that should take up all of your free time outside of work and family. Some do take 3 if they are ambitious.

kasey_junk
If you are seeing a lot of unpaid internships from boot camps that is a very negative sign about said boot camps. In our industry (in the US) it is very hard to find a situation where an unpaid internship is not a labor violation.

A boot camp that makes large use of them would be a gigantic red flag to me, both as a hirer and as a potential student.

throwthisawayt
I attended a bootcamp 1.5 years ago and have been working as a full stack dev for almost a year. My firm has hired a few bootcamp grads who have all done well.

However, I would only recommend HackReactor and App Academy in San Francisco as those are the bootcamps I've seen grads consistently do well in.

I find that the placement stats are a bit bs at bootcamps since they are unaudited but I have a strong confidence based on my network that both Hack Reactor and App Academy place 75% of their grads within 6 months into 6 figure jobs.

Happy to answer any questions.

chlee
I would recommend hack reactor as I have consistently heard good things about the quality of training from their grads.

my ex-company hired 1 junior engineer from hack reactor and she has since then gone on and accomplished good things at other companies. And 2 of my ex coworkers transitioned into dev roles after going through hack reactor as well. They have all had positive experiences.

I have also heard good things about hackbrite if you are eligible. One of my ex-coworkers is an now instructor there and she cares passionately about cs education.

Source: I used to work in edtech in the valley so I have relationships or heard 1st hand accounts about these boot camps.

Drilz
As someone with their BS and working on their MS are boot camps actually worth it or am I going to spending a lot of time learning basics.
chlee
Outside of hacker school (now recourse in NYC), I would recommend against attending a boot camp if you have received a quality CS education from you undergrad years.

Specifically, going to a boot camp is both a time (3-4 months) and a $$$ (20k - 30k) commitment. They will teach you the tools of the trade well, e.g tools and frameworks and will make sure you come out with a certain level of knowledge that fill most junior level roles.

However, if you have a bs computer science degree, you probably won't get much value of of these boot camps other than learning the tools of the trade, which are things that you can pick up on your own since you have a solid cs foundation.

However, it's not a bad option if you have both the time and the money, and feel that the commitment of a boot camp will be beneficial to you.

bur the quality of these boot camp varies and I would only recommend going to the highly recommended one, eg hack reactor, hack brite, app academy, and recurse.

tostitos1979
I agree that Recourse has a good reputation. For someone with a graduate CS degree and in the Bay area, what would be your recommendation?
chlee
Personally, I wouldn't recommend that you attend a bootcamp if you already have a graduate CS degree because the cost (time and money) isn't worth the benefits (an entry level developer job, which you can probably obtain on your own given your credentials).

For you specifically, the only things that you'll get of a bootcamp are probably: 1) An expedited and structured learning process 2) Mentorship and peer support 3) Introduction to startups in the valley looking to hire entry level, junior developers

However, if you feel compelled and really want to attend a bootcamp in the valley, I have heard good things about: Hackreactor and Hackbright for web-development App Academy for mobile development Insight Data Science and ZipFian for data science

Hope that helps.

liquidcool
It's a combination of fundamentals (although a couple require you already know them) and a specific stack (e.g., Rails + AngularJS). So assuming you meant BSCS/MSCS, the only reason you wouldn't just pick up some books or online courses and learn what you needed, was that you require the discipline and accountability of a formal, paid education.

I do recommend to everyone getting an MSCS that they take the thesis option and do a project relevant to their desired job.

kelseydh
All boot camps graduate strong students and all boot camps graduate weak students.

Using the name of a boot camp as the basis for judging the abilities of a student is a fool's errand.

Recruiters who do this are making a serious mistake. I say this as somebody who has interacted with hundreds of boot camp graduates across multiple boot camps. There is such a wide range of abilities that move through every boot camp that you really cannot generalize about the talents of each student.

cylinder
would you say there's a consistent theme amongst the strong ones? i.e., they were previously programmers?
jakegarelick
Bootcamp grad here. Honestly, I don't think it really matters what bootcamp you go to. I think the defining factor for getting a job depends on what you did before the bootcamp. If you're a college dropout (like me) don't even think about it. However, if you've had a successful career in your field and want to make a switch, you should have no issue getting a job.

As far as the most respected bootcamps, based on who I've talked to I would say App Academy, Hack Reactor.

cylinder
Do you mean had a successful career in a non-tech field and making the switch?
jakegarelick
Yes, that's correct. My cohort had a former music teacher go straight to a front-end role at Apple. We also have graduates working at Salesforce, Coursera, a16z, and others - to my knowledge none of these people had prior tech experience.

My running theory is that companies know what they're getting into with a bootcamp grad, and what is important to them is that the candidate is a quick learner, hard working, and motivated. Someone unproven like a college dropout, or someone who has worked retail for the past few years will have a much harder time proving that.

cylinder
Interesting. What would you say is the average age of these people? Would you say a 31 year old would be on the "older" side comparably?
jakegarelick
Average age I would say is mid to late 20's. I believe the youngest in our cohort was 20, and the oldest was around 40.

I think a 31 year old would fit in just fine.

skylark
Hack Reactor grad here. I was 24 when I went through the program, and was the second youngest person. You'd feel right at home being 31.
cylinder
I'm more concerned with job outcomes and long term career prospects than the course itself though.
jakegarelick
If you are concerned with outcomes I would strongly recommend not going to HR or an affiliated school. There has been internal conflict about the declining quality of cohorts, and I believe the 97% hiring statistic is no longer accurate. I went to a HR affiliate and have been unemployed for the past five months since I have graduated.

I can't comment on App Academy because I have not taken their course.

booop
Bootcamps have become more about cash and I know quite a few that are in trouble financially. Though they've gotten postive reviews lately it seems they will eventually be viewed in the same vein as Online degrees.