I gave carpentry a shot but I only lasted a week on the job. I was super fortunate to meet a crew of guys that were willing to show me the ropes. I was able to learn quickly and it challenged me. I really enjoyed stepping outside of tech, but the reality of working for $20/hr hit home pretty quick. To the best of my knowledge there aren't many places in the United States where you can realistically support yourself on an income like that. At least not long term. I also nearly lost my marriage (not joking).
I'm back in an office now working in a contract tech role that involves a little bit of coding on the side and it's alright for now I suppose. It isn't glamorous, but I'm happy to be working to be honest. I wanted to respond to your post because I found that cold calling and networking was the way to go for opening doors. I needed to talk to real people and build personal relationships. It took time and some surprisingly interesting opportunities opened up here and there. No one gave me a hard time about looking for work. I met a lot of people who were more than willing to take time out of their day to talk to me. It took a long time to get back into a full time role - about 6 months.
I also applied to a couple hundred jobs online but that approach didn't lead to much. The couple of interviews that I did get weren't even genuine. I deleted my LinkedIn account and never looked back.
Completed a 6 month bootcamp via UT Austin around 2018.
1. It was challenging for sure, especially from a time management standpoint. I'd estimate that I was putting in 15-25 hours per week between participating in classes and working on group projects. That's a lot to take on while working full time. It starts off easy and ramps up in difficulty as you near your final group project. Fwiw, you can significantly reduce the learning curve by completing some online self-study/tutorials before hand and by investing in a nice laptop.
2. 120k starting salary. I transitioned into a full time software engineering roll with my existing employer. My employer also reimbursed me for a portion of the cost of the program.
3. The bootcamp was an excellent crash course into the world of full stack web development but I don't think it was a good foundation on its own per say. I think that the combination of a bootcamp and some real world experience could make a solid foundation assuming you land in the right work environment.
It takes a ton of work to complete a coding bootcamp and the networking/interviewing that follows is equally challenging. I'd suggest reaching out to individuals who successfully completed the programs you're interested in to get their two cents. Listen to their stories and ask them to reflect on how well they performed in their programs. Maybe you could find them on a LinkedIn alumni group or something like that? You could also reach out to former instructors and I bet they can point you in the right direction. My point is that I think you could really benefit from reaching beyond forums like HN, Reddit, etc for this kind of info/advice.
I'd highly recommend taking an intro class at a community college if that's an option for you. In my opinion, learning how to think and solve problems "spatially" is a really cool (and valuable) experience. An experienced teacher, white board work, and group discussions would be invaluable as you learn the basics. I mention this because once you have the basics down you can self study your way through just about anything GIS related.
Another approach would be to simply pick up an ESRI tutorial and work your way through a couple of projects that appeal to you. A nice benefit of this approach is that software and data will be provided. I smashed one over the weekend before I started my first GIS internship and I got a lot out of it.
I'm back in an office now working in a contract tech role that involves a little bit of coding on the side and it's alright for now I suppose. It isn't glamorous, but I'm happy to be working to be honest. I wanted to respond to your post because I found that cold calling and networking was the way to go for opening doors. I needed to talk to real people and build personal relationships. It took time and some surprisingly interesting opportunities opened up here and there. No one gave me a hard time about looking for work. I met a lot of people who were more than willing to take time out of their day to talk to me. It took a long time to get back into a full time role - about 6 months.
I also applied to a couple hundred jobs online but that approach didn't lead to much. The couple of interviews that I did get weren't even genuine. I deleted my LinkedIn account and never looked back.