It saddens me to watch the bashing of the bootcamp model because of the doubt and mistrust that has been created by the big players and short-sighted executives. This education plays a big role in skill training and facilitating career change. In my career I have worked with a number of career changers in-and-out of the tech industry and have seen the challenges job seekers face as they pivot their career and attempt to market their transferrable skills.
There are few bridges that make a career transition easier. Technical bootcamps are one of the few pathways that quickly provide an effective outlet for a career changer who is interested in pursuing a sustainable career. However, there is a larger story that those behind-the-scenes are failing to tell. Bootcamps often rely on gimmicky marketing schemes to generate revenue. There are individuals in our field that appear to have forgotten the mission we originally set out to achieve — create opportunity for our students, not customers. It’s not uncommon to hear talk about the “products” of bootcamps as if we are manufacturing tangible goods, forgetting we are human-focused institutions that are changing lives daily.
Let’s change the story. I urge all bootcamps currently being scrutinized for their lack of transparency to re-evaluate the story that is being told and instead tell it for what it is. Outcomes are important. However, maybe the way outcomes are being focused on isn’t the best approach. Stop obsessing over the 90% employed in 120 days. That means nothing. Absolutely nothing when the general public isn’t privy to how the numbers are derived. It’s misleading and unfair. There’s a more accurate and powerful story lying under that over-marketed sound bite.
Maybe it’s because of the role I’ve played in these bootcamps, but I have been fortunate to listen to the stories of over 500 students from many of the programs (not just those I’ve worked for). The stories I’ve heard are of dramatic life changes; they’re real life, real struggles, real heartbreaks, real hope, and really powerful. These students are not products, they’re people investing in changing their lives with the help of our expertise.
I’ve worked with students who were homeless and students who survived on food stamps. I’ve counseled students who had left dead-end jobs or who were extremely unhappy in their careers. I’ve listened to students that couldn’t make ends meet but who dreamt of a sustainable career in order to start a family, and the student that was laid off because their role outgrew their skill-set. I could go on and on with stories that capture my heart and drive my career to support these individuals as they work to achieve their dreams. Each student has a heart full of hope; they come in with bright, curious eyes ready to embark on a very risky and expensive, but ever exciting life change. They’re not all born with silver spoons or trust funds. They save, take out loans, and rely on credit cards to prepare for a lengthy unemployment stint with the hopes of a brighter future.
Of the 500+ students I’ve worked with over the last couple of years, most of them found jobs as software developers, but not all of them. However, for those that didn’t secure a developer role, they found themselves in a better and more fulfilling position than what they were in before. They are making a higher salary with better benefits than what they had access to before. They successfully found employment in the tech industry and are working toward a sustainable and lucrative career — something they did not have before.
As a career coach it pains me to see anyone suffer in a job search, because regardless of your background or industry, your first job in a new field will always be a challenge and the process can be discouraging as well as isolating. I desperately would love to cushion each of them as they ride the lows of job searching, but I cannot nor can any bootcamp, school, or institution. However, we can set better expectations by not selling a silver bullet. It’s unrealistic and setting students up for a form of failure, extreme case of imposter syndrome, and an evolving story of deception that furthers employers’ skepticism. This is what damages the successful reputation of our programs.
Change is long overdue. I urge all bootcamp decision-makers to rethink how you’re crafting your story. Take a step back and get reacquainted with the people who are investing in your salaries. These students are your story.
Who are they? As individuals, as potential employees, as career changers, as students? How’d they get here? Why your program, this industry, this role, and why now? What’s next? What are their aspirations, their goals, and what do they want to do after completing your program?
Full disclosure, I ask every individual I consult on career decisions these questions, so the seed has already been planted and you may be surprised by their answers.
Tell us: what are their backgrounds prior to the program? What is the position they accepted after your program? What was their search like? Why were they successful or why did they struggle? What are the demographics of your student body? What is the financial diversity versus the cultural diversity? How many of them made it through the application process, program, employment search? Why or why not? Then dig deeper. Tell their stories. Make it accessible to the general public so the investment is fully understood before asking potential students to sign the dotted line.
These are the outcomes you should be sharing. These are the stories, the “numbers” prospective students want to know. Can they relate to your current population? Can they envision themselves in your program based on the successes that have happened to date? Stop hiding behind the gimmicks. Maybe the story is not what you wanted it to be, but it has value and it’s life changing. This is how you build trust and respect back into the programs you’re building. This is what changes and improves upon the success of supporting career changers achieve their employment goals.
Tell the real story. Tell the full story.
