The path to a tech career no longer requires a university degree
Brought to you by General Assembly
Investment in traditional education options such as colleges and universities is no longer the first top-of-mind choice for people wanting to start a career in a tech field like coding, UX design or data analytics. Instead, the shortcut is a tech certificate from a tech bootcamp school.
A tech bootcamp is a non-traditional pathway to education and professional development for better career options.
The difference between traditional and non-traditional education is that most tech certificate courses from tech bootcamps teach the latest and most in-demand digital skills with experienced real-world instructors.Some bootcamp schools, such as General Assembly (GA), also offer job-ready resources for graduates completing a full-time course. By focusing on the essential skills needed to start a career in tech, students complete the tech certificate course in:
- three months if they choose the full-time format, or
- six months if they choose the part-time format.
Is a certificate course in tech right for me?
Think about the time commitment — tech bootcamps or tech certificates condense a comprehensive program into 12 weeks, full-time or 24 weeks, part-time. In that time, you’ll complete 400 to 500 hours of skills-building, a real portfolio of projects and have access to career coaching services. It’s called an immersive for a reason — you’ll be living and breathing coding, data analytics or UX design. This approach boosts retention, lowers distractions and costs, and gets you where you want to go faster.
Think about self-learning vs. interactive learning
Tech certificates from schools like General Assembly offer live instructors and career coaches to provide real-time support from day one until you start your first tech job. They also partner with tech hiring partners across the country to match career opportunities with recent graduates. In contrast, as a self-learning student, you are responsible for knowing what work to do, what order to follow and ensuring you complete it.
Think about the cost
Tech bootcamps are reinventing the pathway to equal education, at-home learning and school debt with a student-centered approach that meets each learner's individual needs and professional goals in less than a four-year degree. It is a system designed to focus on short- and long-term goals, rather than just the long-term vision — a higher education structure that can result in the accumulation of debt and lack of financial stability. 
General Assembly has graduated over 40,000 students worldwide from full-time and part-time tech certificate courses. Many of its Australia graduates are now working at great companies such as Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, The Good Guys and RealEstate AU. Some of the reasons why students choose General Assembly courses over a university degree are to:
- become skills-ready for a tech job in three or six months
- acquire tech skills that are in high demand by employers
- access a global community of lifelong learners
- get the support of a dedicated career coach who will help students get their first job in tech
- build a portfolio of real-world projects to prove to hiring managers that students are ready to start a career in tech.
Tech certificate courses may be the answer if you want a career change but are too busy to attend traditional school, or if you want to grow in your current career. While the two vastly different options — tech certificate and university — can both be valuable learning pathways with lasting rewards, tech certificate courses have gained popularity because you start a career in a growing field faster.
So what is needed to complete a tech certificate course?
General Assembly students usually connect with an admissions specialist to decide if a tech certificate course is the right decision. The most common questions that you’ll need to consider in this process are:
- What results can I expect once I complete the course?
- How can anyone really learn tech skills (coding or data analysis or ux design) in three or six months?
- Why will hiring managers look at my resume if I’m changing careers?
- How do career coaches help students?
- What are the instructors’ teaching methods like?
- What is the best way to finance a tech certificate course?
The Admissions team at General Assembly will provide practical advice on these questions and will also help you take your first steps into tech with:
- free ‘intro-to’ workshops
- a handy career changers guide
- free info session events
- current offers
- and more.
All are designed for you to take a look into what a tech job entails on a daily basis and decide if that is the best path for you.
To know what a GA tech certificate can do for your career, schedule a call with the GA Admissions team today.
