A Review of Holberton School’s Advanced Professional Programs

Located in the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Holberton School answers industry calls for highly-skilled tech professionals to fill up positions in a rapidly evolving niche.

Currently, there seem to be many people trooping to coding bootcamps to acquire the skills needed to take up tech jobs. Evidence of this can be found in a Statista report, which revealed that 24,975 students graduated from coding bootcamps in 2020, compared to only 2,178 graduates in 2012.

But even with the many graduating students, tech job openings continue to increase by the day. According to Indeed, there are 315,139 open tech positions in the United States at the time of writing. This begs the question: if there is an increasing number of graduating bootcamp students, why are there still so many tech job vacancies?

The growing number of tech job vacancies can be attributed to the exponential influx of business demands for tech professionals brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Another reason could be the vastness of the rapidly evolving tech space.

Outside popular career tracks, such as web development and data science, there are currently three other niches that may be considered hot-cake tech jobs today. These are Augmented Reality, Blockchain Technology, and Machine Learning.

However, these three fields seem to be receiving less attention from many coding bootcamps. Put another way, there is a need to open up a basket of options to students who want to consider emerging career opportunities in tech.

In light of this, Holberton School Tulsa is offering an opportunity to aspiring tech professionals who want to venture into high-paying tech career paths and a chance to explore beyond what many tech bootcamps are offering.

Learn Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality at Holberton School

What is AR/VR? Augmented reality (AR) is the enhancement of real-world objects through computer-generated perceptual information to create an interactive experience. Today, AR applications include Snapchat filters, mobile apps that let you try on new clothes virtually, Pokemon Go, IKEA place, and so on.

On the other hand, virtual reality (VR) simulates real-world scenarios through the use of devices such as Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, or HTC Vive. Users can teleport virtually to any location or imagined environment with VR.

Why learn AR/VR? The field of AR/VR presents countless opportunities to aspiring tech professionals due to its versatility. The use of AR and VR cut across many major industries and organizations. In the field of health, medical professionals are now exploring ways for this technology to be used for medical training and procedures.

Due to its interactive nature, the technology provides a safe environment for medical doctors to train and perform surgeries in a simulated real-world scenario, avoiding the associated risks and cost of doing so in the physical world.

Another industry being revolutionized by VR technology is sports. With the aid of VR, athletes can train better by simulating and experiencing different sporting conditions repeatedly. This serves as a medium for coaches to map out sporting strategies, analyze player performance, and adopt the most efficient techniques to win.

VR adoption has also found its way into the defense sector. The military plans to utilize the technology in a myriad of ways, including providing trainees with real-life practical skills by using VR to simulate countless environmental conditions, locations, and situations.

Innovative VR and AR applications are still being developed. Imagine replicating everything in the real world in a simulated environment—a good way to view the countless opportunities for those with the skill set to do so.

The average annual salary of AR/VR professionals is $80,760, with a high confidence level indicator, placing this job category among the highest paid in tech. VR is changing the way professionals work. At least 23 million jobs are projected to be enhanced or affected by this technology by 2030.

This trend clearly shows a growing demand for AR/VR developers. With the way things are going, it is safe to say a career in AR/VR offers countless opportunities.

Job titles in AR/VR include AR/VR content strategist, AR/VR community manager, AR/VR developer, AR/VR user experience designer, and AR/VR project manager.

• Requirements: Download the course catalog to see the complete list of requirements for this program.
• Duration: 12 months; 20 months

Learn Linux Programming and Advanced Algorithm and BlockchainTechnology at Holberton School

What is blockchain? Blockchain is a digitally-distributed ledger that is decentralized and accessible to the public. It uses nodes to connect between an extensive network of computers spread in various geolocations. Before any information is stored on the blockchain database, it goes through a series of verification via these nodes, making it immutable.

One of the most common use cases of the blockchain is the creation of cryptocurrencies or digital assets. Bitcoin, the pioneer cryptocurrency, has experienced price growth of more than 1,000 percent since its creation a decade ago. Cryptocurrencies are beginning to experience a high adoption rate by major industry players, making them an investment option to many people.

According to Deloitte’s 2021 blockchain survey, 86 percent of senior executives believe blockchain adoption will go mainstream. In late 2021, El Salvador became the first country to legalize bitcoin as a legal tender. SpaceX is also joined in the bitcoin frenzy, whose CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the company has bitcoin on its balance sheet.

The popularity of blockchain technology is having a resounding effect on the younger generation, who own more crypto than any other generation. This indicates a growing digital financial market since cryptocurrencies function much like any other traditional financial asset.

Beyond cryptocurrency, blockchain technology can be applied to almost every major industry. For instance, the health and life science industry can benefit from using blockchain security architecture for data protection, institutional interoperability, reduction in drug counterfeiting, supply chain traceability, cut-down operational and logistical cost.

The sports industry is leveraging the power of blockchain to encourage the active participation of its fanbase in sporting decision-making, ownership, and monetization through the use of fan tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are in high demand to some. Due to its rarity, a single sporting NFT can be worth millions of dollars.

Another industry being revolutionized by blockchain technology is travel and tourism. Giving users a new way to explore the physical world, different blockchain projects are creating a digital world called the metaverse to allow users to travel and experience both an imaginary and the physical world from a single location.

Blockchain technology brings exciting times to veteran and newbie gamers. Through the use of NFTs, gamers now have the opportunity to purchase, trade, and exchange in-game assets, creating a new form of revenue generation for passionate gamers.

Why learn blockchain technology? While blockchain technology is still in its infancy, the increasing rate of adoption signals hopes for a future of countless possibilities for blockchain developers.

Blockchain developers earn an average of $109,766 per year, placing them at the top spot among the highest-paid in tech. Meanwhile, the number of blockchain job openings grew significantly in 2020 despite the high volatility in the crypto market, projecting a strong signal on where this space is heading.

Graduates may apply to positions such as blockchain developers, blockchain quality engineers, principal blockchain architects, blockchain code reviewers, and cryptocurrency developers.

• Requirements: Download the course catalog to see the complete list of requirements for this program.
• Duration: 12 months; 20 months

Learn Machine Learning at Holberton School

What is machine learning? Machine learning (ML) is a process whereby computer programs imitate human decision-making through data and algorithms, as it increases its accuracy over time. Stemming from the data science and artificial intelligence (AI) fields, ML is being used in many others due to its versatility.

One industry currently exploring the use of machine learning is the automobile. ML and AI have made the idea of self-driving cars a reality. Connected cars are another area of ML applicability, where cars can be connected to other devices within a network. Connected cars may be able to tell the nearest free parking space, plan an alternative route, suggest repairs, and so on. The applicability of AI and ML in the automobile industry may make the future of transportation hassle-free.

Also, the healthcare industry is utilizing ML to diagnose and treat rare medical conditions that would take a longer period to identify. For instance, the IBM Watson supercomputer is currently targeting patient-specific cancer mutations, cutting down the amount of time that would have been used for gene sequencing and treatment plans.

Applying ML and AI in the manufacturing industry can boost productivity and increase efficiency. Employees can be assigned to more productive tasks while repetitive tasks get automated. This is evident in the survey carried out by MIT, showing about 60 percent of manufacturers agreed to use AI for production efficiency and cost-saving.

ML and AI can also be applied in advertising. Using past data, a computer algorithm may predict future trends and consumer behavior, leading to target-specific advertising campaigns.

Why learn machine learning? ML applications are still being developed every year as new use cases are still being discovered. A career path in this field could open countless windows of opportunities for aspiring machine learning professionals.

At the time of writing, there are more than 70,000 machine learning jobs in the US. Machine learning engineers make an average salary of $131,031 every year, making it one of the highest-paid tech jobs in the market.

Indeed’s the Best Jobs in the US in 2019 report says ML jobs experienced a 344 percent growth between 2015 and 2018, placing it in the second spot as the highest-paid tech job and the number one spot as the fastest-growing tech job.

This growth signals a positive job outlook for the machine learning profession as a testament to the growing demand for their services.

Graduates of the program may apply for job positions such as AI engineers, machine learning scientists, data scientists, machine learning operation engineers, computer vision engineers, applied research scientists, and Python engineers, among others.

• Requirements: Download the course catalog to see the complete list of requirements for this program.
• Duration: 12 months; 20 months

Financing Options Available at Holberton School Tulsa

Because Holberton School Tulsa encourages quality access to education without the associated financial burden, it’s providing students with flexible financing options. Students have the option to complete their programs without paying up front through the Holberton School’s Income Share Agreement.

To know which option best suits your needs, fill out an online application form and an admissions advisor will contact you to discuss all available options. The online form only takes a few minutes to complete.

Pursue Careers in Emerging Tech Fields

The fields of AR/VR, blockchain technology, and machine learning provide countless opportunities to aspiring tech professionals. As we have seen so far, they are among the top-paying and fastest-growing tech jobs in the US.

If you are like most people who value work-life balance, a career path in any of these fields provides the opportunity to work from anywhere due to their remote nature. Take the first step toward these careers when you get in touch with Holberton Tulsa.