Job-hunting Journey & Experience After Graduating and Joining a Bootcamp
作者小红书博主：-Double
Background:
Graduated with a distinction in Mathematics. Only knew MATLAB. I had already planned to stay in the UK before going abroad. During university I focused mainly on studying, and only started seriously applying for jobs after graduation. I didn’t mass apply — I mainly targeted tech roles.
Job Application Situation
Most of my applications died at the video interview (VI) stage. I also failed quite a few assessment centres (AC), including IG, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, HSBC, and TfL.
I passed the AC for Capital One but got rejected at the final interview.
Self-learning Phase
Between 2021–2022, I started learning coding by myself.
Began with LeetCode and Java
Later decided to systematically learn full-stack
Self-studied JavaScript and React
Built some simple projects
However, because I still couldn’t get an offer that year, I developed depression and anxiety. Later a friend introduced me to the Bright Network Bootcamp (probably because I looked too desperate haha — and it was free!).
So I applied to the bootcamp to learn full-stack. My thinking at the time was: even if I didn’t get an offer, at least I could become an entry-level software developer with some project experience, which would help with future job hunting.
Bootcamp Application Process
👉 Online games test + video interview (VI)
VI questions were provided in advance. They mainly looked at your passion for tech and experience. If you didn’t have much experience, they looked at whether you genuinely liked tech and had a learning plan.
👉 Assessment Centre (AC)
One day learning HTML/CSS/JS
One day group project + presentation
Most people didn’t know much, so they mainly assessed learning ability, teamwork, and presentation skills.
👉 Final Interview
Focused on your passion for tech, your AC experience (since the actual course structure is similar), and whether your personal and family environment suited the programme.
Bootcamp Content
1️⃣ Half-day classes + half-day lab work (sometimes group labs)
2️⃣ Three major group projects: backend, frontend, and full-stack, each with a presentation
3️⃣ Dedicated CV and interview support — they helped polish CVs and prepare for interviews. They would send your CV to clients and wait for interviews. Most interviews were only one cultural round; occasionally there was also a coding round.
Outcomes
The programme lasted 12 weeks.
If you graduate with an offer, you sign a contract with them.
Some clients offer a 1-year conversion to permanent; mine was a 2-year contract. After that, you work as a contractor at the client company until converting to permanent.
For those without offers, I’m not sure about the current situation. In our cohort, many headcounts opened up on the final day, so interviews were arranged afterward. Quite a few people actually secured offers after graduation.