With an average salary reaching six figures, software engineering remains a lucrative career choice in diverse industries. As we increasingly depend on digital solutions, the prospects for careers in software engineering continue to thrive. In response, online coding bootcamps have become a rapid, cost-effective gateway into the tech world. However, with numerous programs offering various specializations and features, selecting the right bootcamp is crucial. This article focuses on coding bootcamps with job guarantees, an essential feature that minimizes risk by offering a tuition refund if you don’t land a job.
Each bootcamp has its own rules and requirements, which can be quite hard to navigate. By understanding the specifics of their job guarantees, you can better assess which program might be the best fit for your tech career ambitions, helping you choose wisely in a crowded market.
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What Does Job Guarantee Actually Mean?
Despite the name, job guarantees don’t literally guarantee you a job—it isn’t in any course provider’s power to do that. Instead, it’s a money-back guarantee that schools offer to show their faith in you and their courses. If you complete the program and meet certain requirements, but don’t land a job within a certain timeframe, you’ll receive a 100% tuition refund.
The requirements vary from school to school, but some of the most common include:
- Being at least 18 years old
- Having the right to work in the United States
- Being in or willing to move to a metropolitan area
- Completing the bootcamp with passing grades
- Applying to a minimum number of jobs per week
- Staying in touch with your career specialist
- Meeting networking and continued education requirements
- Not turning down any eligible job offers
The requirements can be quite strict, and you can’t expect to get your money back if you spend 6-12 months doing nothing after graduation. You have to prove that you put the work in during your job search, and job searching is essentially a full-time job in itself.
What Makes a Good Coding Bootcamp With Job Guarantee? Our Criteria Explained
Bootcamps need more than just a job guarantee to be effective. To make sure only the highest quality offerings make our lists, we judge each bootcamp by simple yet comprehensive criteria. Here’s the breakdown.
Top 5 Coding Bootcamps With Job Guarantee
Here are our top picks for quality bootcamps that come with a job guarantee.
Springboard
Springboard offers a full-tuition refund if you are not offered a job within six months of graduation. To qualify for the Springboard Guarantee, you must be 18 years or older, proficient in spoken and written English, demonstrate skills in communication, collaboration, and motivation, be able to legally work in the United States or Canada, and able to pass any required background checks during job applications.
You must also complete the entire bootcamp curriculum and apply to a minimum number of jobs per week. Other job search requirements include reaching out to expand your network, conducting informational interviews, and scheduling calls with a Springboard career coach. All of your efforts need to be presented in a weekly summary to the Springboard team so they can keep track of your eligibility.
If you meet all these requirements and don’t land a software engineering role within six months of graduating, you’ll receive a full tuition refund.
PRICE
$16,200
RATING
4.63 @ Course Report
FEATURES
- 1-1 mentorship
- Designed to be 100% online
- Career services
- Project-based curriculum
- Flexible schedules and deadlines
- Nine months, part-time
CareerFoundry
CareerFoundry offers a full tuition refund for eligible students who don’t find a job within six months of graduation. To qualify, you must be at least 18 years old, hold a high school diploma or equivalent, and live in or be willing to move to one of the eligible metropolitan areas. You must also complete both the program and the job prep course, and be open to both remote and on-site positions. The eligible metropolitan areas are anywhere with a population of over 200,000 in the United States, Canada, EU countries, the UK, Australia, or New Zealand.
During the job search, you’ll need to keep in contact with your career specialist, apply to at least five jobs per week and reach out to at least five new individuals per week for networking purposes. Two informational interviews per month are also required.
While sticking to these rules, if you don’t receive a job offer within six months of completing the full course and job prep course, you’ll receive a refund. Remember that you’ll lose your eligibility if you choose to turn down an applicable job offer in software engineering.
PRICE
$7,500
RATING
4.67 @ Course Report
FEATURES
- 1-1 mentorship
- Fully online
- Career support
- Full-time and part-time options
- Complete in under 10 months
- Flexible schedule
Coding Temple (Software Engineering and Front-End Development)
At Coding Temple, both their front-end development bootcamp and their software engineering bootcamp offer a money-back guarantee. If you’re actively searching for a job but don’t get an offer within nine months of graduation, you’ll be able to get a refund. To be eligible, you’ll need to follow Coding Temple’s money-back guarantee guidelines. These guidelines are not available on the website for prospective students to check, so you may need to contact the school directly to ask for more information.
PRICE
$15,995
RATING
4.83 @ Course Report
FEATURES
- No 1-1 mentorship
- Complete in 12 weeks
- Full-time and part-time options
- Lifetime career support
- On-demand support
- Continuing education
Thinkful
To get a tuition reimbursement at Thinkful, you need to meet certain requirements and follow certain rules as you enroll, complete your course, and search for a job. If you meet all the requirements but still don’t have a job offer 180 days after graduation, you will receive a 100% tuition refund.
The first set of requirements include being at least 21 years old, having a permanent right to work in the United States, and being proficient in written and spoken English. You’ll also need to pass any background checks set by employers you apply to and live in or within a one-hour commute of one of the approved cities, of which there are many across the United States. Lastly, you need to have paid your tuition fees or be up to date with your chosen payment plan, and you must not have participated in a course and received a refund before.
During the job search, you’ll need to follow a number of rules for the full 180-day period. The most important of these is to send 30 job applications per week while using Thinkful’s tracker platform. You’ll also need to follow up on at least 20 applications each week, perform three information interviews per month, and attend one job-related networking event each month. If you follow all the rules for 180 days and don’t turn down any applicable job offers, you will receive a refund.
PRICE
$16,000
RATING
4.53 @ Course Report
FEATURES
- 1-1 mentorship
- Full-time and part-time options
- Live classes available
- Career service
- Five to six months to complete
WBS Coding School
The WBS Coding School offers a full tuition refund after six months if you don’t find a job. To be eligible, you need to pay for your tuition rather than be sponsored by a third party. Next, you need to successfully complete 100% of the program and be fluent in English and the local language of your location. After graduating, you need to commit to expanding your portfolio and create at least one additional project on GitHub within the six-month period.
You’ll also need to work with your career specialist to update your resume and LinkedIn profile. When applying for jobs, you need to document the applications so you can report your progress to the school, and you need to apply for at least five positions per week. If you follow these rules and don’t receive any qualifying job offers after six months, you can send in a request for a refund.
PRICE
£8,850
RATING
4.85 @ Course Report
FEATURES
- 1-1 career support
- Complete 600 hours of content in 15 weeks
- No prior coding experience required
- Project-based curriculum
- Live interactive online seminars
Are There Any Prerequisites for a Coding Bootcamp?
Some coding bootcamps have prerequisites and others don’t. This question will always be answered on the course’s web page or in the FAQs, so make sure to check. For courses without any prior coding requirements, you’ll often complete a few weeks of independent prep work before the course begins. For those that do have prerequisites, they’ll be listed on the website, and you will be tested on them during the application process.
What Should You Expect To Learn During a Coding Bootcamp?
Coding bootcamps can have a range of specializations like web development, front-end development, back-end development, software engineering, and full-stack web development. The specialization you choose will influence what you learn, but there are still some common areas to look out for:
Get To Know Other Software Engineering Students
Promise Morka
Software Engineer at AECOM
Nadia Luna
Student at Springboard Software Engineering Bootcamp
Jack Mayer
Software Engineer at Whitepages
What Jobs Can You Get After a Coding Bootcamp?
You should mostly be applying to entry-level and junior roles after graduation. Here are some common job titles:
Landing a Job After a Coding Bootcamp: Real-Life Stories To Inspire You
Seeing real-life success stories is the best way to get informed and motivated for your own learning journey. Here are just a couple to get you started.
Peter Elbaum
Listen to Peter’s advice and personal bootcamp experience on getting a job after graduation. From capstone project ideas to networking events, his job search began far before graduation, and his hard work paid off.
Tiffany Janzen
Learn from Tiffany Janzen’s approach to securing a tech job after completing her coding bootcamp. Tiffany discusses the importance of starting the job search early and using various resources effectively to enhance her job prospects. Her experience underscores the value of preparation and persistence in transitioning from learning to earning in the tech industry.
FAQs About Coding Bootcamps With a Job Guarantee
We’ve got the answers to your most frequently asked questions.
How Hard Is It To Pass a Coding Bootcamp?
Completing a coding bootcamp requires a good deal of hard work and time commitment. If you’ve passed the application process, it means that you have the ability to handle the curriculum, but it’s up to you to keep up with the workload. It’s not easy, but it is doable if you’re ready for some intense studying.
How Long Does It Take To Find a Job After a Coding Bootcamp?
Most job guarantees include a six-month job search period, so most bootcamp graduates find employment within this time frame. Some extend as long as 365 days, but this is less common. The reality is that it completely depends on you, your skills, and how much time and effort you can put into your job search.
What Is a Realistic Salary To Make After Completing a Coding Bootcamp?
Salaries for entry-level positions can vary greatly depending on where you are and what your job title is. For a software engineer in the United States, even juniors can make an average salary of $104,905. A junior front-end developer, on the other hand, is more likely to make around $70,774 a year.
Since you’re here…
Interested in a career in software engineering? Join our mentor-led Software Engineering Bootcamp or our foundational Software Engineering Course if you’re just starting out. We help people make the switch every day (just peep our reviews). You can do it, too!
