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How to Launch a New Tech Career Earning $85K+ in Less Than a Year

Mike Brassfield

by Mike Brassfield

Senior Writer

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Have you ever thought about starting a new career?

We’ve all been there. Maybe your pay isn’t great. Maybe you’re not advancing. Or maybe you’re just ready for something new. 

But what are your options? You can’t just up and quit your job; you need that paycheck. And going back to college and starting from scratch is daunting.

But an education company called Springboard offers accelerated bootcamps in the tech industry that take just six or nine months to complete. 

You don’t even need to quit your job — in less than a year, you could complete your bootcamp and land a job where the average employee earns $85,000 per year. And the bootcamps cost less than a semester of college. 

How to Launch Your New Tech Career (Even if You Have No Experience)

Even if you’re new to the field, Springboard sets you up with everything you need to learn in its bootcamps. It offers a number of online courses in the tech space, but here are two of the more popular ones:

  1. UI/UX Design Bootcamp: Take this nine-month course to become a UI/UX designer, meaning you could help design apps and websites. Workers in this field make an average of more than $70,000 a year, according to Glassdoor.
  2. UX Design Bootcamp: Take this six-month course to become a UX designer. Workers in this field make an average of $85,277 per year.

And if you’re not sure you want to commit just yet, you can take Springboard’s Introduction to Design course to test things out and see if this is the right career move for you. This course is just $349, and if you decide to move on to one of the full bootcamps, the cost can be applied to your tuition.

Plus, The Penny Hoarder readers will receive a $500 scholarship when they enroll in the UI/UX Design or UX Design bootcamp with the code SPRINGBOARDPENNY.  And there’s no lengthy sign-up process either. It takes 15 minutes to apply online.

If You Can’t Find a Job Within 6 Months? Get Your Money Back

We get it. Making a big career change can be scary, but it could allow you to pursue your dream job — and get a bigger paycheck.

Plus, if it doesn’t work out, Springboard will give you your money back. Seriously.

If you don’t get a job within six months of finishing an online course, Springboard will refund you, as long as you’ve been active in your job search.

What to Expect in These Online Bootcamps

Most students devote 15 to 20 hours per week to their courses, Springboard says.

And just because you’re taking these classes online, doesn’t mean you’ll be doing it alone. You’ll have a personal mentor who’s an expert in the industry. You’ll connect with them via video conferencing once a week to make sure you’re on track.

Then, once you start looking for a job, you’ll get a career coach who’ll guide you through the job application process. Springboard says its grads have gone on to work for Dell, Facebook, Google, IBM and Lyft, among other companies. 

It takes about 15 minutes to apply for a course — and there are no application fees.

Let’s Talk About The Money

So maybe you’re wondering: How much is this going to cost?

Tuition for the six-month UI/UX design course is $10,000, and the UX Design course costs $6,900

Are those small numbers? No, but it’s a fraction of the cost of college. In fact, in some cases, it costs less than one semester of college.

Plus, there are a bunch of different ways you can pay. For instance, you can wait to make payments after you complete your courses and get a new job.

You could also start paying when you sign up and make monthly payments as low as $37. That’s less than the cost of a weekly grocery haul for most of us. Or, if you can afford it, you can pay upfront and get a 17% discount.

And don’t forget about that $500 scholarship, which is available to the first 20 students who sign up for the UI/UX Design or UX Design bootcamp with the code SPRINGBOARDPENNY.

How to Launch Your New Career in as Little as 6 Months

Curious if this is the right move for you?

Explore Springboard’s course options, and apply right online. Again, it only takes 15 minutes, and there are no application fees.

Springboard is a whole lot cheaper — and quicker — than going back to school, and you could walk away making $85,000 or more a year.

Mike Brassfield ([email protected]) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.