So, it’s the week after bootcamp. Week 14… what’s next?
The last week of the Northcoders Software development bootcamp is focused on careers, interviews, resume writing and all the in’s and out’s of finding that first role on the software developer ladder.
With an overall decline in work for emerging and young people (in March 2025, unemployment amongst young people has risen by 14.8%, up from 13.8 the previous year) and the drastic state of film and television in the UK (my previous work/career)- a BECTU survey in 2023 noted the 73% of respondents (around 4000) were out of work with more than half stating they would not rejoin the industry… this is all to say that there feels like a general trend to not hire young talent. The economy here is in a great squeeze and the messaging is clear – we only want mid and senior devs with experience.
I’m feeling pretty realistic about my chances after finishing this bootcamp. After flubbing a call with a recruiter (he was very lovely) I realised that there is a long way to go still before landing that first role on the ladder. In that call, the recruiter asked me if the NC team had let me know what the industry was like, I said what I thought.. that it was a bit rough. He went on to tell me 650 people had applied for this junior role and he was interviewing 20…
I’m not sure how to be competitive in that market but I’m going to try a couple of things.
- Keep making (and most importantly, finishing) projects
- Learn new skills – or explore tech I’m interested in
- Apply apply apply apply apply
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05871/
https://bectu.org.uk/news/bectu-calls-for-government-intervention-as-new-research-shows-uk-film-and-tv-industry-in-crisis
