Q&A: Two coding-bootcamp graduates tell their stories

Technology bootcamps are relatively short-term full- or part-time intensive training programs offering skill sets that in many cases can quickly catapult a previously non-technical person into a high-paying tech career. 

The schools teach students in-demand skills in areas such as coding, cybersecurity and fintech, and in recent years, the one-and-a-half to six-month long bootcamps have become talent pools for organizations looking for skills-based job seekers. And with the Great Resignation in full swing, more workers are choosing to move into tech for flexible working conditions and high pay.

Bootcamp graduates, including coding bootcamps, report quickly finding full-time jobs, a fast ROI, higher salaries, and STEM career opportunities, according to a recent survey of 3,800 US graduates of university coding bootcamps by US tech education platform company 2U and Gallup. Along with new careers, the programs can help existing tech workers gain new skills to grow in their current roles.

Globally, there are more than 500 tech bootcamps, according to Source Report, a coding school tracker. While the average bootcamp costs about $14,000, a Source Report survey found the average salary increase for coding bootcamp graduates was 56%, or $25,000. And, in 2021, the average starting salary of a bootcamp grad was $69,000.

Some of the more popular tech bootcamps include CareerFoundry, Fullstack Academy, Flatiron School, Wild Code School, Coding Dojo, WBS Coding School, General Assembly online bootcamp, Springboard, and Udacity.

2U works with more than 50 universities to offer more than 200 boot camps across eight disciplines, including coding, data analytics, cybersecurity, and fintech.

Since 2U launched its platform in 2016, 48,000 students have graduated from its programs, and more than 6,000 companies have hired them, including Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Autodesk, Capital One, Cognizant, Deloitte, Google, Liberty Mutual, SkillStorm, and State Farm.

Two graduates from 2U’s six-month tech bootcamp are Stephen Powell and Danielle Bowman, neither of whom had any previous experience with technology or coding as part of their careers.

Powell, 35, grew up in Washington DC and dropped out of high school before getting a job in retail sales at Verizon at 20. A year later, he got his GED and advanced into a corporate role. To further boost his career, Powell decided he needed more technical training — but didn’t want to spend four years getting a degree. At age 32 — recently married, working full time, and raising a 10-year-old child — he enrolled in George Washington University Data Analytics Boot Camp and landed a new role in data engineering at Koverse, an SAIC subsidiary.

Based in Atlanta, Bowman spent more than 13 years as a Walgreens store manager before deciding to change careers. After graduating from a University of Central Florida coding bootcamp with a certificate in full stack web development, she now works as software engineering manager at CodeMettle.

The following are excerpts from interviews with both bootcamp graduates:

Stephen Powell

Stephen Powell

What were you doing after getting your GED? “I started working for Verizon in the retail channel at 19. I did that for about four years and then went on to do government telesales. Then I was a federal account manager for a couple of years. Then I became a B2B trainer of B2B reps and managers and then a national client partner of enterprise accounts at Verizon. I was there for 11 years. I was able to move up…, mainly through sales and training.

“At the end of 2018, I decided to leave Verizon on my own volition and go work at a start-up as a sales engineer [at KryptoWire]. So, from a company of 66,000 to a company of 16, it was quite a culture shock. And, that’s kind of where I knew I needed to get a lot smarter around technology.

“It was actually my job at KryptoWire that prompted me to think, ‘I’m going to peak here at some point.’ It was a mobile appliction security testing firm. That’s why I decided to go to boot camp in 2019.”

What was it about your job at KryotoWire that gave you the idea to go to a coding bootcamp? “The first couple of meetings I had at KryptoWire — the internal meetings with the engineering team — they were saying things I had no clue about. To be candid, I felt kind of stupid. So, I went home and I started researching programs on tech, and coding specifically. I knew at 32 years old, I didn’t have four years to give; not only that, I didn’t have debt to accrue.

“So, I literally Googled programs around Python and data analytics, and that’s how I found the bootcamp, and then I took the pretest and applied for it. It was literally researching programs on a Saturday.”

What was it about the program that you liked, or didn’t like? “What I liked was the instruction.

“Now, one thing I had over cohorts is that I spent such a long time in corporate America. I knew what it was like to generate and maintain relationships. That’s one thing I’m good at. I knew that developing relationships with instructors and teaching assistants was going to make me most successful in my career path. And so that’s what I really enjoyed about it.

“I can’t say I had any dislikes only because I went into program knowing whatever happened would be based upon my effort. I was in sales, so I’m used to eating what I kill. So, I applied that same principle to the bootcamp.  

“It was hard at first, from a work standpoint — but that’s because I hadn’t done Python before. …But after the first few weeks of me getting repetitious about it and doing some self-study, I was able to catch on.”

What was it like seeing code for the first time? “I remember the first night we did Python, I went home and told my wife I’m probably going to drop out. The first night we did Python, they were very simple tasks, but I simply couldn’t catch on.

“My wife has been a backbone for me. She told me to stick with it. It was scary. It was foreign. It looked like a foreign language. I know some Spanish, and this looked a lot worse.”

Along with your wife’s support, what kept you from quitting? “I have an acute fear of failure. And also, I knew at KryptoWire, because I worked with such a smart group of people, my skillsets — even my ability to build relationships — wouldn’t carry me into tech. So, if I didn’t get any formal training, whether it be boot camp or a four-year degree, I was going to be left out of that pool of people smart enough to maintain a career in technology.

“So, that fear of missing out — that FOMO — and the fear of failing really drove me. I actually developed a personal interest in learning more about code and data science.”

Was it very expensive? “So, the whole program was $10K. Again, I think I was lucky in the sense that I had a good paying job, so it wasn’t a massive financial undertaking for me. I know some of my other cohorts emptied their savings; they got personal loans. But for me, it wasn’t a heavy lift financially. I always say, I’ve spent more on less.”

What was the course like? “It was six months long. It was all in person. We did Tuesdays and Thursdays for three hours — 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. And Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.”

Was the workload manageable, considering you were working a full-time job? “There were adjustments that had to be made, for sure. Because you have a full life, including your personal life, you do have to carve out time outside of regular coursework in order to maintain and upskill in the program.

“So, for the first couple of weeks there was a time I really had to adjust myself — not only my work schedule, but also my sleep schedule; some of these nights went a little longer than they would have if I weren’t in the program. It was a tough couple of weeks… just trying to get ramped up and really understand what being in a program like this takes….”

What was the most difficult part of the course? “The speed of the course work. They really try to squeeze in about four years of materials into six months. So, keeping up initially was really tough for me. That’s why I had to put in the extra time, not just in the classroom, but also at home. So, there were some personal sacrifices, albeit mostly social, I had to make in order to be successful.

“But the speed was it; one week we’re talking about one thing and the next week we’re onto another topic, and the next topic might incorporate that thing you learned four weeks ago. So, it was a lot to keep up with….”

What did you like best about it? “The teachers. I loved the instruction. It was careful and thoughtful. When you asked a question, you didn’t feel stupid. I really appreciated that. In fact, I still keep in touch with my instructors today. That’s how I know I valued them so much. They were always encouraging me, always.”

What was your first job out of bootcamp? “I was a data analyst. The boot camp was a data science program. Normally, the path is to start off as a data analyst and then you end up a data scientist. So, I went in thinking that would be my path. But in the program you start to understand the skillset you’re investing in can fit a wide range of roles. So, once I was in the program, I stopped narrowing my view of what I could do.

“Number one, I could keep the job I had and be better at it. I could be a data analyst or data scientist. That was a very buzz-worthy title three or four years ago. But after a while, I realized I could do anything with those skills. I actually got the data analyst job a month before completing the bootcamp program.

“Because I had a lot of federal experience, dealing with federal integrators and customers, I got a job as a data analyst with the Department of Justice — and I got that right before COVID started. I wasn’t comfortable with my coding prowess at that point to be a full-fledged engineer. That’s why I went that route.

“Now, I’m on my third job since the program. I was a data analyst for a year, and actually got the opportunity to become a data engineer at Koverse, an SCIC company.”

How has your career change affected your life? “I had a pretty good job before. Job security is a term I stay away from, but now I have skill security. What the program did was give me a sense of always wanting to learn more. I’m a heavy reader. I read at least two books a month around what I do. And I wouldn’t have gotten that fervor to learn — that fire — had I not attended that bootcamp.

“Engineering to me is a trade that if you’re able to learn and upscale it, you’ll be able to maintain [a career] for a very long time.”

In terms of income, has this allowed you to earn more? “Yes. Specifically, when I was at Verizon, I earned well, but it was commission-based. So, now I’m earning that kind of money at a salary level. And, now I work at a company — I started a new job last week — that afforded me the ability to actually have equity in the company….

“To be honest, you don’t know these companies like Facebook give you equity in the company until you get into that realm. It’s made a difference in how I view money, certainly in how I spend it and also how I invest it. It’s made a hell of a difference.”

What advice would you give others considering careers in technology and attending a bootcamp? “Consistency over fear. If you’re consistent with it, no matter what you’re afraid of, you’ll get it eventually. I still have imposter syndrome to this day. But, if I’m consistent with my work ethic and my ability to program and build things, I can put that fear on the back burner. Because all I have to do is get in front of my computer and say. ‘I’m just going to do it regardless of what the outcome is.’ Consistency will trump everything.

“I now work for Gretel. It’s an AI and machine learning company. I’m super excited.”

What do you like about your current job? “I like the fact that I’m part of a company that’s defining a new space in technology. We specialize around synthetic data. We are at the forefront of defining this space, to the point where we’re going to have to be educating folks in the next few years about what it is, which I absolutely love…. I can look back and say Gretel was the one who introduced me to this amazing new topic of AI and machine learning.”

Danielle Bowman

Danielle Bowman

What was your career prior to attending the coding bootcamp? “I got my business management degree and started at Walgreens literally the week after as assistant manager. I had my own store within three or four years. Then I managed a bunch of stores. I started in Cleveland, Ohio before Orlando. Then I was managing stores in Orlando.

“It was fine. It was a good career. It was well paying. But, I knew it wasn’t my long-term career. I just happened to be good at it. But I also knew I didn’t want to work holidays; I was tired of working on weekends and dealing with stuff non-stop.”

How did you learn about the coding bootcamp? “A friend of mine — we used to be assistant managers together in Ohio — asked me if I’d ever thought about coding, and I told him no. He’d become a [software] engineer. No one had ever suggested it as a career path to me. I was naïve to all of it. He told me there’s a demand for it, and your salary could transition and you wouldn’t have to take a huge [loss].

“His wife at the time was going through a General Assembly bootcamp and he told me they’d teach me everything I needed to know to get started in six months. He said just consider it. So, I did a couple classes on my own through Treehouse [online coding school] at the time just to make sure I liked it, just to make sure I could wrap my head around it.”

And did you like it? “It was like making a MySpace profile. You’re just popping this code in. I love it. I did a couple more [classes] and really liked it and then did some research on bootcamps in the Orlando area. There was one called The Iron Yard. And then UCF [University of Central Florida] also had a program from 2U.

“I saw the list of languages, and I didn’t know what any of that was. So, I sent them to my friend who was an engineer and asked if these looked legit. And he said, ‘Oh man…, this is a great program.’ So, I had one of those days at work where a door was closed and I was like, I’m done. I’m ready to make the move. So, I applied.”

How was it like creating a MySpace page? “I’d never seen code before. I’d never looked at it. So, when I did my first class and saw HTML CSS [Cascading Style Sheets], I recognized it and remembered I’d get these themes and pop them into my MySpace page. I figured out where to change the color and stuff like that on my own, but I didn’t know what that was. But seeing it in the classes, I was like, ‘Oh, that was code I was putting on this page.’

“As I took the class and was building upon things, it was fascinating. It was just so cool. I was kind of mad I hadn’t gotten into it sooner. The more I learn about it, the more I love it. It really changed my life.”

How did you pay for the course, and how were you able to earn a living at the same time? “It was $10,000, but I was able to get a continuing education loan. I spoke to someone at 2U and started the program in March 2016. So, I stayed working with Walgreens the entire time and did the bootcamp two nights a week and on Saturday. That was my life. I’d work and the rest of my time was the bootcamp and just learning materials and working on projects and doing homework. It was crazy. It was really intense.”

How did you choose the course at coding bootcamp? “Our final project was an individual project. They let you do whatever stack you wanted. I think I ended up doing a MERN stack, but Angular was coming out, too, at the time. They suggested if you’re interested, you may want to do that, too.

“I like the front end more. I like seeing stuff in front of me and the actual changes. So, as soon as I got out of coding school, I learned Angular to see what I could do with it. And it actually worked out well. I got my first job as an Angular developer at Verizon.

“After about six months, I thought I’d kind of like to do back end. So my next job turned out to be back-end heavy, and so I worked that for two, two and a half years. I loved all of it when I came out, but I didn’t want to commit to anything. That was the hard part. But that way you don’t get burned out.”

Was it strange changing from a retail management job to a career in software development? “It was. It was weird because I was used to being in charge. So, starting at a new company at the very bottom, everything was new. It’s been five years now and it still feels weird having every weekend off.

“As I got more comfortable, I started developing relationships with people — my colleagues. I like talking to people and sharing things. So, it was easier for me to get noticed because I was willing to chit chat. It was weird sitting at a desk all day long and just have my own little computer and that’s it. But it was also nice to go from being responsible for a lot of people to just being an individual contributor and just worrying about myself and what I’m bringing to the team.”

Did your salary change a great deal? “Initially. I think I was making $70,000 as a Walgreens store manager, and my first job in coding as a contractor was $55,000. Probably after about a year, I was able to get even with my salary as a store manager. Honestly, I’m double that now.”

What do you like best about your tech job? “The company I’m at now, they brought me in as a tech lead. So I was able to lead a small team on the development of a product. Their tech lead role used to be you’d be a manager of people. So they liked that I had the coding skill and I was comfortable leading people.

“So, even though I was just the tech lead for a while, they restructured how management was, and they asked if I’d like to continue coding or [be] a manager. And I said, ‘I think I’d like to be a manager.’ I like advocating for people. I like the coding, but I felt like I could be better — be more of an asset to people working for me by working for them.

“Since October, I’ve been back in management. I still do a little coding here and there, and I try to keep up with it. But I got certified as a ScrumMaster to help facilitate meetings and share knowledge and just pass along any concerns and try to keep my engineers happy. That is a concern. You don’t want to lose people.”

What advice would you give others considering a career in coding and attending a bootcamp? “It’s a lot of work, and it’s a time commitment. You have to be fully prepared to commit to that. It’s definitely a situation where you get out of it what you put into it.

“I’ve seen both sides of it. I’ve seen people just skirt by and then nothing happens and it’s just a waste of their time. It’s only you you’re hurting. You have to commit. Everything builds on top of everything before it. So, if you’re stuck, like completely lost [during the instruction], get help immediately. Don’t wait. It’s not going to go away. It’s just going to build and you’re just going to go down a terrible rabbit hole.”