Bootcamps and why they are on the rise

Written by Hani Fauzia Ramadhani | Read in Indonesian

When we were in school, and were asked what we wanted to do when we grow up, we usually thought of the jobs we would do in the future. At that time, there was no way for us to think about how complicated it would be to choose a college major, to find and get a job, just to realise that the job was not suitable for us or did not meet our expectations. And how a new chapter of the career switching process would begin.

Getting a job without an educational background or work experience in a relevant field is very difficult. This is why many people are registering for various intensive training programmes, which are often called bootcamps. These training programmes usually provide in-depth learning materials as well as hands-on practice in fields that are on the rise and are predicted to offer great job opportunities. Among them are digital marketing, UX/UI design, data analytics and software engineering.

As demand spikes, bootcamp organisers become more competitive

TFR spoke with Dio Anamia, an independent human resources (HR) consultant, to further explore the currently bustling bootcamp trend. Dio, who has been in the field of hiring and recruitment for various local and foreign companies for more than five years, agreed that the uptrend of bootcamps has indeed been quite drastic in the last five years.

“In the past, I could say that it was quite rare for people to invest tens of millions of rupiahs to join a bootcamp. In Indonesia, one of the pioneers is Purwadhika, which is trusted because of the quality of its graduates. They also work with many companies for job placement. Well, now there are more and more bootcamp providers and the demand is also booming. It's impossible to guarantee a job placement for each participant, right? So, before registering, you have to adjust your expectations first and do in-depth research about the bootcamp provider you want to join," said Dio.

Dio saw two main reasons for people to take part in a bootcamp. "Besides career switching, many also feel the need to have additional skills to succeed in their roles. I, for example, apart from skills directly related to HR, also need to be able to process data. I fulfil this need through a bootcamp too," she said.

What do recruiters think of bootcamp graduates?

“Actually, it depends on the needs of the company. There are those who are specifically looking for talents with many years of experience. But there are also companies who are targeting bootcamp graduates, because they are proven to have attended the programme and have a portfolio as well. But since they have no professional experience in that field, the salary would be below those with experience. So this is one of the employers’ cost-saving strategies as well," Dio explained.

In recruiting bootcamp graduates, Dio outlined several things that she usually considers. "When I see applicants listing their certificates and bootcamp portfolios, I would explore the process of making the portfolios itself during the interview, and there will be additional tests as well as case studies to work on. I assess not only the test results, but also the thought process. Bootcamp graduates usually have the practical skills, it's just a matter of checking whether their way of thinking is in accordance with the standards of the recruiting company," said Dio.

Compared to fresh graduates whose majors match the vacant positions, Dio prefers to recruit bootcamp graduates because their practical skills are easier to assess through portfolios. “For those who have just graduated and have no internship experience, only campus organisation experience, with today's competition, to be honest it will be quite difficult to get a job. Apart from being in a demographic bonus situation, some industries are also experiencing workforce reductions, which cause many entry-level positions to be filled by people with years of work experience. So I always suggest fresh grads to take part in internship programmes."

Bootcamp as a shortcut for switching career

For Fara, an SEO specialist at a company that sells liquids for e-cigarettes, bootcamp had helped her change her career path. "My educational background is Development Economics, it has nothing to do with my current job. I decided on a career switch with three considerations. First, the scope of work in the field according to my major is very limited if I have no additional skills. Second, after carefully thinking of what I wanted to do, I found that working according to my college major was not the answer. Finally, I saw that jobs in the digital industry, one of which is SEO, are quite wide open for any graduate. In the end, I decided to enrol in bootcamps to add skills that will help me switch careers," said Fara.

Fara had attended two bootcamps; a full-stack digital marketing and a SEO specialist offered by two different organisers. “The digital marketing bootcamp that I participated in lasted for six months; three months of study and three months of apprenticeship and job seeking. The cost was around Rp13,000,000. The second bootcamp, the SEO specialist programme, lasted for one and a half months. I took this programme because I wanted to focus on building a hands-on experience and portfolio because we were asked to make real projects. For this programme, the fee was not even Rp1,000,000,” she added.

For Fara, the bootcamps she attended contributed around 80% in helping her get a job as a career switcher. She said, "For me, who during college never got lessons about what I'm currently doing, bootcamp was an answer and a shortcut that really helped me during the process of switching careers." Not only did the materials and practices help cultivate her skills, the bootcamps also connected her with many people from the industry she was eyeing. Even her current job was secured from the connections she made during the programme.

Fara felt that she is one of those lucky people to get a full-time job shortly after graduating from the bootcamp. "The competition is quite tough because the same entry level positions are contested by people who already have related work experience, fresh graduates from appropriate majors and bootcamp graduates or those who have completed internships in the same field," she explained. It was her willingness to explore materials and practice outside the bootcamp programme as well as her effort in building networks that made the door of opportunity open wider for her.

Expectations vs reality of bootcamp participants

In contrast to Fara, Shabrina, a social media officer at a local start-up, attended a bootcamp but not with the aim of changing professions. At the time she took part in the programme, Shabrina was already working in the same field she is currently in. Her expectation at that time was to deepen her knowledge about the skills and trends in the field of social media.

"Because I couldn't find a bootcamp that focused on social media, I ended up joining a full-stack digital marketing bootcamp which included a session about social media. The duration was about four months for studying and two months for internship placements or project making. The programme cost around Rp16,000,000,” said Shabrina.

Unfortunately, Shabrina's experience in the bootcamp was not entirely positive. From the start, she was targeting a social media session that was supposed to be taught by a representative of a unicorn start-up. However, the session was presented by someone else from a different company. “I really wanted to learn from that specific mentor, since the objectives of the social media where I work and the mentor's company are quite related.” She added, “Then I found out that the mentor I sought was filling in other sessions in other programmes, but I was not allowed to take part in those sessions."

Apart from that, she also felt that the materials and the examples presented during the programme were too specific. “For me, who studied digital marketing and social media to increase the number of app users and website visitors, there were a lot of materials and examples that I couldn’t relate to since almost all of them focused on selling products. Also, there wasn’t enough room for questions and discussions. It would have been great if the learning materials were more general so that it would be easy to relate to various sectors," she added.

Shabrina observed that some bootcamps do not explicitly and honestly explain who their programme would be suitable for, obviously due to business factors where the organisers want to attract as many participants as possible. "So, before registering for a bootcamp, it's better to confirm with the organisers first that the materials and the context will be suitable for the industry that you want to enter. I regret not making that clear in the beginning,” Shabrina explained.

Dio advised that in choosing a bootcamp organiser, it is very important to look at the profile of the mentors or instructors, their syllabus, additional services besides learning materials, as well as the absorption rate of their graduates – then confirm all of these things with the bootcamp organiser's contact person to minimise risks or disappointment that may occur.