A Better Alternative to College?

[SeanKelly]

Please realize these "Acadamies" are businesses, and they market just like any other business. I find it highly unlikely that 90% of graduates find a job making $80,000 a year. I promise there is a catch, there is always a catch. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Right you are, Mr. Dietsch. Right you are.

 

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[Twiki]

Gee, I thought this was a board for millionaire entrepreneurs, not a job board for those tragic souls who'd get excited about having a "90% chance of making $80k a year" doing Ruby on Rails. I guess if you're a peon who doesn't know any better, and you're comfortable with the idea of being in a "boot camp" where half the people there are clueless beginners to programming, and you're so pathetic that you lack the ability to recognize that you can teach yourself programming skills without paying out the wazoo, then this might be right for you. No offense.

Seriously, though: I am curious about the 90%/$80k figure, because of how they state that half the people have no programming experience, while the other half do have previous technical experience. Does that $80k only include people who are truly entry level programmers looking for their first job in the field, or does it include the other folks who may have lots of experience and returning to the job market with what is actually a decent skill to have (Ruby). If the former is the case, and if they can document this beyond marketing-fluff (with specific numbers, population size they're talking about matters), then that is really impressive.

PS. I do hope you take my joke above in the spirit it was intended. If you can't, you might need to toughen up a bit and grow a thicker skin.

 

[ewH]

Gee, I thought this was a board for millionaire entrepreneurs, not a job board for those tragic souls who'd get excited about having a "90% chance of making $80k a year" doing Ruby on Rails.

I know you are saying this half-jokingly, but I can attest to the truthfulness of the statement. I currently make a lot more than this doing programming as a job, yet here I am on the same forum planning my escape. If you really have the entrepreneur spirit which drives you here, I can tell you that making $80k/year working a job will not satisfy you. It actually makes it harder to take the leap because you start to get comfortable with mediocrity and security. Beware of the golden handcuffs!

 

[SeanKelly]

I've already stated my plan of action...

 

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[andviv]

Please realize these "Acadamies" are businesses, and they market just like any other business. I find it highly unlikely that 90% of graduates find a job making $80,000 a year. I promise there is a catch, there is always a catch. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Of course this is a business. If you bother reading what they explain on the 'app academy' website, they will get 30% of your salary for the first 6 months of your contract (15% of annual salary paid in the first 6 months of employment). Not too different from any other talent agency out there, but they take all the risk by making it free to the applicant. And they can recognize and hire talent on the spot, so the 'academy' is generating cash from what usually is ahefty expense, recruiting.
The original poster mentioned another one that charges $11K upfront so the risk is on the applicant. Both scenarios are very clever, if you ask me.

Twiki, funny. You say:

No offense.

Just after telling people:

tragic souls

you're a peon who doesn't know any better

you're so pathetic

Nice way not to 'offend' people. I am sure you felt bad about it somehow as you felt you needed to add the P.S. after the fact about 'thick skin'. Nice move.

Anyway...

I currently make a lot more than this doing programming as a job, yet here I am on the same forum planning my escape. If you really have the entrepreneur spirit which drives you here, I can tell you that making $80k/year working a job will not satisfy you. It actually makes it harder to take the leap because you start to get comfortable with mediocrity and security.

Good points... however...

If you look at the news of the entrepreneurs that are making it big time these days, you will recognize a higher proportion of entrepreneurs with solid technical background.

For what I've seen from the original poster, Sean's purpose is to learn a skill that will help him in his entrepreneurial activities. I may be wrong, and he may fall for the 'golden handcuffs' but still he will be better off than probably 75% - 95% of the population his age. And will do so without the burden of a student loan.

In my opinion, the two most important skills to have for this generation are sales and real technical abilities.

Of course, I also have a pretty good record of being wrong, so I may be way off on this one as well.

And I repeat, if Sean can take Z's offer, that would be golden.

 

[Twiki]

Hi andviv, in order to "get the joke", you might need to be aware of this recent thread in the aptly named "Welcome, Please Introduce Yourself to the Community Forum!" :smilielol: ---> https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/introductions-networking/44479-new-site.html. Just having some fun with mirrors.

 

[andviv]

Just having some fun with mirrors.

Now I get the joke. Funny as hell. Oh, the irony. My hat is off to you sir, great points.

 

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[The-J]

Biggest problem I see with this program: most people don't have $11k just stashed away in their mattresses. They are going to have to take out a loan in order to pay for it OR increase their credit card balance (sounds like a moneymaking seminar bullshit trick!). A federal loan most likely won't pay for this.

Before people come at me like 'how is this different from regular college' it's not. I just got off the phone with a loan office for some bullshit they tried to pull on me. Hah. It's just the same ol' headaches, just less time in class.

 

[andviv]

Biggest problem I see with this program: most people don't have $11k just stashed away in their mattresses.

True that, but did you read about the other one that InMotion mentioned?

'App Academy' did a very good move, removed the initial risk from the equation, and take a bigger piece after the fact. It was worth my time reading about their proposition.

 

[ewH]

If you look at the news of the entrepreneurs that are making it big time these days, you will recognize a higher proportion of entrepreneurs with solid technical background.

For what I've seen from the original poster, Sean's purpose is to learn a skill that will help him in his entrepreneurial activities. I may be wrong, and he may fall for the 'golden handcuffs' but still he will be better off than probably 75% - 95% of the population his age. And will do so without the burden of a student loan.

In my opinion, the two most important skills to have for this generation are sales and real technical abilities.

No doubt. I'm a big proponent of building technical skills. The majority of my skills were learned outside of the college classroom. My warning is to not worry so much about the dangling carrot of "x% of graduates make $y per year", and instead focus on the quality of the knowledge and experience of the program itself.

 

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[klh6686]

I'm very much a supporter of learning as much as you can yourself.

However I will say that learning some things by the book sometimes can't compare to some of the ways that an experienced programmer solves tough problems.

This most likely doesn't apply to the types of issues one runs into with your typical e-commerce site, but more along the lines of highly viral multi-million user web apps.