Bootcamp After Treehouse

I'd suggest bootcamp WITH Treehouse.

If you've never had dev experience before, a bootcamp is a great way to get immersed quickly. You'll probably need a couple of MOOC Comp Sci courses after though. Many workplaces won't hire you unless you have CS.

Unless you do front-end. Which you probably don't want to if you're doing Rails.

The other thing with Rails is, if you want to truly be a "back-end" developer, you need to learn databases beyond just rails generate.

Thanks summerspirit. Which Treehouse bootcamp are you referring to? I thought with Treehouse it's just tracks. I have a degree in engineering through which I have taken some CS courses.

Yes with Treehouse it is. I mean, if you sign up for a bootcamp and also follow along with Treehouse. I found Treehouse supplemented the bootcamp I attended and had useful exercises when we were moving too fast.

Interesting. Can I ask which bootcamp you attended?

Make sure you look into the instructors giving the bootcamp, as well as the camp's success rate - or, even better - talk to people who have taken the same bootcamp you are considering, and see if it prepared them. How long after the bootcamp were they able to find employment?

Bootcamps can be great - intense training can work for some people, but not for all. You'll need to supplement your training with reading material as well as online training (like Treehouse).

Mine was a one-off at Shopify (in Ottawa, Canada) facilitated by another program. The program people lacked leadership, direction, etc. but the instructors from Shopify were amazing. It still made it difficult.

I've heard great things about Bitmaker Labs in Toronto. Not sure where you're located.

Thanks Guys. I'm in Toronto. The program you were enrolled in no longer has backend training. It's only front end because they got bought out by Shopify. There is also Brainstation. Haven't heard much about them because they are relatively new.

Ah, Yashar, since you are in Toronto - you should ask this question at the Ruby Brigade Meetup on May 21st. You will probably have the opportunity to talk with someone there who has gone through (or knows someone who has gone through) a local bootcamp, and offer advice.

I'm definitely going to be there Rhys, however I've tried asking at a previous meetup and nobody has really given me a straight answer. Hopefully I could get an answer this time. I'm even willing to go to a Bootcamp in the US if I have to. But again I need to know which ones are reputable. I've considered MakerSquare in Austin, Texas, but I can't trust the online reviews because u never know who writes them. Either way I look forward to meeting you at the meetup.

Strange, I would have thought that you'd find some opinions there. If you're also looking into the US, perhaps Jason Seifer may have a recommendation for you.

In Toronto the only one that I have heard about if Bitmaker Labs, but it's quite expensive for something you can learn through online resources and self-study.

Otherwise, yes - I look forward to the Meetup!

Yes - don't trust blogs. Remember the only people who post had a great experience. Everyone else is at risk, because they are new to the industry and the instructors have a lot of influence. It would be career suicide to rant in a negative way about a terrible bootcamp experience in public forums.

Ask the harder questions of the instructors - 2 weeks after graduation, how many people had a job in computer programming secure? How many back-end? How many front-end? At 4 weeks? At 3 months? At 6 months?

If it was hosted in a company - how many people got jobs at that company?

Also important: how many people began in your cohort? How many completed? If there's a difference larger than 1 or 2 people, something went horribly wrong, no matter what blather the coordinator gives you.

Yeah I Hear you. Well I'm going to do my research and see what I come up with. Rhys mentioned that it could be done through self study. That being said how does one know if he/she is ready for a Jr. Developer Position? I'm doing everything I could get my hands on from Treehouse to Pragmatic Studio. I've also heard good things about Tealeaf academy. But I'm going to be patient and see what I gather.

You're never ready for a jr. position lol

I'm in a jr. position and am swamped.

The better question is: where do you want to end up? Like, NASA, tv, advertising, ecommerce, journalism, etc. - they all have programming.

And from there, find out what they want. Some want blogs. Some want CS courses. Some want apps published in the store. Some want opensource. Some won't hire you if you have opensource.

I'd say make a list of your top 10 companies and then hunt on forums, meetups, etc. and figure out what they need from you. Then figure out if you can do that on your own or you need more help.

Also, if one of your initial top 10s has a freaky weird policy you're like ??? - scratch them off the list and find someone else.

And if you realize it's impossible to get in somewhere, find someone else doing a similar thing in the field that can support a jr. Do that and then shift to a bigger company.

Well there are 2 companies I am currently considering. Both want Jr. Ruby guys and Both mention it doesn't matter if you have 6 months experience or 6 years as long as you understand the concept of programming. I could take that with a grain of salt. That's why I would like to prepare myself. Furthermore I need to find out what it a reasonable salary to ask for. Any advice?

lol yeah but is there somewhere I can private message you?

sure please email me at yasharsoroosh@gmail.com

Thanks summerspirit