Benefits Of Hiring Bootcamp Graduates

Calgary-based Xerris specializes in cloud technology, and helps businesses with cloud migration and microservice development.

In fact, Xerris just reached the second-highest tier in Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner network – AWS Advanced Consulting Partner. The company employs several Lighthouse Labs web development bootcamp graduates and we spoke with Dan Hill, Director of Experience Development about their experience hiring bootcamp grads, and how junior developers fit on their development team.

What consumer/business issues does Xerris address?

Cloud Adoption & Migration, Digital Transformation, Microservices, Cloud Migration, and User Experience Development.

How big is your development team, and what are their experience levels?

We currently have 35 developers that have a wide range of development experience from senior, intermediate and junior. We take pride in mentoring our junior developers and sharing knowledge between our team members so that everyone can reach their full potential.

What technologies or languages/stack does your development team use?

We are an AWS Advanced Partner and Google Cloud Platform experts. As we focus primarily on Cloud Migration and Micro Services, some of the technologies we use are: Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, Kubernetes, as well as React.

How many bootcamp students have you hired?

We currently employ three people that have come from Lighthouse Labs all of which are primarily focused on React development.

What has your experience been like with hiring a junior developer from Lighthouse?

Generally speaking the experience has always been a positive one for us. The students come in with a great attitude and willingness to learn and excel in their field.

What issues did you face with integrating them into your team?

We have not yet experienced any issues integrating Lighthouse Labs students within our teams. They are professional, courteous and ready to jump right in.

How does your bootcamp student(s) compare to a developer on your team from a more traditional background?

Lighthouse Labs students come with the skills necessary to get rolling right away. Technically sound, they also come with a working knowledge of SCRUM, Jira and GitHub. This allows them to be productive faster.

What are the pros and cons of hiring a bootcamp grad?

There are a couple of advantages to hiring from this bootcamp. The first being that they are focused in a particular area and have gained some experience working with example applications. The second would be their availability to be hired right away with confidence in their ability to learn and adapt quickly with the fundamentals they have learned from this course. One of the cons may be the lack of real-world experience working with modern day agile tools and workflows.

How did the Career Services team assist with hiring your grad?

The career services team has been helpful in setting up demo days where we can go and assess the skills of the students and determine if they are the right fit for Xerris both technically and in terms of our corporate culture. They have also been helpful in providing us with resumes from students who are ready to join the workforce.

What surprised you about hiring a bootcamp grad?

We've been impressed by the speed at which our hires have been able to ramp up their knowledge in a short period of time to meet client needs.

How has Xerris pivoted during COVID-19 for working remotely?

As a remote first company it was very easy for us to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was very little disruption to the way in which we interact within our company. The challenge was interacting with our clients who work in a more traditional office setting.

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