Coding bootcamp job placement programs and guarantees are some of the most enticing aspects of this new form of job training. However, many students still wonder if they can get a job after coding bootcamp. To answer this question, this article takes a closer look at coding bootcamp job placement rates and career prospects for people with programming skills.
While not many coding bootcamps disclose their outcomes publicly, those that do were found to have high success rates. In its 2020 outcomes report, for example, General Assembly noted a 74.4 percent job placement rate within six months of graduation among students who received full-time career coaching. According to Career Karma’s 2021 State of the Bootcamp Market Report, many of these grads are being hired by major tech companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and JPMorgan Chase.
Key Takeaways
- The average job placement rate for coding bootcamps is 71 percent, surpassing the average job placement rate for computer science graduates.
- Bootcamps like General Assembly, Thinkful, Flatiron School, App Academy, Fullstack Academy, and Hack Reactor have exceptional job placement rates.
- Graduating from a coding bootcamp opens up opportunities in various tech fields, including data science, cyber security, software engineering, app development, web development, and game design.
- When evaluating coding bootcamp outcomes reports, pay attention to graduation rates, acceptance rates, job placement criteria, and the types of jobs included in the placement rate.
- While job placement after coding bootcamp is highly likely, it’s not guaranteed. Factors such as specialization, skill level, location, and experience play a role in employment success.
What Is the Average Coding Bootcamp Job Placement Rate?
The average job placement rate for coding bootcamps stands at 71%
According to data compiled by the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR), the average job placement rate across the major coding bootcamps is 71 percent. This is higher than the average job placement rate for computer science graduates, which currently stands at 68 percent.
Coding bootcamps typically have such high job placement rates because they go to great lengths to help alumni land in-field jobs. Most bootcamps have professional career teams to help students navigate the job search and hone their interview skills. In addition, bootcamps often partner with local companies that hire from their talent pools.
Which Bootcamps Have the Best Job Placement Rates?
There are many coding bootcamps in the market and their job placement rates vary considerably. To give you a hand during your search for the right school, we have compiled a list of bootcamps with exceptionally high job placement figures. If you are serious about getting a job after coding bootcamp, make sure to check out the following schools:
- General Assembly: According to the school’s outcomes report, 95.7 percent of its students eventually succeeded in landing a job in their field of study.
- Thinkful: This well-known coding bootcamp also boasts a higher-than-average job placement rate. Eighty-one percent of graduating students are hired within six months.
- Flatiron School: Ninety percent of Flatiron School students get a job in tech after graduating, which means it is one of the best coding bootcamps for job placement.
- App Academy: This school can also brag about its job placement numbers. In 2019, 95 percent of New York students participating in job search got a job. The placement rate for all graduates at its New York campus was 87 percent.
- Fullstack Academy: Over 91 percent of Fullstack Academy students secure in-field jobs in 2019. They earned a median salary of $82,500.
- Hack Reactor. Students at this prestigious coding bootcamp, now owned by Galvanize, have a success rate of 85.1 percent.
What Are Coding Bootcamp Job Placement Rates?
Coding bootcamp job placement rates are a statistic used to evaluate the success of bootcamp graduates. Different schools use different metrics to measure job placement rates. They are typically published by coding bootcamps on a yearly basis and look into the types of programming jobs and average salaries that bootcamp students receive upon graduation.
Unlike colleges and universities, some of the best coding bootcamps publish their placement statistics for prospective students to see. These figures are generally high because bootcamps work directly with the tech industry and provide unmatched career resources for grads. Before deciding where to study, be sure to familiarize yourself with coding bootcamp employment rates and placement rates.
If you are unsure about a bootcamp’s job placement claims, see if they collaborate with the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR), a non-profit that works to provide transparent and accurate student outcomes figures. CIRR-verified bootcamps adhere to high reporting standards. There are also schools like Flatiron School that had their outcomes reports independently verified to ensure full transparency.
What Is a Good Bootcamp Job Placement Rate?
As a prospective student, you should really read into the coding bootcamp job placement claims. Aim for a school with at least a 50 to 60 percent placement rate. Check to see if the school’s in-person coding program performs better than its online program. Try to find out what career services bootcamp grads are offered, and if it seems to help with their job searches.
Some bootcamps even publish the average starting salary of bootcamp attendees. Be sure to take this statistic into consideration as well when making your bootcamp decision. If the base salaries are too low for you, you may want to consider a different bootcamp. Also, check to see how often graduates receive an increase in salary, and what the average salary increase is.
Getting a Job After Coding Bootcamp: Common Bootcamp Grad Occupations
Depending on the bootcamp program you enroll in, you can get a tech job in almost any corner of the industry. Graduating from a bootcamp is a good way to get your career in tech started, whether you choose to study data science, web development, cyber security, or software engineering. Below, we take a quick glance at the top coding bootcamp jobs.
| Job | BLS Job Outlook | BLS Median Salary |
| Data Scientist | 36% | $100,910 |
| Cyber Security Expert | 35% | $102,600 |
| Software Engineer | 25% | $109,020 |
| App Developer | 25%* | $109,020* |
| Web Developer | 23% | $77,030 |
| Game Designer | 5% | $78,790 |
Top Coding Bootcamp Jobs: A Closer Look
Here, we dig deeper into each of the common coding bootcamp jobs highlighted above. We also give you an idea of how much people earn in each profession using salary figures from PayScale.
Data Scientist
Data scientists collect, analyze, and interpret data to derive valuable insights for the businesses and organizations they work for. It is a lucrative career path that earns professional data scientists an average salary of $98,602, according to PayScale. Data scientists are sought after by major tech companies and organizations across industries to help them make important business decisions.
Cyber Security Expert
A cyber security expert is in charge of keeping a company’s network and systems safe from cyber attacks. They typically perform penetration testing and vulnerability assessment to find potential threats. Due to the important work they do, cyber security experts are paid handsomely. PayScale reports that cyber security engineers earn $99,945 per year on average.
Software Engineer
If you want to work in the tech industry but don’t know exactly what you want to study, attending a software engineering bootcamp is an excellent choice. Software engineering positions are set to grow at a whopping 25 percent in the next decade. Bootcamp graduates with software engineering education can branch off into all sorts of tech fields, including many of the other professions on this list.
App Developer
An app developer builds programs and applications that are not only functional but also have a satisfactory user experience. The average application developer makes $73,797 per year, according to PayScale. To learn the ins and outs of this profession in the most efficient way possible, we recommend enrolling in one of the best app development bootcamps.
Web Developer
This is a popular career path, particularly for students graduating from a web development bootcamp. Web developers are responsible for creating and developing functional websites using front end and backend technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and more. According to PayScale, a web developer earns $61,797 on average while more experienced professionals can earn up to $80,000.
Game Designer
Game designers build and develop game applications for various platforms. To become a game developer or a game designer, knowledge of C++, Java, and C programming may be needed. PayScale estimates that game programmers make an average of $66,055 per year and the figure can go up to $95,000 with more experience in the field.
How to Get a Job After Coding Bootcamp
Life after coding bootcamp can be difficult, especially when it comes to the job search. Many schools offer career services that can show you how to get a job after coding bootcamp, along with career preparation tips and techniques.
One challenge bootcamp alumni may face is competing against those who have graduated from a computer science degree program. If you don’t have a degree, you will always have better luck applying to companies that value hands-on experience over academic achievements. Fortunately, you can find these employers in almost every major tech city in the US. Here are a few other things you should do to find a job after coding bootcamp.
1. Show Off Your Skills
Show off all of your skills. While your technical skills are extremely important in finding a job, you’ll need to demonstrate your other skills as well. One advantage bootcamp graduates have over college degree holders is the curriculum. In coding bootcamps, you will learn the most in-demand soft skills for your desired job in the industry.
2. Learn Additional Programming Languages
Most coding bootcamps teach a few programming languages. Usually, you will learn the most in-demand languages like JavaScript and Python. However, if you take some time on your own to study the more niche programming languages, you will further impress employers. Having knowledge of a variety of languages is one of the best ways to one-up your competition.
3. Enroll in Online Classes
If you have already completed an online bootcamp, you probably think this is excessive. However, there are many online resources you can use to improve your employability. They are a great way to learn programming languages and acquire career development skills. You can learn Google Analytics or Adobe Illustrator to spice up your resume. Keep in mind, bootcamps and online classes are available for international students as well.
4. Attend Networking Events
Networking events are typically an important part of a bootcamp’s career services. However, you can also find info about networking events by simply searching online. Attending networking events is a great way to get your name, resume, and portfolio out there in a professional way. In addition, potential employers will be impressed by your initiative to keep yourself up to date.
5. Aim for Startups Before Setting Your Sights on Big Companies
A lot of bootcamp graduates have their eyes set only on major tech companies. However, it is best to keep your options open and explore potential career opportunities at other small- to mid-sized companies. Startups can be a great place for your tech skills and career to flourish, considering their professional environment and work culture.
Understanding Coding Bootcamp Job Placement Rates
An outcomes report typically covers key metrics like graduation rates, acceptance rates, median salaries after coding bootcamp, school rankings, and largest employers. However, all schools are free to include or exclude any metrics they desire as long as the data shown is accurate and not tampered with. As such, it can be difficult to compare the success of two coding bootcamps.
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In other words, simply reading the highlighted numbers on a coding bootcamp outcomes report barely scratches the surface. In this section, we will go over crucial terminology and fill in the common gaps that are typically present in outcomes reports. This will equip you with the knowledge you need to interpret the outcomes report of whichever bootcamp you are interested in.
Graduation Rate
More often than not, people tend to get graduation rates and employment rates mixed up. These are not the same. Graduation rates indicate the percentage of students who have successfully completed a program while employment rates refer to the percentage of students who have found a job after their bootcamp education.
Some coding bootcamps with the highest job placement rates also fail to provide accurate details of students that make up said percentages. For example, a school may have a 90 percent employment rate, but the actual numbers may actually represent a specific number of students from a specific program during a specific enrollment period.
Bootcamp Acceptance Rate
Bootcamp acceptance rates are also an important metric to look at. Other terms that may be used in place of this are admissions rates and enrollment rates. Bootcamps with open admissions generally accept most applicants while others can be more selective and only accept top applicants or students with some sort of professional experience
In the case of the latter, the school would already have the best students to work with. After providing them with in-demand programming skills and extensive support through a dedicated career success team, it is more likely that the students would have higher chances of employment.
What Jobs Count for the Placement Rate?
Different bootcamps use different criteria when calculating their job placement rate. Some schools may forgo any distinction between all jobs that their graduates land. Some may include jobs with an average starting salary of below $40,000 while others may even include jobs outside of the tech industry.
When looking at an outcomes report, it is crucial that you look at all the details and ask these questions. How long did it take them to find a job? Did they gain full-time employment? Did they find a job that utilizes the tech skills they picked up at the coding bootcamp? How much time and financial investment did they put into the coding bootcamp before finding a job?
Will You Get a Job After Bootcamp?
You are very likely to get a job after coding bootcamp as shown by the job placement figures presented in this article. However, getting a job right after your program is not guaranteed, as a lot of factors influence your employment chances, including specialization, skill level, location, and experience.
Previous education is also a factor. If you’ve graduated from college, that’s a plus. A bachelor’s degree can improve your odds of job placement after coding bootcamp, although a growing number of companies nowadays prioritize tech skills and real-world experience over academic degrees.
If you follow the tips we offer above, you’ll set yourself up for success after coding bootcamp. Jobs are competitive and placement isn’t always a sure thing. A great coding bootcamp will get you halfway, but the rest is your responsibility. With hard work, a great portfolio, and a dedicated community, you can head out into the job market with confidence and glowing qualifications.
Coding Bootcamp Job Placement Rates FAQ
According to CIRR data, approximately 71 percent of coding bootcamp graduates land jobs within 180 days of graduating. Some coding bootcamps, like Thinkful and BloomTech, have higher job placement rates than others. Note that higher coding bootcamp job placement rates may not actually reflect the actual numbers, considering different schools use different metrics to measure employment success.
Do free coding bootcamps offer job placement?
No, there isn’t any free coding bootcamp with job placement. However, they may offer some form of career services. If you are interested in coding bootcamps with a job placement guarantee, you can check out Codesmith, Hack Reactor, App Academy, and Tech Elevator, among others.
On the whole, and despite some controversies, bootcamp job placement rates can be trusted, particularly if they are part of a report published by the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting. CIRR is a non-profit that strives to provide accurate, easy-to-understand student outcomes figures. To become a CIRR member, bootcamps must adhere to high reporting standards.
General Assembly, Designlab, Springboard, and Ironhack are some established bootcamps that offer programs in UX/UI and that have high job placement rates. Besides success rates, make sure to also take other factors into account during your research. For example, it is important to also consider the quality of the curriculum and the instructors.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
