Coding bootcamps are fast-paced, full-time programs designed to turn out entry-level developers in as little as three months. According to the Coding Bootcamp Market Size Study, there were 66,564 coding bootcamp graduates in 2023. Of course, coding bootcamps are not for everyone.
Depending on your interests and career goals, you may be better suited for a computer science degree program than a coding bootcamp. To help you decide if a bootcamp is worth the investment, here is a big picture look at how the tech industry perceives coding bootcamp graduates as well as note about the incredible job placement claims made by coding schools.
What Employers Think About Coding Bootcamps
What do employers really think about coding bootcamps? To find out, we conducted a survey in March 2024 of over 1,000 HR managers and technical recruiters across the United States:
- 73% of respondents think bootcamp grads are “just as prepared” to be high performers as degree holders
- 82% of respondents have hired a coding bootcamp graduate for a tech role within their company
- 99.5% of respondents who hired a coding bootcamp graduate say they would do so again
Clearly, employers think highly of coding bootcamp graduates and their abilities in the workplace. At the same time, there was unanimous concern among HR managers and technical recruiters about the lack of regulation and accreditation. Despite employer enthusiasm for the model, 98% of respondents want to see more regulation. Not all bootcamps are created equal, and the lack of uniform standards means employers are not convinced that all coding bootcamps produce qualified candidates.
Claims Made by Coding Bootcamps
According to Course Report, in 2020 there were 97 recognized full-time bootcamps. Many of these bootcamps advertise job placement rates well above 90%. However, because of the lack of regulation and oversight, these claims are not always verified by independent third parties.
The International Business Times examined the eye-popping claims made by top coding schools. According to Jonathan Lau, co-founder of SwitchUp, an independent directory of coding bootcamp reviews and rankings, these claims are not always rooted in actual student outcomes. “Oftentimes, bootcamps will make these numbers up,” Lau is quoted as saying by the International Business Times, “They’ll exclude students who they think were bad and mark them as a failed student and do all sorts of weird things that bump up their numbers and make it look better. With a third-party auditor, you can’t really do that.” Unfortunately, third-party verification is not common. In fact, according to the International Business Times report, most of the coding bootcamps it looked at did not release third-party verified and audited results.
| Provider | Job Placement Rate | Job Placement Definition | Third-Party Verified? |
| App Academy | 98% | A job as a full-time software developer within 12 months after graduation. | No |
| General Assembly | 99% | Includes full-time, some contract positions and internships in tech roles obtained within six months after graduation. | No |
| Hack Reactor | 99% | Includes full-time and contractor job offers in a tech role obtained within three months after graduation. | No |
| Turing School | 98% | Includes full-time and some part-time positions, such as contracts and internships, obtained within three months after graduation. | No |
| Wyncode | 90% | Includes full-time, part-time and internships obtained within three months after graduation. | No |
| Source: “Code Boot Camps Fail Obama As Unaudited Stats Cast Doubt On Success Rates.” International Business Times, from https://www.ibtimes.com/code-boot-camps-fail-obama-unaudited-stats-cast-doubt-success-rates-2301188 | |||
The message: be wary of any unverified job placement claims made by coding bootcamps, and also closely examine results that are third-party verified. Course Report published the following tips on what to watch out for when you see a “job guarantee” claim made by a coding bootcamp:
- Is the school guaranteeing you a job or a job offer?
- Are job search requirements clear? (i.e., networking, proof of minimum # of applications, time limit, reporting back to the bootcamp careers team)
- Does the school count contract, part-time, non-developer, non-technical or the school’s own job offers as “offers?”
- Are there any prerequisites to be eligible for the job guarantee? (i.e., city you live in, English skills, college degree, age, etc.)
Coding Bootcamp vs. Computer Science Degree
Referring again to the our study, 45% of respondents would rather hire a candidate with a computer science degree than a coding bootcamp graduate. CS programs explore the theoretical principles of programming in addition to straight coding skills. Bootcamps, on the other hand, focus on programming alone.
Anupam Joshi, Chair of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland, sees the benefit of bootcamps as vocational training. In an article by the Washington Post, Joshi is quoted as saying, “Bootcamps are good for someone who wants to get an entry level job.” But Brian O’Neill, Principal Architect at Philly-based tech company Monetate, sees it differently: “You emerge from a bootcamp fit to do an oil change,” he’s quoted as saying to the Washington Post, “but not design a car.”
If you want to learn the fundamentals of how programming actually works and not just how to read and write code, a computer science program will provide the depth of study you need to understand what is going on behind the scenes.
