Cookie-Cutter Boot Camps Offer Alternative Route to Tech Jobs

By Everic White

October 15, 2016

Job growth in tech and engineering has been four times that of the rest of the city’s economy and high-tech salaries are 49 percent higher than all other jobs, according to a report from the State Comptroller’s office. The way those jobs are being filled is changing, though.

For jobseekers looking to change careers, institutes like General Assembly, Flatiron School, and Full Stack Academy provide their students with short term education in high-demand computer skills in hope of higher paying jobs. Though the schools have increased their graduate count and revenues, there is a caveat to their model that casts a shadow on their promise.

General Assembly, Flatiron School, and Full Stack Academy are some of the many boot camp-style schools that teaching students web development, user design and data analysis. In this business model, students immerse themselves with professors, industry tools and professional development workshops that last around twelve weeks.

The schools fashion themselves as alternatives to traditional university-based education models. Anna Lindow, GM of Campus Education and Operations at General Assembly, said that means “delivering an ROI on education and delivering an education that’s going to help you get a job in a relatively short time with a relatively expensive price.”

“There are a lot of open positions out there for software developers, and normal colleges and grad schools aren’t putting out enough people to fill them, or people with the right skills,” said Director of Admissions at FullStack Academy, Huntly Mayo-Malasky. “Schools like FullStack can fill that gap, while offering an opportunity to people who want to change careers.”

According to CourseReport.com, a company that reviews code schools for prospective students, 90 percent of code school graduates in the United States attend to find employment as programmers, and job placement ranks as the highest factor in their attendance.

CourseReport.com also estimates the nationwide market for code schools to increase from just over 10,000 graduates in 2015 to about 18,000 in 2016. That rise is a double-edged sword according to Christian Gonzalez-Rivera, a fellow at the Center for an Urban Future.

“It’s estimated by the Department of Labor, that two thirds of all jobs will require some kind of post-secondary degree by the year 2020,” he said. The entry of so many people with similar skills might not be positive, though.

“There’s always a risk of over-saturating the market with people with a certain type of skill,” Gonzalez-Rivera continued. “It’s important for these specialized schools to create a profile of non-discrete skills that make up the ideal employee are for these industries.”

The schools have methods to ensure their graduates are employed. General Assembly has an employer-searchable database of its graduates. FullStack Academy has a hiring week at the end of its track, complete with career fairs and career counseling. All three feature partner programs with employers. They also show off their graduates’ job placement and salary as proof.

General Assembly, FullStack Academy and Flatiron School claimed 99, 97, and 85 percent of their respective graduates were employed within 6 months of graduation. Flatiron School’s independent jobs report showed their graduates average a salary of $74,447. CourseReport.com showed an average salary increase of 64% or $26,021. Yet, though alums find jobs, even they are aware of a growing number of competitors among their classmates.

Originally a writer and military intelligence analyst, Lyandre Pierre graduated from General Assembly’s full-time user experience and design course in April. He was the kind of student Adam Enbar, founder and president of Flatiron School, would say “sought out and discovered their passion for this a little later in life”.

After graduating, Pierre began consulting for a startup called Rentah. He is optimistic about his future, but too warns of too many coders and designers taking this route. “It’s very easy to get in, as long as you pay. You meet so many people who’ve done the programs. We all make portfolios. All of them are kind of similar. It makes it more difficult in your career search if everyone is doing the same thing.”