Here are the best intensive learning programs for those wishing to build their careers in the fintech sphere
Best fintech bootcamps to watch in 2021. Source: shutterstock.com
Bootcamps offer excellent educational opportunities to professionals in the fintech segment. Having high intensity and practical focus, they enable rapid specialisation in the technology sector. It’s possible to learn new tech skills even without disrupting one’s current working schedule. The fintech bootcamps’ curriculum typically includes topics such as AI algorithms, machine learning, fundamental programming, finance, blockchain and big data.
Trilogy Education Services Fintech Bootcamps
Format: online, part-time
Duration: 24 weeks
Time needed: 10 hours of in-class sessions per week, as well as about 20 hours to outside work per week (depending on the previous experience)
Requirements: it is recommended that applicants hold a bachelor’s degree or have at least two years of experience in business, management, finance, statistics, or a related field. The participants must have a reliable laptop, with a minimum of 8GB of RAM and a dual-core processor (64 bit).
Curriculum: 4 modules.
- Intro: Fintech Landscape, Time-Series Analysis, Financial Ratios.
- Financial programming: Python, Financial Modeling, Pandas, Matplotlib, Statistical Programming, APIs, SQL, NumPy, SciPy, PyViz.
- Machine Learning Applications in Finance: Algorithmic Trading, Random Forests, k-Nearest Neighbors, Support Vector Machines, Scikit-learn, Linear Regression, Logistic Regression, k-Means Clustering, Neural Networks, Forecasting, Amazon Web Services
- Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: Solidity, Smart Contracts, Consensus Algorithms, Transactions, Validation, Distributed Ledger, Ethereum,Cryptocurrency, Mining, Truffle Suite, Ganache.
Price: $10.000 – $14.000, depending on the partnering institution. Some payment plans are available.
Advantages: The education company partners with almost 70 institutions in North America and Europe. The partner schools include Rutgers, ITESM, the University of Toronto, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington, Columbia University, the University of Texas-Austin, Georgia Tech, the University of California at Berkeley, Rice University, and more. Universities share their brands and facilities with Trilogy Education and oversee the curriculum, instructors, and student experience.
Downsides: The partner schools do not regard program graduates as university alumni, nor program enrollees as university students. These bootcamps are not eligible for federal loans, nor do students receive a Form 1098-T. There is no job placement guarantee and no third-party verified jobs reports have been released. The programs receive mixed reviews on social media. In particular, the company’s use of partner universities’ branding could be misleading to students, who may not understand that the program is being delivered through a third party until they get enrolled.
Noble Desktop Fintech Bootcamp
Format: in-class in NY or live online
Duration: 1 month or 4.5 months depending on the chosen schedule
Time needed: 102 hours, plus four 1-on-1 mentoring sessions
Requirements: Students without any corporate finance or financial accounting background should review free online preparation materials before the course. Students must be comfortable using a computer. No other prior knowledge is required. In addition to their own computer, students must have a copy of any required software.
Curriculum: there are four courses in the certificate program:
- Python for Data Science (data types and data structures)
- Python Machine Learning (predictive models for internal budgeting, WACC, NPV, IRR)
- SQL
- Python for Automation
- Python for Finance (SEC filings, stock prices, portfolio and risk management, and financial ratios)
Price: $4495, payment plans and student loans are available
Advantages: live interactive and hands-on online training, the ability to retake the course for free (in-person or live online) within one year, mentoring sessions that can be used for career and job support, customised schedule, Learn the Skills Guarantee from Noble Desktop that ensures you walk away having learned the skills advertised in the program’s syllabus, supplemental materials are provided, suitable for beginners.
Downsides: the course doesn’t include financial fundamentals as well as blockchain topics. These have to be learned separately.
Byte Academy Bootcamps
Byte Academy has 2 niche fintech bootcamps: Python and Data Science
Format: online, full-time or part-time
Duration: 10 weeks for full-time and 14 weeks for part-time
Time needed: about 3 hours a day
Requirements: none
Curriculum:
Python Bootcamp:
- Set up Your Environment
- Introduction to Python
- Data Structures
- Algorithms
- Advanced Topics
- Introduction to Web Technologies
- Fundamentals of JavaScript
- Introduction to React
- Intermediate React
- Building an End to End Application
- Capstone Project
Data Science Bootcamp:
- Computer Science Fundamentals
- Introduction to Python
- Object-Oriented Programming
- Data StructuresSoftware Theory
- Introduction to Data Science
- Supervised Learning
- Neural Networks
- Unsupervised Learning
- Machine Learning Theory
- Capstone Project
Price: $1500, loans and ISA program (for US citizens) are available. ISA allows those who qualify to only pay the initial $500 payment until they get a job.
Advantages: virtual F2F interaction with the trainer, practical sessions with 1 on 1 instructor support, graduates may apply to the SpryteLabs internship program, free introduction to Python course is available for beginners, flexible payment options, good customer reviews
Downsides: the course is challenging, a lot of extra work is required, bootcamps are dedicated to the tech side of fintech so basic knowledge of finance has to be gained elsewhere
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