Are Bootcamp Courses the Best Choice for Your Career in 2022?
The developments over the last few years have upended the world as we knew it. Businesses have had to pivot overnight and many students missed training and educational opportunities. In the corporate world, a term that became wildly popular last year was the ‘Great Resignation’; It described a trend where a large majority of the working population were leaving their jobs for different reasons like unacceptable employee benefits, low salaries, limited career opportunities, and uncertainty in the duration of work from home — a sentiment widely attributed to a rejig of priorities over the pandemic period.
While the world is bearing witness to a vast majority of the population quitting their jobs at alarming rates, according to an Amazon India Survey, about 51% of job seekers are looking to change industries and move to new ones in which they don’t necessarily have a lot of experience. Moving to a new industry with little to no knowledge or experience can be immensely challenging because you are expected to possess certain skills. In addition, there are also who are looking to stay relevant, upskill and grow in their own fields. This is where online bootcamp courses come in!
What are Online Bootcamps?
While the physical environments tottered on an unsteady gait, the digital world has been a savior in these tough and unprecedented times. We now live in an increasingly pervasive digital age; in which, anything and everything is possible with the click of a button.
In this scenario, the online learning industry has come to the rescue of professionals who either want to move to a different area in their careers or simply want to upskill and grow in their respective fields. Through the years, the industry has introduced an array of new programs that people can apply for to learn and train themselves across disciplines, and at various levels of seniority.
Through online learning bootcamps, you can make career advancements and learn new skills. Moreover, it is highly beneficial when you plan to begin looking for a job.
At Emeritus, we offer numerous online learning bootcamps, popularly referred to as professional certificate courses, spread over a variety of courses that are widely applicable and future-ready:
- Digital Marketing
- Coding
- Online Product Design & Innovation
- Data Science & Analytics
These courses are intensive, fast-paced study programs. Since they are shorter in duration, they help learners quickly grasp tech-based skills.
Online Learning Bootcamps: A Brief History
Are online learning bootcamps a quick-fix birthed by the pandemic? Certainly not, though they are a recent enough phenomenon. It was only in the second half of the 2010s that online bootcamps began to take off and started to gain mainstream popularity. And by the end of the 2010s, students graduating from these bootcamps were more in number compared to those graduating from college or university.
Growth and Success of the Online Bootcamp Industry
The industry has grown to become a 309-million-dollar sector. Between the years 2012 and 2019 the sector recorded significant growth, to the tune of 171%. And as per the latest data, the online bootcamp sector is now worth $47 billion.
In 2019, JP Morgan Chase, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google recruited the largest number of online bootcamp graduates, according to Career Karma’s State of the Coding Bootcamp Market Report 2020.
Why are bootcamps in demand?
The reason behind the success and growth of the online bootcamp industry is that the programs that it offers provide skills that are in high demand, offer increased accessibility, affordability, and speed.
Bootcamp courses straddle a wide variety of skills. Also, they are meant for everyone, from freshers to senior executives.
The courses range across:
- Data Science
- UX/UI Design
- Digital Marketing
- Full-Stack Development, and
- Cybersecurity
The most sought-after and popular bootcamp courses are:
- Full-Stack Javascript
- NET
- Ruby on Rails
- Python
- PHP
Online learning bootcamps offer short-term, employment-focused, and flexible learning programs. These programs have gained widespread acceptance by top multinational companies in the recent past.
The Way Online Learning Bootcamps Function
There are a number of factors that have resulted in the increased popularity of online learning bootcamp courses and these include –
1. Blended Learning
What is ‘blended learning’? It simply means, you can choose the pace at which you want to learn, where you want to learn and when you want to learn. You are not restricted to the place, time or the duration of learning, unlike traditional learning.
2. Short Duration
You do not have to worry about spending years of your life finishing online learning bootcamp courses because all you need is a few weeks and voila! you will be a graduate.
3. Immersive Experience
These courses meet the ever-growing demands of the industry and are extremely immersive. Based on the area that you would like to expand your knowledge in and on the career that you would like to move towards, you can choose from a variety of courses that these online bootcamps offer.
4. Not Vastly from the Traditional Classroom
The commonality between an online bootcamp and a traditional classroom is that the courses are well-structured. As a result, this type of structured learning allows students to remain focused and motivates them to complete the course.
5. Get the Best Mentors
The mentors who teach these courses are experts and leaders in their respective fields. They are fully committed to guiding you both inside and outside the classroom. And the best part is, you don’t have to worry about fighting for your mentor’s attention because you will have one-to-one access to them.
6. Expand your Network
Another plus point to being a part of an online learning bootcamp is that you win an opportunity to interact with people from across the world and from varied backgrounds. Your interaction with your peers can be highly beneficial, in the sense that their presence and their views will aid in your learning and make the entire journey even more enriching.
7. Advance your Career
The skills you learn through these bootcamps will aid in growth and success in your career. Applying the skills that you learn will add value and advance your career.
The question really is, are bootcamps worth the cost?
About 92% of the respondents that the 2021 Emeritus Global Consumer Sentiment Survey gathered insights from, said that they would consider pursuing further education using the paid option. In this survey, which remained consistent with trends from 2020, many of the respondents said that their interest to pursue further education has increased due to the ongoing global events and they expect to increase their personal spending on the same in the near future.
There are many advantages to online learning bootcamps
- Bootcamps help you find full-time jobs and provide a salary hike as well. Based on the Course Report’s 2019 Coding Bootcamp Alumni Outcomes & Demographic Report, a lot of online bootcamp graduates landed full-time jobs with an average salary of $66,964. Moreover, those professionals who decided to shift to higher positions received a median salary hike of 51% or $22,000.
- When businesses begin functioning at full capacity, the opportunities for career mobility will rise simultaneously. This only means that if you possess the skills that are in demand, there’s a possibility of you making a transition to a leadership position sooner.
- Additionally, alongside helping you expand your knowledge, these online bootcamps present you with an opportunity to create a robust network of mentors, instructors and alumni. Strong community engagement, in turn, promotes an exchange of ideas and sharing of important information that without a doubt is important for your career development.
Young professionals are happy to spend their time and money on online learning courses because it helps them advance in their careers. If you are looking to upskill quickly and efficiently, check out our professional certificate courses today!
By Annabel George
