Should You Pay for a Tech Bootcamp?

I created this picture! Shall I write an article on image generation?

Preface

I just wanted to be clear about a number of things before I start.

1. I am not employed by any organization offering training courses/bootcamps or whatever.
2. No-one from any such organization has asked me to write this article.
3. For transparency, I mention Level Up In Tech as that’s where I went for my bootcamp. I am part of their post graduation community where I contribute occasionally on their internal Teams channel and on LinkedIn. To do so is my own choice — I receive nothing for this and am not otherwise associated with them.
4. This entire article consists of my own experiences and I’ve written it in my own words. This is not content regurgitated from ChatGPT.
5. I was inspired to write this article by someone reaching out to me directly on LinkedIn and also taking part in a discussion there involving someone else who’d had a negative bootcamp experience.
6. I only want to help people make an informed decision and help clear up any pre-conceptions you may have before potentially paying out a significant amount of money.
7. Be absolutely clear — bootcamp or not — YOU need to put the work in.

My Background and Story

So I am an experienced IT professional, having worked in various senior roles for a number of years, largely in the UK Financial sector.

I was made redundant in January 2023 after 4.5 years in a senior Citrix infrastructure role. We were actually given prior notice in October 2022 that this was a likely outcome, so I started studying in preparation.

I wanted a move to a more Cloud focused role, so I sat and passed the foundational AWS exam — the Certified Cloud Practitioner. I thought that this would put me in a good place going forward. Coupled with my extensive experience in a global institution, it would be easy to get another role, right? Er, not quite…

Now I hadn’t been looking too hard externally as I was still hopeful of getting a different role internally (I was overly optimistic or spectacularly naïve — take your pick!). Or failing that I wanted my redundancy pay-out. There had been some talks with recruiters and other companies, but nothing concrete.

Come the beginning of December, I still wasn’t getting much traction, especially when applying for Cloud roles. I was beginning to see posts on LinkedIn — people wanting to break into the Cloud and doing project work to get them there. I began to realize that I was competing with people who had practical, demonstratable skills and had applied them.

I only had a foundational certification and I was finding companies were largely ignoring any other technical skills I had. They were only interested in their checklist of specific requirements.

Then came the big tech layoffs and the jobs market was suddenly very challenging. I felt I needed to refresh my skills in a major way which led me to consider doing a bootcamp for the first time.

So, I signed up in January 2023, graduated in August 2023 and in October 2023 started my latest role as an AWS Infrastructure Engineer.

Did I get hired as an AWS Infrastructure Engineer purely as a result of doing a bootcamp? Of course not. But I can tell you it was a factor. The quality of the project work and certifications got me noticed. Not only by my current manager, but recruiters and leadership at other organizations too.

Additionally I now had relevant skills and practical experience to talk about at interview. That is so powerful. It can even prove advantageous over internal candidates who may not have upskilled.

The Level Up In Tech AWS DevOps Bootcamp — My Experience

As mentioned, this is not meant to be an advert for LUIT or a promotional piece. I will however give a brief summary as this was where I went for my bootcamp and as such this is my reference point. I’m sure many onlookers are curious on this aspect too. Afterwards, I will talk about bootcamps in general terms.

So let’s get to it — do I think it was worth it? Yes. Was everything perfect — No. But the positives far outweighed the negatives for me.

I paid $6500. People talk about value. Is that value for everyone? Possibly not. It was the majority of my redundancy money, so it was a scarily big outlay for me. However, I saw it as an investment in myself. I had done my research and reached out to people who were going through the course. I liked the quality of project work that was being documented.

I looked at other courses around. Some were in the $10k to $15k range(!). One associated with a university near me was in the same ballpark as LUIT regarding cost, so I decided to go for LUIT once I’d checked what the course consisted of.

For your money you’re getting a 6 month course, 2 group calls with coaches on the related subject per week, multiple exam vouchers and a roadmap of your required study/project work broken down to the day. Additionally, you get support building up your LinkedIn presence and assistance with job hunting preparation and applications.

Even the latter part, I can’t overstate how valuable that is if you are new to the jobs market, or like me, you hadn’t been in the jobs market for a number of years. So much regarding job hunting has changed now — nearly everything revolves around online presence/LinkedIn. You need to be putting effort in there to show yourself in the best light.

Before I was made redundant, the company arranged for us to work with Lee Hecht Harrison (another company I definitely recommend by the way). They are a global group who specialize in all aspects of recruitment and I worked with them as I was “transitioning” out of my former employer into the open jobs market.

LHH coaches went through LinkedIn profile building, CV/resume building, the job application process and interview preparation. I felt the quality of education I was getting from them was very good and certainly eye opening. LHH services aren’t cheap, yet I felt LUIT were giving good value in the same areas they covered.

Taking all that into account, I think the outlay was worthwhile.

Now, the negatives — not too many, but I have to be balanced.

1. I felt there were far too many people in my cohort. I think it started with 57 people or something. It was their largest ever one at that point. It was very hard to build up a relationship with the coaches or even fellow students with so many people.
2. It was very hard work. They were upfront about that, but it was still very hard going at the pace that was set. I was exhausted by the end. I would have liked a bit more personal support/engagement from the coaches. But then again, it was also up to me to raise any issues.
3. There were a couple of technical issues. Mostly around Kubernetes for me. Of course the technologies we are dealing with here are cutting edge and can change rapidly, so some hiccups can happen. At least the coaches responded pretty quickly, but I fell behind on a couple of projects due to this, which put me under a bit of pressure with the workload.

Okay, so perhaps not that brief after all, but hopefully a clear and balanced perspective.

Is a Bootcamp for Everyone?

Well, no, of course not.

For one, it takes time, sacrifice and commitment to complete. Do you have the support structure in your life that will allow you to concentrate on the course?

Are you already in a full time job? Are you ready for the continual late nights it takes to complete the course?

Do you have any tech experience? Are you ready for the learning that’s ahead? Do you have any ability or skill in the subject matter? If you’re pivoting from a completely non-technical role, I’d consider doing some preparation before signing up. You could take a foundational course on Udemy/A Cloud Guru for example. Look at some related project work you can do beforehand, just to give you a flavour of what you’re letting yourself in for before spending.

How Much Should I Pay?

Well, value is relative I guess. As mentioned, I paid $6500 for a 6 month course. So is $1000 a month to reskill and end up in a job where I want to be worthwhile? I thought so.

Importantly, I also feel I now have the tools to cope if I am made redundant again or even if I want to pivot into another technical field.

What I paid was at the extreme upper limit of what I would consider paying. There would have to be some exceptional reason for me going any higher.

Can I Do It All For Free?

Sure. There are free projects and even free tech bootcamps out there now. I haven’t done any, so can’t vouch for their quality.

However, I chose to pay for a course as I wanted a clearly defined roadmap. I didn’t want to guess over which of the myriad of courses on Udemy et al and which of the mind boggling number of projects were worthwhile. I didn’t want to guess which certifications may be useful.

I wanted a clear structure and to be held accountable. I wanted a set timeframe with a plan to follow. I didn’t have time to do all that myself and I know if I had tried on my own, I would have eventually put things off.

I would have had a night off here and there and just not completed the sheer volume of work I did in the 6 months I took to finish my bootcamp.

Taking away the stress of planning and defining my goals with the addition of guidance and coaching was worth it for me.

Do Your Own Research Before Signing Up!

Don’t be pressured by hard sales tactics. Reach out to alumni who have completed the course you are interested in and see what they say. LinkedIn is one of the most useful tools out there.

Get a course schedule, compare with other companies offerings.

Read reviews, but also use your own judgement. Some people will have had unrealistic expectations or had a bad experience and they will just trash where-ever they went.

Is the business owner/coaches approachable? Will they answer your questions? Arrange an informal call without any sales pitch.

Don’t sign up based on promises of riches afterwards. If something seems too good to be true, then it most often is.

You Need To Put In The Hard Work!

If you think you can pay your money and you will get coaches at your beck and call 24/7, then think again. Does this happen at university or any other place of learning? No. You will be working autonomously most of the time. You have to study, learn and figure things out by yourself most of the time. Yes, you should have a degree of support in a bootcamp, but don’t expect to be hand-held through the course.

It Is Most Unlikely You Will Jump Directly Into A Highly Paid Job Afterwards!

If you take anything from this article, then please take this advice.

Be wary of any course that “guarantees” you end up with a six figure salary afterwards. Yes, there will be the occasional exception — someone particularly bright and able will be in the right place at the right time and get interviewed by a good company that can see their potential.

Most organisations however, will fill middle ranking to senior positions with people who are subject matter experts and expect them to deliver immediately. You’re unlikely to be in that position after taking a course alone.

You need to be realistic with your expectations, especially if you are pivoting from another industry.

Secure a lower level role if need be, continue learning, add value and move up. Sometimes you need to prepare beyond the short term.

Landing A Role Is Not Just About Technical Skills!

Again, another red flag for those bootcamps offering high level roles post course completion. It’s not just about your technical ability.

A company will not hire you on technical skills alone. You need to work on your soft skills — how you communicate, how you present yourself, how well you work in a team, how well you handle pressure and difficult situations, your thought process for problem resolution and so on.

Doing a course alone is no guarantee for getting a role — always bear that in mind!

Conclusion

Well, this article was longer than I initially anticipated. I believe I chose well in my bootcamp and it fitted into the life circumstances I found myself in at the time.

As I mentioned, I also feel that I am well placed should I need to make another career change in future. My course gave me the skills and resilience to prepare for change.

Do you have a different experience? Please let me know.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to comment. I’m also more than happy for good people to reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn.