I may have the opportunity to go to a 4 month coding bootcamp free of charge (normally they are like $10-15k). I would be receiving severance and unemployment so financially I can afford to do it without any stress.
I would love to work for a healthcare tech startup and eventually (5 or so years from now) start my own company. I am a bit of a Luddite but I have done some basic coding on CodeAcademy. My aim is just to understand technology and software engineering better and develop some basic coding skills. I know a coding bootcamp won't make me a real SWE.
My sister @NotFrozenYetStillChosen is against it because she thinks ChatGPT will make any basic coding skills obsolete and if I do a SWE course then that sort of funnels me into that line of employment. She also thinks I can develop the skills I'm seeking on my own & that any startup is more focused on the team you bring. If I want to be a CEO/founder I should learn more business. She's very successful and knows business stuff so her opinion is pretty informed.
I do think she has a point but I'm still very drawn to this. My knowledge of technology is embarrassingly inadequate yet I find it so interesting….computers are like magic.
My other option is to get another big pharma job & pocket the severance as a bonus.
What do the nerds here advise? Especially the business nerds.
Edit: thank you business nerds, I will finish my project management certification instead and learn tech things on my own!!!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
yup
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
No, there is a glut of people in software atm so unless you really want that job, ur better off in another field
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Okay thanks!!! I'll just learn about tech on my own for my own education
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Cool, I guess it might open more doors for you or something (just keep that in mind I guess)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
I think that's the right attitude. There might be a lot of coders but there's not a lot of good coders. It really works for me is it gives me a great tool set that's very overpowered so I can code and do other stuff
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Consider just going for the healthcare tech startup directly without the bootcamp? You could probably look to get a non tech role at those places if you have job experience in big pharma. I don't think the bootcamp would help much at all for that
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Yes I am def going to look into that!!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
The coding world is full of r-slurs who barely know shit and don't want to improve but want the higher pay and there is a severe lack of good developers.
If you can walk into an interview and talk like you aren't brain dead, you can get a job. If you spend your time learning good coding practices and write code that isn't fricking gibberish that no one else can understand and that actually runs properly, you can keep your job.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
i wish i had done smth else, tbh
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I like programming so I will stick around, but if you hate programming and are just in it for the money, you're gonna have a bad time
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I'm just in it for the money, it's a pretty good time. Coding jobs are essentially part time positions so it's nicer than any other white collar job
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
i love programming but I hate money
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
PM would probably be a software job that you'd enjoy more than coding? You might not even need a bootcamp to get into the industry that way.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Project management?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Yeh sorry, I hate people who use unexplained acronyms online, and now I'm one of them.
Becoming a coder as a successful woman in your thirties would be a bit strange. People would think you were in witness protection or something.
PM lets you use your people management and organisation skills, it's a pretty easy job and you already have experience wrangling r-slurs all day.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Awesome! I really truly appreciate this. I think you're right. I will learn more about software engineering on my own but do something else career-wise.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I think it's helpful to know the basics about the things the people you are managing (cat wrangling) do so you can speak their language and have a good idea of when they are bullpooping you about how long something will take. But, I don't think it's really a necessity.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Thank you!!!!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Nobody in IT hires a manager with under 8yrs of experience in a big IT firm.
My advice would be to avoid IT entirely.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Eh, I hate PMs that don't know how to code themselves.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Me too but they're few and far between. I've worked with a couple of good PMs who can't code but are super-organised and can understand the general plan.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
you'd be better suited. Its pretty rough finding junior swe jobs right now anyway, especially for boot campers. PMs and TPMs jobs are still pretty decently available. TBH if I were you, I'd just take the pharma job cuz MONAYYYYYYY
Your sister is right though, you can always learn enough to be dangerous about coding for free online. Or just take a community college class on the basics.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Thanks
i think I will or pursue this
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
PM's are worth their weight in gold if they're good but kind of a meme about how useless and lacking of technical knowledge they are if they're not. Tbh, having technical knowledge will be fantastic if you can apply it, but more pay attention to keeping communication constant so everyone always knows what's going on.
Also, keep the motherlover moving. So many PM's just "well Bill has these reports due and we've been waiting on him for 3 months so no updates :)". Like b-word your project is stillborn. Can you take me off the mailing group if i don't actually need to do anything?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
A project manager is someone who believes that nine women can develop and birth a baby in one month
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Oddly enough I already paid for the project mgmt certification course, just abandoned it when I got my current job. I will def look into this and see what my sis says!!!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
A bootcamp would introduce you to the basic concepts, but the basic stuff is only helpful if you go on to do coding as a career.
If you want it to support an existing career in project management or management, the basic stuff and nitty gritty details aren't really helpful. You'd be better served understanding project architecture and management , stuff that the bootcamp grads I've met don't tend to have good knowledge of.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Thank you!!! Yes I think I will finish my PM certification instead.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Changing jobs only makes sense if you hate your current career. Also if you do a startup you're probably just going
to blow a bunch of money 
before 
it goes under.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
People have been threatening to automate me out of my job(s) since before I even began doing them.
I still have said jobs, so it could be that the promise of automation will not sneak up on you in this decade. If you have nothing better to do with your time, it isn't a terrible option. Especially if that's how you like to learn. I learned2code on my own but I think most people would prefer the class option. If you love to make things and if you're creative, then at least it won't be a waste. It's okay to do things because you're interested in how things work.
Otoh you could take your severance pay and just spend the next 6 months drinking and doing drugs.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Only people threathened by automation are talentless hacks
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Coding gets automated all the time. Every year, there are more menial tasks that frameworks can handle or IDEs will generate. That just means your time is spent on the shit frameworks or ai can't do which is plenty.
Coding is going to be the very last office job that will be fully automated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Do codecels have a future? I feel like AI models will be able to take input parameters and shit out code with ease in the next couple of years.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I really don't think AI code stuff meets the hype. The code it generates for anything even remotely involved (read: any real world software) is littered with bugs, sometimes difficult to find. It probably won't even replace junior level coding jobs and it definitely can't replace senior software engineering jobs.
Unlike art, small mistakes matter.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I tried to generate json decryption and it would make r-slurred mistakes, like referencing this.res.params as simply this.params
It's really bad
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
thisbindings in 2024It's just trying to get you fired and you deserve it
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I was using this for this example.
I don't think anyone would have gotten it if I had used res.params and params.
R-slur.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Your response doesn't have parameters in the first place dipshit
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
It's json, params was deserialized parameter class. Full class would have looked like this:
{"Res":
{"Id_or_whatever":"example",
"Params":
{"Param_id":"param_value"
}}
You should revisit whatever basics of coding class you took on Skillshare, you forget what you don't practice.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Oh you're using some 0.1x framework with a params key in the response. That's even worse tbh
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
I've found it pretty useful but it's not up to the hype yet, at least nothing I've used. You still have to be a coder to use it because of the things you mentioned. It's going to throw weird bugs in there, and sometimes make up functions and libraries that don't exist, so you need to be able to debug it. Sometimes that process is quicker, sometimes it's not. It's moving pretty fast though, so who knows where it'll be by this time next year, or in the next 5 years.
Funny story about the "making stuff up". I was writing code for something and had a real weird and stubborn error I couldn't figure out. We had hired some consultants to help on the project though, people who were supposed to be experts, so I figured I would ask one of them. He came back with an answer that I immediately saw had one of those "function that doesn't exist" errors, and I immediately knew he was using ChatGPT to answer my question. He got pretty nervous when I called him out on it.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Rightfully so, using chatgpt to answer someone else's question is essentially calling them an r-slur to their face. He's lucky you didn't kill him
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Yes this is a big issue. I mainly just wanted to understand tech more.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Srsly a code bootcamp can't teach you anything more that what chatGPT + self-learning can
Keep in mind bootcamp "teachers" are codecels that are to stupid to qualify for a codecel job.
Unless you work on your own projects, you will be someone's code monkeys, trying to meet deadlines and understand the manager's ever-changing vision and demands.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
It will be decades (IMO) before serious programming jobs get replaced by AI. Web / small app developers might be screwed in the more immediate future.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
It feels like AI models would be better at replacing bootcamp grads than CS majors. Still though, CS may be one of the most saturated fields in the country now with so many useless grads, layoffs, and weird diversity pushes that I'd recommend majoring in almost anything else
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Just learn
whatever 
code language the LLMs are made of to "maintain" it ie.neetmax until SHTF
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
In a decade the size of the entry level market might shrink quite a bit, but I think if you have a couple years of experience by then it's probably irrelevant
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Do it so you can become an rdrama code janitor
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
she thinks it's going to be some stress free shit
If you don't intuitively understand the content you will be constantly working. You will lift more fingers than you do at your sales job. And you'd enter as a junior; I bet you would be making less than you do now, implying you'd be able to secure a position in this market.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I do intuitively understand coding. I just meant financially stress free.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Never mind I had a schizo moment thinking you were the imposter.
Again, you will only get that type of security as a senior. You will struggle to prove to recruiters and interviewers that you have the experience for a senior role.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Oh Jesus Christ it's you
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
This part is what you should hang on to, because it will pretty much benefit you no matter what. If you're interested in something, ok great - learn about it.
Pretty much everything else you wrote in your post reads like symptoms of mania though.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
No I'm actually always like this lol I have wanted to have my own healthcare startup for years and years. I discuss business ideas with my sister quite often.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
The sister you mentioned in your OP, correct? You specifically said that she thinks this is a bad idea.
That aside, med tech is an industry that necessarily has very strong regulations and background checks. You don't see that as an obstacle, given you were just in a psych ward within the past year? I feel like I also saw a comment from you recently saying that was your third trip to brainville.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
It was my fourth xx
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Oh my bad, you're just attentionposting. Carry on.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
You are a girl, if you'll write “hallo world” on paper you'll become senior dev just like jade raymond
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Coding bootcamps are scams IMO
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Buy really
good boots!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
This is a free coding program book called “Automate the Boring Stuff” https://automatetheboringstuff.com/
If you can do this and enjoy it, then it might help you decide whether you want to develop your coding skills.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Ahhh thank you!!!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
No problem! Sometimes the author (user/AIsweigart on Reddit) gives out free codes to the course on Udemy, be on the lookout if you prefer a more structured learning environment.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
If you think computers are magic you will always suck at programming, get an MBA instead
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
She's right. The value in learning any type of "coding knowledge" if you want to be a CEO would be the knowledge of what the limits and possibilities are of what you'd be asking for your team and deeper knowledge of whatever systems you'd be using and creating. If you have a good CTO or equivalent that you trust however you'll be getting much the same benefit anyway.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Thank you for your input. You are helping me rethink this. My sister is v smart so I should prob listen to her.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
i'll be employee #1 at your startup
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
if the idea is good yeah
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Congratulations! You have earned 1 crumb of kitty!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
My dream in life has always been to be a fabulous old lady, so I'm not that concerned about the wall.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
If you wanna own a tech company then indeed you should understand tech a bit, however you do that. You probably don't have to but you'll at least be making the world a bit less bad by not becoming one of those managers who doesn't have a clue what their workers are actually doing.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
The path you're on is a very gay one.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Despite the potential benefits I could never do one of those unpaid camp things lol.
There's always a bunch of hidden strings attached too.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Learning the basics of programming is good for everyone. Turns out you can automate just anything you find to be repetitive and then pretend you spent hours doing it for $$$
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Simping for an online larper hoping for a crumb?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Hope "she" sees this, bro!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
My unironic real suggestion is to keep your current job/profession and stack dough as long as you are able to. You aren't going to be a useful SWE with a 4 month boot camp, plus GPT4 is already 10x better than you. AI is closing a lot of doors, so most people's best long term bet is to burrow in as deep as possible in your current role and/or company and just be a parasite.
I'll be honest, you might still be able to land a SWE job due to you being a white w*man
but there's frankly no way you'll be good or useful at it. If you do a SW-based startup you will 100% fail.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Someone already sent me that!!! Thank you!!!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context