So You’ve Graduated a Coding Bootcamp. Now What?
Like many over the last year, I have taken up coding, and liked it so much that I decided to enroll in a bootcamp in order to learn in more depth in a class environment. The great thing about bootcamps is the amount you’re able to learn in a short amount of time. Although it’s extremely intense, and your life is basically only coding for a few months, it’s an absolute blast!
But once you’ve completed the program and are now set out to the world what’s next? The structure of daily learning, assignments, projects, coding challenges is no more. It’s time to set goals for yourself!
Looking Back
The first step I’d recommend is obviously take a break. A day or two; you deserve it! But don’t let that become all you do. Set a time after your break to sit down and plan out what you want to do. A job search is often the end goal but often times jobs take a while to find and so it’s vital to keep your skills finely tuned by continuing to practice and learning.
Now that you no longer have deadlines for assignments and projects, you can go back and review any assignments that were confusing or optional and get some extra practice. On top of this previous projects have already been submitted and now they can be improved on! Your first project which was probably made a month into learning how to code can now be improved with months of knowledge that you’ve acquired! Your final project can also be improved if you weren’t happy with the overall product and in the end. The great thing about this is that it will help you make sure you don’t forget anything and also improved your resume by making your projects stand out more!
Algorithms
Algorithms are great to learn in case it wasn’t gone over during your bootcamp. Algorithms are super helpful to understand because they are tools that all languages lean on. They can help us reach conclusions in our day to day coding by drawing parallels.
Expanding
It’s important to not only be satisfied with what you’ve learned from your bootcamp but to continue learning. If you’ve learned React try dabbling in React Native and Redux. If there's a job that you’re really interested in that requires languages you don’t know, learn them! You’ve shown yourself that you can learn how to code and it’s never too late to add another language under your belt.
Overall after finishing the intensive grind of a bootcamp, it’s up to you to keep pushing yourself to continue learning and growing as a coder because there is always room to grow. And that’s the fun of it! As much as you’ve learned you can always learn a new language and even improve on one’s you’ve already learned. It’s a never ending journey, but it’s an enjoyable one.