Latest / The Career Change Podcast with Fexingo: Switching Fields, Bootcamps, and Reskilling / How Bootcamp Grads Can Teach Coding Online
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, we've talked a lot about bootcamp grads landing jobs at startups, fintech, government — even AI. But there's another path that doesn't get enough attention, and it's one where your bootcamp skills are actually the product. Luna: Teaching, right? I've been seeing more and more bootcamp grads picking up gigs on Udemy or Coursera. Lucas: Exactly. And it makes sense. The online learning market is projected to hit $350 billion by 2027, and coding courses are a massive slice of that. But the specific angle I want to drill into today is: how a bootcamp grad — someone who maybe hasn't worked as a senior engineer or even held a traditional dev role — can credibly teach coding online. Luna: So what's the hook? What makes a bootcamp grad a good teacher, even without years of experience? Lucas: I think it's actually the bootcamp experience itself. You've just been through an intense, structured learning process. You remember what it's like to not know something. That empathy is gold in online education. A lot of experienced developers have forgotten how hard it is to learn loops and conditionals. Luna: Right, the curse of knowledge. Bootcamp grads haven't had time to develop that yet. Lucas: Exactly. Let me give you a concrete example. I spoke with a woman named Priya — she graduated from a full-stack bootcamp in early 2025. She struggled to land a traditional dev role because the market was tight. So she decided to create a Udemy course on Python for absolute beginners. She recorded it over six weekends, priced it at $19.99, and within six months it was generating about $4,000 a month in passive income. Luna: That's impressive. But how did she get her first students? Udemy is crowded. Lucas: She did two things. First, she focused on a very specific niche: Python for people who have never written a line of code. No prior programming assumed. Second, she built a small following on LinkedIn by posting short coding tips every day for 30 days. That drove her initial enrolments. Luna: So the audience building came first. Makes sense. What about the actual course creation? What does someone need to know? Lucas: You don't need a teaching degree. But you do need to structure your content. A good rule of thumb is to break your topic into 10 to 15 modules, each with a video between 5 and 12 minutes. Keep it bite-sized. Priya says the biggest mistake she sees is people trying to cram everything into one-hour lectures. Luna: I can imagine. Attention spans online are short. Did she use any special equipment? Lucas: Nothing fancy. A decent USB microphone — she used a Blue Yeti, about $100 — screen recording software like OBS, and a quiet room. She did invest in a cheap green screen so she could overlay her face on the code. But she says the most important thing is clear audio. People will forgive mediocre video if they can hear you well. Luna: Good to know. What about platforms? Udemy is the obvious one, but there's also Coursera, Skillshare, even YouTube. Lucas: Each has trade-offs. Udemy has a massive built-in audience, but they take a big cut — up to 63% if the student comes through a paid ad. However, if you drive your own traffic, they take only 3%. Coursera is more selective — they require you to have some credentials or partner with a university. Skillshare pays based on watch time, which can be unpredictable. Luna: So for a bootcamp grad starting from zero, Udemy seems like the most accessible entry point. Lucas: I'd say yes, with the caveat that you should build an email list or social following alongside. That way you can direct your own students and keep more of the revenue. There's also a newer platform called Maven that focuses on cohort-based courses — those typically sell for $500 to $2,000 per student. But that's more advanced. Luna: Cohort-based courses sound like a lot of work, though. Live sessions, grading, community management. Lucas: They are. But they also command higher prices and have better completion rates. For a bootcamp grad, I'd recommend starting with a self-paced Udemy course to get your feet wet and build credibility. Then later, you can launch a cohort-based version. Luna: Makes sense. So what are some topics that are in high demand right now for coding courses? Lucas: Based on search trends and platform data, the hottest areas are: Python for data analysis, JavaScript for web development, React for front-end, and SQL for data analytics. Also, AI and machine learning basics — even if it's just an introductory course. Bootcamp grads with a solid foundation in any of these can create a course. Luna: What about the competition? Those topics are saturated. Lucas: They are, but you can differentiate by targeting a specific audience. For example, not 'Python for everyone' but 'Python for marketing professionals' or 'Python for small business owners'. Priya's course was for absolute beginners with zero coding experience — that specific angle helped her stand out. Luna: That's smart. Niche down, own that space. Lucas: And it's not just about the course itself. Teaching online also builds your personal brand. Once you have a course, you can speak at meetups, write articles, and get consulting gigs. Priya ended up getting a part-time role as a curriculum designer at a bootcamp because of her Udemy course. Luna: So it's a career multiplier, not just a side hustle. Lucas: Exactly. And that brings up something I want to touch on. If you've found value in this show — if it's helped you think through your own career move — one way to keep it going is to support us directly. We keep the podcast ad-free, and listener support helps us cover hosting and research costs. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to give back if the show's made a difference. We're at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just if it feels right. Lucas: And now, back to the practical side. Once you have a course outline, the next step is to record a solid sample lecture. Most platforms let you upload a preview — that's often what convinces someone to enrol. Luna: What makes a good sample lecture? Any tips from Priya's experience? Lucas: She says start with a real-world problem. Don't begin with syntax. For her Python course, she opened with: 'Have you ever wanted to automatically rename hundreds of files?' Then she showed how to do it in five lines of code. That hook grabs people. Luna: So it's about showing the value immediately, not abstract concepts. Lucas: Right. And keep the energy up. In online courses, your voice carries the teaching. If you sound bored, they'll click away. Priya recommends recording in short bursts and taking breaks to keep your energy consistent. Luna: What about exercises? Should you include assignments? Lucas: Absolutely. Every module should have a hands-on exercise. And here's where bootcamp grads have an edge — they know how to design practical projects. In bootcamp, you built real apps. Translate that into exercises. For example, after teaching loops, ask students to write a script that finds all prime numbers up to 100. Luna: And then provide a solution video. That's key for self-learners. Lucas: Yes. And include common mistakes. Show what happens when you forget to increment a counter — infinite loop! That's the kind of teaching moment that builds trust. Luna: How much time should someone expect to invest in creating a first course? Lucas: Priya spent about six weekends, roughly 80 to 100 hours total. That includes planning, recording, editing, and uploading. But she says the second course took half the time because she had a system down. Luna: So there's a learning curve, but it gets faster. Lucas: Exactly. And the income can be recurring. Some instructors on Udemy make six figures a year from multiple courses. But that's not typical. For most bootcamp grads, it's a solid $500 to $2,000 per month side income that also opens doors. Luna: I like that it's not all-or-nothing. You can start small, see if you enjoy teaching. Lucas: And you don't need to be an expert. You just need to be one step ahead of your students. If you can teach beginners, you have a market. There are millions of people who want to learn to code but are intimidated by traditional CS courses. Luna: That's a good place to wrap up. Teaching online is a viable path for bootcamp grads to earn income, build authority, and even pivot into new roles. Lucas: And it's a way to give back to the community that helped you get started. I think that's a win-win.