Precisely one year ago I made what would turn out to be the best decision of my short life — I enrolled in General Assembly’s User Experience Immersive bootcamp at their Chicago location. Since then many people have asked about my experience, specifically whether or not it was “worth it.” While I absolutely loved my experience and couldn’t recommend bootcamps enough, I’ve come to the realization that there is a way to get the best out of them.
So, I’ve made a bootcamp how-to. This list may come off as intense, but the bootcamp process is intense too. And I had to learn many of these the hard way, so I think it’s a good idea to share them outright.
1. Only do it if you already love something about the field you’re about to dive into. Not only are you going to spend quite a bit of dough, but you’re also going to spend a lot of time working in and out of the classroom. These courses are immersive for a reason — you’re spending a short amount of time investing in the skills to create a portfolio and nurture the confidence to get out there and get a job. If you don’t love something about what you’re learning, you’re not going to feel inspired enough to create good work. I didn’t know a lot about UX at first, but I knew that I wanted to create impactful digital experiences while honing in on my visual design skills. So even when I felt stressed out, I felt like I could push through it because I loved what I was learning.
2. Be respectful. Even if you’ve worked in a similar field before, you are going to be working with people who may be coming from a completely different walk of life. You are not going to be contributing positively to their (and ultimately, your) learning environment if you walk in with a chip on your shoulder. This also extends to your teaching staff and career coaches — they may be there to help you, but they are also incredibly intelligent and talented people who could very well be doing something else. They are worth your undivided attention. But above all, you need to extend respect to yourself — you’ve decided to take the jump (which is incredible in itself!) and go through a rigorous program. Respect your time and your money by putting 100% in each and every project.
3. Be a good team player. Working with a team is a learned skill. Even if you have prior design experience, you never know what you can learn from your teammates — staying humble and open to other ideas will only increase your understanding of the work. This skill is also a unique bootcamp offering (you can’t learn how to work with a team on your own, right?) Not only can you make friends, but you can also cultivate professional relationships that can directly impact your career moving forward. If you can show that you’re willing to put 100% into a project while also being pleasant to work with, you can gain so much more than a good portfolio piece. This also extends to the work itself — don’t be that person who takes credit for your team members’ work or steamrolls over someone else’s work .
4. Be open to the notion of your growth. I mean this in two ways:
- In a professional/practical sense, you have nothing to lose if you truly immerse yourself in the experience, even if it’s outside of the classroom. For example, I took the time after class for the first two weeks to watch Sketch tutorials and learn the basics, which proved to be pivotal — I could broaden my skill set during projects and practice creating screens with speed and efficiency. From there, I felt more at ease taking on new challenges because I knew that I always had the opportunity to learn more while working through Sketch. In other words, don’t be afraid to push yourself past what’s expected in the classroom. In fact, it’ll pay off!
- In a social sense, you’re in a safe learning environment with people who are just as invested in their experience as you are. Not only is this a fantastic opportunity to grow your professional network, but it is also an incredible time to befriend people who have the same interests and passions as you do. Again, there is always something to learn if you decide to be open to the idea that everyone can teach you something.
5. Take advantage. There’s no reason to sugarcoat the fact that an immersive bootcamp is intense. But it is also incredibly fun. This is your time to learn something awesome, so why not take advantage of every opportunity you encounter? GA’s career counseling program was invaluable — I had an amazing career advisor who not only helped me create a strong LinkedIn profile and resume but also worked one-on-one with me to help me talk about my work in a powerful and unique way. Her coaching gave me the confidence I needed in job interviews, but I also went out of my way to seek her services and advice because I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to learn how to grow professionally.
When I first started, I was highly skeptical about how the classroom would translate into a real workplace. Did people really use this terminology and work in this manner? The answer is yes a million times over. If you do decide to enroll in a design bootcamp, keep in mind that they do not follow a traditional learning model. The teachers are not going to outright tell you how to do something, nor will you have a textbook with the answers in the back. But they will provide the necessary toolkit for you to pick and choose the best course in designing a solution — it’s up to you to figure out what works best according to the given scenario.
Not only did I learn a strong foundational understanding of UX, but I was also given the building blocks to start creating a strong portfolio. If you have any questions at all relating to the bootcamp experience, I’ll be more than happy to answer them here
This post originally appeared on The DevMynd Blog and was written by Design Consultant Anna Brenner.
