The Boot Camp Survival Guide - Why?
For what purpose did you enroll in a boot camp? What is your reason? It’s not easy. In fact, it’s really hard. Your personal life will likely suffer. Success is not guaranteed. Lots of people drop out. Why, are you doing this? When undertaking a difficult challenge it’s always helpful to clearly understand and articulate why, to properly orient yourself toward your true goal.
You might be starting a new career. You might be leveling up your skills for your current position. Perhaps you plan to start a business. Whatever your reason, it’s important to understand that your true goal lies beyond the boot camp itself. Graduation is not the goal. It’s a step along the way.?
When I made the decision to enroll in boot camp I wasn’t clear with myself on why I was doing so. I had some vague notions about using my new skills to further my creative endeavors in theater and music and I figured the boot camp would open doors to some type of employment. But I never took the time to think any of that through in a concrete sort of way.
Setting goals is motivating for me. For my boot camp experience, I set my goal as getting an ‘A’ and my stretch goal as a perfect score. I set myself to the task, and pretty much knocked it out of the park. I graduated with a score of 95.24/100 and earned an ‘A’. I did the heavy lifting on 2 out of 3 group projects, including our final project for which we received a perfect score. I had no prior coding knowledge. I was super proud of myself, brimming with confidence, and ready to take on the world.?
The only problem was that I wasn’t sure what to do next after the dust had settled. To make matters worse, I was so focused on completing my coursework and getting high grades, that I failed to complete the necessary steps to get connected with the career services program that my boot camp offered to graduates. I also hadn’t done the best job of getting to know many of my classmates and establishing solid relationships with them. I had missed a golden opportunity for networking right from the get-go and didn’t even realize it, until months after the fact.
I wasn’t sure what to do next, I had no one to ask for advice, and I didn’t have a strong network in place that I could turn to for support.
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I floundered for the next several weeks trying to get my bearings, until I was finally connected with my job coach through the career services program. By then, I had lost my momentum. That confidence I had rightfully earned was gone. I had gone from being ready to take on the world, to being ready to walk away.
Had I taken the time and care to recognize that the true goal was beyond the boot camp itself. I would have oriented myself and my efforts in a different fashion. If I had identified my goal as say, finding a job in EdTech or MusicTech as quickly as possible after graduation, I would have prioritized my time and energy differently. I would have worried less about grades and more about completing my career materials and connecting with career services to hit the ground running with my job search as soon as I graduated. For my group projects, I could have proposed project ideas related to EdTech and MusicTech so I had tangible experience in my desired sectors. Perhaps I would have researched more about what it takes to get your first developer job. If so, I would have better understood the importance of networking and probably would have made more of an effort to get to know my classmates. I may have even tried to make some connections in the tech sectors I am most interested in.
If you are currently in a boot camp or thinking about enrolling in a boot camp. Try to get really clear with yourself about why you are doing so. Recognize that your true goal lies beyond the boot camp itself and orient your efforts accordingly.
What are some other ways that your true goal might affect how you approach a boot camp?