Is there?

The day I finished the bootcamp was day of mixed emotions, uncertainty, emptiness, but also excited for what the future holds. I knew what I signed up for and the challenges I was going to face after the bootcamp. The support I received from those close to me have been amazing, this made things much easier but I still had my own personal challenges I had to deal with, from depression, anxiety, fear and to top it all off relief.

The first week after bootcamp

Lets start selling ourselves. Sounds harsh but that is exactly what one would do after finishing a bootcamp. The final week of the bootcamp was good lead up to this so I hit the ground running the following week. One of the many challenges are to search for job specific to the skills you want to improve on. There are lots of "junk" postings out there, recruiters spamming you, posting not matching up to what you are looking for so filtering out all of these was my first step. For every application I have created personal cover letter, so this involves doing research on each company to be sure you find the perfect fit and surprise there might be this one thing that you don't like but make a note to question the employer before applying. Very important, remember to keep track of the companies you applied for if you need to reference back to something, include job description, link and contact person.

Invitation to interviews

Next step of selling yourself. Sell yourself in person, prepare a good pitch with short introduction which summarizes everything up and until where you are now. We did a exercise in the final week of the bootcamp which they call the elevator pitch, which was great practice. Google it, it is defintely something that will come in handy, and practice it every time before you go out to interview.

If you are not getting feedback within the first week from employers, don't rush it, take a break they will (some of them) eventually get back to you. Keep in mind that if you pass the first interview then they will most probably send you a technical assessment and these take time, you don't want to be stressed out submitting assignments. This is one mistake I made, at one stage I had to push back some of them so I can find time to finish them all.

Technical assessments

Be sure that you understand what is expected from you with the assignment. If you feel you need to do more than what is requested think logically about it and ask the employer if you can do whatever you think it is. To give you an example if you think you need to make it 100% mobile responsive ask them, it might most probably be the case, mobile first these days. Also make them aware of what you are capable of doing so you don't stress yourself out trying to learn something last minute. If it is required to do general intelligence assessment (GIA) be sure you do this first before attempting the technical assessment and practice these assessments first before attempting, there are loads of resources online.

Rejections

You will probably have to face rejection during your application process, maybe the one where they reject you without even meeting you, such a waste. Then the one that hurts a little more, the one where they meet you for the first time in person (or phone/online), it feels like you have GREAT connection with them but then they tell you the feeling is not mutual and then the one that hurts the most is the one after your technical assigment. This is where you question yourself but DON'T!! See it as learning curve or experience or even practice for that matter. The things I have learned during all the assignments made me realize how much I have actually learned after this bootcamp.

Relief

Yes there is life after bootcamp. It is alot of work to find the position you have been longing for. The key is just to stay positive, get a project to work on to keep yourself busy, maybe revisit your old projects from the bootcamp. Just do something, keep your mind busy, keep those skills relevant and don't think about when you will find the perfect opportunity the whole time. Plan your days so you use the most productive hours for the specific task but don't spend the whole day searching for jobs. Get out, meet friends, go walk in park, just keep a healthy balance. You will be fine.