Are programming bootcamps lying about their average graduate salaries?

Individual schools will have a variety of average starting salaries, but at Course Report, we did an independent https://www.coursereport.com/resources/course-report-bootcamp-graduate-demographics-outcomes-study. We found that, on aggregate, the majority of graduates of coding bootcamps are finding full-time employment, and 75% of graduates surveyed report being employed in a full-time job requiring the skills learned at bootcamp, with an average salary increase of 44%. We found strong evidence of salary growth, with respondents reporting a $25k average increase in their first job after attending a programming bootcamp. The average salary of a bootcamp graduate was $75,965. You can see other info about coding bootcamp demographics inhttps://www.coursereport.com/resources/course-report-bootcamp-graduate-demographics-outcomes-study Don't hesitate to reach out to me liz[at]coursereport[dot]com with questions about specific bootcamps!

I went to a coding 'bootcamp' called CodeAstra in Hyderabad(India). I was in one of their last batch. I can't write a single thing which was good about the course because literally there was none. There is no infrastructure, it runs of out of utterly congested flat that smells like public toilet and there is nothing like bootcamp there. The main instructor (also the founder) seems to be disillusion about it. In span of 3 months he took 4 sessions and rest he gave us the videos to complete. That was it. Everything is ad-hoc there and most of the time he is not in campus to address the issues or clear doubts.No internet, No water, Stinking Washroom, Poor Course structure, No Guidance or mentorship and on top of that the instructor does not make effort to teach students. The first batch of codeastra was IITians so with little to no guidance they did quite well but next batches are absolute mess.My rating for code astra is 1/10.I would not recommend this Course to anyone!!!! Stay Away.

Payscale depends on different factors like location, experience, etc....our placement director can give you a detailed expectation of your salary after graduation based on your profile.

Some bootcamps have big asterisks next to their numbers. One trick is to only count "self-reported" salaries towards averages. So, they're not lying per se but you can do the math...(!) The reality is that bootcamp grads are entry-level. So, most are going to make less than the averages reported for devs. What's more interesting for them is what they'll command as devs with 2-3 experience. For them, switching into the tech industry is a smart move.

Hi there. Thanks for your question! For the past year at General Assembly, graduates of full-time programs across all global campuses have been asked to opt-in to share data about their salary when they accept their first full-time, paid role post-graduation. The average starting salary for graduates of our immersive programs is in line with typical starting salaries in their fields, ranging from $65K-$85K depending on their market & field. While salary increase will vary based on graduates professional background, the average salary increase our students see is 22 percent. While it is certainly possibly to earn more after our full-time programs, (we’ve also  seen some grads earn over $100,ooo in their first role post-course) since this isn’t always the norm we make an effort to share average salary instead. Because we do not charge a placement fee to the company or the graduate, our sole focus is coaching our graduates to find the best opportunity of their choice. At General Assembly, the https://generalassemb.ly/outcomes is  dedicated to seeing full-time students take control of their career aspirations by helping to communicate their skills, make valuable connections, and identify ideal career opportunities. This support continues throughout the course of the job search, and includes negotiation assistance as grads consider which role is best for them. Our graduates are now working everywhere from Fortune 500 companies, to growing startups, or even businesses they’ve started on their own.

We recently did a comprehensive 2015 http://coding%20bootcamp%20survey/ on switchup for demographics/outcomes of the coding bootcamp industry and found: 1)  57% of graduates reported a salary increase and about a similar percentage worked in the tech industry afterwards. 2) 86% of graduates were satisfied 3) female/male split is 40/60 4) median age 27 - a few years work experience 5) 80%+ bachelor degree holders 6) less than 30% have technical STEM degrees 7) median salary was around $70k for a coding bootcamp grad Demographics of each cohort at different schools and the outcomes are also drastically different - be sure to do research extensively before hand.

From my perspective, as a prospective bootcamp applicant, the figures offered by bootcamps are respective of the rates paid i) in their local area and ii) to graduates of those bootcamps you've picked out. The Payscale.com rates appear to be nationwide for the US, so it's understandable why there would be a gulf between those rates. The site itself shows a figure for San Francisco that is in line with what some bootcamps suggest. I'm of the impression that there's an additional premium paid to staff in the SF/ SV area, because of the candidate demand there. A lot of candidates are filtered out by the more-established bootcamps. It's in their interests to ensure the quality of candidates, because some are paid a referral fee for student hires. Other bootcamps in areas outside of SF have highlighted lower salaries. Software Craftsmanship Guild mentions a junior developer role making $40-60K in their region (http://www.swcguild.com/FAQ). I think 'lying' is a bit of a strong insinuation to make in this instance.

There are a few factors that help make sense of those numbers. Below I've outlined the questions I would suggest asking the bootcamps as well as the factors I'd use to compare outcomes between bootcamps. Location What are the average incomes for jobs in your area? It could be that $110K is standard for the micro geography. San Francisco is notoriously expensive, whereas Austin is significantly cheaper, so you would expect salaries to be very different. Ask them for the job titles that its graduates have in their roles right after the bootcamp, and then look at salary guide websites like http://www.salary.com/, http://www.payscale.com/, and http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm. Factoring for job title and location, how do the bootcamp graduate incomes compare to local averages? Prior Skill Level What skills did they already have when they started the bootcamp? Were they starting from scratch, or had they already completed a high number of MOOCs, courses like Treehouse, had been working in technical roles, and had an education in CS or something similar? At Launch, we admit people based on drive, internal locus of control, collaborative abilities, learning velocity and commitment, rather than solely prior experience. We want the best students, which often means we prioritize enthusiasm, focus, and humility.  Some programs are 0-60 while others are 30-90; find out which is the best fit for you. This differentiation is important as it will skew salary numbers- which at that point aren’t really the most important KPI (reviews and job retention would take priority in that case). Job Descriptions What were the job responsibilities that these programmers had in these jobs, and were they truly entry level programming jobs? Comparing the job descriptions of the grads to true entry level work will help you determine if the pay fits the output. You can easily find entry level job descriptions by going on the websites of tech firms in the area. Start with a site like http://inc.com to find companies http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/metro/boston and then go to the top tech companies’ career pages (google the name of the company and the words “careers” or “jobs” to find those pages) and read up on the job descriptions. Prior Incomes What were the graduates’ incomes and jobs before the bootcamp, and do their current roles leverage their experience (the two are correlated)? For example, lets say a programmer’s market value is about $x (for rounding and sake of argument) and a marketing analyst also shares a market value of $x. Now, what if the programmer is working for a VC backed startup making a next generation ad management platform and the employee is able to coordinate and collaborate with the product team, marketing teams, and speak with actual customers in terms they understand? Well, that person is going to be worth a lot more than $x. So, when you’re looking at those roles that people have, figure out how much their prior knowledge, experience, and ability to speak multiple business languages has an effect on incomes. For example, did they have backgrounds in medicine, mathematics, tax, law, statistics, or something else that combines well with programming and makes them more valuable? In Boston, having at least three years experience in biology, pharmaceuticals, finance, non-CS engineering (mechanical, electrical, hydro, etc…), advertising, and statistics will get you a 20% to 40% income boost if you land a job with a company where your prior domain experience is relevant. Bootcamp Curriculum Design To what degree is the bootcamp’s curriculum, teaching method, or “special sauce” accelerating the learning and boosting incomes above what you’d expect? This one is kind of tricky to answer, but essentially what you’re trying to figure out is the difference between what a competent programmer would earn on their own if they just showed up in that community, versus what the school is teaching that is specifically geared to hiring companies it has relationships with. For example, here at http://www.launchacademy.com/ we maintain close relationships with a number of managers and leaders at hiring companies to make sure that our curriculum is aligned with the needs of the companies. When those companies show up for career day, they can assume that the risks and unknowns of interviewing (technical competence, cultural fit, adaptability, learning velocity) have been eliminated due to the curriculum. They also gain comfort in knowing that our smaller, more intimate cohorts which we hold one at a time and only quarterly, allow for us to have a more agile approach to our curriculum so that we are able to adapt to market and technology changes faster.

I'm one of the Dev Bootcamp students Jonathan mentioned who was accepted into ThoughtWorks University (hey Jonathan!!!).  My starting salary was in line with the bootcamp ad promises that I've seen, so I ended up getting the best of both worlds - competitive pay and a remarkable apprenticeship experience. Having said that, starting a career in web development has not been an easy undertaking for me.  On the contrary, it has been emotionally, intellectually, and physically draining (especially during my first year as a junior dev, when impostor syndrome was at its worst).  This is the why many programmers more seasoned than myself will advise you against becoming a programmer just for the salary. I don't want to dissuade you from learning to code or becoming a web dev.  To be clear, I've never been happier in my career than I am right now.  But the reason has nothing to do with my salary.  My team and I are kind of like chefs, except we make recipes with 1s and 0s instead of stuff from the fridge.  Thousands of people will consume the "dishes" we make with those recipes.  If we do our jobs right, they'll love what we make and rave about it to their friends.  "Chefs" like us have written apps that have reunited families, brought down governments, entertained millions of people, etc.  There's honor in that. All of which is to say, I'll remember the impact I made long after I've forgotten the things I bought with my salary.