Breaking Into Tech: How to Land Your First Developer Job After a Coding Bootcamp

You‘ve just graduated from an intense coding bootcamp where you spent the last 12 weeks learning in-demand programming languages, frameworks, and tools. Maybe you‘re making a career change into tech or maybe you‘re a new graduate looking to launch your career as a developer. Either way, you‘ve got a new set of skills under your belt and you‘re eager to land your first job and break into the tech industry. But where do you start?

The good news: Employers are increasingly open to hiring bootcamp grads

Let‘s start with some good news: Many companies are recognizing the potential of coding bootcamp graduates and are open to hiring them, even for roles that previously required a computer science degree.

A 2017 survey by Indeed found that 72% of employers believe bootcamp grads are "just as prepared" to be high performers as those with computer science degrees. And Hired‘s 2019 State of Software Engineers report found that bootcamp grads were 85% more likely to be hired than job-seekers with computer science degrees.

Major tech companies like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Slack, and Spotify have all hired bootcamp graduates. And it‘s not just tech giants – a 2020 report by Burning Glass Technologies and the Conference Board found that employer demand for coding bootcamp skills has surged 122% since 2015, including at more "traditional" companies outside the tech industry.

The reality: Landing that first developer job takes work

Before we dive into specific tips for the job search, it‘s important to set realistic expectations. Yes, 72% of employers are open to hiring bootcamp grads and many leading companies have hired them. But the reality is that landing your first job as a new developer with no prior professional coding experience is still challenging.

The tech job market is highly competitive, even at the entry level. For any given junior developer role, the company may receive hundreds of applications. While employers are increasingly considering nontraditional candidates, many still default to applicants with computer science degrees from prestigious universities. Imposter syndrome is real, and it‘s common for bootcamp grads to feel like they don‘t stack up against those with more "traditional" backgrounds.

So what does this mean for you? Landing a job after a coding bootcamp requires strategic preparation, serious hustle, and a willingness to be scrappy and creative in your job search. It likely won‘t be easy or quick – job searches often take several months. But with persistence and the right strategies, it‘s absolutely doable. Let‘s look at how to set yourself up for success.

Build an impressive portfolio that showcases your skills

"GitHub is your resume."

That‘s what one of my bootcamp instructors drilled into us, and it‘s true. When you‘re applying for developer jobs without much professional experience, your GitHub profile is the first place employers will look to evaluate your skills. Make sure your GitHub is in tip-top shape and effectively sells you as a candidate. Here‘s how:

• Pin your best projects to the top of your profile. Choose projects that demonstrate your versatility and coding abilities.
• Ensure each pinned repository has a clear, professional README file that explains what the project is, what technologies you used, key features, and how to install and run the code. Include screenshots or gifs of the app if applicable.
• Remove old, unfinished projects or assignments that don‘t reflect your current skills. You want a potential employer to see a carefully curated selection of projects you‘re proud of.
• Show your contributions to open source projects or include links to articles, blog posts, or talks you‘ve given. This shows initiative and engagement with the larger tech community.
• Keep your commit messages clear and concise. Each commit should reflect a discrete change. Avoid large gaps in your contribution history.

In addition to your GitHub, create a portfolio website to showcase your work. This can be a simple site built with HTML/CSS and hosted on GitHub pages, or you can use a site builder like Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress.

Your portfolio site should tell your story and give visitors a sense of who you are and what you‘re looking for. Include an "About" page with your photo, a brief bio, and your contact information. Add a section for your best projects, including descriptions, screenshots, links to live demos and the GitHub repositories.

Consider including a blog or "writing" page with articles you‘ve written about coding concepts or your learning journey. Blogging is a fantastic way to deepen your understanding of new concepts while also demonstrating your knowledge to potential employers.

To give you an idea of what an effective bootcamp grad portfolio might include, here‘s what mine looked like when I was job searching:

About Page:

• Professional headshot
• 3-paragraph bio touching on my background, my bootcamp experience and tech stack, and what kind of role I was looking for
• Skills list with languages, frameworks, tools, etc.
• Link to PDF resume
• Contact information

Projects Page:

• 4 featured projects (2 individual, 2 group)
• For each project: description, screenshots, link to GitHub repo, link to deployed version
• Tech stack used called out for each

Writing Page:

• Links to 4 technical blog articles I wrote during my job search on topics like React lifecycle methods, using Local Storage, and recursion
• Link to my coding-focused Medium account

Contact Page:

• Contact form
• Email address
• Links to GitHub, LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter

Your portfolio doesn‘t need to be fancy or complicated, but it should be professional, clearly organized, and free of errors. Proofread everything carefully. Bonus points if you can work in some personal touches that showcase your non-coding interests, background, or sense of humor.

Practice, practice, practice for technical interviews

Acing technical interviews as a new developer is a skill that takes dedicated practice. Expect to devote a significant chunk of time to studying data structures and algorithms, running through practice problems, and completing mock interviews.

Virtually all technical interviews will involve one or more coding challenges where you‘ll be asked to solve a problem on a whiteboard or code editor. This can feel awkward and intimidating, especially when you‘re new. But with practice, you‘ll gain confidence and get more comfortable thinking on your feet in front of an interviewer.

When I was preparing for interviews, I spent 10-15 hours per week working through practice problems from platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, Codewars, and exercism.io. I focused on common data structures and algorithms like:

• Arrays and strings
• Hash maps
• Linked lists
• Stacks and queues
• Trees and graphs
• Sorting algorithms
• Searching algorithms
• Recursion
• Dynamic programming

In addition to coding problems, I studied up on key computer science concepts I didn‘t learn in my bootcamp, like Big O notation, memory allocation, and bit manipulation. The book "Cracking the Coding Interview" by Gayle Laakmann McDowell was a great resource for both technical concepts and programming problems.

As I practiced each problem, I focused on:

1. Solving the problem (getting the correct output)
2. Explaining my thought process out loud
3. Analyzing the time and space complexity (Big O) of my solution
4. Discussing how I could optimize or improve my approach
5. Considering edge cases and testing my code with different inputs

I can‘t stress enough how important practice is to doing well in interviews. Nerves can make it tough to think clearly in an interview setting. The more you‘ve prepared in advance, the more smooth and confident you‘ll feel when the real interview comes.

If you know other job seekers, invite them to do mock interviews with you. Take turns being the interviewer and interviewee. There are also platforms like interviewing.io and Pramp that match you with a peer for practice technical interviews.

Network, network, network

Building genuine relationships with others in the tech industry is one of the most impactful things you can do for your job search and overall career.

Here are a few key ways to grow your tech network:

• Attend industry events: Regularly attend meetups, conferences, hackathons, and other events for developers and people working in tech. Introduce yourself to the organizers and to other attendees. Offer to volunteer or give a short talk.

• Connect online: Follow developers and tech leaders on Twitter. Join forums and online communities related to the languages and frameworks you work with (for example, the Ruby on Rails Link Slack). Participate in Twitter chats. Contribute to open source projects. Leave thoughtful comments on blogs and articles.

• Do informational interviews: Reach out to alumni from your bootcamp or developers you admire and invite them for a short video or phone chat about their career path and current role. People are often happy to give advice and "pay it forward." Some of my early interviews came through connections I made at informational interviews.

• Let people know you‘re looking: Don‘t be shy about telling your network that you‘re job searching. Update your LinkedIn profile to make it obvious you‘re open to work. Let your bootcamp instructors and career services staff know what kinds of roles you‘re seeking. Post on social media about what you‘re looking for and what you‘re working on.

• Stay in touch: Maintain relationships over time. Follow up with the people you meet. If you read an article that reminds you of a previous conversation, send it over with a quick note. Keep people updated on your job search process. Continue to attend events and engage in communities even after you‘ve landed a job.

Networking can feel awkward and transactional, but it doesn‘t have to be. Focus on building genuine connections and being helpful. Relationships are a two-way street – think about what you can offer others, not just what they can do for you.

And remember – everyone you meet has a network of their own. You never know who the person you chat with at a meetup might be willing to introduce you to down the road.

Highlight your unique background and transferable skills

If you‘re coming into tech from another field, you may be wondering how your past experience fits in and whether it will help or hurt you. While you may not have direct professional coding experience yet, your background likely includes many valuable transferable skills.

For example, maybe your previous career was in marketing or sales. Those roles require skills like strong communication, relationship building, and collaboration – all of which are highly valued in development roles. Or perhaps you have a background in education. Educators often make excellent developers because they‘re skilled at breaking down complex topics, identifying knowledge gaps, and mentoring others.

Whatever your background, consider how you can frame your past experience as an asset that will help you succeed in your new career as a developer. Highlight the relevant skills and expertise you bring to the table, in addition to your newly developed coding abilities.

In your portfolio, resume/CV, and cover letters, talk about the transferable skills you gained through previous roles, like:

• Communication
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Leadership
• Problem-solving
• Time management
• Adaptability
• Attention to detail
• Project management

Use specific examples and stories to illustrate those skills in action. For example, if you‘re highlighting your communication skills, you might briefly mention a time when you had to communicate a complex topic to a non-technical audience in a previous role.

Employers know that there‘s far more to being a successful developer than just coding skills. They want to hire people who can communicate, work well on a team, and bring new perspectives to the table. Show them how your unique background will make you a valuable addition to their company.

Customize every application and do your research

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in the job search is sending out the same generic resume and cover letter for every application. With the volume of applications most companies receive, you‘ll blend into the crowd if you don‘t put in the effort to customize your application for each role.

Before applying for a job, thoroughly research the company and the specific team or project you‘d be working on. Scour their website and blog, read their engineering team‘s technical blog if they have one, and look up recent news articles about the company. If you know someone who works there, reach out and (politely) ask if they‘d be willing to chat about the company culture and share any advice.

Then, tailor your resume and cover letter based on your research and the skills and qualifications mentioned in the job description. For example, if the job description mentions a specific framework or tool that you have experience with, make sure to highlight your familiarity with that technology.

In your cover letter, demonstrate that you‘ve done your homework. Mention something specific about the company‘s mission, product, or engineering practices that resonates with you. Maybe their tech stack is similar to the one you trained on in your bootcamp. Perhaps you‘re inspired by their commitment to clean code and test-driven development. Or maybe you used and loved their product in a previous role.

The goal is to show the hiring manager that you understand who they are, what they‘re looking for, and how you would add value to their team. Putting in the time to customize each application is well worth the effort and will help you stand out in a sea of applicants.

Broaden your search and consider different types of roles

After my coding bootcamp, I was set on finding a full-time software engineering role. I applied almost exclusively to jobs with titles like "Software Engineer" and "Full Stack Developer" at tech companies. My search was laser-focused, but it was also too narrow.

After a few months of applying for engineering roles and coming up empty, I broadened my approach. I started applying for tangentially related roles that still involved coding, like sales engineering, solutions architecture, technical writing, and QA. I looked for jobs at startups, large enterprise companies, and everything in between. I expanded my search to include contract roles and even internships.

And slowly but surely, I started to get interviews and build momentum. My first full-time offer ended up coming from a company outside of the tech industry whose product I was genuinely excited about. The role was technically a sales engineering position, but it involved much more hands-on development work than a typical sales engineering job.

Taking that role turned out to be one of the best career decisions I‘ve made. It was a fantastic opportunity to continue building my development skills while also gaining experience and exposure to other parts of the business. Within a year, I was able to transition into a full-time software engineering role.

All of this is to say: Be open-minded in your search. Don‘t pigeonhole yourself into one narrowly defined job title or type of company. Especially for your first job out of a bootcamp, any role that lets you write code and work with a technical team is valuable experience that you can build on.

Wrapping up

We covered a lot of ground in this post, so let‘s recap the key strategies for landing a job after a coding bootcamp:

1. Build an impressive portfolio of projects that showcases your skills and interests
2. Prepare thoroughly for technical interviews by practicing coding problems, behavioral questions, and talking through your thought process
3. Network, network, network – build relationships online and offline with people in the tech industry
4. Highlight your unique background and transferable skills from previous experiences
5. Customize each job application based on your research about the company and role
6. Broaden your search to include different types of companies and roles that involve coding

Remember that landing your first developer job after a bootcamp is tough – really tough. It‘s a strange Catch-22 where companies want you to have experience in order to get experience. Hiring managers are looking for reasons to say "no." Your job is to give them as many reasons as possible to say "yes."

You‘ll face a lot of rejection along the way. There will be days when you want to throw in the towel. Don‘t let the bumps in the road get you down, and don‘t take the rejections personally. Trust that with persistence and hard work, your efforts will pay off.

And when things get tough, lean on your support system. Stay in touch with your bootcamp classmates who are going through the same process. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and encourage you.

Above all, don‘t forget how much you‘ve already accomplished by completing a coding bootcamp. Making a career change or launching a technical career is a huge undertaking that takes guts. Learning a new skill set in a matter of months is no small feat. You‘ve already proven that you‘re willing to put in hard work to achieve your goals. Bring that same tenacity to the job search, and you‘ll be unstoppable.

You got this!