How Learning Bootcamps Kickstart Your Remote Career

You might have heard someone mention something about a skills gap. It’s true, there’s a big difference between the skills that the modern workforce needs and the percentage of those workers who have the right skills. How does this relate to being a remote worker? Simple, the right skills give you more leverage to get the best remote working positions. That means, finding and investing in the right upskilling opportunities to make yourself a desirable hire.

But what are your options for upskilling? Some employers provide on-the-job training and there are plenty of higher education institutions that will gladly take your money in exchange for these ‘skills.’ But a more proactive and efficient alternative to traditional routes is a bootcamp. These quick and effective, high-tech learning solutions are helping build the future workforce. And if you’re looking to gain new skills, we think a bootcamp is the way to go.

What is a Learning Bootcamp

A digital bootcamp is an online, intensive study course that is designed to provide targeted, efficient learning in a specific skill. These courses have become popular across the tech world and now the concept is leaching into other industries as well.

How does a digital bootcamp compare to a traditional college degree? Digital bootcamps are employment-focused instead of academic-focused. They are short-term, averaging six weeks to six months to complete instead of four or more years. And, because they are online, they’re often self-paced and flexible which is ideal for fitting into the flow of work for busy professionals. And, what’s more, is that these bootcamps are gaining widespread acceptance from employers because they tend to produce results. They can also lead to certifications which increase your value during the job search process.

Benefits of a Learning Bootcamp

In addition to being flexible, effective, and able to be completed in a short duration of time; digital bootcamps provide development for digital collaboration skills. Is there any skillset more useful for a remote employee? We don’t think so!

Digital bootcamps offer:

• Mentorship

• Online Collaboration

• Flexible Scheduling

• Short-Term Commitments

• Measurable Skills 

• Widespread Recognition or Acceptance

How to Choose a Good Bootcamp

Choosing the right bootcamp requires a careful assessment and a little bit of skepticism. Keep in mind that, while there are many quality programs, there is also no shortage of people trying to get-rich on the internet. 

First, decide what to study. You’ll need to assess your personal interests and career goals and cross-reference that list with in-demand skills. Once you’ve found the right content goals, you can begin your search for a quality program. 

Look for:

• Reputation: Who is offering the bootcamp and what credentials do they have?

• Curriculum: What is covered in the bootcamp?

• Reviews: What are other students saying about the program?

• Commitments: What is the expected time commitment and duration?

• Transparency: Does the program provide third-party reviewed placement or success stats for their program? What promises are they making?

Types of Learning Bootcamps Available

If you look hard enough, you can probably find something for anything. But we’ll keep our list a bit shorter and focus on established, proven bootcamp options to help further your remote working career.

Technology Bootcamps

This seems to be where these digital bootcamps got their start–teaching tech skills to a variety of employees that may or may not have come from computer science backgrounds. Any quick internet search will bring up hundreds of options for coding bootcamps. Consider Wild Code School or Coding Dojo.

• Coding Bootcamps

• UI/UX Design Bootcamps

• Cybersecurity Bootcamps

• Data Science/Analytics Bootcamps

Marketing Bootcamps

As bootcamp learning programs have gained attention, the offerings have expanded to fill a variety of in-demand career skills–like digital marketing. A digital marketing bootcamp teaches customer relationship management, email marketing, social media strategy, search engine optimization, lead generation, and more. These bootcamps can lead the way to remote positions as a social media marketer or content marketing manager. Consider BrainStation for cost-effective, quality programs in digital marketing.

FinTech Bootcamps

A new era of financial technology apps is revolutionizing everything from car insurance and banking to investing and financial literacy. These trend is driving an explosion of growth and new job opportunities–but there’s a catch. You need technology and finance skills. That’s where fintech bootcamps are filling a need. The opportunities seem limitless, for example:

• Financial Analysis

• Financial Programming for Amazon Web Services

• API Programming and Administration

• Machine Learning & Trading Algorithms

• Cryptocurrency 

There are some great programs available through brand-name schools like Columbia Engineering and UC Berkley which should top your list. But those aren’t the only options. If you’re hoping for a remote career as a financial analyst, crypto expert, financial application developer, data scientist, business intelligence engineer, or similar, a bootcamp can get you there in a matter of a few weeks.

The Bottom Line

What started out as a better alternative to learn coding languages in the early 2010s is changing the game for upskilling technology careers. There are plenty of high-quality bootcamp programs available in technical, marketing, and fintech careers to open your door to new possibilities in as little as six weeks.