Climbing Up The Wall Of Develeap’s Bootcamp
Have you ever been on a climbing wall? You know, that sport where you are tied between the earth and the sky, and your goal is to ring the bell at the top? That wall!
I climbed one a few years ago, and after one climb, I could say it was not for me.
It was a hot summer day, and I was far from shape. The guide was supportive and patient, but I had one thought in mind: reaching the top as fast as possible.
Of course, that was a big mistake. I had to consider many things beforehand: plan the route ahead, listen, and implement the guide’s instructions. I even forgot to breathe during the climb… The result? Well, I made it to the top! But it cost me time, some muscle pain, and an experience that I’m not sure I will repeat.
Little did I know about the corrective experience ahead of me, the challenging wall I will encounter in the future: develeap’s bootcamp.
This is why I wrote this article: to provide information, guidance, and practical action items about develeap’s bootcamp. I’ll cover the essential stages of the bootcamp, including discovering the bootcamp for the first time, a few Develeap’s unique core values, and laying out the bootcamp’s structure, including some tips!
Get familiar with the route you climb
Develeap’s bootcamp is a challenging training program designed to teach students the most relevant technologies and tools in the DevOps field and develop their skills to the level of a professional DevOps engineer who can be integrated into a DevOps position.
The bootcamp is 13 weeks long, and only by looking at the syllabus and the topics it includes, one can wonder how it is possible to complete this tight schedule and become an expert with so many methodologies and technologies to learn. It won’t be an easy journey at all!
This is why develeap’s program requires a full-time five days a week commitment to study, sometimes even more than that, depending on your previous knowledge.
Warming up
Before even starting the bootcamp, you will have to go through a few challenges to get accepted. These challenges may change over time, but overall, they check abilities such as self-study, completing hands-on tasks, and expressing your knowledge. The goal of these challenges is to make sure you have the necessary skills and potential to succeed in the bootcamp. One way to look at it is to verify you can climb such a challenging wall.
Enabler, not a gatekeeper
Develeap believes in giving everyone a fair chance. There is no prejudice, judgment, or denial based on professional background or any other factor. The only requirement is meeting the expectations, meaning completing tasks and passing exams successfully. Therefore, anyone can apply!
Take me for example. I worked in the education world for a couple of years. The Covid-19 pandemic affected my workplace and me, so I’ve decided to change my career. I applied for a Python self-learning course created by Yam Mesicka and a group of supporting volunteers (I owe them a lot!). After that, I applied for the bootcamp, studied full-time, and successfully got hired by develeap.
After graduating bootcamp #11, and mentoring three bootcamps in Israel and Poland, in addition to providing support for several other bootcamps, I would like to share insights from my own journey and tips from graduates of more recent bootcamps. I hope it will help you and improve your experience climbing the bootcamp wall!
Avoid the common mistakes
The first challenge – not what you’d expect
When the bootcamp begins, you will find yourself among a group of people from various backgrounds. This means that every student has a different background, knowledge and expertise. Sometimes, some students might feel they are falling behind, know less than others, or just not sure about their own skills.
Tip #1 – Rachel Naane, DevOps engineer, bootcamp #17:
“Don’t compare yourself to others. Remember, this is your journey and the chance to improve your skills. Forming a genuine group that supports one another is crucial for your success in the bootcamp.”
Stay fresh
The bootcamp is a busy routine where you face challenges every day: a technical error that you just can’t figure out or a tool taught in class that you still don’t understand. After spending time and effort hoping for a breakthrough, I recommend you to take a step back, and have a 10 minute break.
Tip #2 – Alon Rose, DevOps team leader, bootcamp #9:
“When you tackle a problem for so long, your way of thinking tends to become narrow. Besides, there’s a lot of subconscious processing going on that you’re not even aware of! I remember a lot of times in the bootcamp, after racking my brain for several hours on a problem I just HAD to solve – only after taking a small break, touching grass and making coffee, I had gotten that eureka moment. If I’d kept at it without taking a break? Don’t think I would’ve been able to solve it.”
Surprised? Refreshing your eyes and especially detaching your mind will help you come back with a new mindset, more focused. (Remember, most likely, the problem is simpler than you think).
Finding the balance
In the first few weeks, all students will find the right balance between working on their own and working with others. It is extremely important for every candidate to learn how to complete their tasks on their own and to build their own abilities. If you are stuck on the same problem for a long time, which happens to everyone now and then, we recommend you ask colleagues or staff for guidance.
Tip #3 – Dominik Borkowski, bootcamp Poland(15):
“Communicate to your colleagues—ask for help not only from the mentor but also from your colleagues. Remember that you are not alone, talk to your fellow students about bugs and issues they’ve faced. Your colleagues face the same tasks. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help. Some may understand certain concepts better, and who knows? Maybe next time, they will ask you for help. Frankly, I wouldn’t have made it through the bootcamp if it weren’t for the colleagues who helped me move forward at that point. This is the power of Develeap—working as a hive mind, helping each other with problems, and not being afraid to ask for support.”
For your own success, I recommend keeping your pride out of the bootcamp 🙂
Now that we’ve set the right attitude to begin the bootcamp, let’s drill down to how it works.
Climbing up the wall
Every day, you will face a hands-on task, developing your skills by working with different tools. During the first month, you will build your own routine and understand what study methods work for you. By the end of the first month, students usually get used to the flow of the bootcamp and can better anticipate what the rest of it will look like.
The first month ends with an exam that will test your technical skills working with the tools learned until that point, such as Git, Python, Docker, application topologies, and more. In addition, an interview will be held, and you will be expected to handle a professional conversation demonstrating your knowledge about the same materials.
Tip #4 – Avihai Ziv, bootcamp 18:
“Read the instructions for every task/exam a few times throughout your work. Begin by asking yourself questions to make sure you understand what is required of you. Based on that, build a work plan to follow and execute it. It’s no different than any other real workplace.”
This exam, like future exams, is mainly to understand your performance, but more importantly, how you can learn and develop from it. After each exam in the bootcamp you will receive full detailed feedback on your performance addressing both technical proficiency and interpersonal skills from the exam and general feedback about your accomplishments in the bootcamp so far. Depending on your performance, you will be advised on ways to improve your abilities.
Starting the second month of the bootcamp, you will focus on AWS cloud services and Jenkins in the context of infrastructure and CI as a professional DevOps engineer, leaning on previous knowledge as a base to fully understand the “bigger picture.” You will learn many new concepts and tools; it’s important to stay focused and efficient.
Tip #5 – Andy Thaok, bootcamp 19:
“Trying to “save time” by completing a task faster without fully understanding how things work usually makes you stray away from your objective, which makes you waste even more time. Make things work manually first, and after understanding why it works, automate it.”
After acquiring experience with various CI pipelines you will participate in an interview workshop – one of the most beneficial days of the bootcamp! You will learn to look at interviews from a different angle, take advantage of what is in your control, practice your interpersonal skills, and handle a technical conversation. That will become very beneficial in the second exam because, like the first exam, you are expected to complete a technical task and an interview.
Tip #6 – Amir Bialek, bootcamp 13:
“It’s better to know many topics at a basic level than knowing one topic at a deep level. Even if you know only 20% of the subject, it’s worth having a 20% answer rather than 0%. And never try your luck saying you know something that you don’t. If the interviewer asks, they probably know enough to understand when you don’t know.”
Finally, my favorite part of the bootcamp. These few weeks include the most powerful and interesting tools, such as IaC (Infrastructure as Code) with Terraform, container orchestration with Kubernetes and CD with ArgoCD. One of our goals in the bootcamp is to teach students how to approach new materials on their own, a crucial skill for a DevOps engineer to have with the pace of technology evolving. So, by this point the students are independent and know very well how to handle new materials on their own. Still, the mentor is always there to support and even sharpen your abilities with extra knowledge.
Tip #7 – Malki Attal, bootcamp 11:
“When working with Kubernetes, understand the basics first, but encourage yourself to explore edge cases and ask mentors about how they would solve such cases. That is the best way to check if you understood what you learned.”
Reaching to the top
In this last part of the bootcamp you will work on a portfolio project that includes everything you’ve learned so far. The goal is to make you connect all the dots of how a full CI/CD pipeline works. It’s time to prove your abilities by working with the tools and understanding the methodologies. As you already guessed, it won’t be an easy task, but at that point in the bootcamp you should be more than qualified to accept the challenge and excel at it!
Tip #8 – Eran Braylovski, bootcamp 18:
“Understand The Big Picture First – Ensure you know your project inside out before diving in. Invest time in research, understand all the details, design the architecture, and decide on clear targets. Solid planning makes for effective execution.”
Your time is limited. It’s very easy to lose yourself in the never-ending upgrades and perfection you might desire. Keep yourself in check by setting time estimations and alarms to “wake you up” from your work. Your time is limited, and there is too much to do.
Having a project you’ve made is great, but you should also know how to discuss it.
The last interviews will take place right after the project. Remember, it’s not only about introducing your project; it might as well be a job interview for your next job. You are expected to bring your personality, your ability to hold a professional conversation and more.
Ringing the bell!
To summarize, develeap’s bootcamp can be very busy and stressful. Remember to take breaks when possible. Support others and get help from other candidates. This journey won’t be easy on your own. Keep in mind that the bootcamp is always evolving. We consider the most recent and relevant demands of the market and adapt to them. By completing the bootcamp, in addition to learning many new skills and the most relevant technologies, you will also be better prepared to face future challenges beyond the bootcamp, in your next position.
Good luck on your journey!