Trying to launch your tech career in Delaware? Start with these 12+ bootcamps

It’s been two years since we published a tech bootcamp guide. The good news is that these training courses are still going strong, with some new additions and a bit more variety.

First: We’re using the term “bootcamp” a bit loosely here. All of the options below are workforce development programs that prepare students for a job in tech — most, though not all, in software development — in far less time than a four-year degree. Several are free, and most offer scholarships or financial aid.

Some of these programs below self-identify as bootcamps, some don’t. Most true bootcamps are intensive and immersive and require you to be able to live for some time without working. While these types of camps often bring great results, we know that’s not an option for a lot of people looking to get into tech.

So, we’ve added some more flexible programs, as well as traditional college programs that take less time than a four-year course and can be completed while working. There are also a few online options, which may be more accessible for people living in Kent and Sussex counties.

Which one is best for your goals and situation? Here’s a rundown, in alphabetical order:

Code Differently

• Format: Duration varies. Tracks include software development and website design and development. Youth programming is also offered.
• Recommended for: Those underrepresented in tech, youth, those with no previous coding experience

Code Differently was founded by Tariq Hook and Stephanie Eldridge as a workforce development program. It focuses on diversifying Delaware’s talent pipeline by educating youth from Wilmington’s underresourced Black and brown communities. When COVID-19 disrupted the job market and created a need for more well-rounded training programs for suddenly unemployed people, Code Differently launched Return Ready training programs, which are entirely free and may also include options for free childcare and transportation. It also offers platform programs for adults, whether they’re recent high school grads, career changers or professionals in need of upskilling, that prepare them to be tech workforce-ready.

Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certificate from the University of Delaware

• Format: Six-week online course
• Recommended for: People interested in a cybersecurity career, employed individuals looking to enhance their skills, underemployed individuals looking to add developer skills to their resume, those who need an online option, folks living downstate

One of the UD Online courses, Cybersecurity Fundamentals, is a starting point for people looking to enter the cyber industry. Once completed, students can follow with the Advanced Cybersecurity Defense certificate and the CISSP and CompTIA Security+ exam prep courses.

Delaware Skills Center Computer Network Support program

• Format: 18 weeks of in-person IT support training
• Recommended for: Adults of all ages, career changers, underemployed people who have a strong interest in tech

This 18-week, 5-day-a-week program trains students for CompTIA A+ certification and careers in IT support.

Delaware State University online software, IT and web development certification

• Format: Online, four to six months
• Recommended for: People who need to work while learning, adults of all ages, career changers, those who need an online option, folks living downstate
  DSU offers 16 tracks in its technical certification programming, which allows flexibility for work and family responsibilities. The tracks include the likes of full-stack web development, IT infrastructure (such as CompTIA A+) and Agile development. Externship opportunities are available, too.

Delaware Technical Community College’s computing and information science degree

• Format: Two-year associate’s program
• Recommended for: People who can’t put things on hold for a bootcamp, those who need to work a full-time job while learning, recent high school graduates, folks living downstate

At the end of the day, some people will not be able to swing an intensive bootcamp-style program because of work and family responsibilities. Del Tech is a community college with campuses throughout the state and several coding programs, including night school and a full- or part-time associate’s degree in computer science. Graduating high school students who go right into Del Tech may qualify for free tuition through the SEED program. Del Tech also offers rapid workforce training coding programs for unemployed adults.

Futures First Workforce Program

• Format: Three-month course plus six-month internship opportunities
• Recommended for: High school students who want to go into the gaming industry

Futures First Gaming’s workforce development program is conducted in partnership with the state’s Department of Health and Social Services. It focuses on technical skills associated with the esports industry. The three-month program targets underrepresented youth and is compatible with attending high school. It covers programming, business, marketing, event production and game design, as well as offers paid internship assignments.

NERDiT CARES workforce development program

• Format: 12-week in-person training + 52-week apprenticeship
• Recommended for: Unemployed and underemployed adults with an interest in device repair

The NERDiT CARES workforce development program moved into its 9th Street location in downtown Wilmington last summer, and officially had its grand opening in October. Unlike most of the other entries on this list, this tech bootcamp teaches not coding, but device repair and refurbishing. After the 12-week course, students go on to apprentice for a year before seeking jobs in IT or as NERDiT NOW technicians.

The Precisionists

• Format: Varies
• Recommended for: People with disabilities

The Precisionists connects talent and employers with a focus on placing people with a broad range of disabilities, including autism and visual and/or hearing impairment. The organization has a partnership with Tech Impact through Forward Delaware, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor H-1B One Workforce Grant Program. It offers free workforce development training in IT.

Tech Elevator

• Format: Online 14-week full-time, full-stack development
• Recommended for: Anyone over 18 interested in a tech career, those who need an online option, folks living downstate

The Cleveland-based coding bootcamp opened a campus on Market Street in Wilmington in 2021, launching a full-stack developer training program through a partnership with Tech Impact. This $16,500 course is free for Delaware residents and no coding experience is required to apply. Tech Elevator’s expansion to Wilmington underscores the city’s wealth of tech jobs and need for good tech talent that virtually guarantees graduates a job.

Tech Impact’s ITWorks

• Format: 16-week intensive training program for the Cisco IT Essentials and CompTIA A+ certification
• Recommended for: High school graduates and GED recipients between the ages of 18
  and 26 who have not completed a college degree

ITWorks, Tech Impact’s national flagship workforce development program, opened its first permanent location in Wilmington in 2021 after serving students in the city for a decade. Prospective students are 18-26 with a high school degree or equivalent that have not graduated college. The program prepares participants for entry-level IT careers by teaching industry-led skills to pass the Comp TIA+ certification. It includes a five-week internship, one-on-one mentorship and job placement assistance. There are three cohorts a year to choose from and it is free for those who are accepted, though the selection process is competitive.

Wilmington University Java Certification

• Format: 15 weeks, with online and in-person options
• Recommended for: People who want to earn college credits while earning a Java certificate, college undergraduates, college graduates, those who need to work a full-time job while learning, those who need an online option, folks living downstate

WilmU’s once-a-week-for-15-weeks courses can be taken as part of a full college schedule or as a standalone program. While some programs will return to in-person classes as health restrictions allow, online courses are always available through WilmU. On-campus classes are available as well. In addition to the Java certification course, WilmU has partnerships with several coding education organizations, including Code Differently, Zip Code Wilmington and Futures First Gaming. These partner programs award individuals who complete them with college credit toward a WilmU degree.

Zip Code Wilmington

• Format: 12-week full-time program in either Java or data engineering and analytics
• Recommended for: Adults of all ages, career changers, people with some coding experience, underemployed people who have a strong interest in tech

Opened in 2015 as a Tech Impact partner by Jim Stewart, Ben du Pont and Porter Schutt, Zip Code was the first coding bootcamp physically located in Wilmington. It’s known for taking people from low-wage jobs and pipelining them into corporate software developer jobs with high starting salaries. It drastically changes the lives of people who take on the highly immersive bootcamp, which includes networking with hiring managers and interview training. Spots are coveted — the selection process is very competitive and requires preparation, though prospective students don’t need to have coding experience. Hours are long and students need to be able to not work for the duration.

###

If these local options aren’t for you, consider these national and virtual programs:

• Flatiron School
• Coding Dojo
• Nucamp
• Thinkful
• TechGirlz
• Code Galaxy