How to Find a Job After a Bootcamp

So you’ve just completed a coding bootcamp course and are thinking, now what? Or perhaps you’re midway through, thinking ahead about what comes next. You’ve been promised six-figure salaries and Silicon Valley, the chance to land a job that will see you set financially for life. These aren’t empty promises, but like everything, these opportunities won’t just fall into your lap. With a little strategy, and a lot of work, here’s how to get your dream job after a bootcamp.

If you still can’t find a job after a coding bootcamp…

The first step in how to start a career in IT is to figure out what jobs are available to you. There are countless bootcamp courses out there, and not all of them involve learning to code. From Cybersecurity, to Web Development, to Graphic Design, you’ll have taken an intensive course in a specific niche – fast-tracking you to employment by giving you the hard skills necessary for specific industry roles. If you can’t find a job after a coding bootcamp, it may be simply that you’re applying for the wrong roles, or ones you are not qualified for.

Does taking a Bootcamp with a job guarantee really work? 

Because of the above-mentioned, it’s vital that you figure out exactly what jobs you should be applying for – and this includes your pay grade. Bootcamp courses love to wow prospective students with flashy average starting salaries, but this figure is skewed by data from students who already had significant experience in the industry, and were taking the course as a refresher, or to build on existing skills. If you’re straight out of school, or relatively inexperienced professionally, you should still be applying for entry-level programming roles. 

Remember – in this industry, progression is FAST, and your $30k entry level salary could quickly double, following the completion of your probation period. Get your foot in the door with an internship, but work fast, prove your worth and show them why they need a bootcamp grad like you. 

Some bootcamp courses offer a job guarantee and this tends to be legitimate. Whether it be a UX bootcamp job guarantee, or a cyber security bootcamp job guarantee, if the course ranks highly on review aggregator sites, or comes highly recommended, the offer of employment (or your money back) guarantee really is true! However, what they don’t tell you – is that you still usually have to take charge of the applications process, sometimes being pushed to apply to upwards of five applications a day by a careers coach to ensure you’re putting yourself out there enough. So instead of a simple “job guarantee”, it’s better to see it as a thorough careers counselling service. 

Find companies that hire bootcamp grads

Unfortunately, since the concept of a bootcamp is so new, not all companies hire bootcamp grads – but this is changing, fast. Following the lead of some of the biggest tech companies, innovative firms are realising the potential of bootcamp talent and filling their workforce with bootcamp grads. 

From Amazon to Google, you’ll find enthusiastic proponents of bootcamps on the hiring teams, so long as you can prove your skills. Many bootcamp graduates prefer to seek out start-ups however, as an excellent way to thoroughly test out your new skills, continue learning, and soak in the excitement of building something at the very earliest stages of growth. If you’re unsure whether you’re suited for a startup or big corporation, check out our Startup Mindset Tool. 

Build a Strong Application

The thing that makes people nervous about hiring bootcamp grads, is the speed at which they’ve come to develop their skills. Everyone in programming knows that skills take practice, and the only real way to learn is through applied trial and error. For this reason, proving your experience is going to be vital. This means building a razor sharp portfolio of impressive projects, regardless of whether they were paid or unpaid positions.

Let’s say you’re seeking a role as a Web Developer. You’re going to have to have at least two (or one highly impressive) self-built website in your portfolio, to showcase your talent. Don’t forget that your portfolio website itself should be an example of your skills! Within your website, be sure to include sections for your resume, your projects, your services, contact and sometimes even a blog. Pay very close attention to useability (UX) and design (UI). 

Discover what career fits your personality

In the race to get hired, it can be easy to forget to pay attention to which roles and careers are a perfect match for you. Beyond seeking a fit for your skills, which companies reflect your values, your work style or personality?

To figure this out, your best bet is to take an online personality test, such as the short and free Personality Test from Gyfted. This test will give you unique insight into your personality and how this can be leveraged to match up with your dream career. Based on psychometrics designed by 12+ scientists and psychometricians, these tools are designed with culture fit in mind, to assist candidates and employers find their perfect fit. 

Sign up for Gyfted’s programme for bootcamp grads

FInally, the easiest thing you can do is sign up for job boards and programmes that specifically target bootcamp grads, to let your future employers come to you. Here at Gyfted, we know just how valuable bootcamp grads can be, so we’re busy building a service specifically to help them land their dream careers. Find out more about our job placement for bootcamp grads service and join our waitlist. From there, you will be able to take our personality tests, discover yourself and be matched with great companies and roles, based on culture fit. 

Hannah