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Who signs up for programming bootcamps? Discover the profile of the average student

programming bootcamp

When taking the decision of joining and signing up for further training other than college, such as for example programming bootcamps, many times we turn to find out what kind of audience they target.

Knowing who is demanding this kind of programs can be really helpful: if this programming bootcamp is especially popular among a certain group of people, it must mean it actually meets their needs and concerns.  Moreover, knowing what kind of people will be your classmates helps our confidence.

For those of you who may be considering signing up for a programming courses, in today’s post we will provide you with a brief breakdown of a study by SwitchUp 2018 Coding Bootcamp Industry and Outcomes Report . There we find not only an analysis of the student profile but also their opinions and of course the results after completing the programming bootcamp.

Not a man’s world

In SwitchUp they kept in mind the variables of gender, race and previous programming training and education at the time of tackling the student profile matter, so as to determine who does sign up for programming bootcamps. The results were not surprising: programming bootcamps may be outside of the traditional education and academia circuit, but cultural and social biases are still there. This is the reason why it is not surprise to see that a 59% of the people surveyed during the study were men.

Even though these are the same patterns in regard to gender we find also in universities, gender equality is more balanced in the programming bootcamp world. In colleges and universities, the percentage of men developing IT studies rises up to a 79%. At Ubiqum we are certain of the importance of breaking these gender patterns: we want to train more women so they become programmers. Day by day, the amount of women who choose to take this professional path increases, one that leads them to a professional sector full of opportunities.

Training for everyone

The professional profile of the people who decide to sign up for a programming bootcamp is very diverse. Even though many of them have set foot on college (many did not finish their studies), 81.4% did not have any previous training IT related. Among the most common academic backgrounds the surveyed came from were Business, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Arts: such a diverse picture. Also, 4.2% of the surveyed did not go to college.

With regards to previous programming experience, more than half of the surveyed stated having little or none. Form these, 44.8% said they had never coded before. From these data it is easy to come to the conclusion that a programming bootcamp is an open and versatile environment where anyone can fit in since there is not a specific professional profile.

A programming bootcamp is a great option to consider so as to complete or extend your previous education and training: in a short period of time you will develop the skills and gain the knowledge to jump right into the job market successfully. Overall, a programming bootcamp is quite a suitable and convenient alternative to traditional college education given the effectiveness and intensity of its program.

Undeniable results

One of the more interesting aspects of this study is not only the profile of former students who opted for a programming bootcamp, but also their opinions after finishing it. A very illustrative fact is that 93% of the surveyed would actually recommend their programming bootcamp to a friend. We could leave it here, right? But let’s go over some other data that are objective, such as the employment rate of the students after the bootcamp. For this matter the study analyzes it with regards to the parameters of ethnicity, gender and learnt language of the surveyed.

In any case, the employment rate does not go under 71.7%. After finishing the programming bootcamp, 47% of the students were actually working as IT professionals. A great complement for the employment rate post-bootcamp is the difference between pre and post-bootcamp salaries of the surveyed. This difference was in average between $12,500 and $22,800 increase annually. Such a juicy raise means more than an extra $1,500 a month.

But… What kind of programming bootcamp did the surveyed attend?

In case you have already checked out the wide range of programming bootcamps that are available nowadays, you probably already know the models and options are many and varied. The type of programming bootcamp may vary with regard to length, format (in or off-site) or price, not to mention the contents it may focus on. The study’s results are very revealing to this matter:  the preferred and more popular programming languages when choosing a programming bootcamp are JavaScript, HTML and CSS, followed by Ruby on Rails and SQL. Pricewise, a great amount of the people surveyed attended programming bootcamps with an overall cost between $5,000 and $10,000. Also, most of them showed preference for those programming bootcamps that involved on-site classes (71.6%). All these preferences match to perfection our training program offer at Ubiqum.

Benefits of doing a bootcamp at Ubiqum

If you are still looking for the perfect programming bootcamp for you, we hope this brief breakdown is helpful at the time of making a decision. In case you have further concerns or doubts do not hesitate in contacting our Career Advisor team. At Ubiqum we are always at your service.