| I am in nearly exactly the same position as your friend, and I am attending Dev Bootcamp in the fall. If he only wants to do development as an interesting way to make more money or have greater job security, some combination of self-learning and mentoring over a year's time I would think could get him into a development position somewhere, which I'm sure could lead to bigger and better things down the line. However, if your friend thinks he might truly be passionate about coding, I highly recommend he (rigorously research and) attend one of the coding "bootcamps" that has sprung up over the past year. I'm sure that not all of these bootcamps are created equal, but the good ones seem to be run by passionate, skilled, and dedicated people that will do their part and more to give you the necessary tools to be a developer in a desirable segment of the industry. The job placement statistics at many of these schools would seem to bear that out. You can look up lots of info on them on Quora or at www.bootcamper.io (seems to be down at the moment). The "highly selective" part of most of these schools is not based on a candidate's level of past experience (part of the point is to give opportunities to candidates with little CS experience). I'd say if your friend can present himself well-to-very-well in written communication, show that he has great desire and commitment to learn (assuming that he does), and show that he is already taking basic steps to learn on his own, he has a good shot at making it into one of these bootcamps. Simply put, I think they're worth it (at least the top 3 or top 5 bootcamps -- can't speak for the others). The beginning of anybody's career is a time where investment of time and money can return outsize benefits. More investment yields exponentially larger results in terms of career trajectory. And, to encourage you/him, if he doesn't think he's cut out for one of these programs, of course he can accomplish the same things on his own, if he wants to badly enough.
I just happen to think that the programs are well worth it, and therefore he should consider them. Hope that helps! I'll obviously know more when I've actually made it through Dev Bootcamp and hopefully find employment, but this is the best advice I could give your friend, knowing what I know so far. |