A lot of them do. This one seems like an outright scam, but for example well known boot camps like Lamba School put you through some tutorials and tests before hand. When you look at these tutorials it really seems to be a filter for “can you teach yourself coding”. IMO making the bootcamps fairly useless given the huge amount of online courseware and free tutorials available now.
I guess if lamda school has a consistent track record in the industry & companies are hiring from them, i could see that being of value to someone switching careers. (Employers seem to be inept in interviewing for programming positions - and otherwise - On their own)
Yes, I tell people thinking about a boot camp to first try really damn hard to teach themselves first, then if they still want to, to just use something like Lambda School as interview preparation and to “credential” yourself.
It’s no different than hiring a personal trainer. Sure everyone can go to the gym but having a set schedule, paying money, and being accountable to someone is a life hack that uses human social nature to one’s advantage.
It's a little different because you know from the start that hiring a personal trainer is not going to magically make you prosperous.
There is a widespread idea that working in tech is easy and will make you rich, and all you have to do is get your toe in the door, and many "entrepreneurs" use that misunderstanding to set up programs that waste students time and extract money from donors and government programs that are unable to meaningfully evaluate what they're donating to.
