[soham]

[Disclaimer: Shameless self-promotion]

We run something called Interview Kickstart: http://Interviewkickstart.com .

It's a part-time bootcamp focused on preparing for technical interviews at (so-called) top-tier places i.e. places which interview heavily in DS/Algos and Large Scale Design for their core engineering roles, and also make staggeringly high offers. Think G/F/A/Netflix/Amazon/MS etc.

It is intense and also taught by Sr. Engineers working in core systems at these places. There is a rigorous academic take to it, with homework, tests, mock interviews etc.

A little known fact, is that many people come to the program with no intent to look for a job. They are already at good places, paid well, and just want to get better as an engineer, which I think is what you're looking for.

Many have figured out, that the structure and the forcing function challenges them to be better. Most of your peers will have backgrounds in CS/CS, and you'll also see people coming FROM some of the same companies others are aspiring to go to (e.g. Amazon, Microsoft etC).

We start an online cohort every month, where people join from all over US and Canada (and sometimes even other countries).

Feel free to check it out.

[Retric]

Just a suggestion for possible improvements... Looking at the sight I really just wanted two questions answered. How much time? How much money?

The first took a while to find: Two 4 to 6-hour sessions per week, for 8 weeks. 200+ hours of work.

The second looks sketchy: Tuition: Not cheap

[soham]

Thanks! Will consider. With that comment on pricing, we just want to deter people who think this can be done cheaply.

[OJFord]

Isn't it possible that someone considers whatever your price is to be 'cheap'? Why not just list the price, and deter whoever's deterred?

[atmosx]

Definitions of cheap vary greatly amongst possible clients. Better just give a price and let the client decide if it's acceptable or not.

[mailshanx]

>> "... and also make staggeringly high offer"

How high are we talking about? Let's say around ~5 yrs exp dev who would otherwise be considered intermediate level elsewhere spends the equivalent of 3-6 months of full time effort in preparation: what comp can such a candidate expect to negotiate in the big4/5?

[soham]

For that level of experience, and a great interview performance, big-5 easily cross $225k/yr in total comp. Often much more.

[peacemaker]

$225k?? For 5 years experience? Not a chance.

You might get somewhere around $100k though which is still a very nice salary in most places. Up to $150k in major hubs.

[skylark]

225k total comp (salary + bonus + equity) for Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Apple sounds about right. I've personally gotten offers from those companies only slightly less than that with only 2 years of experience under my belt.

If you're curious, hop onto Glassdoor. It's really accurate for the tech giants because of how many datapoints have been submitted.

[closeparen]

There are no "most places" for the companies mentioned above, and certainly no places that aren't major hubs.

[ccdev]

That sounds like something that I am looking for. I'm interested in a "CS fundamentals" bootcamp. I have years of web development experience and while I could take a React bootcamp that would make me more marketable for that particular area, I'd like to increase my scope beyond web dev or mobile dev. Work on massive systems, and places where they need smart ways to move mountains of data.

In college I graduated in a digital media like program, and took a "super minor" in Computer Science- one Data Structures and Discrete Math class, and two courses on OOP software design. I have familiarity with some structures, understand the general concept of Big O but I'd like to fill in some gaps.

[jancsika]

As far as getting better as an engineer in some domain-- how does a program like this compare to hacking on and contributing to a FLOSS project in that same domain for a similar total number of hours?

[soham]

Probably better to hack/FLOSS. But there is a severe lack of structure there. Very easy to get started and get distracted, work on suboptimal projects and in general, never get validation on what you worked on.

[swyx]

wow you dont accept bootcamp grads? we're precisely the kind of people that need you. do you have any interview prep peers you would recommend that are slightly lower tier than you? or do you have a detailed syllabus anywhere?

[kevmo]

I think it makes sense to not accept brand-new bootcamp grads. That subset of people should already be able to at least get on a junior web or QA engineer position and will be better served by actually getting out there and doing it. Going straight into one of these programs would be the equivalent of getting a Master's just because you don't know what to do after getting your Bachelor's.

[seangrogg]

> Going straight into one of these programs would be the equivalent of getting a Master's just because you don't know what to do after getting your Bachelor's.

In all fairness, isn't this exactly the situation for most of the people pursuing their Master's?

[Retric]

Most CS students should get at least an internship before grad school. If nothing else there is a summer between your CS degree and the start of a masters program. 'Bootcamps' are very short term and don't really allow for that kind training.

[throwawayjava]

No, at least not in CS at "good universities". Jobs are too easy to come by for this pattern (which is more common for humanities majors I think).

In CS It's a combo of people playing the immigration game and people looking to one up their credentials and/or network. Which is different from "don't know what I want to do".