About a year ago, something shifted, and for the first time, Kies began considering a radical career shift. “For my entire life, I planned for nothing else but to be a music professor,” she says. “It took me a while to realize that the job I really wanted didn’t exist anymore. When I graduated college, there were five open positions; by the time I finished my doctorate, there were no jobs available.”

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Today, Kies works as a software developer, a field that’s rife with job opportunities that were lacking in her former life. In fact, roles for software developers are projected to grow 25% by 2031, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Learn more: The difference between software developers and engineers

But transitioning from the clarinet to coding took effort, and the seeds of her career change started in 2020 when Kies was building a website to host some of the research she was doing as an adjunct professor at a university in Chattanooga. While she enjoyed the process, she recalls, it was more of a side project than anything else. 

“I really enjoyed building websites but I wasn’t getting paid for it,” Kies says, adding that she had observed peers doing something similar. “I noticed a few of my musician friends went through the coding bootcamp at Tech Elevator and they quietly came out of the pandemic as software engineers.” 

A coding bootcamp can boost your salary—without the cost of a full degree program 

By October 2021, Kies was enrolled in the full-time, 14-week coding bootcamp at Tech Elevator. All in, it cost her $16,500 to complete the bootcamp and by the time she finished, she had landed a job that allowed her to quadruple her salary. 

“It went above and beyond any of my expectations of what any education program can be,” says Kies, adding that the bootcamp allowed her to learn an entirely new skillset, establish a healthier work/life balance, and rediscover how excited she can be to go to work. Nearly two years after completing the program, Kies is now settled into her role as an engineer at Slalom Build in Washington, D.C.  

Coding bootcamps like the one Kies took through Tech Elevator are growing in popularity, aiming to pop graduates into the ever-growing number of open tech jobs. And they attract students who, like Kies, want to change careers, as well as those people already working in tech-adjacent jobs who hope to boost their skillset and make more money. They’re less expensive and less time-consuming than degree programs and tend to focus on practical skills to help graduates land jobs in short order.

Kies, 33, shared her experience with Fortune, explaining how the program fit into her seemingly disparate music background and what she feels she most gained from the coursework.

What’s it like to complete a bootcamp program

Fortune: How would you describe the learning experience of a bootcamp?

Kies: It was most akin to an immersive language program. I have studied abroad and lived in host families where English isn’t spoken. When you’re thrown into a language, you either sink or swim.

How is the program structured?

You can’t come out of that program not knowing the material they give you. The first half of the day is learning how to do the job—the second half is learning how to get the job. That dual pairing of education and technical education was important to me.

What kind of support did you get in terms of job hunting?

The career services part of the program was instrumental in helping students connect. They taught us how to find jobs on our own.

Job opportunities for bootcamp grads

Did the program have relationships with companies that you, as a student, could leverage?

They put us in front of people—I learned about my employer, Slalom, through the program. They paired us with a number of companies toward the middle and end of the program. We interviewed on two match-making days. It’s like speed dating: You interview with five or six companies across one or two days. I was offered a contract the business day after graduation.

How would you describe the transition from your program to the working world?

It was a very smooth transition for me to the working world. The curriculum they have crafted, and are constantly updating, maps so well to industry standards.

Was there a gap in terms of classroom education to on-the-job learning?

My first job used all of the same tech stack we studied at Tech Elevator. It was a perfect fit. There were things I had to learn but I don’t think that was because of an absence of education from the program. If you’re a college grad or a boot camp grad, you’ll have things to learn. 

You’ll always be learning something new in every job you take in this industry. It wouldn’t be exciting if you weren’t. And that’s one of the best parts for me.

Check out all of Fortune’s rankings of degree programs, and learn more about specific career paths.