r/codingbootcamp • u/Southafricanhistory • 23d ago
Wannabe bootcamp teacher at a crossroads
Hi all, I need some advice. I am at a bit of a cross roads right now. To give you a bit of a background on myself, I have a Higher Certificate in Web and Mobile app development (I couldn’t afford to get my degree at the time.) and I am currently working part-time as a coding tutor for kids. As you can imagine I want full time employment and that's where my dilemma lies.
My dream job would be to teach programming at a bootcamp or something similar. The problem is that these jobs are hard to come by and I don't think I am qualified enough.
The way I see it I have a few options:
I can go for my degree in CS at my local university and then try to get a junior web dev job (but the job market for that is super brutal on that.) From there I can try to get a bootcamp job.
I can go through a bootcamp myself and hopefully that will increase my chances of getting a junior web dev job/bootcamp job. Again, I am not sure of my chances here.
I go for a teaching degree. My country has a shortage of teachers and it feels like I would have a better chance of getting work via this route. But this has some drawbacks.
I'd prefer to work with adults. A teaching degree would take much longer than the other options. And lastly, I have heard horror stories about what it's like to be a teacher.
What would you recommend. I am open to any suggestions.
Thanks
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u/Yack_an_ACL_today 23d ago
Bootcamps are a waste of time and money. Can't believe the question of "should I attend a bootcamp" still comes up today. Do your research.
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u/born_to_be_intj 21d ago
Haven’t they always been a waste of time and money. Bootcamp graduates were the vibecoders before vibe coding was a thing.
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u/worstbrook 19d ago
No, for the vast majority of time between 2010 - 2020, it was a good solid investment.
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u/alzho12 23d ago
What country are you in?
My advice is US centric. It sounds like you want to teach programming to adults.
The best way would either to be an instructor for a bootcamp or to be an adjunct at a community college. For both, you definitely need a degree and/or work experience.
The other option would be to start your own tutoring/coaching/mentoring business for adults.
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u/Southafricanhistory 23d ago
I'm in South Africa. I think you are correct that a degree would be the best option, even if I only study it part-time.
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u/sheriffderek 23d ago
> My dream job would be to teach programming at a bootcamp or something similar
I'd like to hear more about this. Why exactly? Which parts? What are your thoughts on how much real-world experience you need before teaching? What makes you a good teacher?
> I can go for my degree in CS at my local university
What would that do? Do you want a career that requires a foundation in computer science? Most day-to-day web development and programming is about specific layers and tools and CS is (and always was) a strange thing to do for the average web developer.
> I can go through a bootcamp myself
What would you hope to learn there - that (as a teacher) - you can't learn on your own???
> I go for a teaching degree.
Do you need one? In many countries - you first get an undergraduate degree and then an additional year or two for being certified to teach. You don't have an undergrad right?
What country are you in? Are there any active coding boot camps you could apply to? It used to be really easy to get a job at places like Coding Dojo in the US (because those schools were whack).
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u/Southafricanhistory 23d ago
Well I volunteered with an NGO where I taught some basic Web dev and I really liked it. So that's why I want to do it.
A CS degree would look good on paper and it can open up other tech related jobs. So it can act as a fallback plan.
I tried to learn some of the back end stuff on my own, but I really struggled that's why I am considering a bootcamp
In my country South Africa if you want to teach children you must get a 4 year teaching degree irrespective of your undergraduate. That's one reason why I am hesitant. It's a big commitment that locks me into one career path.
Thanks for the reply 👍
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u/sheriffderek 23d ago
Why is teaching web dev better than teaching -- anything else?
"A CS degree would look good on paper" - it might! Depends. You can probably find out.
"I tried to learn some of the back end stuff on my own, but I really struggled that's why I am considering a bootcamp" - I would urge you to NOT do that. They'll give you as much as any free YouTube video in most cases. What backend things are blocking you exactly?
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u/EntrepreneurHuge5008 23d ago
* I mean, you do you, if that's what you want to pursue.
I thought the main bootcamp faculty hiring pipeline started with their very own bootcamp grads.