Difference in amount of time required to become job-ready?

Hi Qasim, I can't really offer you an 'answer' to this, but I can provide my perspective. I live in Portland, OR, and there are several major tech companies (even a few that have their headquarters here) very close by. I've found that the market here is super-saturated with people that have moved here from all over the world with IT experience. Some of those people's coding experience has been exclusively through learning from Treehouse, MIT, etc., and there are many others who have various levels of degrees in IT. In my area, it all boils down to Economics: When the local market (in this case Portland) is as over-saturated as it is, the employers can become increasingly selective (because they have a large applicant pool), and therefore a Junior Programmer position might want 3-5 years experience and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and still pay the same wage as in other areas for the same position that requires less experience...but again, the employers can demand more in a super-saturated area. However, this is not 100% true in Portland, and it definitely doesn't apply to everywhere because everywhere isn't like Portland. So I plan on moving to another area with a large IT presence when I've graduated that isn't as saturated.

It would be wise in your situation to try to learn more about your local market by researching answers to questions like: Is there a large IT presence where you live? Are there a fair number of job openings? What do those openings want in terms of experience? These can be answered through informational interviews, going to local employment offices, looking online at job boards, and going to in-person events in IT like conferences, networking formal and informal meetings, and making friends in IT jobs.

Also, in regards to the boot camp, it would be wise to talk to them and ask them tough questions like: "What employers hire from your boot camp?", "What percentage of graduates from this program obtain employment and how long does it take an average graduate to find employment?", "What are the qualifications of the boot camp teachers?", "I want to sit in on a class to get a feel for this program, can I do this?", and other questions. It might also be wise to look at LinkedIn and search for graduates of this boot camp and see where they're working, and reach out to them for informational interviews. $10k is a large amount of money, and if the program doesn't know or isn't willing to give you the information you need to make an informed decision on the value for the cost, look elsewhere.

In my case, I use Treehouse to supplement my learning at a local community college, and although there's a degree attached to my learning, I actually credit the bulk of my understanding to Treehouse, not the college. However, I put stock in the degree potentially being "more recognized" than Treehouse alone for now. This is a personal decision, and you can potentially find a completely different course of events for your own unique situation. I certainly wish that I could find work with Treehouse alone! It would save me a bunch of time and money since I've had to spend 1.5 years in school thus far. I'd be interested to know what you decide to do Qasim. The question that you're asking unfortunately doesn't have a clear-cut answer...I sure wish there was though! For all of us!