So you've decided to become a software engineer. Congratulations! The first step is getting that preliminary education and becoming employable.

Your learning accelerates in your first year of full time employment - it's important to reach that base level of competency as soon as possible.

A bit of backstory on me: In 2015 I spent 10 months (~20 hours a week) teaching myself to code, then attended a 3 month boot camp at General Assembly.

In retrospect, I actually had enough technical skill to land a junior role before I did the boot camp. The issue was that I didn't have a portfolio, I didn't know how to write a cover letter and I had no professional network. These are the crucial elements of landing a job that General Assembly provided.

Disclaimer: This article is written for people looking to become a dev in Australia. Internationally, many of the points still stand but your mileage may vary.

AVAILABILITY

Boot camps are intense. They're designed to get you up to speed as quick as possible (much like in a military context). On the first day the instructor told me to "put my social life on pause". Boot camp is more than full-time. I was in class for 8 hours a day and then spending 3-4 hours after class working on assignments, as well as on the weekends.

A lot of people say it sounds unrealistic that you could go from complete newbie to junior dev in 3-6 months. That's because it is - the only way to do it is by living and breathing code for the entirety of the duration. Three out of fifteen people in the boot camp dropped out and they were the people that couldn't commit 100%.

But what if you have other responsibilities and can't just put everything in your life on hold for 6 months? Then university or self-teaching is probably a better option for you.

The pacing of University is slower and a lot more forgiving. If you fall behind in boot camp you're kind of screwed. But if you fail a unit at uni you can just take it again next semester.

It's also way more flexible. Let's say you need to care for your child until your partner gets home from work. At uni you can study after hours - boot camp doesn't allow for this kind of flexibility.

Obviously, self-teaching provides the most flexibility and you can set your own pace. For some people this is perfect, but it also requires you to keep yourself accountable. Which leads me to my next point...

SELF-DISCIPLINE

While bootcamp is intense, it doesn't require you to be self-motivating. You are constantly surrounded by people enduring the same workload and it's inspiring. If you've ever done group work-outs you know what this feels like. When you're immersed in that environment, you feel motivated and there's social pressure to keep up.

University has some aspects of this, but for the most part - it's a fairly solitary experience and the only thing that keeps you consistent is deadlines. It requires you to be somewhat disciplined because failing a subject means repeating it, which means more time and money down the drain.

Self-teaching is the ultimate test. Some days you will get lazy, and there's really nothing keeping you accountable. The way I did it was going to the library every single day, no matter what. Eventually it became a habit. Some days I'd only code for an hour, some days it would be eight hour marathons, but it kept me focused and being in an environment where everyone else is working really helps.

Another pit fall of self-teaching is the lack of clearly defined objectives. Even though I self taught for a year I had no portfolio to show for it because I hadn't committed to any long term projects. Instead of making five good apps, I made 50 bad / unfinished apps. I'd learnt a lot, but how was I supposed to show that to an employer? Bootcamps and university degrees are designed to give you some tangible proof of your competency.

COSTS (FINANCIAL AND OPPORTUNITY)

Let's compare some prices (AUD) - as of January 2021

• Self Taught - $0 - $300 (cost of online courses)
• Bootcamp - $15,500 at General Assembly, $19,980 at Coder Academy
• University - $19000 at MYUQ, $31,800 at UTS (Bachelors of Computer Science)

So in terms of cost, self-taught obviously wins, right?

Well maybe not - let's say you either self teach for one year or attend six months of bootcamp.

The bootcamp costs $20,000, but you are able to start working 6 months earlier and recuperate that initial investment quicker. If you start at $60,000 - then you'd earn your $20000 back after four months (not accounting for tax).

Honestly, this was the reason I chose to forego university. It's 3-4 years that you aren't working. That's a huge opportunity cost.

It's worth mentioning that while University degrees generally costs more, they're also covered by government interest-free study loans (HECS-HELP). As of writing this article, the only bootcamp in Australia that is covered by HECS is Coder Academy.

GOALS

Ultimately, this is going to be the biggest factor in deciding which route you take.

What do you actually want to do with programming? Do you adore computing and want to understand it down to the bare metal? Then you will probably enjoy the more theory based approach of university. If you aspire to work at a prestigious big tech company like Google then a bachelors degree is pretty much mandatory. Maybe you want to push the boundaries of technology, working on the next break through in artificial intelligence... well there's a reason they call it computer science.

If you're dead set on University and you didn't get the ATAR you need for the course, it's not the end of the world! Contact the course coordinator or admission centre of your desired uni and they can advise you. You can usually complete a bridging course, or even study a different course in your first year and transfer in the second (if your GPA is high enough).

But what if is coding more of a means to an end for you? You might not care as much about the nitty gritty technical details and you're more interested in the business value that a website/app provides. In that case you'd be better suited to a bootcamp as they're much more pragmatic and product driven in their approach.

Perhaps you're unsure of your goals and you just want to find out if it's career that suits you. Self teach for a few months and figure out if you like it. It's not for everyone. If you like it then you can make the call to keep self-teaching or drop some fat stacks on an education.

Tech is a great career, if you're embarking on this journey you need to consider your:

• Availability / Flexibility
• Financial Situation
• Personality (and capacity to self motivate)
• Career and Life Goals

If you're still unsure and are looking for some career guidance or tutoring, please reach out! We're always happy to help.