Imagine yourself in a classroom in a country that is not your homeland. A teacher is speaking a foreign language that you don’t domain, teaching a computer language that you know absolutely nothing. It sounds a bit scary, right? Welcome to a coding Bootcamp.

Actually, this was my personal experience in a Bootcamp. I was living in the Netherlands for two years already, and then I decided to change from journalism to Web Development. Although I am grateful to have taken this decision, I cannot deny that some tips beforehand could help me to pass through it more easily.

That is why I prepared five tips for those who are planning to join a Bootcamp.

Be prepared

It is undeniable that being in a Bootcamp was a fantastic experience for me; the amount of knowledge that you gain in a short time is impressive though this crazy experience may not be for everyone.

The level of commitment that it takes require a high level of discipline and passion. With the right amount of motivation, you can pass throw the whole course and start a fantastic career, but if you get distracted, you lose track and miss the basic concepts what will – for sure – be a problem in the future.

Thus, be prepared for each day learn one different concept, study 14 hours a day and do two projects a week. That will be your life during the course.

Do not wait for a miracle.

Since the market started to require more and more professionals from IT, I hear people join Bootcamps seeking those jobs with high salaries. Most of them think that they will finish a 5-month course and land on a fantastic job, and never learn anything again. Unfortunately, that is not the reality.

Coding requires a lot of logical skills, and you will have to study for the rest of your life. Every day a new tool is released, and – to be on top of your game – you must be aware of everything that is out there. It is true that many companies are looking for an engineer, but do not forget that there are tons of people who are learning and improve themselves.

Thus, if you want to enter this world, be prepared to fight for it.

Self-learn

I see Bootcamp being a guideline, where your teacher gives you a few directions, and you must choose which one you will follow by yourself. It is impossible to learn everything in such a short period, and they know that.

You will have access to different frameworks, libraries, languages. Hence, you have to follow what you like more and study as much as you can those technologies. Do not wait for anyone to show you the right way, mostly because there is no right way.

It is not all about code.

Network! Network! Network!

There are two essential things that I learn with journalism:

1. Do not burn your sources
2. Do not burn your network.

I have to say that I will be carried this for my whole life, and during Bootcamp cannot be different.

If you are planning to change your field completely, the Bootcamp will be your gateway to any company. During my course, I had my first contact with engineers, and I had to make sure that they would remember my name after the five months.

It is essential to talk to people, and learn with them not just algorithmics, but the jargons, what computer they use, how they learn, what they eat. The best way to learn is observing; then when you join a company, you will not be lost in the middle of people speaking things that you do not understand.

Have fun

This course will drain your energies and at some point, will be hard to think anything else but “It is time to code”, but it does not mean that you cannot have fun with it. Make challenges, games, competitions. Bootcamp is much about having experience as it is about learning a new concept.

Those are my tips to turn your Bootcamp even better.
Let me know if you liked!