Some Thoughts for WIT Students and Other Early Career Developers
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This Monday I had an honour of talking to a new cohort of the Women in Technology Program at Making Changes. I felt so inspired that I thought I should provide structured answers to some of the questions here and dust off this blog.
Hi, I am Nadia, I am an alumni of the Women in Technology program and a career switcher. You can find my career track here.
I wanted to split some of the advice I have for the current and future students into two parts.
Part A: While you are in the program:
Be patient. The course can be overwhelming, sometimes it may be very tough as there is a lot of material to be covered within a short timespan. Don’t let this discourage you, think of a spiral and trust the process, whatever makes no sense to you at first, will eventually settle down and work out. It was so hard for me to wrap my mind around promises in JavaScript when I first learned about them, and now I like asynchronous operations.
Find a study buddy or form a small study group. Explaining something or solving issues together is a great way to gain deeper understanding. It is also an important skill for your future career.
Stay curious and do more than the minimum requirements. I loved what I did in the course and took pride in my assignments. Before doing a task I did a small research and looked for inspirations on the Internet, and tried to add a twist to every project.
Look for supplementary explanations outside of the course. This is my personal struggle, as I am better with listening or watching rather than reading a long text, luckily there are tons of materials available in all formats.
Publish those small projects you do in the program, even a calculator or a weather forecast app, even if colours are off. I will keep beating this drum - your projects will help you structure theoretical knowledge, grow your hands-pn experience, and your first and most recent projects will show your progress and learning potential to your future employer. They are your investment into your future success, so there is no room to be humble and scared.
Get enough sleep and exercise. If I could start over again, I would definitely prioritize health, as my sleep deprived brain is slow in processing information, while an active walk during the lunch break can quickly spark a solution to a problem.
Expose yourself to the world of programming. Follow communities and content creators on Discord, Twitter and LinkedIn. My favourite method of getting information is podcasts. I found the Ladybug Podcast and CodeNewbie very beginner friendly and inspirational.
Part B: After the Program Completion
Job search process can be unpredictable, and it is true that some students can get an offer soon after the program, but it took me nine months to find a full-time job. Some things you could consider if you find yourself looking for a job:
Use your time wisely and stay consistent. Now you have more time compared to when you were a student, as there are no strict deadlines for certificate obtainment or assignment submission. Is so easy to get lost under piling house chores, in a difficult family or financial situation, or if other needs become a priority, you name it. Consistently dedicating time to complete a project for your portfolio, finish an online course or a Youtube tutorial will only help you to grow your developer muscle.
Deploy your portfolio website if you have not already. Post a link to it everywhere - you resume, your LinkedIn profile, your blog.
Try other learning opportunities - I personally liked free options on Frontend Mentor and Scrimba. The Complete Web Development Bootcamp course by Dr. Angela Yu on Udemy is my favourite for beginners (paid).
Sign up for free events, initiatives, bootcamps to boost your knowledge, practice skills and meet new people - your peers and industry experts. If you follow developer communities on social media, you will see from time to time announcements inviting people to a volunteer run study group, a non-profit early career program, or a hackathon. Thanks to that I applied and had my best time in The Collab Lab, the RBC Battlesnake Fellowship, the Harvest Builders Incubator and an algorithm and data structures study group. This experience was priceless, I learned a ton although sometimes from bumps, and most importantly - I met incredible people.
I never had enough time for the opportunities listed below, but I always wanted to be part of the CodeNewbie community, Virtual Coffee, #100Devs, #1000daysofcode, OpenSauced.
Find a mentor. Although it may feel comfortable staying in your own bubble, for you to grow you need an industry expert to review your resume or projects, see a problem from a different angle or guide you through regular check-ins. It can be a friend, an expert in a community you joined, or a mentor from a specialized website like Mentoring Club or Codementor . When you are doing your first steps in IT, it can be difficult even to form a question. I felt sometimes as if I were one of the Blind Men who went to see the Elephant, so detached I was from the big IT world at my very start. The more specific the problem is, the easier it would be for you to ask for help and for your mentor to help you. Try asking “why the solution A is better than B” or saying “I would do X and Y in this case, are there other ways to achieve this?”, “what are you looking for in a candidate for this role” instead of more general questions.
Find a topic you that resonates with you and dedicate time to research on it. For me it is accessibility. I was introduced to it while in The Collab Lab and it was such an eye opener for me that I decided I need to learn more and I am still working in this direction. This gave me something a could talk about at job interviews and show that I am passionate about a certain issue and know a bit more than a standard course.
Contribute to an open source or volunteer for a project. Any contribution counts and in return you get valuable experience, as well challenges and solutions you can talk about during your job interviews.
Challenge yourself by participating in online and in-person hackathons. Search for opportunities in your area or in online communities you are a member of. It may sound scary, but getting out of your shell, meeting same-minded people and building a synergy with them if it's a group project are crucial for your growth as developer and prepares your for your future work in a team. Two of my github projects are a result of online challenges. I was able to complete them thanks to strict deadlines and accountability of the challenges.
The bottom line is that being a developer is a constant learning process, there is no magic pill to instantly provide you with work experience and solve job search problems. Prepare to study hard, prepare to build in public, prepare to invest a lot of effort, and prepare to be rewarded for it. Now I am living my dream, but I know I worked hard towards it. There are amazing developers around me and enormous amounts of information I need to learn to become better in my field, that's why accept every challenge at work with great enthusiasm. I am passionate about what I am doing and I hope this enthusiasm is contagious enough to be spread to you.
Thanks for reading!