I discussed my plans to join a bootcamp-style program with a friend who is a Google engineer. My friend told me that bootcamps are a waste of my time and money, and that he believes that anyone can break into SWE with just a few weeks of trying.
His suggestion was to join and do well on programming competitions (he suggested Google Kickstart), which he describes as a direct funnel to SWE jobs. I have not heard of this option before. I have never tried competitive programming, so I do not know how much effort it takes to win at them. My Google friend says that the effort is minimal and that these competitions have a low bar to score well.
Have you found code competitions useful in your job search? Is competitive programming a good time investment if I'm trying to break into SWE roles?
I entered the field from a non-CS background and now work at Google (opinions my own, etc). I’m not familiar with Kickstart, but this glosses over much of the difficulty involved. I would bet that your friend has a rosy picture of what it’s like, and if they were indeed able to break in after a few weeks of trying, I’d hope that they would realize that their experience is very far from the norm. It can be hard sometimes, especially when you’re at a cushy company, to remember or realize how hard it is elsewhere.
Getting your first job is the hardest and biggest hurdle, and I’d encourage you to focus on more approachable targets than the large well-known tech companies. Take a look at startups, both in the HN who is hiring threads and sites like AngelList, as they frequently let you reach a person directly (vs the resume submission black holes). I’d also encourage you to strike a balance between job searching and building things, writing about your projects, and talking with people about them.
Bootcamps can offer a more structured and guided approach, which can be very helpful if you find it hard to learn on your own (and to be clear, it’s very hard). They can have their downsides as well ($$$, quality), but I don’t think you should flatly dismiss them.