Some people do bootcamps or self-teach and get into computer programming jobs that pay well in under a year from a standing start.
There are things a lot closer to quick easy wins than you’d think. If you can do a Lambda School Backend Course in nine months and if you’re in the US and willing to move to teh Bay Area it seems very likely you will find a well paying job.
I think this is much less true than it used to be, as the target market for bootcamps switched from “STEM PhDs who need some polish on their programming skills” to “total newbies”. The newbies I saw do bootcamp in the last 5 years all took a very long time to find work, and often only succeeded via programs for groups underrepresented in programming. I’d recommend bootcamp over a masters degree, but I don’t think it’s still the free money it’s advertised as.
I think this is much less true than it used to be, as the target market for bootcamps switched from “STEM PhDs who need some polish on their programming skills” to “total newbies”. The newbies I saw do bootcamp in the last 5 years all took a very long time to find work, and often only succeeded via programs for groups underrepresented in programming. I’d recommend bootcamp over a masters degree, but I don’t think it’s still the free money it’s advertised as.