#14: Unmasking the Bootcamp Myth: Separating Hype from Reality
I am expressing my personal opinions about the industry and my experiences as someone who has pursued bootcamp programs in the past. I aim to maintain objectivity throughout this article.
Disclaimer: I want to clarify that I do not hold a negative stance toward bootcamps, only my personal views.
I am writing this stems from intriguing from several articles by Melody Koh on Medium two years ago. These articles discussed a critical view of bootcamps, the role of UX Designers, and the tech industry. Not only did these articles ignite passionate debates on the platform, but they also sparked discussions on LinkedIn. Some readers found themselves discouraged and felt that their aspirations to enter or transition within the design field were diminished, especially for those who took bootcamp in the past.
It’s essential to acknowledge that Melody’s perspective is rooted in her own experiences and the journey she has undertaken. However, I must note that her language and choice of words were quite direct and bold, which, at times, triggered debates. Nevertheless, I find myself in agreement with certain aspects of her statements. The reality, especially in the current context, aligns with some of her observations.
I embarked on a reflective journey regarding my own career transition into Product Management, which, unexpectedly, led me to enroll in a bootcamp. In 2019, even before bootcamps gained widespread popularity, I questioned their effectiveness in reshaping career paths and enhancing skills for individuals seeking to upskill or change their career trajectories in the tech industry.
Bootcamps have proliferated in recent years, offering programs that are often quite similar in content, even though the costs may vary. They tend to be on the expensive side. The high number of bootcamp graduates leaves me pondering how many of them genuinely enter the industry successfully. From my observations, it seems that less than 30% of each batch manages to secure tech-related positions from the bootcamp intuition I took. Although I lack concrete data to support this assumption, it is based on my experience and conversations with fellow bootcamp students.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that bootcamp institutions can fulfill the overly exaggerated promises, leading to a common misconception that attending a bootcamp will magically jumpstart one’s career journey, especially in the tech industry. I’m not painting all bootcamps with the same brush, but I advocate for thorough due diligence before enrolling in one. It’s essential to keep in mind that my intention is not to denigrate bootcamps or similar programs.
In my case, I ventured into bootcamp after pursuing a self-taught path in product management. I started from the ground up, learning about UX, research, data, marketing, and more. Additionally, I built portfolios in design and research, as well as dabbled in data and coding (although I confess that I’ve always struggled with anything technical or data-related). I supplemented my knowledge by taking free online courses. I readily admit that my learning journey was far from smooth and perfect.
Unveiling the Truth of Bootcamps
1. Considering Self-Learning Courses, Before Bootcamp
Indeed, individuals can acquire new skill sets and earn certificates through more affordable avenues, such as enrolling in online courses. Here’s a list of examples:
UX Design: Google UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera
For Data Science: IBM Data Science Professional Certificate on Coursera
For Machine Learning: IBM Machine Learning Professional Certificate on Coursera
For Product Management: UVA Darden Digital Product Management Specialization on Coursera
For Digital Marketing: Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce on Coursera
The list goes on, as sources of information are accessible from anywhere at any time and based on your need. In reality, online courses and free resources are not fundamentally different from bootcamps. The main distinctions are that you need to pay for some online courses, there may not always be a dedicated tutor or professional to guide you, and the learning experience can be unstructured at times, potentially leading to feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion.
Furthermore, there is a wealth of content available on platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, EdX, and more. Many of these courses are self-paced, allowing individuals to learn independently without direct guidance. However, seeking a mentor or project feedback is possible. I personally worked on self-projects to build my portfolio.
Additionally, there are numerous opportunities for free consultations, mentorship, and discussions with experts who can assist you in achieving your goals. You can approach potential mentors on LinkedIn or seek guidance from acquaintances, whether they are friends, family, or professionals in your desired industry or role. Platforms like ADPList provide global accessibility to mentorship. Moreover, a multitude of books and articles are available as valuable resources for learning and self-improvement.
Bearing in mind, there are several cons in self-taught. It can often be exhausting, lacks a support system, and tests one’s commitment and discipline in forming learning habits.
2. The Mirage of Design Bootcamps: Shallow Portfolios and Unfulfilled Promises
In conversations with bootcamp graduates and from my own experience as a participant, it is evident that these programs primarily focus on creating demonstration projects for portfolios. This typically involves addressing a hypothetical scenario.
For designers, it entails guiding students through designing an app, including identifying target audiences, creating user personas, wireframing concepts, conducting in-class testing, developing high-fidelity designs, and prototyping.
Product managers work on building business or product decks, some of which intersect with UX design programs in bootcamps.
Data or software engineers follow a similar pattern to UX designers, but with a more technical focus. They learn basic technical skills such as coding, programming languages, data types, data structures, algorithms, operating system usage, databases, computer networks, and end-to-end testing.
These are just three examples, and all participants are given a dummy case to solve, sometimes the same case that everyone in the bootcamp works on. Imagine 50 people in a single program working on the same case, only scratching the surface.
While some bootcamps offer collaborative programs simulating real work experience, the limited duration often leads to rushed and mediocre results. This leaves a less favorable impression and no room for failure or experimentation.
The portfolios lack real-world impact and feature fabricated data and artificial user testing, driven by a mere checklist to imply process completion. Seasoned hiring managers can easily discern the insincerity of such work, leaving bootcamp graduates ill-equipped to explain their design choices comprehensively. Some portfolio elements tend to be quite similar across fields. To stand out, candidates often rely on real cases or professional experience when transitioning their careers or distinguish their portfolio by exploring niche cases by their integrating prior experiences.
3. Shallow Waters: The Predicament of Bootcamp Illusion-Constructed (Real Working) Experience
Bootcamps often promise the world, boasting quick and effective routes to a successful career. The reality of the professional landscape can be far more intricate. As we navigate the shallow waters of bootcamp illusions, it becomes evident that real working experience in roles like Product Management, Design, and Data Science, or anything goes far beyond the theoretical frameworks taught in these programs.
Working as a Product Manager dealing with complex and complicated stuff is a common thing, that’s something that bootcamp never tells about. Login and Sign-up are essential activities when someone using a digital platform. Before I worked as a Product Manager, I thought it was an easy task to build, but turns out the process behind the scenes is much more complicated than I might have thought the feature was ready to use by the end user. It required a good requirement, deal with complex system & security, and alignment with stakeholder. It’s common for Product Managers to deal with complex and challenging tasks that bootcamps may not adequately prepare them for.
Design bootcamps often neglect a crucial aspect: developing good design taste and enhancing problem-solving skills for Designers. Design is inherently about problem-solving — understanding user challenges and crafting creative, intuitive solutions. Effective problem-solving demands sharp thinking, which comes from years of experience, wisdom, and judgment. This invaluable quality cannot be rushed in a short time bootcamp. Building a refined design taste takes time, persistence, and exposure to great design. Bootcamps can’t fast-track this journey. In real-world scenarios, requirements from Product Managers can change, forcing them to do some negotiation, ability to cope with uncertainty, and handling high-pressure situations — experiences bootcamps often don’t provide.
Data Scientists sometimes work in cross-function, doing some A/B tests or experimentation. What if during the experimentation there’s a problem in acquiring data? how are they managing the stakeholders? Without a doubt, there are a few situations that will not be mentioned during the bootcamp session. In my experience took data science bootcamp is of limited value if it doesn’t offer insights into professional experiences, especially for students seeking a career transition into data.
These are a few real-case problems within three examples of the profession. The more you delve into the industry, the more complexity you’ll encounter. Additionally, working professionals must adapt to various stakeholders’ characteristics, demands, and unforeseen requests. In the real working environment, professionals encounter ambiguity and uncertainty — lessons they don’t always get in bootcamps.
4. Profit vs Progress: What is The Truth About Bootcamp Talent?
I cannot deny that bootcamps prioritize profit above all else, a harsh reality where enrolling as many candidates as possible and extracting hefty fees are their primary goals. While it’s understandable that businesses seek profitability, it becomes problematic when it negatively impacts students’ dreams of building successful lives and careers. In contrast, traditional colleges tend to thoroughly assess applicants’ abilities and invest more time in their development.
These bootcamps are tailored for quick financial gains, with some charging as much as $1,000 or even up to $3,000. With an average class size of 20 students, they can rake in approximately $60,000 every 12 weeks, accumulating to a staggering annual income of over $240,000 from just one class and one instructor. This is a rough estimate of in Indonesia market (this is only an example in the Indonesia market, the cost can vary for each bootcamp that is available globally (i.e. General Assambly) or in another country), considering various factors that come into play, such as:
Cost: Many boot camps have course fees exceeding $3,000, which can affect their profit margins. Each program may offer a different range of prices based on the course type (e.g., Coding, Data, Product, Design & Research). Furthermore, several boot camps offer both online and offline learning modes, each with differing costs. Additionally, most boot camps employ multiple teachers across numerous classes, driving their profits even higher than these estimates.
Participants: If we consider that every three months, a boot camp attracts a new group of students, and each class enrolls around 50 participants, the profits can be significantly greater.
Different countries can diversify the cost and profit for boot camps, with various factors playing a role in their profitability.
The list still goes on.
These findings offer a glimpse into the cost structure and market size of bootcamps. After reviewing these details, it’s reasonable to question the effectiveness of boot camp programs and why some people label them as scams. It’s worth noting that the UX article also mentions affiliate marketing, but it’s clear that boot camps encompass more than just that.
5. From Hope to Hurdles: The Unspeakable Trap of Bootcamps Graduate
Many aspiring professionals embark on the journey of attending bootcamps with hope and ambition, seeking to accelerate their careers and fulfill their dreams. However, the reality that unfolds often reveals a series of unexpected hurdles, casting doubt on the promises made by these programs. In this exploration of the unspeakable trap that some bootcamp graduates find themselves in, there are some challenges and misconceptions that can turn the initial hope into a more complex reality.
Due to the increasing number of bootcamp graduates, competition has become intense. Graduates not only compete with fellow bootcamp alumni but also with individuals possessing technical backgrounds from universities and those with professional experience.
All bootcamps claim to have professional and experienced tutors, this is not always the case. I’m aware of a respected bootcamp that lured students with impressive promises, only to have some tutors who were from their alumni with no professional experience in the field they were teaching. This occurred in one of the bootcamp institutions in Indonesia (I use the case as an exmaple), and it was quite shocking. Moreover, these bootcamps often charge over $3,000 per program for each student, with an average class size of around 20 students. This case is truly horrible for me.
The mindset and false belief that attending a bootcamp will magically kickstart a career as a UX designer are exacerbated by the overpromising and imaginary advertising from these institutions to attract students and gaining profit for them.
I must emphasize that sometimes bootcamp materials can easily be found online or gained from a two-hour webinar. In all honesty, reading a book can provide more value than a bootcamp. It’s a sad truth.
When it comes to constructing case studies, people can often find and structure them from previous studies. There are plenty of case study samples available in various fields, including design, product management, and data, among others.
Key Take Aways
I want to reiterate multiple times that my intention is not to oppose bootcamps or similar programs. In this subsection, I aim to present some alternative paths that might prove effective:
Shift your mindset toward continuous learning. Completing a bootcamp is just the beginning; there’s so much more to explore. A bootcamp covers only 1% of the vast knowledge you can acquire.
Maintain hope for the best but prepare for the worst. While it may sound cliché, it remains true. The job market is filled with uncertainty, and relying on a single source is not a guarantee. Always have multiple plans, as putting all your eggs in one basket is not a viable strategy.
As aspiring professionals, consider contributing pro bono work to enrich your professional portfolio.
Enrolling in an intensive design or coding course or pursuing a degree at a local higher education institution can be more impactful than a bootcamp certificate. I’m aware of several bootcamp graduates who have opted for this path.
Don’t underestimate the value of mentorship and networking sessions. They can be invaluable resources that should not be overlooked.
Remember that bootcamps are not the exclusive route to changing your career trajectory. If you can afford it and believe it aligns with your professional aspirations, by all means, go for it. However, it’s crucial to find the approach that works best for you.
Final Thought
The narratives surrounding bootcamps often sparkle and appear free of the struggles faced by their graduates, in other words, stop worshipping a bootcamp. However, the reality isn’t always as rosy. Testimonials in the market tend to be overwhelmingly positive, creating an image of bootcamps as alternatives to formal education in successfully transforming someone’s career trajectory in one night.
Nonetheless, the key point to remember is that to become a successful professional, you must acquire various skills and engage in substantial self-learning on the job.
If you have other options for breaking into the tech industry, such as formal education or self-teaching through online courses and books, please explore those avenues. But if you’re determined to join a bootcamp, do your due diligence in finding the right one. Don’t let yourself fall into a trap where your money is spent without benefiting you.