Do you have any suggestions on getting one’s first technical role?
Of course I do, I used to teach a software boot camp and so I have a lot of things and opinions about how one can transition into tech and how one can support themselves the best way to get there first rule. So I'm going to be speaking in the sense of somebody who has just went to a software boot camp and they are looking to get their first role, because I don't know who you.
The first thing I recommend to folks is to make sure you keep your skill sets up and I don't mean that in the sense of learning new things necessary, but maintaining what you already know. Let’s say, if your language of choice is python please keep practicing python – do things with it so you don’t lose the things that you have learned. Feel free to learn new things as well. If that new thing a different potential language, that is okay, but don't lose any of your core language skills. That does lead me to say that you should have one programming language that is your preferred, that you know a lot more of or in depth. That could be any language, but learning things like how it's a default methods work; for example, how does it handle sorting? Figure out those things; how when it actually adds an element into an array how did it happen the mechanics of it so under the hood. Of course, I'm speaking about languages that are higher level, so some folks don't necessarily, and lots of bootcamp still teach you that, so definitely make sure you maintain those skill sets.
Something else I recommend is create a schedule for yourself because it can get really challenging when you've been doing a software bootcamp that is structured, that has the classes you're taking, homework and all that and then to go from that to no structure. That could be a little hard. Also for somebody who is, let's say you got let go from your job or you're doing a funemployment, this might speak to you as well – trying to figure out a schedule for yourself. Below is an example of a schedule that I had during my time when I was looking for my first technical role:
Set time up for practicing algorithm with your preferred programming language
Do a project outside of learning to code, like a hobby
Do a project with someone else who is from your bootcamp
Go to technical events
Make sure to connect with friends
Reach out to folks in tech with job titles your interested in
The next thing I recommend is, to make sure you put everything you do on GitHub. Soif you had some coding homework or if you had a project you're doing make sure you put that all in GitHub. If your continuously building something,don't keep all your git commits your local machine because what happens if your machine brakes? Push everything to Github, that way you can show some type of track record of your experience and you can highlight the things that you've been doing to. With pushing everything to GitHub I also highly recommend spending a good half an hour on writing a great README. Write a readme that's explicit:
this is what does
Some screenshots (if there is a visual elements)
Explain the technologies
Write down what it does
Write how somebody can download your code and use it
If your project is still in the works,you might just want to write that.
Potentially have your README be your ToDo tasks
It's a great way for other folks to find how you work and the fact that you understand the importance of documenting the work that you've been doing too.
Another thing I highly recommend is blogging. Blog about the projects you put on GitHub. I know blogbing is not for everyone; I am not an innate blogger or innate writer, but I force myself to write a blog. After my READMEs were done, it was a little easier to write my blogs. Then I started learning that it's actually really great, as you're learning something, to start writing a blog in tandem with it – as you're building it. That way you can actually go “okay first thing I did was this, then this, then opps, that was not okay, this was what I did to change it and XYZ.” Blogging does a couple of things:
Helps you to really understand what you did
Helps you communicate to folks how you think
Imagine the hiring manager potential looking at your profile and you're a recent grad and this is another recent boot camp: finding your blog can help them see what you know and how you explain things
Help you in your interviews when they ask you questions about
It's a great resource for yourself – you're not going to remember everything that you did
I still go back to some of my blogs to figure out how I did something
The next thing I would recommend is, to make sure that your name and your image, the photo you’re using, on your LinkedIn, GitHub and any other social media websites are the same. It makes it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to know for sure that this account matches with the person that they're going to be interviewing. On another note with that, make sure that all accounts that you want them to know about point to one another. That means from your Github account points to your LinkedIn and Twitter account (if that’s what you want them to see), from you Twitter account it points to your LinkedIn and Github. Or to your website, and your website should point to everything.
Finally, the hardest part in my opinion, is to frame your story. Write down:
Who you are
How does your background help you do the job
education/training you have
Generally most people who are in a software boot camp situation might not know whether they want to front end or back end and tend to be open to anything they can get. Being able to articulate I'm interested in XYZ and to be able to communicate that effectively to others. Whether that be that “I used to working on profit for 10 years, I learn how to code, I really enjoy Python and I could see myself doing something in the back end but I'm open to any opportunities; my main driver is to make sure anything I'm doing helps the greater good.” That can be enough to give somebody context – “not front end” (in my example).Being able to communicate that and having that little spiel is really important.
I know that that is a lot for whoever is reading this, in the sense of like you might have a place in your life where it's overwhelming. But that's okay. You're going to get through this and you're going to find your first technical job and you're going to look back and be like “Wow, I did it.” You can accomplish and do a lot more than potentially you might have thought. So best of luck and I believe a couple more questions in my queue about what makes a good README, technical interviews too. If you want to ask me a question, feel free to go to bit.ly/jessica-qa. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
