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Ask HN: Do you hire developers from bootcamps?

2 points by ryanmarsh ↗ HN
tl;dr Are dev bootcamps a good idea for military veterans? I transitioned out of service and it was an excruciating experience even though I had an advantage. I'd like to change this.

Would you hire a recently discharged military veteran if they had received bootcamp style development training? If so how long should it be and what technologies would you hire for?

Most of my fellow combat veterans have struggled to find good careers given that their military skill set doesn't translate to many civilian employment opportunities. I was fortunate in that I was a programmer before I decided to join the Army so finding a job when I got out was challenging but easier than my peers found it. For most veterans finding a civilian career and adapting to the civilian workplace is an excruciating experience, in many ways it can be much harder than some of the training they endure. The sad thing is most veterans have the habits of great employees. For instance in the Army's 7 core values were drilled into me: (L)oyalty (D)uty (R)respect (S)elfless Service (H)onor (I)ntegrity (P)ersonal Courage.

I'd like to help military veterans transitioning out of service get into good dev jobs assuming that programming is a good fit for them on an individual basis. I have access to training facilities at a low cost and have friends who are already trainers in this space but I can't in good conscience accept a veterans money if no one is going to hire them.

Would you hire a recently discharged military veteran if they had received bootcamp style development training? If so how long should it be and what technologies would you hire for?

Thanks for your feedback. Hopefully I can make a difference in the lives of these great people and save them from a string of dead end jobs and relying on the VA for job training.

Edit: Grammar

3 comments

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manglav
Why don't you train one or two and take a percentage of their salary? That way, they don't pay up front, you prove your hypothesis, and companies get more employees. Everyone wins. Also, try not telling people upfront that you did a bootcamp, there is no net benefit (some companies refuse to hire from them, and others are like 'meh').
ryanmarsh
I've seen that some bootcamps take a cut of salary. That feels so icky, like I'm taxing someone's ability to feed their family. On the flip side I do see a win/win in that they only have to pay me if I actually helped. I guess I'll have to see how people feel about paying up front vs the salary tax.
gexla
I think you need to find your own answer to this, and your answer will determine if you have a product. In other words, you probably need to build contacts with businesses and get them interested in possibly hiring from your boot camps. Then you probably need to find some brave souls who are willing to go through your first round (maybe only charge if they actually get a job?) and see if you can land jobs for these people. If your placement rate looks promising, then you may have something.

I imagine that's a big part of the value these boot camps bring to their students. They probably have awesome contacts, and building those contacts probably isn't easy. Building these relationships is probably more important than the actual teaching of the courses.