About This Side Hustle
As a part-time coding bootcamp instructor or teaching assistant, you can earn strong hourly rates while helping career-changers learn to code. Bootcamps like General Assembly, Codecademy, and Flatiron School regularly hire part-time instructors for evening and weekend cohorts. You can also create your own live coding workshops through platforms like Maven or teach on YouTube and Twitch.
Earning Potential
Part-time bootcamp TAs earn $25-40/hour. Lead instructors earn $50-100/hour. Independent workshop creators on Maven charge $200-500 per student. A part-time teaching schedule generates $2,000-6,000/month.
Pros
- High hourly rates ($50-150/hour)
- Deepen your own understanding
- Build professional network
- Rewarding and impactful
- Complements a full-time dev career
Cons
- Requires significant expertise
- Evening and weekend hours
- Student skill levels vary widely
- Curriculum preparation is time-intensive
30-Day Launch Plan
Prepare Your Teaching Materials
Build your curriculum and teaching portfolio
- Choose your specialty (web dev, data science, mobile, etc.)
- Create a teaching portfolio with projects and exercises
- Develop a sample lesson plan with live coding examples
- Record a 15-minute demo lesson to use in applications
Apply to Bootcamps
Submit applications and network with bootcamp staff
- Apply to 5-10 bootcamps as a part-time instructor or TA
- Network with current bootcamp instructors on LinkedIn
- Apply to online platforms like Codecademy and Educative
- Consider creating a Maven course for live cohorts
Start Teaching
Deliver your first lessons and gather feedback
- Prepare thoroughly for your first sessions
- Create supplementary materials and cheat sheets
- Establish office hours for student questions
- Collect student feedback after each session
Build Your Reputation
Grow your teaching brand and income
- Start a technical blog or YouTube channel
- Get testimonials from students and bootcamp managers
- Offer private tutoring for students who need extra help
- Explore creating your own workshops or mini-courses
Tips for Success
- Stay current with industry tools and frameworks
- Practice explaining complex concepts simply before each lesson
- Build real-world projects as teaching examples, not toy apps
- Record your sessions and review them to improve your teaching style
- Network with hiring managers - your students become your professional network
Skills Required
Tools Needed
- Modern development environment
- Video conferencing software
- Screen sharing tools
- Code collaboration platform (GitHub)