Episode 8: October 2016 Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast

Table of Contents

• Course Report's Snapchat Takeover
• General News
• Diversity in Tech
• Job Placement & Outcomes
• Who Are Coding Bootcampers?
• Fundraising/Investment
• New Bootcamps
• Question of the Month
• Favorite Articles to Write for October

 

Welcome to the October 2016 Course Report monthly coding bootcamp news roundup! Each month, we look at all the happenings from the coding bootcamp world from new bootcamps to fundraising announcements, to interesting trends. This month we are also covering our Women In Tech Snapchat takeover! Other trends include new developments in the industry, new outcomes reports and why those are important, new investments in bootcamps, and of course, new coding schools and campuses.

Read below or listen to our latest Coding Bootcamp News Roundup Podcast!

• Couse Report's Snapchat Takeover
• General News
• Diversity in Tech
• Job Placement & Outcomes
• Who Are Coding Bootcampers?
• Fundraising/Investments
• New Coding Bootcamps
• Question of the Month
• Favorite Pieces to Write in October for the Course Report blog

Course Report's Snapchat Takeover

Listen: 01:13

5 Minute Snapchat Intro to Coding Bootcamps
October 27, 2016

We took over the WomenInTech Snapchat channel on October 26th. It’s a channel dedicated to highlighting women in tech, and the companies they founded or work for. It was started by Sarena Bahad, who used to work at Dev Bootcamp New York, and she asked us if we’d like to share our day on the channel. So we ended up doing about 50 snaps, all about how to choose a coding bootcamp, how Course Report can help, and even gave a sneak peek into a few NYC coding bootcamps! We visited three coding bootcamps in New York and got some action snaps of what students are learning. We also got some great tips from founders and career staff!

 

General News

Listen: 2:29

Technology bootcamps are becoming the trade schools of the new era
October 9, 2016
By Laura Petti, CNBC News

CNBC reporter Laura Petti considers the hypothesis that tech bootcamps are becoming the trade schools of the new era. Laura talks to Udacity about their new self-driving car and virtual reality online courses, as well as Chronos Global Academy about their virtual reality course. The schools point out that these kinds of small tech schools are able to quickly iterate on their curricula and stay up to date with the constantly changing tech industry, something that traditional colleges may not be able to do.
 

The Promise of Fullstack’s Pricey But Intriguing Online Coding Program
October 6, 2016
By William Fenton of PC Mag

PC Mag’s William Fenton wrote an in-depth review of Fullstack Academy and Grace Hopper Academy’s programs, with a focus on the online remote program. William actually audited an online class, observing students interacting with instructors, and trying out the learning management system. William could see it was definitely more in-depth and engaging than a boilerplate online course like Coursera or Udemy. But he was concerned about whether group work would be as effective online vs in-person, and was surprised that the online program costs the same as the in-person version.
 

The Strange and Sudden Disappearance of a Coding Bootcamp Founder
October 17, 2016
By Salvador Rodriguez of Inc

We were shocked and disappointed to hear that a coding bootcamp recently deserted its students before they could complete the course, despite having paid thousands in tuition fees. Devschool, an online program run by Jim O’Kelly out of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, had been running for about a year, and many students successfully graduated from the program. However, Inc. contributor Salvador Rodriguez reports that in late September O’Kelly suddenly stopped turning up for scheduled video calls, and failed to respond to any emails or Slack messages. Rodriguez interviewed a number of former Devschool students who had each paid around $5000 in fees for a course they cannot complete. Rodriguez also discovered that Jim O’Kelly is also known as Eric James O’Kelly and is wanted on charges of Assault, Menacing, and Criminal Mischief in the state of Oregon. We are very saddened that something like this has happened in our coding bootcamp community. But other schools are already rallying around these scorned students, with Thinkful offering to apply half of whatever any Devschool student paid in tuition toward Thinkful's web development bootcamp.
 

Following Devschool, Coding Bootcamps Call for More Regulation, Transparency
October 24, 2016
By Salvador Rodriguez

Salvador Rodriguez then published a follow-up story where he talked to a couple of bootcamp founders about regulation, licensing, and transparency in the bootcamp industry.
 

Lighthouse Labs hosting workshops across BC and Ontario encouraging teachers to adopt coding in classrooms
October 13, 2016
StartUp HERE Toronto

Lighthouse Labs coding bootcamp in Canada is teaching K-12 teachers how to code. An article in StartUp HERE Toronto says the Lighthouse Labs classes will teach around 200 teachers the basics of code, and computational thinking which they can then take back to their classrooms. The program is being offered in partnership with Kid Code Jeunesse and is endorsed by Canada’s Ministry of Education. The courses will comprise of two-day workshops providing intensive digital literacy training to engage students grades 6 to 9. Every school district has been invited to send two teachers to attend one of six regional sessions taking place over four months in Victoria, Vancouver, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Trail and Prince George. The goal of this new initiative is to have every student in British Columbia take a module of basic coding by grade 9, ensuring that they learn problem-solving and critical-thinking skills needed to succeed in any field, including coding.  
Related: Lighthouse Labs Curriculum Spotlight

 

Diversity in Tech

Listen: 07:52

Why industry and education must collaborate to solve the tech talent gap, fight sexism and ageism
October 5, 2016
By Clare McGrane of Geekwire

Geekwire contributor Clare McGrane tackles the issue of sexism and ageism in her article about a panel discussion on tech education at GeekWire’s recent summit. The discussion was focused around how to diversify the tech workforce in the future. Clare quotes Northeastern University CEO Scott McKinley as saying that coding bootcamps and apprenticeships are opening new pipelines into the industry, but more needs to be done. Microsoft’s Joe Whittinghill says his team has started taking unconscious bias into account, and OfferUp’s Peter Wilson says hiring managers should start paying for education for their employees, rather than paying huge hiring fees to poach existing talent.
 

A New Study Says Tech Companies Are Hiring 24 Percent More Women
October 24, 2016
By Jessica Stillman of Inc.

New research by LinkedIn has found that between 2008 and 2016 there has been a 24 percent increase in the number of female new hires in tech. Inc columnist Jessica Stillman covered the story saying that the number of female software engineers being hired has increased by 17 percent since 2008. Jessica points out that although it’s great that the number of women in tech is increasing, less than one in five software engineers are women, so there is still a lot of work to be done for women to be equally represented in tech.
Related: Coding Bootcamp Scholarships for Women

 

Job Placement & Outcomes

Listen: 09:34

How to Get That First Programming Job
October 20, 2016
By Erik Dietrich, DZone

Finding a new job is always stressful, and can be daunting for coding bootcamp grads. In Erik Dietrich’s DZone article, he answers a question from a recent coding bootcamp grad who says “I’m anxious about finding that first job. Can you offer any advice? I want to show that I care about doing things right”. Erik goes on to evaluate what he calls “the entry-level conundrum” - the problem of no-one wanting to hire someone with no experience. So how do you get experience? Erik draws on his own experience as a developer and hiring manager and explains that candidates need to make themselves a “safe bet”. To do this, he suggests going out and getting whatever programming experience they can find, whether that’s voluntary, contributing to an open-source project, or doing inexpensive work that will bolster your resume. He also suggests calling yourself a freelancer, and adding that to your resume.
 

Could coding bootcamps see stricter standards?
October, 27, 2016
By Ally Marotti, Chicago Tribune

This month there was a great article in the Chicago Tribune looking at how the different styles of outcomes reporting by coding bootcamps can be confusing for potential students. Reporter Ally Marotti writes that the lack of a rubric for schools to calculate their job placement means these potential students turn to reading reviews when researching coding bootcamps. Course Report cofounder Liz spoke with the reporter and explained that the outcomes situation is gradually improving as more and more schools publish their data-driven outcomes reports. The article also mentions how, in 2015, a group of schools pledged to President Obama that they would release standardized and audited outcomes reports, but that hasn’t happened yet. Despite this, the article points out that employers are interested in hiring from coding bootcamps. Ally gives examples of Fullstack Academy and Dev Bootcamp which have a number of hiring partners - two bootcamps which coincidentally have not released recent outcomes reports.
Related: Course Report Coding Bootcamp Outcomes and Demographics Report 2016
Related: Hack Reactor Outcomes Spotlight
 

General Assembly Outcomes Report
October 18, 2016

In April 2016, General Assembly released an open source outcomes framework called “Measuring What Matters” to report on the success of full-time students. But this was just a framework, and now they’re actually reporting the outcomes using that framework! Their report covers the results for 2,080 students who enrolled in a full-time program at General Assembly that ended between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015 across all campuses. Those metrics were reviewed by KPMG LLP and is self-reported by graduates. What they found is that 99% of job-seeking graduates found jobs within 180 days (6 months), and 88% found jobs in less than 90 days.
Related: General Assembly Alumni Spotlight
 

Hackbright Academy Outcomes Report
October 26, 2016

Hackbright Academy’s outcomes are based on an analysis of the 184 Hackbright graduates who completed the program between Feb 2014 and Sep 2015. It was examined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. And they found that 99% of students graduated; of those 90% got jobs within 6 months. Hackbright does report on average salary, which is 92K (whew) and found that 78% of grads are taking full-time positions. But like GA, they’re vague on the jobs that students are taking. Although they do say that when they refer to Full-Time Salaried Roles, this means that a student accepted employment in a technical role.
Related: Hackbright Academy Alumni Spotlight
 

Need Coders in Your Small Business? Look for Coding Bootcamp Grads
October 6, 2016
By Joshua Sophy of Small Business Trends

Small Business Trends reporter Joshua Sophy suggests that smaller businesses who are having trouble attracting top tech talent should look at coding bootcamp graduates as an alternative. He says the grads “may not possess the fancy degrees or all that relevant job experience, but they still may be a perfect fit for your business.” Joshua writes that jobs listing website Indeed has seen a 100% increase in resumes listing coding bootcamp experience since 2010.
Related: Employer Spotlight: Why Granicus hires from Turing School

 

Who Are Coding Bootcampers?

Listen: 16:06

Here’s how to step out of the server closet and into a more robust (and possibly more rewarding) tech career
October 24, 2016
By Dan Tynan, InfoWorld

Coding bootcamps are useful for people from many different backgrounds, but here’s a background we haven’t really discussed before: experienced data center technicians. Dan Tynan of InfoWorld writes that data center technicians are likely to get replaced by robots eventually, so he suggests five ways that these experienced tech workers can reboot their careers. One of those suggestions is to go to a coding bootcamp to learn to code. Dan gives the example of Shane Biggs, a former System administrator who went to Dev Bootcamp and became a front-end developer.
 

From Basement to Boardroom: Why Gamers Are Poised to Become the Next Generation of Tech Leaders
October 10, 2016
By Anthony Hughes, The Huffington Post

Another great background for a coding bootcamp student is an interest in video games. Tech Elevator founder Anthony Hughes writes in his guest post for The Huffington Post that video games are a great way for people to get interested in computers and coding. He gives the example of Tech Elevator graduate Kyle Pierson who has always loved gaming, and it made him realize how amazing computers are, and he is now a software developer for LMI. Anthony also mentions that many successful software developers, for example Mark Zuckerburg, started out as gamers before shifting into coding.
Related: Am I the Right Candidate for a Coding Bootcamp?

 

Fundraising/Investment

Listen: 17:37

Codesmith Raised $1.1 Million Funding Round Led by Test Prep CEO
October 18, 2016
By Conor Cawley, Tech.co

LA-based coding bootcamp Codesmith raised $1.1 million in new funding in October. Conor Cawley of Tech.co covered the story, explaining that the funding round was led by Chad Troutwine, the CEO of Veritas Prep. Troutwine is actually a co-founder of Codesmith, and Veritas is the largest privately owned test prep company in the world.

 

New Bootcamps

Listen: 18:13

Apple App Academy Opens in Italy
October 6, 2016
By James Vincent of The Verge

Silicon Valley comes to Naples: Apple prepares to open Italian academy
October 5, 2016
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner of The Guardian

An unlikely choice for Apple’s new app academy could boost Italy’s south
October 15, 2016
The Economist

Apple opened an iOS Developer Academy in Naples, Italy on October 6th. A number of publications covered this story including The Guardian, The Verge, and The Economist. Apple’s nine-month course is taught in English, and is free for students thanks to a joint investment of about 10 million euros by Apple and the University of Naples Federico II. Each student receives a free iPhone, iPad and Macbook, and students will learn how to build their own iOS apps. The Italian government hopes the partnership will help disprove stereotypes that southern Italy is a poor destination for foreign investment. The program is already proving popular with 4,000 applicants for 200 spots in the first class. And this is the second such academy that Apple has launched, the first being in Rio de Janeiro.
 

Free coding boot camp at Queens College in Flushing for CUNY grads this November
October 7, 2016
By Angela Matua of QNS

A new coding bootcamp is offering free 12-week courses specifically for college students. We’ve talked about Revature before, it’s a technology talent development company which has teamed up with two universities to launch free coding bootcamps. We already knew they were partnering with the City University of New York, but now QNS reporter Angela Matua says that Revature will be offering the program at two of their campuses. The first class starts at Queens College on November 15, and the second class starts in January 2017 at CUNY’s School of Professional Studies in Manhattan. Students who complete the bootcamp are hired by Revature where they will receive support from industry mentors.
 

Davidson College Students, Grads Can Take Tuition-Free Coding Course
October 12, 2016
By Michael Hart of Campus Technology

Revature has also partnered with Davidson College, a small liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, to offer the free 12-week program. Michael Hart covered this story in Campus Technology and says, like the CUNY partnership, successful graduates of the Davidson program will also be offered employment with Revature.
 

Welcome to London’s Refugee Coding School
October 19, 2016
By Alice Rowsome of News Deeply

A new six-month bootcamp for refugees has opened in London called Code Your Future. The story was covered by Refugee Deeply, a section of News Deeply, and features beautiful photos of the refugees and their stories. The refugees have come from Syria, Uganda, Afghanistan, and India. They are mothers, war survivors, and people who have been through so much, but now have the chance to change their futures.
 

New schools added to Course Report in October:

Propulsion Academy, Zurich, Switzerland
New IT Academy, Berlin, Germany
Boolean Academy, Barcelona, Spain
The Devs Lab, San Diego
Developer Bootcamp, Chelmsford, MA
23 Code Street, London, UK
Coderhouse, Argentina
UC San Diego Extension, San Diego
Georgia Tech, Atlanta

 

Question of the Month

Listen: 21:43

“What should I focus on in preparation for a bootcamp?” - Joshua London

One free and easy way to prepare for a bootcamp is to use online resources. Codecademy is the obvious resource (we recommend sticking to the basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript courses). But we also hear students say that Treehouse is an excellent paid option. Go to a meetup where the main focus is to set up your dev environment so that you’re not confused on the first day of class. If you don’t already have one, make sure you have a GitHub account and know your way around the site. Start reading HackerNews if you don’t already. Then if your bootcamp is going to be teaching a specific language like Ruby or Python, you can also try out some tutorials in those subjects. One fun (but actually legit) one is JavaScript for Cats.

If you’re looking for a bit more structure, look into a Bootcamp Prep Course. A number of coding bootcamps offer these prep courses; some are free, and others can cost up to $2500, some are online, and some are in person. Most of these prep programs will prepare you for any bootcamp, not just for the bootcamp which is offering the course.
Related: Ultimate Guide to Coding Bootcamp Prep Courses

 

Favorite Articles to Write for October

Listen: 24:48

10 Founders Who Started At A Bootcamp
October 25, 2016
By Lauren Stewart, Course Report

It’s amazing the variety of great companies that started at a coding bootcamp because the founders wanted to gain the technical skills necessary to create their startup. Bootcampers have created campsite directory sites, alumni engagement sites, as well as medical marijuana delivery apps. It’s crazy! So check out this piece especially if you’re looking for some startup inspiration.
 

Am I the Right Candidate for a Coding Bootcamp?
October 11, 2016
By Imogen Crispe, Course Report

I went back through all our alumni spotlights from the past year, and looked for trends among bootcamp grads to see why they wanted to do a bootcamp. I found seven common reasons that people want to do bootcamps. Some people were dissatisfied with their old careers, others found their CS degree didn’t give them enough practical skills, and some just realized that they were absolutely passionate about coding. Have a read of the article to find out a few other reasons for doing a bootcamp.
 

Advice From a Coding Bootcamp Grad
October 24, 2016
By Liz Eggleston, Course Report

This was a podcast interview with Tom Goldenberg, who is a Dev Bootcamp grad who had a lot to say. He’s interviewed at Google a couple times, he’s thought really critically about his time at DBC, and he’s written a couple of Medium posts about his experiences which we talk about in the podcast. He also got really into React Native and created an online tutorial that would be perfect for a recent bootcamp grad, so you can listen to that episode, or read the transcription on our blog.
 

FURTHER READING:

• September Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• August Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast
• July Coding Bootcamp News Roundup + Podcast