---
title: "Don’t Attend That Coding Bootcamp Until You Read This"
source: https://www.initjs.org/blog/dont-attend-that-coding-bootcamp-until-you-read-this
author: Michael Mitrakos
published: 2017-11-19
tags: ["bootcamp"]
---

# Don’t Attend That Coding Bootcamp Until You Read This

Having worked across sites raking in over 50 billion website visits annually with [Higglo Digital](https://higglo.io) I write about [tech topics](https://www.initjs.org/) and teach engineers to have solid foundations that will help them get ahead in their career. I also build [awesome products for digital nomads](http://wanderlustapp.io/) — check it out!

The truth is — there are *A LOT* of bad coding bootcamps out there.

Coding bootcamp graduates are, now more than ever, having a hard time finding jobs. Time-to-employment statistics are dropping by 10% or greater for just about every bootcamp out there. A lot of companies will completely disregard your application if you graduated from one. Why? There are probably a few reasons, but I think the biggest one is that they’ve wasted their time before interviewing graduates that were a waste of time.

I graduated from a bootcamp myself, taught for a stint, and have even interviewed dozens of candidates from every bootcamp on the West Coast. I think attending a coding bootcamp is an amazing idea if you want to get into software engineering — but beware of the scams.

Here’s what you need to look for in your future bootcamp:

## 1) Coding by yourself and coding as a team are completely different

After interviewing so many bootcamp graduates, it became very clear why some students excelled in the interview process (and had the right skills) while others didn’t. I was extremely surprised when I was told (multiple times) that a student didn’t once work with a team on a real project during the bootcamp.

This is highway robbery at its worst. I would never hire a full-time software engineer that hasn’t worked with a team before. There are many skills that you pick up when working with a team — not to mention so many more around team and individual communication. This is a must.

## 2) A core focus on *ONE* language

Knowing a medium amount of every language out there is not going to get you a job. PHP, JavaScript, Ruby, GO — no one cares unless you know *at least one* language extremely well. Find a bootcamp that focuses entirely on ONE language (or in some cases max two).

## 3) Where did their graduates go?

Get on LinkedIn and start to search for that bootcamp’s graduates and see what companies they are at and their title. Be careful — really smart people can still attend a bad bootcamp and still be successful because of [their attitude](https://www.initjs.org/blog/attending-a-coding-bootcamp-heres-the-3-most-important-rules-to-follow). Don’t put too much weight on this one, but it’s something to look into.

This is a major commitment you’re about to embark on — don’t allow yourself to attend a bootcamp that’s not giving you all the right skills you need to truly be a successful software engineer. If you have to wait and study for a few more months to be accepted into one of the top bootcamps like Hack Reactor or App Academy… do it.

P.S. I write a lot about JavaScript algorithms and data structures that you can read at [initjs.org](https://www.initjs.org/), and if you’re about to attend a coding bootcamp I highly suggest you read [these three rules](https://www.initjs.org/blog/attending-a-coding-bootcamp-heres-the-3-most-important-rules-to-follow) on how to graduate as one of the top students at your bootcamp.

I founded [Higglo Digital](https://higglo.io) and we can help your business crush the web game with an award-winning website and cutting-edge digital strategy. If you want to see a *beautifully designed website*, [check us out](https://higglo.io).

I also created [Wanderlust Extension](http://www.wanderlustapp.io/) to discover the most beautiful places across the world with highly curated content. Check it out!