Switching to programming can quickly boost your career

This year's survey also points out that changing careers immediately raises salary. Respondents had an average of 6.5 years' work experience when they applied for the bootcamp, yet they received an average 7% higher starting salary in their new job than in their position.

The women participating in the research were employed in an average of 2 months with the knowledge they acquired at Green Fox, while it took a little more time for men, 3 months on average. Currently, the IT labor market is expanding more slowly, so placement time may be longer, but this is likely to speed up again.

“When we look at salaries and career opportunities, programming skills will clearly remain competitive and in demand worldwide"

added Anita Fachs, Head of Corporate Services at Green Fox Academy.

Those who complete the intensive programming course can expect rapid progress in their new career: after 3 years, 61% of the respondents are already working in medior and 28% in senior positions at their workplace. The third year is also a turning point in terms of salary, because currently the average gross salary is more than HUF 1.2 million per month. This also means that learning to code is a worthwhile investment. Software developers who entered the IT market 3 years ago now receive an average of 2.6 times their starting salary.

Contrary to misconceptions, changing jobs is not necessarily the key to building a career. It is more important to have a motivated professional who fits in the team, and to have an employer who actively supports their development.

"We use numerous methods to help this both on the part of students and corporate partners, which is why 70% of Green Fox graduates stay in their first jobs for 3 years on average. This rate naturally decreases later, but even after 5 years it is still over 22%,"

said Anita Fachs.

Women typically stay at their first job longer than men. Among those who change their workplace, women look for new opportunities after almost 2 years on average, while men after 1.5 years. Salary is by far the leading factor driving the IT workforce. For 73% of respondents, financials are one of the 3 most important factors influencing their choice of job, while the specific role is a decisive factor for 45%, and the possibility of remote work for 40%. Almost a quarter of the respondents said they want their workplace to provide professional challenges and innovative projects, and to explicitly support work-life balance.

The survey also asked about the reasons for changing careers: 40% of those who participated decided to leave their current job because they experienced the signs of burnout and wanted to avoid it. One in five of the female respondents chose programming because their previous occupation did not offer them suitable career opportunities. The third most common motivation of the career changer women is to gain access to multiple sources of income by acquiring marketable knowledge. 18% of male respondents have completed the bootcamp to make up for training opportunities they missed earlier. Another strong argument for them to learn programming is that it will make them better at their original job.

The current alumni survey, conducted in May 2023, involved 230 graduates. A third of the respondents were women and two-thirds were men, who started their career change at an average age of 30.5. Two-thirds of them already had a degree. Most of them jumped into programming with a business degree (19%), followed by technical (14%) and humanities (10%) graduates - but the bootcamp also included people with IT qualifications (5%). 45% of the participants in the survey were in a medior, 31% in a junior, and 24% in a senior position.