bootcamps, grad school, and certificates, oh my!

✨ This is one chapter from Elizabeth’s Declassified Guide to Product Design. Check out the full guide for all 24 chapters!

Are you a creative looking to land your dream job in less than 6 to 9 months? Do you want to increase your salary by more than $25k?

Design bootcamps and online courses use headlines like these to target students seeking a career change. They promise the dream of having it all 💁🏻‍♀️: a creative, high-paying job after a short period of learning, all for less than the cost of one college semester.

Unfortunately, this dream is not so easy to achieve. In fact, if you only remember one thing from my guide, it’s this:

Completing a bootcamp, master’s program, or certificate program does not guarantee that you will land a job as a product designer.

Structured programs can be one way to learn content in a defined period of time, but the reality is that the outcomes vary drastically based on each student’s background:

1. Do you have an undergraduate degree?
2. Have you worked at a tech company before?
3. Are you transitioning from a related field like software engineering or product management?
4. Can you communicate effectively through writing?
5. Are you comfortable giving presentations?
6. Can you dedicate 100% of your time to learning?
7. Do you know a product designer in your network?

Every yes increases your likelihood of being one of those success stories.

What’s the difference?

When people are looking to get into design, they typically consider bootcamps, master’s degree programs, and certificate programs.

From a cost perspective 🤑, the most expensive option (without financial aid) is getting a master’s degree while the most affordable tends to be completing a certificate program.

Here is a more detailed overview of each program type:

1. Bootcamps

Bootcamps are created by independent, for-profit companies. They aim to offer an affordable, practical, and efficient learning experience for people hoping to begin a new career. You will learn concrete skills for the job like navigating Figma and building prototypes. These programs tend to be a mix of live and self-paced learning with instructors from the design industry.

2. Master’s degree programs

Master’s degree programs are offered by universities and colleges. The projects and discussions tend to be theoretical, conceptual, and experimental. Getting a master’s degree tends to be more prestigious because of the name attached to the degree. Designers usually choose one of three degrees:

1. Master’s of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI): Computer Science
2. Master’s in Information Systems: School of Information
3. Master’s in Design: Engineering or Design

3. Certificate programs

Certificate programs are typically continuing education programs affiliated with a college, university, or company. Because they are tied to a university, the instructors might come from an academic background or be required to have a Master’s degree. Unlike traditional university programs, certificate courses emphasize practical skills over theory. Similar to a bootcamp, their main goal is to teach you the knowledge needed to secure a job upon completing the program.

What programs do you recommend?

I will not be mentioning any schools or bootcamps by name because I do not want to oppose or endorse any 😇. Instead, I want to share some questions for you to investigate as you do your own research.

1. What is the quality of the curriculum?

Programs will typically publish their curriculum online or share it upon request. The curriculum for each program is pretty similar at the topic-level, so I recommend focusing on the following categories when you’re evaluating:

1. Unique curriculum: Many bootcamps do not develop comprehensive lessons. Instead, they link to external videos and articles. These articles are frequently the top results when you search the topic on Google 😊. Look for programs that put time and research into building a unique curriculum.
2. User interface design focus: In the syllabus, make sure there is substantial practice in drawing and designing interfaces. Some programs reduce the “user interface design” portion to one module. Effective programs will require you to practice interface design from week 1.
3. Projects: The best way to learn design is by doing projects. Effective design curriculum should have multiple projects that are portfolio-worthy embedded across the learning journey.
4. Real-world experience: Real-world projects are even better. Seek programs that partner with companies or organizations to give students first-hand experience working with a client.
5. Hands-on activities: It’s impossible to learn design passively from consuming videos and articles. Look for programs that include lots of active learning through discussions and interactive activities.
6. Efficacy: How do they assess if you understand the material? Will you get evaluated on your work? Many bootcamps and certificate programs let you graduate when you check off all the lessons, not when you understand all the material.

2. What is the student experience like?

If there are success stories on the home page, remember that those highlights are probably the exception! Landing a job at a well-established company like Google is possible, but rare.

To get a different perspective, talk to students who are currently in or have graduated from the program. Reach out to current and past students on LinkedIn to ask about their experiences.

1. Program value: Was the program worth it? Would they recommend it?
2. Curriculum quality: Did they enjoy the curriculum? Were there interactive and engaging activities and assignments? Are the lessons and videos created internally? How often does the program link to external websites for learning?
3. Personalized feedback: Did they receive personalized feedback on their work? If so, who did they receive feedback from?
4. Career coaching and the job search: Does the program offer guidance on building portfolios? How do they support you in the job search?
5. Community: Do students get the opportunity to engage with each other about design? Are there live classes where students are encouraged to discuss and interact with each other?

3. Who is teaching the course?

Research the course instructors and curriculum designers.

1. Do they have a background in design?
2. Where have they worked before?
3. How long have they worked as a product designer in the industry?
4. What is their prior teaching experience like?
5. What does the work in their portfolio look like?

If they have public videos, watch them to decide if you like their teaching style. Look at their social media: Do they create unique content or is it primarily for growth marketing?

4. Do the mentors have real experience?

Having a dedicated mentor is the most important thing to seek in one of these programs! Prioritize this if you can’t find it all.

Do students get personalized feedback from industry professionals on all their work? The only way to improve your work as a designer is to get quality feedback from industry designers.

It’s a common model for bootcamps to employee student alumni (who have not landed a job yet) as mentors for other students. It’s more cost effective that way 🤗.

Getting feedback from peers can be good practice, but oftentimes students are not experienced enough to provide honest and quality feedback. If the program claims to have mentors, it’s important to make sure mentors you will be working with have real industry experience.

5. Will they support you with the job search?

What happens when you complete the program? Will you get the support you need to find a job? Learning design skills is only one part of the journey, landing your first job is a whole other story! Look for support in the following:

1. Portfolio review and iteration
2. Portfolio presentation prep
3. Interview prep
4. Career coaching and mentorship
5. Entry-level job leads

Many bootcamps will put this bucket of learning into something called “career services.” This program is not offered to each and every student. You typically have to meet certain requirements in order to qualify for this type of mentorship.

Education words to know

As you’re doing research about which program, you my come across some words.

Self-paced

The most flexible, but requires self motivation.

The material is mostly pre-recorded videos accompanied by a written format. Students can progress through the material at their own speed.

Cohort-based

Maintains some aspects of flexibility, but with peer support.

Groups of students start and progress through the course according to a set schedule. This method encourages collaboration and accountability.

The material could be self-paced or delivered through live sessions.

Live (Synchronous)

High commitment and cost, but highest outcome

Learning sessions occur in real-time led by an instructor, where participants can interact and ask questions These sessions can be conducted in person or via video call.

MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)

Typically self-paced and low barrier to entry

A free or low-cost online course designed for scale, often provided by universities and other educational institutions.

Honest, no-filter musings

Please take all of these musings with a grain of salt 🙏. These are statements I would make if I was speaking to friends with no filter, speaking from my gut:

1. Bootcamps put business first and students second. If the program is funded by venture capital, they will be pressured to scale and become profitable. This pressure typically causes the learning experience to decrease in quality because they prioritize getting more students through the program instead of improving the learning experience.
2. Master’s programs are good for building critical thinking, but terrible for learning practical interface design skills. Master’s programs tend to require a higher depth of critical thinking and analysis. However, when I review portfolios, I notice that the visual design is often far below the bar unless the designer is self-taught in this area.
3. Certificate programs are the most out of touch. Within all the program types, I’ve noticed that student portfolios from certificate programs are the most below the hiring bar. These programs tend to lack both mentorship and industry-relevant curriculum.
4. A certificate is just a piece of paper. Having a certificate on LinkedIn will not increase your chances of landing an interview. The quality of your work is the most important part. Employers do not care how you learned design. Many of the best product designers I have worked with never formally studied design.
5. If the website is ugly and/or hard to use, it’s probably a bad program. You’re probably wondering how to assess a website if you’re early in your design journey. Start with the small things. For example, if you see blurry logos and images or hard-to-read text, think twice before signing up. (Unfortunately, I have seen more than one program with blurry imagery on their home page 🫠.)
6. Communication skills like writing, public speaking, and storytelling are more important than knowing specific design methods. I find that most bootcamps and certificate programs do not spend the time helping students build core communication skills. Design methods like building a user persona or drawing a user journey map are easy to learn on the job.
7. You’ll get what you paid for. Some programs are way more affordable than others. This is typically because they lack live instruction and 1-1 mentorship.
8. There is not a single program that meets my bar. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a program that satisfies all the elements I want to see in my dream product design learning experience. You’ll likely have to supplement your learning with 3rd party mentorship or courses. (Maybe I’ll start my own someday!)

Elizabeth’s design program checklist

That was a lot 🤓, so here’s a checklist you can use as you evaluate any design program.

1. Current students and graduates enjoyed the program.
2. Graduates with a similar background to you landed a job.
3. The instructors are qualified designers and educators.
4. The program has a unique and comprehensive curriculum.
5. The course emphasizes user interface design from the start.
6. There are multiple, portfolio-worthy projects included in the curriculum.
7. Real-world projects are incorporated into the curriculum.
8. The program includes learning through class discussions and interactive activities.
9. Student understanding of the material is properly assessed.
10. The program offers personalized feedback on student work.
11. The program provides career coaching and job search support.
12. There is a strong community engagement among the students.
13. The mentors have real industry experience.

Final words

If you want to learn product design in a structured way, these programs are often your only option. Do your research and remember:

Completing a bootcamp, master’s program, or certificate program does not guarantee that you will land a job as a product designer.

Becoming a product designer is a journey and signing up for a structured program is only one part of that journey.

✨ This is one chapter from Elizabeth’s Declassified Guide to Product Design. Check out the full guide for all 24 chapters!