Today's job market is quite competitive, and you must separate yourself from the pack by any means necessary. Education has a high return on investment and a range of opportunity costs associated with it, but paying particular attention to this attribute of employment is highly worthwhile. This article will discuss university, boot camps, and online courses.
University
Undoubtedly, attending university is the best way to boost your education attribute. A computer science bachelor's degree (BS in CS) is the best educational investment you can make. A master's degree is a close second, and software engineering degrees are a close third.
A BS in CS will teach you the foundations of computing and set you up to learn anything else you need on the job. The goal is to gain a foundational understanding of CS, broaden your horizons, and learn to work with others. Some may argue that university is a waste of time and money because it doesn't make you job-ready. However, you must keep in mind that the goal of a degree is not to make you job-ready. The goal is to give you a solid foundation in computing upon which to build.
Concerning boosting your employability, a degree will always give you a leg up over those who don't have one. In lean times, employers will likely discard resumes without degrees. As someone who has conducted hiring panels, a degree is an easy filter to reduce hundreds of resumes into forty. All things equal, employers will choose an applicant with a degree over one without. So, your best bet is getting a degree, ideally a BS in CS. I recommend the CS program at Western Governors University for a cheap but quality education.
Boot Camps
In today's market, boot camps are not worth it. They are typically expensive, with some being more than the cost of a degree from Western Governors University. They teach you things you can easily learn independently for much less money.
However, boot camps are not all bad. They provide motivation for some and offer a decent network that may help you find jobs. Despite this, I would skip boot camps unless I can avoid paying for them.
Online Courses
Online courses are a great way to pick up new skills and technologies. They usually include code-alongs, which are suitable for building muscle memory and seeing how someone else solves a problem. Online courses are typically cheap or free through your local library, so the barrier to entry is the lowest out of the three education options.
If you have nothing else for education, I recommend putting an online course on your resume. This beats having nothing, but there are better resume builders.
Cost
Education is both more accessible and more cost-prohibitive than ever before, depending on which route you take. I always advocate investing in yourself and obtaining an education is one way to do that. However, you must balance fiscal concerns with the desire to improve. Generally, I would only recommend going into debt for education if you are reasonably sure you can pay it off with the opportunities afforded by the education.
In today's market, a cheap but quality university like Western Governors University is the best return on investment. This is not financial advice, but I would not be opposed to someone in my family going into a minor amount of student debt to get a degree in CS from here because they will be able to pay it off within a few years of working, if not sooner. Boot camps may be worthwhile if you can attend for cheap, but please avoid going into debt for one.
Takeaway
It's no secret that more education is better than less. Ideally, you would get a BS in CS and round out your applicable, technology-specific skills with online courses. This provides the best outcome and return on investment for both time and money spent. However, some education is better than none, and I'd encourage you always to be learning!
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