Should I quit my job and learning coding through App Academy NYC?
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I am 25 years old, graduated with a BA in Communications and have a full time job doing event planning in NYC. I am not unhappy there but part of me wants more. When I was a child my dream was to become a video game designer but I was discouraged when it was time to apply for universities so I decided to persue film editing and communications. Recently with so many online courses for coding and bootcamps springing up, I've been thinking of taking the big step of going to App Academy, quitting my current job and becoming a software or app developer for an NYC company. I do not currently have any programming experience beyond experimenting with codecademy.com I guess my question has several parts. What is the NYC tech scene like? After graduating a bootcamp program how likely or quickly would I find a job? Does it matter that I do not have a Computer Science degree? I'm not afraid of having what it takes to learn, I'm more worried about the viability of it and not being sure what I'm getting into. It seems like a big risk and I want to make sure I know what the tech environment in NYC is like and that I will be happy there.
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Answer:
I'm involved with the coding community in San Francisco, knew the folks at App Academy, Hack Reactor, MakerSquare, General Assembly, etc. Also wrote a book http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VPURW8M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00VPURW8M&linkCode=as2&tag=dklo-20&linkId=SSJZIUQPONPSJOGD. Congrats! It sounds like you have fine decisions awaiting you, and as frustrating as it may seem, these are good problems to have. Are you happy? Not unhappy doesn't quite seem the same as 'I am happy' sometimes. Will learning to code make you happy? Why? Why not? It sounds like you have the experience of disappointment of road not followed. So, I encourage you to follow your heart. Sometimes, your gut signals something very important in life, and it is a valuable skill (in execution as well as in courage) to learn to listen to it. I hear some hesitation in your question. Perhaps you are worried about making mistakes. But, I'm sure you've heard that making mistakes early on - and 1) you are still relatively young and 2) it is less than three months of your time and 3) relatively inexpensive - is better and cheaper than making mistakes down the road. This way, you learn and you can do other things with what you learned. With that soft stuff out of the way, let me address your questions. #1. From what I've seen, you will have a solid foundation in building web applications. You won't be a total hacker, but a solid junior developer who has learned how to learn, and is ready to learn more. #2. It is very likely you will find a job quickly. For one thing, you are joining a networking of developer community, and you come out with a distinct brand. You won't just be another 'oh, I learned to code on my own time' person, but have a school's brand and method behind you. Some advice: a) To build on #2, do your homework before hand. Explore the alternatives. Meet the people at the schools - network with other prospective students and share stories. You don't want to regret the brand you'll carry with you. b) Step back, and make sure this is what you want. Do you enjoy event planning or a related job? Are you overlooking opportunities you could be creating for yourself through your current role and organization? Are you comfortable withe the thought of becoming a full-time developer, looking up http://stackoverflow.com or staring at text editors all day? Of course, it is a fun job, solving problems, and the camaraderie you share. Again, you are young. Be bold. Walk forward!
David Kim at Quora Visit the source
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