Having originally started out in the USA, coding bootcamps are becoming an increasingly popular way for aspiring coders to learn their trade and with new government funding supporting Skills Bootcamps throughout the UK, they are now more popular than ever.
But what about businesses? How can coding bootcamps help companies looking for ways to bring in great new tech talent?
What Are Coding Bootcamps?
The term “coding bootcamp” has risen to prominence over the past decade or so, and by and large, it’s used to describe a course which teaches people fundamental coding and business skills in a short space of time.
Dependent on the context, these may be people looking to retrain or upskill, or students who view it as an alternate means of further education.
So What Are The Benefits Of Coding Bootcamps?
One of the ways coding bootcamps can benefit businesses is to provide a steadier stream of employable talent that’s ready to jump into a full-time role having received a formal qualification.
With university courses such as computer science, the cohorts all operate on a strict yearly basis, with graduates becoming available for interviews around March or April of their final year.
However, this system isn’t ideal for businesses looking to get the very best people into their workforce.
Firstly, you’re forced to stick or twist when it comes to deciding when to recruit. If you do this when the student doesn’t have a degree classification, it can be hard to judge a student’s work, particularly concerning their dissertation, meaning that the hire will be a leap of faith.
On the other hand, waiting for students to receive their degree results puts you at risk of missing out altogether as companies across the region scramble to scoop up the premier graduates.
Another issue is that of the structure of yearly cohorts. As degrees typically take three years, with the same start date for each new class, graduates will only become available once per year, which is hardly reflective of the working world in which problems will arise irrespective of the date on the calendar. Having to wait around can lead to overworked staff, and this also puts added pressure on the recruiting team.
Coding bootcamps can benefit businesses by providing solutions to all of these issues. As coding bootcamps by design are shorter – 12 weeks long in the case of a Code Nation Master: Coding Course – the production line of talent gets greater with each passing month, allowing prospective employers to interview more coders before making a decision.
This consistent stream of bootcamp grads will take the pressure off having to recruit based on second-year university grades as well as allowing said departments to respond to actual workforce needs rather than employing graduates in the hope that they’ll be needed later in the year.
How Else Are Coding Bootcamps Helpful To Businesses?
The coding bootcamp model has been praised for listening more to the needs of businesses rather than teaching curricula that may bear little relevance to the professional world.
Some courses will take advice and even instruction from partnering companies to ensure that material they feel crucial to a coder’s development is covered in the course.
This is what we here at Code Nation do through our Pledgers system. Working closely with them to create a curriculum designed to meet the ever adapting needs of the Tech sector.
Furthermore, many coding bootcamps are now aware of the fact that the best way of supporting their alumni into work after their bootcamp is to teach and deliver the full suite of skills required in the industry, including technical and non technical communication skills, teamwork and problem solving.
Although universities have dabbled in this practice, their priority remains affixed to academia. Because of this, coding bootcamps help businesses by providing them with employees that are ready for work and don’t require the same sort of assimilation period as university graduates.
In Summary
The modernity and forward-thinking nature of coding bootcamps help to benefit businesses by not only providing them with more potential recruits to choose from, but also by giving them the additional skills needed to thrive in a work environment.
To hear more about the coding bootcamps on offer from Code Nation, get in touch with us today or drop by one of our open evenings to check discover more about what we do!
