1 00:00:04,756 --> 00:00:07,955 Welcome, everybody [SOUND]. 2 00:00:07,955 --> 00:00:12,193 We are back for another session today. 3 00:00:12,193 --> 00:00:17,362 Can I just get a quick thumbs up from my amazing guests that you can hear me okay. 4 00:00:17,362 --> 00:00:18,345 All right, good. 5 00:00:18,345 --> 00:00:20,035 All right. Well, I'm gonna welcome everybody. 6 00:00:20,035 --> 00:00:23,961 Really excited to do a bonus session today. 7 00:00:23,961 --> 00:00:25,702 There was so much demand for 8 00:00:25,702 --> 00:00:30,416 another session on this topic that we put together, this bonus session. 9 00:00:30,416 --> 00:00:36,229 Welcome to How to Get a Job Without a Computer Science Degree. 10 00:00:36,229 --> 00:00:39,071 First of all, please welcome Antonella Solomon. 11 00:00:39,071 --> 00:00:41,801 Antonella is the Engineering Manager at Treehouse. 12 00:00:41,801 --> 00:00:45,097 She was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and 13 00:00:45,097 --> 00:00:50,633 graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Merchandise Management. 14 00:00:50,633 --> 00:00:55,215 After graduating from college, she entered the insurance industry and 15 00:00:55,215 --> 00:00:59,585 soon after gained admittance into an entrepreneurship incubator. 16 00:00:59,585 --> 00:01:03,679 Which led to the creation of a startup focused on helping 17 00:01:03,679 --> 00:01:08,573 prospective insurance agents pass their state licensing exams. 18 00:01:08,573 --> 00:01:12,444 From this experience, she learned the value of understanding technology. 19 00:01:12,444 --> 00:01:15,507 And the importance of having access to platforms and 20 00:01:15,507 --> 00:01:19,204 resources to help people pursue careers in the tech industry. 21 00:01:19,204 --> 00:01:24,593 Antonella has helped hundreds of people in her community get new careers in tech and 22 00:01:24,593 --> 00:01:27,604 she is passionate about making a difference. 23 00:01:27,604 --> 00:01:30,013 Antonella, we're so glad you're here. 24 00:01:30,013 --> 00:01:31,261 >> Thank you, happy to be here. 25 00:01:31,261 --> 00:01:33,342 >> Next up we have Jeremy Smith. 26 00:01:33,342 --> 00:01:38,962 Jeremy's experience is as a front end web developer with over 10 years of sales and 27 00:01:38,962 --> 00:01:44,596 marketing experience gives him a unique vantage point in today's digital market. 28 00:01:44,596 --> 00:01:49,468 He originally studied the front end web development track at Treehouse. 29 00:01:49,468 --> 00:01:54,167 Not only does he understand the workflow of lead generation and conversion. 30 00:01:54,167 --> 00:01:56,984 He can build out the emails, landing pages and 31 00:01:56,984 --> 00:02:00,166 web applications to support marketing campaigns, 32 00:02:00,166 --> 00:02:04,881 often finding himself as a liaison between the product and marketing teams. 33 00:02:04,881 --> 00:02:08,015 Because Jeremy can speak both languages. 34 00:02:08,015 --> 00:02:10,364 Jeremy, it's good to have you here. 35 00:02:10,364 --> 00:02:14,203 >> Good to be here. 36 00:02:14,203 --> 00:02:18,061 >> Finally, please welcome Grant Bovesbien. 37 00:02:18,061 --> 00:02:22,296 Grant recently graduated from the Treehouse PHP tech degree program and 38 00:02:22,296 --> 00:02:27,019 has been given the opportunity to finally realize his lifelong dream of becoming 39 00:02:27,019 --> 00:02:28,006 a web engineer. 40 00:02:28,006 --> 00:02:33,967 He utilises his past experience in being a successful retail store manager to bring 41 00:02:33,967 --> 00:02:40,201 a fresh take on customer service oriented approach to development and team building. 42 00:02:40,201 --> 00:02:42,146 He enjoys the challenges presented. 43 00:02:42,146 --> 00:02:46,201 As an engineer, he's always excited to learn new coding techniques. 44 00:02:46,201 --> 00:02:50,060 Particularly in the realms of PHP, Python and TypeScript. 45 00:02:50,060 --> 00:02:52,171 Grant, thanks for joining us again today. 46 00:02:52,171 --> 00:02:53,547 >> Glad to be back. 47 00:02:53,547 --> 00:02:54,706 >> Good to have you here. 48 00:02:54,706 --> 00:02:59,334 So, it's really great to have you all here. 49 00:02:59,334 --> 00:03:02,291 What we're gonna do is answer a ton of questions. 50 00:03:02,291 --> 00:03:07,723 The audience really wants to hear how you did it. 51 00:03:07,723 --> 00:03:12,150 How you went from no experience to that first job. 52 00:03:12,150 --> 00:03:17,498 Especially without a computer science degree, essentially being self taught. 53 00:03:17,498 --> 00:03:22,439 So, always focus your answers on that lens, please. 54 00:03:22,439 --> 00:03:26,850 What I'm gonna do is ask a question and if you wanna answer just stick up your hands, 55 00:03:26,850 --> 00:03:28,311 and then I'll call on you. 56 00:03:28,311 --> 00:03:31,994 And I'll make sure to give everybody an opportunity. 57 00:03:31,994 --> 00:03:33,506 And if you're not speaking, 58 00:03:33,506 --> 00:03:36,600 try to mute yourself just to minimize any background sound. 59 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,205 So, let's get started. 60 00:03:39,205 --> 00:03:43,527 Okay, so first of all, a question from Samuel. 61 00:03:43,527 --> 00:03:50,030 How do you know when you are ready for a job as a student developer? 62 00:03:50,030 --> 00:03:50,903 Jeremy? 63 00:03:50,903 --> 00:03:56,700 >> Well, the short answer is you don't really know, right? 64 00:03:56,700 --> 00:04:01,653 I mean, I've been doing this for going on eight years professionally, 65 00:04:01,653 --> 00:04:04,099 and I still feel like I'm a newbie. 66 00:04:04,099 --> 00:04:07,321 I still find myself doing all of the newbie things, doing research. 67 00:04:07,321 --> 00:04:12,196 Coming in early, staying awake, so you don't know but 68 00:04:12,196 --> 00:04:16,773 don't let that stop you from taking the first step. 69 00:04:16,773 --> 00:04:19,735 >> Anyone else want to add to that? 70 00:04:19,735 --> 00:04:21,536 Antonella? 71 00:04:21,536 --> 00:04:24,840 >> Yeah, I actually agree with Jeremy, I think it's really important for 72 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:26,475 you to just put yourself out there. 73 00:04:26,475 --> 00:04:29,990 Take a chance and really see what comes of it. 74 00:04:29,990 --> 00:04:33,730 I think the most important thing is even if you don't feel ready, 75 00:04:33,730 --> 00:04:37,817 definitely try to get some interviews scheduled and ask for feedback. 76 00:04:37,817 --> 00:04:42,077 I think feedback is always the best thing that'll help you progress as you 77 00:04:42,077 --> 00:04:42,913 continue on. 78 00:04:42,913 --> 00:04:44,278 >> Answer. 79 00:04:44,278 --> 00:04:47,704 Grant, you want to answer that too? 80 00:04:47,704 --> 00:04:48,393 >> Sure. 81 00:04:48,393 --> 00:04:50,690 So, I mean, that was my response. 82 00:04:50,690 --> 00:04:53,919 I kept studying and studying, couldn't figure out when I would be ready. 83 00:04:53,919 --> 00:04:57,988 So I just started applying and let the hiring managers let me know if I'm ready. 84 00:04:57,988 --> 00:04:59,005 Cuz they would give me that feedback. 85 00:04:59,005 --> 00:05:01,927 And if I didn't pass, then I knew I had something else to learn. 86 00:05:01,927 --> 00:05:06,148 And then hopefully eventually I would do that enough times where I'd be ready. 87 00:05:06,148 --> 00:05:10,201 >> I imagine people are terrified of just being embarrassed, right? 88 00:05:10,201 --> 00:05:16,542 So if they do that first application and that process is really bad. 89 00:05:16,542 --> 00:05:21,207 Is there a small step you can take before you apply, just so 90 00:05:21,207 --> 00:05:23,407 that feels a little safer? 91 00:05:23,407 --> 00:05:25,787 Just so it's less scary? 92 00:05:25,787 --> 00:05:28,084 Grant? 93 00:05:28,084 --> 00:05:34,233 >> So I did a lot of research, I would look up a tech interview questions. 94 00:05:34,233 --> 00:05:37,353 I found a website that had 100 questions that usually gets asked in the tech 95 00:05:37,353 --> 00:05:37,891 interview. 96 00:05:37,891 --> 00:05:39,662 I'd go through those, 97 00:05:39,662 --> 00:05:44,718 I would look at what would be a small code example that you would get. 98 00:05:44,718 --> 00:05:47,840 I would ask other people what kind of experience or what kind of questions they 99 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:50,162 would go through interview, to better prepare myself. 100 00:05:50,162 --> 00:05:54,120 Now, there's all sorts of variables that you can't plan for. 101 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,139 But having that little bit of a base knowledge helped me have the confidence to 102 00:05:57,139 --> 00:05:59,101 go, okay, I might be able to answer some of them. 103 00:05:59,101 --> 00:06:02,742 And go from there. 104 00:06:02,742 --> 00:06:05,736 >> Antonella? 105 00:06:05,736 --> 00:06:09,714 >> The advice I would give is to do some code challenges. 106 00:06:09,714 --> 00:06:11,665 So, there are platforms out there. 107 00:06:11,665 --> 00:06:16,142 Some examples are like Hacker Rank, Codewars, LeetCode, 108 00:06:16,142 --> 00:06:20,266 that will give you samples of what types of questions and 109 00:06:20,266 --> 00:06:23,890 code challenges they'll actually give to you. 110 00:06:23,890 --> 00:06:25,761 So to give you a chance to run through. 111 00:06:25,761 --> 00:06:30,089 And some of those platforms actually can help you get jobs if you 112 00:06:30,089 --> 00:06:35,164 accumulate a certain amount of points, so something too, definitely. 113 00:06:35,164 --> 00:06:36,711 >> Awesome, thank you. 114 00:06:36,711 --> 00:06:39,750 I think what all the presenters are saying and 115 00:06:39,750 --> 00:06:43,273 I would echo is that you're never gonna feel ready. 116 00:06:43,273 --> 00:06:47,760 It's always gonna be scary and just know you're not alone in that. 117 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,520 And also if the first interview goes terribly, 118 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,341 there are many more and it's okay. 119 00:06:54,341 --> 00:06:57,778 So, let's go on to another question. 120 00:06:57,778 --> 00:06:58,597 All right. 121 00:06:58,597 --> 00:07:05,024 A question from Alexandra, I'm wondering how long does a resume usually need to be? 122 00:07:05,024 --> 00:07:07,083 I've heard that it should not be longer than one page. 123 00:07:07,083 --> 00:07:10,334 But as we talked about describing projects, 124 00:07:10,334 --> 00:07:13,156 it might seem that it should be longer. 125 00:07:13,156 --> 00:07:16,629 Who would like to start us off on this one. 126 00:07:16,629 --> 00:07:18,304 Grant? 127 00:07:18,304 --> 00:07:20,432 >> So, I've had that recommendation too. 128 00:07:20,432 --> 00:07:24,934 I worked hard to get my resume down to a page, 129 00:07:24,934 --> 00:07:30,168 just because going through and hiring a whole bunch 130 00:07:30,168 --> 00:07:35,785 of people in my past, it's a lot to read a long resume. 131 00:07:35,785 --> 00:07:38,851 Something you need to work on is quick snapshot, right? 132 00:07:38,851 --> 00:07:43,755 Get it down to what's the highlights, what do I need to know in five to ten seconds 133 00:07:43,755 --> 00:07:46,078 about you that's going to hook me in. 134 00:07:46,078 --> 00:07:50,665 It's your fishing line, not the actual full package. 135 00:07:50,665 --> 00:07:55,343 So that's why you need to work on your resume to get it to as succinct, and 136 00:07:55,343 --> 00:07:58,977 as to the point, and as attention-getting as you can. 137 00:07:58,977 --> 00:08:00,364 And then try to keep it to page. 138 00:08:00,364 --> 00:08:03,338 If you have to go over a page, sometimes that's okay. 139 00:08:03,338 --> 00:08:08,350 But do your best, just do the highlights, and what can get people's attention. 140 00:08:08,350 --> 00:08:08,903 >> Good answer. 141 00:08:08,903 --> 00:08:12,925 Jeremy? 142 00:08:12,925 --> 00:08:16,561 >> When I was crafting my resume, I actually had variations of my resume. 143 00:08:16,561 --> 00:08:20,634 I would do research on the company first and 144 00:08:20,634 --> 00:08:24,494 then tailor my resume to fit that niche. 145 00:08:24,494 --> 00:08:29,341 Because I was applying for both products positions, 146 00:08:29,341 --> 00:08:33,548 but also jobs within other functions as well. 147 00:08:33,548 --> 00:08:37,957 So, that's how I would modify my resume based on that. 148 00:08:42,216 --> 00:08:46,622 >> I wanna answer or ask a quick question that already came in from the audience. 149 00:08:46,622 --> 00:08:53,918 Molly had a great question and they said, should you even, at all summarise? 150 00:08:53,918 --> 00:08:56,480 I don't think I can find it quickly. 151 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:01,456 Should I even apply to a job that says a computer science degree is required if I 152 00:09:01,456 --> 00:09:02,543 don't have it? 153 00:09:05,729 --> 00:09:09,172 Grant, I saw your hand first. 154 00:09:09,172 --> 00:09:11,328 >> So I covered that in my presentation. 155 00:09:11,328 --> 00:09:15,945 But back to it was look at what the job in the business is. 156 00:09:15,945 --> 00:09:20,585 So, some of those job postings are just a copy and paste, they have that by default. 157 00:09:20,585 --> 00:09:22,059 But look at what you need to do. 158 00:09:22,059 --> 00:09:26,384 Do you need to have the knowledge, are you going to be doing AI and 159 00:09:26,384 --> 00:09:29,125 machine learning and things like that? 160 00:09:29,125 --> 00:09:31,658 Then you might need a computer science degree. 161 00:09:31,658 --> 00:09:34,290 If you're going to be doing front end web development or 162 00:09:34,290 --> 00:09:37,943 even basic back end web development, you probably don't need that degree. 163 00:09:37,943 --> 00:09:41,971 You can do it in lieu of recommendations or experience or 164 00:09:41,971 --> 00:09:46,704 code samples that show that you are capable without that degree. 165 00:09:46,704 --> 00:09:49,542 >> Your hand is up, too. 166 00:09:49,542 --> 00:09:52,823 >> You know me. I see these candidates out on all 167 00:09:52,823 --> 00:09:56,545 of the jobs are equivalent, right? 168 00:09:56,545 --> 00:10:01,140 And then I make my own definition of what a equivalence, like a technical. 169 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:06,677 And when I get into the interview, that's when I have to sell myself. 170 00:10:06,677 --> 00:10:11,584 And I let everybody know when I'm interviewing that I probably have more 171 00:10:11,584 --> 00:10:16,895 hours than someone that has like a traditional tech computer science degree, 172 00:10:16,895 --> 00:10:19,725 based on how many hours that I put into it. 173 00:10:19,725 --> 00:10:26,676 And that easily gets me to the next day where you're not completely. 174 00:10:26,676 --> 00:10:32,900 >> Any other thoughts on computer science degree required job postings, Antella? 175 00:10:32,900 --> 00:10:34,056 >> Can you say apply? 176 00:10:34,056 --> 00:10:38,045 I am of the mindset that they can really say is no. 177 00:10:38,045 --> 00:10:40,856 And at that point you don't really have much to lose. 178 00:10:40,856 --> 00:10:45,073 The other thing that I would like to caution people about is you 179 00:10:45,073 --> 00:10:48,396 may see a lot of job postings that say five years or 180 00:10:48,396 --> 00:10:52,716 more experience to which I'll say apply to those jobs as well. 181 00:10:52,716 --> 00:10:57,268 I think as Jeremy and Grant have highlighted, it's really gonna be based on 182 00:10:57,268 --> 00:11:01,617 the projects you've worked on and what types of skills you've gained. 183 00:11:01,617 --> 00:11:04,699 So as long as you can articulate those points, 184 00:11:04,699 --> 00:11:06,997 a lot of times it will sell itself. 185 00:11:06,997 --> 00:11:11,495 >> Great answers, and remind everyone what Grant and 186 00:11:11,495 --> 00:11:16,410 I focused on in our last session as well is that your first 187 00:11:16,410 --> 00:11:20,909 step should always be building relationships with 188 00:11:20,909 --> 00:11:26,689 the individuals that you're hoping to interview with, right? 189 00:11:26,689 --> 00:11:30,961 The cold resume and a cold application can work but 190 00:11:30,961 --> 00:11:36,059 the majority of jobs are filled by people that people know. 191 00:11:36,059 --> 00:11:39,622 So you want your first step to be that sales funnel we talked about 192 00:11:39,622 --> 00:11:40,820 yesterday, right? 193 00:11:40,820 --> 00:11:43,719 Identify the 100 companies that you want to work for. 194 00:11:43,719 --> 00:11:47,467 Identify five people, every single one of those companies, and 195 00:11:47,467 --> 00:11:52,118 then put them in a funnel, right and the first stage is reaching out on LinkedIn. 196 00:11:52,118 --> 00:11:58,038 Using mirroring which we talked a lot about to get people talking about 197 00:11:58,038 --> 00:12:03,358 themselves and build that likeability before you even apply, 198 00:12:03,358 --> 00:12:09,502 and then by the time you get to apply, they think gosh, Antella is nice. 199 00:12:09,502 --> 00:12:13,284 I know she's taken time to make an effort and get to know our business and 200 00:12:13,284 --> 00:12:15,757 she seems really passionate about what we do. 201 00:12:15,757 --> 00:12:19,542 And then when Antella says, hey, by the way, I'm probably gonna apply for 202 00:12:19,542 --> 00:12:22,105 a position the next couple months of your company. 203 00:12:22,105 --> 00:12:23,618 Just giving you a heads up. 204 00:12:23,618 --> 00:12:28,138 It's much more likely that person's gonna back channel to the hiring manager and 205 00:12:28,138 --> 00:12:30,572 say, hey, you should look at her profile. 206 00:12:30,572 --> 00:12:34,490 I know she doesn't have a computer science degree but I think she has what it takes. 207 00:12:34,490 --> 00:12:36,738 That's how most of the hiring happens, right? 208 00:12:36,738 --> 00:12:39,050 >> Mm-hm. >> So just remember that. 209 00:12:39,050 --> 00:12:44,204 Good, gosh, lots of good questions coming in, I'm gonna scroll up to one of them. 210 00:12:44,204 --> 00:12:49,447 From Laney Odette, they said, I've noticed that most entry level 211 00:12:49,447 --> 00:12:54,236 job descriptions asked for one to three years of experience. 212 00:12:54,236 --> 00:12:55,818 This seems contradictory. 213 00:12:55,818 --> 00:13:00,451 So I'm thinking this is one of those qualifications we ignore lots. 214 00:13:00,451 --> 00:13:04,385 Lots of heads nodding, Antellla. 215 00:13:04,385 --> 00:13:08,023 >> It goes along with the last statement I made about 216 00:13:08,023 --> 00:13:11,408 companies having specifications for time. 217 00:13:11,408 --> 00:13:16,795 As Ryan kind of just stated, I think a lot of this boils down to soft skills. 218 00:13:16,795 --> 00:13:21,326 While it may appear in a lot of these job postings that companies are looking for 219 00:13:21,326 --> 00:13:26,135 the smartest, the people who may know all the information about data structures, 220 00:13:26,135 --> 00:13:29,591 algorithms, the real hardcore computer science topics. 221 00:13:29,591 --> 00:13:33,681 It really is more usually about your ability to work well with a team. 222 00:13:33,681 --> 00:13:37,432 Right, so I'm just kind of keeping that in mind and 223 00:13:37,432 --> 00:13:42,861 getting an idea of what the culture is like will help you leaps and bounds. 224 00:13:42,861 --> 00:13:44,041 >> Great point. 225 00:13:44,041 --> 00:13:48,568 Go for it, Jeremy. 226 00:13:48,568 --> 00:13:52,974 >> What I did is I actually made my own work experience. 227 00:13:52,974 --> 00:13:57,814 So I reached out to a local church I used to attend. 228 00:13:57,814 --> 00:14:00,541 I built an application for them. 229 00:14:00,541 --> 00:14:04,178 Some nonprofits I used to be affiliated with, and also just some personal brands. 230 00:14:04,178 --> 00:14:09,623 And I just like gave them all the software tools like I didn't need it, 231 00:14:09,623 --> 00:14:14,696 but I gave it to them because I knew that I needed to show an employer 232 00:14:14,696 --> 00:14:20,731 that I can actually do this thing and then I actually sort of what they now are. 233 00:14:20,731 --> 00:14:24,271 They called case studies. 234 00:14:24,271 --> 00:14:26,705 I didn't know it was a case study when I was doing it. 235 00:14:26,705 --> 00:14:31,012 I would pretty much like document the technology that I use, 236 00:14:31,012 --> 00:14:35,584 the solution was I solving and the whole ecosystem around that. 237 00:14:35,584 --> 00:14:39,241 And that was a way just to show that like, this guy knows what he's doing, and 238 00:14:39,241 --> 00:14:40,944 he's actually doing it right now. 239 00:14:40,944 --> 00:14:45,369 So there's really no way that they can tell me but I did have to do that, 240 00:14:45,369 --> 00:14:46,419 like two years. 241 00:14:46,419 --> 00:14:51,144 In order to get my first shot, and that was my two years of work experience so. 242 00:14:51,144 --> 00:14:51,834 >> That's great, Jeremy. 243 00:14:51,834 --> 00:14:57,678 >> And get paid, get paid. 244 00:14:57,678 --> 00:14:58,419 That's another thing. 245 00:14:58,419 --> 00:15:00,567 Don't do it for free. If they see value in you and 246 00:15:00,567 --> 00:15:03,747 they're taking a chance on you and they like you. 247 00:15:03,747 --> 00:15:05,863 Have them put their money where their mouth is. 248 00:15:05,863 --> 00:15:09,822 Get paid cuz there's nothing worse than working on something and 249 00:15:09,822 --> 00:15:11,337 not getting paid for it. 250 00:15:11,337 --> 00:15:16,440 And then they're to the roof, they want like 10k expectations and 251 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,616 you're like this is a free thing you know? 252 00:15:19,616 --> 00:15:23,328 So make sure you get paid, if you can you take. 253 00:15:23,328 --> 00:15:27,858 Don't don't take peanuts but take something that's fair for you and 254 00:15:27,858 --> 00:15:32,412 the client and have some money in your pocket and do some experiences. 255 00:15:32,412 --> 00:15:34,200 >> Jeremy, that's gold. 256 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,922 And that literally mirrors what Grant and 257 00:15:36,922 --> 00:15:41,979 I were talking yesterday about laddering up your experience by doing work for 258 00:15:41,979 --> 00:15:46,750 kind of family friends that own businesses, or churches like you said. 259 00:15:46,750 --> 00:15:49,931 But the first one you can charge 50 bucks for, and 260 00:15:49,931 --> 00:15:53,935 then you start laddering up your prices so but but like you said. 261 00:15:53,935 --> 00:15:57,909 Charging money is important because it creates this expectation between you and 262 00:15:57,909 --> 00:15:59,380 the client but also creates. 263 00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:00,683 It's a real paid job, right? 264 00:16:00,683 --> 00:16:03,321 So I think Jeremy's. 265 00:16:03,321 --> 00:16:06,264 Everyone attending should hear what Jeremy said. 266 00:16:06,264 --> 00:16:07,388 It took him two years. 267 00:16:07,388 --> 00:16:11,287 Right, so learning how to code is or design is yes, 268 00:16:11,287 --> 00:16:16,822 obviously part of the process but actually building your experience and 269 00:16:16,822 --> 00:16:19,474 applying for the job is a process. 270 00:16:19,474 --> 00:16:23,521 And, it's so view it as such. 271 00:16:23,521 --> 00:16:24,210 That was great, Grant. 272 00:16:24,210 --> 00:16:26,280 I think your hand went up. 273 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,519 >> Yeah, so when I look at those postings and they ask for 274 00:16:29,519 --> 00:16:31,542 a certain amount of experience. 275 00:16:31,542 --> 00:16:34,170 I mean, we break down like why someone wants experience. 276 00:16:34,170 --> 00:16:37,895 It's because not only you have the knowledge but you've gone through, 277 00:16:37,895 --> 00:16:39,614 like overcome hurdles, right? 278 00:16:39,614 --> 00:16:42,956 So someone who when they look at five years of experience, but 279 00:16:42,956 --> 00:16:45,273 someone who's been tackling problems and 280 00:16:45,273 --> 00:16:48,553 looking for things to solve can have more experience in one or 281 00:16:48,553 --> 00:16:52,888 two years than someone's only been just doing the bare minimum for five years. 282 00:16:52,888 --> 00:16:56,125 Show that you're someone who can overcome the challenges so 283 00:16:56,125 --> 00:17:00,313 that you have the life experience of a one to three year experience engineer and 284 00:17:00,313 --> 00:17:03,760 you've done it in six months and you can overcome the problems. 285 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,621 And then you can apply for that job and be ready for it. 286 00:17:07,621 --> 00:17:11,317 >> Gold, kind of piggybacking on what Jeremy 287 00:17:11,317 --> 00:17:15,539 said about about creating your own experience. 288 00:17:15,539 --> 00:17:20,533 I did a networking session yesterday with a gentleman named Ryan weirdly. 289 00:17:20,533 --> 00:17:26,048 And he identified as Caribbean and and he was studying front end and 290 00:17:26,048 --> 00:17:30,300 I said, could you build a site for your community? 291 00:17:30,300 --> 00:17:34,608 Could you be the center of that community to encourage your community? 292 00:17:34,608 --> 00:17:37,835 Like, you can use that as a project, right? 293 00:17:37,835 --> 00:17:43,029 Build a site, build an app, and then use that as part of your work 294 00:17:43,029 --> 00:17:49,402 experience because it shows tremendous productivity, creativity, girt. 295 00:17:49,402 --> 00:17:54,752 So everyone listening I think we're all saying is you can create your experience. 296 00:17:54,752 --> 00:17:57,252 Just get creative and focus on what you're passionate about. 297 00:17:57,252 --> 00:17:58,886 So love that. 298 00:17:58,886 --> 00:18:01,327 All right, I'm going to make sure we get through some more questions. 299 00:18:01,327 --> 00:18:06,188 So Aliyah said, most of the time internship positions ask for 300 00:18:06,188 --> 00:18:07,879 college graduates. 301 00:18:07,879 --> 00:18:14,944 So, how can we get around that being a self taught developer? 302 00:18:14,944 --> 00:18:17,690 We need answers on that one. 303 00:18:17,690 --> 00:18:18,578 Jeremy? 304 00:18:18,578 --> 00:18:23,874 >> Well, this was a thing because not only do I have not have 305 00:18:23,874 --> 00:18:29,531 a college degree, also didn't have a high school degree. 306 00:18:29,531 --> 00:18:32,083 I don't have a general education degree at all. 307 00:18:32,083 --> 00:18:36,928 So a lot of the time it's going back to making that relationship like 308 00:18:36,928 --> 00:18:40,939 Ryan was saying, first make a relationship with them. 309 00:18:40,939 --> 00:18:43,137 They'll listen to you a little bit more. 310 00:18:43,137 --> 00:18:45,577 They'll take a chance on you. 311 00:18:45,577 --> 00:18:48,254 My first job was at Pandora in Oakland. 312 00:18:48,254 --> 00:18:50,806 That's my hometown. 313 00:18:50,806 --> 00:18:55,548 I became friends with the ultimately become my grandmother. 314 00:18:55,548 --> 00:18:58,934 She was going to be someone I met her and we hit it off. 315 00:18:58,934 --> 00:19:03,309 I told her I'm from the city. 316 00:19:03,309 --> 00:19:07,912 The first time I saw [INAUDIBLE] light up he was like a huge thing like 317 00:19:07,912 --> 00:19:11,696 seeing all these tech companies come to the East Bay. 318 00:19:11,696 --> 00:19:14,672 And she'd loved that I was like a hometown kid. 319 00:19:14,672 --> 00:19:17,417 And I was literally gonna be working at a company, or 320 00:19:17,417 --> 00:19:20,176 possibly work at a a company that's in my backyard. 321 00:19:20,176 --> 00:19:21,111 Look at it. 322 00:19:21,111 --> 00:19:26,247 So that was the relationship and it's not always gonna be like that. 323 00:19:26,247 --> 00:19:30,179 But your attention alone is very, very powerful. 324 00:19:30,179 --> 00:19:32,584 You might not have all of the things on paper. 325 00:19:32,584 --> 00:19:36,363 But if you have that passion, and you have a lot of attention, 326 00:19:36,363 --> 00:19:38,121 someone will take a chance. 327 00:19:38,121 --> 00:19:43,627 For sure, because the developers are, we're hot. 328 00:19:43,627 --> 00:19:46,478 We're hot on the streets, people they want developers, they want to work with us. 329 00:19:46,478 --> 00:19:50,889 They need us especially now, more than anything so. 330 00:19:50,889 --> 00:19:53,670 Just be confident and have strong attention. 331 00:19:53,670 --> 00:19:54,319 >> Appreciate that. 332 00:19:54,319 --> 00:19:57,770 So build the relationship and then use that to get around that requirement. 333 00:19:57,770 --> 00:20:00,738 I'm gonna keep going. 334 00:20:00,738 --> 00:20:03,493 There's a question in the comments that is coming up a lot. 335 00:20:03,493 --> 00:20:04,719 Hubert asked it. 336 00:20:04,719 --> 00:20:07,008 And then same question as Rodel. 337 00:20:07,008 --> 00:20:12,482 And Yan Yan said, hey, this would be helpful if we answered this. 338 00:20:12,482 --> 00:20:14,038 It's basically about age. 339 00:20:14,038 --> 00:20:18,859 And the question is, is age a factor in getting a job in tech industry, 340 00:20:18,859 --> 00:20:20,881 especially an entry level? 341 00:20:20,881 --> 00:20:23,919 Now, what if you're in your 40s or 50s? 342 00:20:23,919 --> 00:20:26,100 Who has thoughts about that? 343 00:20:26,100 --> 00:20:27,297 Yes, Allan. 344 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:35,067 >> I will say that I have helped people from various backgrounds and 345 00:20:35,067 --> 00:20:38,470 all age groups obtain jobs in tech. 346 00:20:38,470 --> 00:20:40,258 I can speak for myself personally, 347 00:20:40,258 --> 00:20:43,126 I was what I would consider a bit of a late bloomer to tech. 348 00:20:43,126 --> 00:20:45,834 I didn't get started until I was about 31. 349 00:20:45,834 --> 00:20:47,835 Which, like I said is fairly late. 350 00:20:47,835 --> 00:20:52,595 So I don't personally feel like there's ever a time not to try to do something 351 00:20:52,595 --> 00:20:54,438 that you're interested in. 352 00:20:54,438 --> 00:20:59,450 Understand that it will be hard, it's not gonna be something that's easy, 353 00:20:59,450 --> 00:21:02,392 but with time and effort, anybody can do it. 354 00:21:02,392 --> 00:21:04,975 [INAUDIBLE] >> I think Grant, your hand went up. 355 00:21:04,975 --> 00:21:06,081 Yep, go ahead. 356 00:21:06,081 --> 00:21:10,224 >> Yeah, I would say even when I was working in retail, 357 00:21:10,224 --> 00:21:15,416 there is unconscious bias towards people who are older, right? 358 00:21:15,416 --> 00:21:20,284 But doesn't mean some of my best employees weren't people who are older, and 359 00:21:20,284 --> 00:21:24,068 I would hire equally but that doesn't mean everybody does. 360 00:21:24,068 --> 00:21:29,035 So there's a bit of a struggle there I would say, but what I would tell them is 361 00:21:29,035 --> 00:21:34,492 when you're applying, make a resume that doesn't really show your age, right? 362 00:21:34,492 --> 00:21:36,820 Doesn't matter, they don't need to know that. 363 00:21:36,820 --> 00:21:41,456 Show what's your experience, show what you can do, and then when you get to 364 00:21:41,456 --> 00:21:45,810 the interview blew him away, and then doesn't matter how old you are. 365 00:21:45,810 --> 00:21:50,797 >> [INAUDIBLE], I think I'm the oldest person here, 42. 366 00:21:50,797 --> 00:21:55,751 So, I would say, and as a CEO, what I've learned over the years is 367 00:21:55,751 --> 00:22:00,532 actually intersectional diversity is extremely important and 368 00:22:00,532 --> 00:22:02,759 age is a part of that, right? 369 00:22:02,759 --> 00:22:06,750 So we do not want companies where everybody is 25, 370 00:22:06,750 --> 00:22:09,121 it'll be a disaster, right? 371 00:22:09,121 --> 00:22:15,665 So, I would encourage you all who are fitting into that age bracket of 30, 372 00:22:15,665 --> 00:22:23,041 40, 50 to lead with that as a strength and say, hey, I'm just gonna call it out. 373 00:22:23,041 --> 00:22:27,590 I'm 45 and I have a tremendous amount of life experience, and 374 00:22:27,590 --> 00:22:30,631 I'm so excited to bring that to this team. 375 00:22:30,631 --> 00:22:35,615 I know company A B C, you care about intersectionality and diversity, and 376 00:22:35,615 --> 00:22:38,714 I'm really excited to bring that to the team. 377 00:22:38,714 --> 00:22:41,539 And I'll tell you as I get older and older, 378 00:22:41,539 --> 00:22:45,397 I value people's life experience more and more, right? 379 00:22:45,397 --> 00:22:47,788 So a good hiring manager and 380 00:22:47,788 --> 00:22:53,098 a good company is going to understand that age is a strength. 381 00:22:53,098 --> 00:22:58,595 So I would just call it out and then if the company is deeply biased and they weed 382 00:22:58,595 --> 00:23:04,029 you out cuz of that, then it's probably not something you wanna be anyway. 383 00:23:04,029 --> 00:23:06,107 So, that's my thought on that. 384 00:23:06,107 --> 00:23:09,339 All right, I'm gonna keep so many good questions. 385 00:23:09,339 --> 00:23:11,149 A question from Grace. 386 00:23:11,149 --> 00:23:15,908 They said how do you identify the best companies that you wanna work for? 387 00:23:15,908 --> 00:23:22,714 How do you make that list of 50 to 100, any thoughts on that? 388 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,876 Yes, Allan. 389 00:23:25,876 --> 00:23:29,247 >> This is kind of hard, but at the end of the day, 390 00:23:29,247 --> 00:23:33,831 I think there are a lot of platforms out there like LinkedIn that 391 00:23:33,831 --> 00:23:38,526 will allow you to see what types of opportunities are out there. 392 00:23:38,526 --> 00:23:43,416 The big thing is looking at if the company has anything about their culture out 393 00:23:43,416 --> 00:23:48,021 there, I think is to align what is important to you with company values. 394 00:23:48,021 --> 00:23:51,482 I think that's the biggest thing because I think that'll dictate whether or 395 00:23:51,482 --> 00:23:53,733 not you'll actually be happy once you get there. 396 00:23:53,733 --> 00:23:57,197 So if I were to say anything it would be to take a look at what 397 00:23:57,197 --> 00:24:00,175 the company provides from a value perspective. 398 00:24:00,175 --> 00:24:04,443 If you can identify people who work at a company that you're interested in and 399 00:24:04,443 --> 00:24:05,494 reach out to them, 400 00:24:05,494 --> 00:24:09,141 find out what they can tell you about their experience on the job. 401 00:24:09,141 --> 00:24:11,226 What it's like day to day, and 402 00:24:11,226 --> 00:24:15,169 I think that'll help to guide a lot of that list building. 403 00:24:17,270 --> 00:24:18,934 >> Jeremy. 404 00:24:18,934 --> 00:24:24,195 >> One thing that I [INAUDIBLE] residual base [INAUDIBLE] 405 00:24:24,195 --> 00:24:31,915 those companies seem to be a little bit safer to me as far as revenue stream. 406 00:24:31,915 --> 00:24:36,816 It's important for me to get a job to make sure I could get paid, 407 00:24:36,816 --> 00:24:41,175 especially in some of these startups, you never know. 408 00:24:41,175 --> 00:24:46,116 So one that had a subscription based business model was always looked a little 409 00:24:46,116 --> 00:24:47,420 bit more safe to me. 410 00:24:47,420 --> 00:24:49,934 >> Okay, Grant. 411 00:24:49,934 --> 00:24:52,080 >> When I was trying to make that list, 412 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,168 I thought about kind of like what I would like to do. 413 00:24:55,168 --> 00:24:58,860 As in the company I'm working for, what kind of service do they provide and 414 00:24:58,860 --> 00:25:00,101 do I find it passionate? 415 00:25:00,101 --> 00:25:03,433 Am I happy to be supporting that, right? 416 00:25:03,433 --> 00:25:06,366 So I started there, I mean, and then I started at the top and 417 00:25:06,366 --> 00:25:07,621 kind of work my way down. 418 00:25:07,621 --> 00:25:11,848 So I would think about, I have, very passionate about environments. 419 00:25:11,848 --> 00:25:14,587 So I look to companies that worked in environments, 420 00:25:14,587 --> 00:25:18,774 who had good cultures they're passionate about the things happen in the city. 421 00:25:18,774 --> 00:25:22,766 So if there's anything local or any companies that help out cities, and 422 00:25:22,766 --> 00:25:26,955 just make a list of those things that you like to do and then find the companies 423 00:25:26,955 --> 00:25:31,424 that do those things and help them out and then you'd be much happier doing that. 424 00:25:31,424 --> 00:25:32,522 >> Appreciate you sharing that. 425 00:25:32,522 --> 00:25:41,161 The pandemic is causing something very good to happen. 426 00:25:41,161 --> 00:25:43,717 Bad things going on at pandemic, but 427 00:25:43,717 --> 00:25:49,339 one good aspect is that a massive number of companies are now open to hire remote. 428 00:25:49,339 --> 00:25:52,273 And this was a massive problem before, right? 429 00:25:52,273 --> 00:25:56,348 If you were in Pueblo, Colorado, how do you get hired by Facebook? 430 00:25:56,348 --> 00:26:02,307 Or how do you get your first in at any tech company? 431 00:26:02,307 --> 00:26:06,696 And I can tell you as a CEO who talks to a lot of other CEOs, 432 00:26:06,696 --> 00:26:11,181 is that the majority of companies are now going remote and 433 00:26:11,181 --> 00:26:16,344 actually, over half of them are going to stay remote permanent. 434 00:26:16,344 --> 00:26:18,374 And what's gonna happen is well, 435 00:26:18,374 --> 00:26:21,594 as companies that don't embrace remote workforces, 436 00:26:21,594 --> 00:26:25,866 will actually not win the talent war against companies that do, right? 437 00:26:25,866 --> 00:26:29,416 Cuz as an engineer, if you can work from home at this company and 438 00:26:29,416 --> 00:26:33,637 you're being forced to go into work at another place where potentially you 439 00:26:33,637 --> 00:26:37,068 could catch COVID, which one are you gonna choose, right? 440 00:26:37,068 --> 00:26:40,719 So, start looking now for those companies that are embracing about. 441 00:26:40,719 --> 00:26:42,904 Okay, let's keep going. 442 00:26:42,904 --> 00:26:45,215 Lots of great questions. 443 00:26:45,215 --> 00:26:46,356 Okay, question from Mike. 444 00:26:46,356 --> 00:26:51,676 What advice would you give to a career pivot for someone in one area 445 00:26:51,676 --> 00:26:56,824 of tech to a different area of tech, for example QA to develop. 446 00:26:56,824 --> 00:26:59,537 Anyone wanna tackle that, Chick? 447 00:26:59,537 --> 00:27:00,451 >> That's barbecue chicken. 448 00:27:00,451 --> 00:27:01,141 That's easy. 449 00:27:01,141 --> 00:27:04,875 That's-. 450 00:27:04,875 --> 00:27:07,483 >> Maybe a way for people to maybe 451 00:27:07,483 --> 00:27:12,401 start off by maybe jumping on IT to something like that. 452 00:27:12,401 --> 00:27:16,140 But, I'm not quite sure what the question was, but 453 00:27:16,140 --> 00:27:19,118 that's like an easy way to sort of get in. 454 00:27:19,118 --> 00:27:24,094 And the best thing about IT role that I've seen is that you can actually work 455 00:27:24,094 --> 00:27:26,544 on code stuff while you're at work, 456 00:27:26,544 --> 00:27:31,210 it is not gonna look weird because you're allowed [INAUDIBLE] anyway. 457 00:27:31,210 --> 00:27:34,971 So I've seen guys that would try to make that transition, 458 00:27:34,971 --> 00:27:39,882 every once in a while they would open up their personal laptop, hack away for 459 00:27:39,882 --> 00:27:41,800 an hour or two here and there. 460 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:47,003 And it just made sense, it was very, very smooth transition. 461 00:27:47,003 --> 00:27:47,857 >> Yeah, I love that. 462 00:27:47,857 --> 00:27:49,279 Barbecue chicken [LAUGH]. 463 00:27:52,156 --> 00:27:54,088 >> Agree with that, I think, 464 00:27:54,088 --> 00:27:58,961 at least in my experience of newbies who don't have the professional 465 00:27:58,961 --> 00:28:04,016 experience from a programming standpoint often tend to go to QA first. 466 00:28:04,016 --> 00:28:08,690 And I think it's important to articulate that you have goals of growing into 467 00:28:08,690 --> 00:28:12,928 development so that your leadership can hopefully provide a path for 468 00:28:12,928 --> 00:28:14,403 you to grow in that way. 469 00:28:14,403 --> 00:28:15,914 If you're in QA now, and 470 00:28:15,914 --> 00:28:20,738 your current company is not open to that I think is still a good opportunity to get 471 00:28:20,738 --> 00:28:25,640 in potentially somewhere else that will provide that opportunity path for you. 472 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,888 So, I think it's a great thing. 473 00:28:28,888 --> 00:28:32,986 >> So, I guess we're finishing about the question is we're actually saying, 474 00:28:32,986 --> 00:28:35,707 actually, that might be a clever path in, right? 475 00:28:35,707 --> 00:28:40,293 So get an entry level role in a part of the organization that doesn't require 476 00:28:40,293 --> 00:28:44,967 a college degree, definitely doesn't require a computer science degree. 477 00:28:44,967 --> 00:28:48,882 And then being that network, that social network we built inside the company is 478 00:28:48,882 --> 00:28:52,505 even stronger, and you can prove it and say I'm gonna apply for that job, 479 00:28:52,505 --> 00:28:54,627 you're gonna be put at the top of the pile. 480 00:28:54,627 --> 00:28:58,322 So I think that's why Jeremy was saying it's like BBQ chicken, 481 00:28:58,322 --> 00:29:00,729 actually that's the best way you get in. 482 00:29:00,729 --> 00:29:04,370 >> Yeah >> [LAUGH] Okay, I love it. 483 00:29:04,370 --> 00:29:06,278 Let's keep going. 484 00:29:06,278 --> 00:29:10,461 And Michelle, I see your question, don't worry, I'm gonna get to it. 485 00:29:10,461 --> 00:29:15,771 All right, so question from Ozzy L. 486 00:29:15,771 --> 00:29:20,258 They said Is it better to be versatile by knowing multiple 487 00:29:20,258 --> 00:29:24,847 skills at an average level or mastering just a few skills? 488 00:29:24,847 --> 00:29:27,051 Who wants to tackle that one first? 489 00:29:32,183 --> 00:29:36,690 All right, Grant go for it, and next I'll move to you. 490 00:29:36,690 --> 00:29:38,751 >> Yeah, why that question is tough, 491 00:29:38,751 --> 00:29:43,158 because the answer is depends on the company you're applying for, right? 492 00:29:43,158 --> 00:29:46,245 So some companies, you will just be doing that one language and 493 00:29:46,245 --> 00:29:50,280 that's it because they're a huge company that just needs you to be a specialist. 494 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,289 And I'm looking for small startups, so I need to be able to do everything at 495 00:29:54,289 --> 00:29:57,615 a medium level right now and then develop myself afterwards. 496 00:29:57,615 --> 00:30:01,050 So really [INAUDIBLE] what you're applying to and see what they really need. 497 00:30:01,050 --> 00:30:04,268 [INAUDIBLE]? 498 00:30:04,268 --> 00:30:05,573 >> I actually agree with Grant on that as well. 499 00:30:05,573 --> 00:30:12,319 I personally feel like it is good to have experience in multiple languages. 500 00:30:12,319 --> 00:30:16,439 Just because depending on where you go, as Grant kind of mentioned, 501 00:30:16,439 --> 00:30:18,293 you don't know what may come. 502 00:30:18,293 --> 00:30:20,726 You may be working on one language for two years, and 503 00:30:20,726 --> 00:30:23,670 then some new technology comes out that they wanna implement. 504 00:30:23,670 --> 00:30:27,064 You're like, hey, I need to get caught up to speed with this quickly. 505 00:30:27,064 --> 00:30:33,469 I think it's an important skill to be able to demonstrate that you can learn quickly. 506 00:30:33,469 --> 00:30:36,556 So, that's a hard, like I said, it's a hard question. 507 00:30:36,556 --> 00:30:40,383 You just have to kinda determine what career path, 508 00:30:40,383 --> 00:30:46,624 what you want your career to look like and kinda piggyback off of that, if you will. 509 00:30:46,624 --> 00:30:52,130 >> Yep, the reason why learning multiple languages is good is because you start 510 00:30:52,130 --> 00:30:57,993 to see patterns, and you actually begin to learn more computer science, right? 511 00:30:57,993 --> 00:31:01,306 So for instance, I think Python is particularly fun and 512 00:31:01,306 --> 00:31:05,057 easy language to start with if you're talking about back end. 513 00:31:05,057 --> 00:31:09,936 And then if you move on to JavaScript, you start to see for instance, 514 00:31:09,936 --> 00:31:15,339 it's kind of a fascinating difference between the two in syntax and style. 515 00:31:15,339 --> 00:31:20,473 And then if you layer on a simple CS50 course, where you start to get some of 516 00:31:20,473 --> 00:31:25,451 the computer science basics that underpin your programming knowledge, 517 00:31:25,451 --> 00:31:29,720 then it gives you this kind of wider breadth of understanding. 518 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,758 And then when the company says, hey, we need to learn Ruby, you're like, 519 00:31:34,758 --> 00:31:39,589 I've done that, I've learned new languages, I can make that happen. 520 00:31:39,589 --> 00:31:43,791 I wanna give props to all the people I know that have done that. 521 00:31:43,791 --> 00:31:48,972 Including Carlos who is started off as an apprentice at Treehouse and 522 00:31:48,972 --> 00:31:51,485 didn't know Ruby, now he does. 523 00:31:51,485 --> 00:31:53,024 [LAUGH] All right, let's keep going. 524 00:31:56,152 --> 00:31:57,103 Okay, question from Serena. 525 00:31:57,103 --> 00:31:58,882 I have a question for 526 00:31:58,882 --> 00:32:04,030 anyone who has social anxiety to get their first tech job. 527 00:32:04,030 --> 00:32:07,378 How did you overcome the struggles to relate to others? 528 00:32:07,378 --> 00:32:09,802 And what are the tips for a person like me, 529 00:32:09,802 --> 00:32:14,871 who has difficulty building relationships to overcome that and be more comfortable? 530 00:32:14,871 --> 00:32:18,086 I know practice and repetition is important too. 531 00:32:18,086 --> 00:32:22,400 I would like to get to know if someone has had those issues and 532 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:24,558 how they overcome that fear. 533 00:32:24,558 --> 00:32:25,540 >> I think I can start off. 534 00:32:25,540 --> 00:32:29,272 I don't necessarily have social anxiety, but I can tell you this. 535 00:32:29,272 --> 00:32:33,391 I'm not a stranger, I love chatting and talking to people. 536 00:32:33,391 --> 00:32:37,722 But one thing is when I started to work at companies, 537 00:32:37,722 --> 00:32:40,388 a lot of people were not like me. 538 00:32:40,388 --> 00:32:44,517 So I would come in and I would crack jokes, I would talk about this show called 539 00:32:44,517 --> 00:32:47,030 I watch, they wouldn't know the reference to it. 540 00:32:47,030 --> 00:32:51,048 I'd make a joke about they wouldn't understand the reference or 541 00:32:51,048 --> 00:32:52,823 something like that, or music. 542 00:32:52,823 --> 00:32:57,411 And I found myself kinda alone a lot of the time, 543 00:32:57,411 --> 00:33:00,747 in lieu of not being able to fit in. 544 00:33:00,747 --> 00:33:04,142 And this probably doesn't answer the question, but 545 00:33:04,142 --> 00:33:08,763 what I did is I started to create a culture for myself within the company. 546 00:33:08,763 --> 00:33:13,964 So if there was a position open, I would say, hey, you should hire somebody 547 00:33:13,964 --> 00:33:19,111 that I know or somebody that's a little bit more closer to my cultural fit. 548 00:33:19,111 --> 00:33:23,353 But a lot of startups, they have it within their 549 00:33:23,353 --> 00:33:27,395 organization to help you feel comfortable. 550 00:33:27,395 --> 00:33:32,195 So reach out to your HR, reach out to your people's department, if that's what 551 00:33:32,195 --> 00:33:37,225 they're calling it and let them know what your issues are or what youe problems are. 552 00:33:37,225 --> 00:33:42,698 And they will help you with getting in there and be like maybe making things 553 00:33:42,698 --> 00:33:47,730 a little bit more diverse or even like point of view and resources but 554 00:33:47,730 --> 00:33:52,611 with groups that may like fit in a little bit more with your style. 555 00:33:52,611 --> 00:33:54,637 >> Yeah, thank you Jeremy. 556 00:33:54,637 --> 00:33:59,195 [INAUDIBLE] >> I think historically from my 557 00:33:59,195 --> 00:34:04,594 experience, people who used to jump to programming or look for opportunities 558 00:34:04,594 --> 00:34:10,261 in programming were self-proclaimed introverts or had a lot of social anxiety. 559 00:34:10,261 --> 00:34:11,603 So I think is extremely common. 560 00:34:11,603 --> 00:34:14,475 With that being said, I do agree with Jeremy, 561 00:34:14,475 --> 00:34:19,718 I think it's important to be upfront about the potential challenges that you have. 562 00:34:19,718 --> 00:34:24,834 And as an example, there are a few folks on my team who identify as introverts. 563 00:34:24,834 --> 00:34:25,962 So with that being said, 564 00:34:25,962 --> 00:34:28,978 I know that I'm not gonna put them in an uncomfortable situation. 565 00:34:28,978 --> 00:34:30,891 I'll be thoughtful about that. 566 00:34:30,891 --> 00:34:35,192 But I will put them in situations to help them thrive. 567 00:34:35,192 --> 00:34:39,465 What I would encourage is pair programming to kind of help you overcome a lot of 568 00:34:39,465 --> 00:34:40,998 those challenges as well. 569 00:34:40,998 --> 00:34:43,032 >> Thanks [INAUDIBLE]. 570 00:34:43,032 --> 00:34:48,331 Just to be blunt about it, if you identifies a person of color or 571 00:34:48,331 --> 00:34:52,032 a woman or any community [INAUDIBLE] attack, 572 00:34:52,032 --> 00:34:57,931 what are some things you can do to open the door to give yourself a better 573 00:34:57,931 --> 00:35:03,136 chance of getting that interview and landing that first job? 574 00:35:05,984 --> 00:35:08,371 >> So, it's a great one, okay great. 575 00:35:08,371 --> 00:35:13,507 I will say, at least in my experience, it is extremely, 576 00:35:13,507 --> 00:35:17,572 extremely important to just articulate that 577 00:35:17,572 --> 00:35:21,326 diversity that you do bring to the table. 578 00:35:21,326 --> 00:35:28,037 I think is very interesting when you can provide some difference and 579 00:35:28,037 --> 00:35:33,820 perspective on things that may not have been seen before. 580 00:35:33,820 --> 00:35:35,854 So I think it's important, like I said, to highlight those things. 581 00:35:35,854 --> 00:35:38,508 I'll also state that if you feel boxed out, 582 00:35:38,508 --> 00:35:42,812 if you are interviewing with a company that you don't feel is giving you 583 00:35:42,812 --> 00:35:47,477 those warm fuzzy feelings, that's usually a sign that you won't feel those 584 00:35:47,477 --> 00:35:50,586 warm fuzzy feelings once you get on the job either. 585 00:35:50,586 --> 00:35:53,400 So, like I said, culture, I can't say enough, 586 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:58,089 is extremely important to making sure that your voice will be heard and that you will 587 00:35:58,089 --> 00:36:02,192 be able to provide some type of input and do your job and be helped as well. 588 00:36:02,192 --> 00:36:03,904 To learn a lot, I think that's another big deal. 589 00:36:03,904 --> 00:36:06,321 >> Thanks [INAUDIBLE]. 590 00:36:06,321 --> 00:36:07,887 Any other thoughts on that? 591 00:36:07,887 --> 00:36:10,195 Jeremy, I don't know if you wanna talk about that or not. 592 00:36:16,334 --> 00:36:17,363 No, no answer to that. 593 00:36:17,363 --> 00:36:24,312 All right, [INAUDIBLE] I appreciate your thoughts on that. 594 00:36:24,312 --> 00:36:29,112 Ingrid is asking they have same question is right as a Brian Witten, 595 00:36:29,112 --> 00:36:30,770 so I'll try to find that. 596 00:36:30,770 --> 00:36:32,259 So many good questions coming in. 597 00:36:32,259 --> 00:36:38,662 Okay, as an entry level developer, are there combinations of languages or 598 00:36:38,662 --> 00:36:44,082 frameworks that best serve for being a well rounded candidate? 599 00:36:51,224 --> 00:36:55,192 >> I wanna say whatever is popular, and 600 00:36:55,192 --> 00:37:01,337 I'll say that because a lot of hiring managers in teams, 601 00:37:01,337 --> 00:37:09,533 they they kind of go based off what the community is sort of relevant behind. 602 00:37:09,533 --> 00:37:14,405 There was like this huge thing a few years ago like React and Angular, 603 00:37:14,405 --> 00:37:19,620 everyone like, they're trying to win like the [INAUDIBLE] wars, right? 604 00:37:19,620 --> 00:37:27,075 And what I did is I found myself learning both, depending on the height of each one. 605 00:37:27,075 --> 00:37:33,934 So, I mean, a lot of it is literally like, I still to this day I code every day. 606 00:37:33,934 --> 00:37:38,871 I know not everybody is as extreme as me, I feel like I gotta go that hard. 607 00:37:38,871 --> 00:37:40,170 And I love it too. 608 00:37:40,170 --> 00:37:44,747 It's not just that I feel like I have to do it, but I love doing it too. 609 00:37:44,747 --> 00:37:49,621 And you kind of have to be like that when you're entry level because you don't 610 00:37:49,621 --> 00:37:50,981 have anything else. 611 00:37:50,981 --> 00:37:56,030 You don't have experience, you don't have recommendations from anybody else. 612 00:37:56,030 --> 00:37:59,794 So you have to be on the Internet, be on YouTube, be on Treehouse and 613 00:37:59,794 --> 00:38:04,174 look at what are the trending technologies that are out there and learn those. 614 00:38:04,174 --> 00:38:09,253 And what I would do is I would like, a new JavaScript was something that 615 00:38:09,253 --> 00:38:14,005 I had to learn like Vanilla JavaScript, like 123, the ABCs. 616 00:38:14,005 --> 00:38:18,891 So I would spend a couple days out of the week learning Vanilla JavaScript 617 00:38:18,891 --> 00:38:19,700 my own way. 618 00:38:19,700 --> 00:38:22,877 First thing I was doing was these callback functions like all of this stuff. 619 00:38:22,877 --> 00:38:27,351 Just go to those layups and dribble, and then I will go and 620 00:38:27,351 --> 00:38:30,161 mess with the language like React. 621 00:38:30,161 --> 00:38:34,540 And it was a little bit more for me to wrap my head around because there's a lot 622 00:38:34,540 --> 00:38:37,496 of moving parts but I was spend time learning that. 623 00:38:37,496 --> 00:38:41,700 And then I was a little bit time like learning something like Angular or 624 00:38:41,700 --> 00:38:45,630 Backbone, something like that on the side, just so I'm ready. 625 00:38:45,630 --> 00:38:50,516 I don't have to get ready cuz I'm already ready, I'm staying ready all the time. 626 00:38:50,516 --> 00:38:53,858 It's a little bit of a tug and pull here and there, and 627 00:38:53,858 --> 00:38:57,443 you might end up learning stuff that you may not ever use. 628 00:38:57,443 --> 00:39:00,143 But at least you've expose yourself and 629 00:39:00,143 --> 00:39:05,069 you learn about patterns like mine was about like different patterns that 630 00:39:05,069 --> 00:39:08,972 are sort of fundamental with all programming languages. 631 00:39:08,972 --> 00:39:12,586 And then also, you can pivot at some point. 632 00:39:12,586 --> 00:39:18,990 So my caption which was like a PHP. 633 00:39:18,990 --> 00:39:22,635 When I was going through learning and I can jump in or something like that. 634 00:39:22,635 --> 00:39:26,843 So I would say just learn whatever's hot out there. 635 00:39:26,843 --> 00:39:30,022 Pick your fundamentals solid. 636 00:39:30,022 --> 00:39:34,294 Then kind of venture off into some stuff that's a little bit more advanced or 637 00:39:34,294 --> 00:39:35,511 a little bit trendy. 638 00:39:35,511 --> 00:39:36,713 >> Thanks, Jeremy. 639 00:39:36,713 --> 00:39:39,134 Any other thoughts on that question? 640 00:39:41,877 --> 00:39:43,048 Go ahead [INAUDIBLE]. 641 00:39:43,048 --> 00:39:47,349 >> I will say, technology changes quickly. 642 00:39:47,349 --> 00:39:50,701 So I don't personally have any specific language or 643 00:39:50,701 --> 00:39:52,920 framework that I will recommend. 644 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:56,262 But I do suggest that, whatever language you are learning, 645 00:39:56,262 --> 00:39:58,750 to explore the frameworks that are associated. 646 00:39:58,750 --> 00:40:03,429 If there are multiple, definitely understand the pros and the cons. 647 00:40:03,429 --> 00:40:06,091 Because as you're going through that interview process, 648 00:40:06,091 --> 00:40:08,278 they're gonna be asking questions about that. 649 00:40:08,278 --> 00:40:12,676 And really build some things, ultimately, to showcase that you understand 650 00:40:12,676 --> 00:40:16,341 the fundamentals of what those frameworks are actually doing. 651 00:40:19,381 --> 00:40:20,777 >> Good call, thank you all. 652 00:40:20,777 --> 00:40:23,582 Grant, do you have any idea on the basic stacks or 653 00:40:23,582 --> 00:40:26,605 languages someone should learn to be well rounded? 654 00:40:30,621 --> 00:40:34,071 >> When I was looking for work and I was looking through all these different job 655 00:40:34,071 --> 00:40:37,655 posts, and there was different companies looking at all different things. 656 00:40:37,655 --> 00:40:42,908 And I think what ended up doing myself was I would try all these different things. 657 00:40:42,908 --> 00:40:45,755 And I found ones that I actually would gravitate towards, and 658 00:40:45,755 --> 00:40:47,417 then learn the things around that. 659 00:40:47,417 --> 00:40:49,878 And I would learn all these, there's all these, 660 00:40:49,878 --> 00:40:53,291 the basic tutorial each framework or language has on their website. 661 00:40:53,291 --> 00:40:56,999 Go through that, go through those step by step, but kind of see what the idea is. 662 00:40:56,999 --> 00:40:58,231 And you'll see if you really like it. 663 00:40:58,231 --> 00:41:00,653 And also it'll give you an idea of where you wanna work and 664 00:41:00,653 --> 00:41:01,979 what kind of work you wanna do. 665 00:41:01,979 --> 00:41:05,558 And so I did that and I realized going through that, 666 00:41:05,558 --> 00:41:09,566 I really like back end and that's what I really wanna do. 667 00:41:09,566 --> 00:41:12,727 I mean I tried out React and it was great, but it wasn't for me. 668 00:41:12,727 --> 00:41:17,138 I enjoyed Django, I enjoyed Larvell, I enjoyed those kind of things. 669 00:41:17,138 --> 00:41:20,571 And then you find those things and then expand the knowledge base around that. 670 00:41:20,571 --> 00:41:24,669 And build that stack based on those things you'd like to do. 671 00:41:24,669 --> 00:41:28,379 And then you'd be a better programmer and better suited for the job- 672 00:41:28,379 --> 00:41:29,632 >> Good answers, thank y'all. 673 00:41:29,632 --> 00:41:31,842 Appreciate it. 674 00:41:31,842 --> 00:41:34,499 I'll answer a couple of these questions that are coming in really quick. 675 00:41:34,499 --> 00:41:39,104 So Emmanuel said, how much do you learn from a language before you're 676 00:41:39,104 --> 00:41:41,770 comfortable putting it on your resume? 677 00:41:44,349 --> 00:41:47,287 What do you all think is the right balance there? 678 00:41:47,287 --> 00:41:49,449 Because you don't want to look to junior, but 679 00:41:49,449 --> 00:41:51,617 you also don't wanna not put things you know. 680 00:41:51,617 --> 00:41:52,910 Grant, you put your hand on up. 681 00:41:55,363 --> 00:41:58,768 >> Yeah, so when I was talking to one of the recruiters, 682 00:41:58,768 --> 00:42:00,743 I asked him the same question. 683 00:42:00,743 --> 00:42:05,671 And it's kind of like you will put down how well you know that language, right. 684 00:42:05,671 --> 00:42:08,935 I mean don't put it down if you've just read their landing page, but 685 00:42:08,935 --> 00:42:11,186 if you've got some work with it and you got it and 686 00:42:11,186 --> 00:42:13,743 you feel like with a beginner level, that's great. 687 00:42:13,743 --> 00:42:16,476 If you've made some projects, you've gone to intermediate level, 688 00:42:16,476 --> 00:42:19,181 put that down that you know this language at the intermediate level. 689 00:42:19,181 --> 00:42:24,208 Or if you've know the framework, you can recite their documentation by hand, 690 00:42:24,208 --> 00:42:26,770 through memory, then put it advanced. 691 00:42:26,770 --> 00:42:30,132 Just indicate what you know at what level and then go from that. 692 00:42:30,132 --> 00:42:30,704 >> Good answer. 693 00:42:30,704 --> 00:42:33,408 Anyone else wanna touch on that before we move and so on? 694 00:42:35,526 --> 00:42:37,928 >> I wanna stress it's just being honest. 695 00:42:37,928 --> 00:42:42,447 As Grant mentioned, definitely if you've only read some documentation and 696 00:42:42,447 --> 00:42:45,088 never used a technology or a language, do not 697 00:42:45,088 --> 00:42:49,761 put it on there because companies will ask you what you know about those things. 698 00:42:49,761 --> 00:42:55,090 And if you can't speak to it, they probably won't be calling you back. 699 00:42:55,090 --> 00:42:58,792 [COUGH] But if you can articulate, hey, I'm not an expert in this, 700 00:42:58,792 --> 00:42:59,982 just being honest and 701 00:42:59,982 --> 00:43:04,366 upfront about it but I have worked on some projects and I'd like to learn more. 702 00:43:04,366 --> 00:43:06,900 And just articulate that you're resourceful and willing to learn, 703 00:43:06,900 --> 00:43:08,961 I think that's what companies are really looking for. 704 00:43:08,961 --> 00:43:13,651 >> Yes, yeah, it's the behavior they're looking for really. 705 00:43:13,651 --> 00:43:17,742 So Mel had a question, how do you overcome the fear 706 00:43:17,742 --> 00:43:21,651 of rejection when putting yourself out there? 707 00:43:21,651 --> 00:43:28,030 And this relates as well, Jeremy said it was a two year grind to get that job. 708 00:43:28,030 --> 00:43:32,303 How do you make it through that essentially? 709 00:43:32,303 --> 00:43:34,933 Any tips for staying mentally healthy? 710 00:43:34,933 --> 00:43:36,341 Jeremy. 711 00:43:36,341 --> 00:43:40,392 >> I would say don't take it personally at all. 712 00:43:40,392 --> 00:43:43,886 Just know that hiring managers, 713 00:43:43,886 --> 00:43:48,641 they're supposed to source this position. 714 00:43:48,641 --> 00:43:53,172 I've been in situations where I call it a stacked deck because they have 715 00:43:53,172 --> 00:43:58,154 the person that they want to interview or the person that they want to hire, but 716 00:43:58,154 --> 00:44:00,437 they have to get six more people in. 717 00:44:00,437 --> 00:44:06,711 And there has been times where I've changed someone's mind on that person. 718 00:44:06,711 --> 00:44:10,233 So, but just don't take it personal, 719 00:44:10,233 --> 00:44:15,784 just know that if they didn't go through, it's their loss, 720 00:44:15,784 --> 00:44:20,831 they missed out on hiring someone awesome, honestly. 721 00:44:20,831 --> 00:44:24,251 And I got two years of, it's a lot of rejection, 722 00:44:24,251 --> 00:44:28,605 you gotta have tough skin, and just don't take it personal. 723 00:44:28,605 --> 00:44:34,306 And just turn that into fuel for you to get back on your command line, 724 00:44:34,306 --> 00:44:40,629 get back on the terminal, and to do more and to put up more chops [INAUDIBLE]. 725 00:44:40,629 --> 00:44:41,204 >> Thank you, Jeremy. 726 00:44:41,204 --> 00:44:43,552 Any other thoughts on that? 727 00:44:43,552 --> 00:44:44,122 Grant? 728 00:44:48,186 --> 00:44:52,301 >> I mean, after hiring so many people throughout my career, 729 00:44:52,301 --> 00:44:54,290 it really isn't personal. 730 00:44:54,290 --> 00:44:57,751 It's you only have one slot and you're looking for a particular set of skills. 731 00:44:57,751 --> 00:45:01,072 And it's not that you might be not be a great candidate, but maybe don't have 732 00:45:01,072 --> 00:45:04,052 the skills they're particularly looking for and someone else did. 733 00:45:04,052 --> 00:45:05,788 So it really isn't personal, 734 00:45:05,788 --> 00:45:09,138 it isn't like they didn't like you because of who you are. 735 00:45:09,138 --> 00:45:12,973 They had a specific role to fill and they found somebody fit that hole better. 736 00:45:12,973 --> 00:45:13,976 So just keep going. 737 00:45:13,976 --> 00:45:17,040 But I would also say, ask for feedback. 738 00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:20,865 Great companies are open and honest of why they don't hire. 739 00:45:20,865 --> 00:45:26,030 The people who don't tell you or they just send you like an automated email like hey, 740 00:45:26,030 --> 00:45:28,666 we didn't select you, please try again. 741 00:45:28,666 --> 00:45:31,179 Move on from those companies, they're probably not a great place to work. 742 00:45:31,179 --> 00:45:33,505 The other companies that are great places to work you didn't hire for, 743 00:45:33,505 --> 00:45:34,876 they will definitely give you feedback. 744 00:45:34,876 --> 00:45:38,967 They'll let you know, hey, this is what we were missing or we would have liked 745 00:45:38,967 --> 00:45:42,454 to know more about this information but you didn't provide that. 746 00:45:42,454 --> 00:45:47,215 And work on that, use that as an opportunity to grow, not as something 747 00:45:47,215 --> 00:45:52,082 that you should feel bad about or down or a personal attack on yourself. 748 00:45:52,082 --> 00:45:56,047 >> I just wanna go back again and again to this idea of a sales funnel. 749 00:45:56,047 --> 00:46:00,509 So remember that you're gonna put probably something like 100 750 00:46:00,509 --> 00:46:05,618 companies at the top of that funnel, and you're gonna work at one, right. 751 00:46:05,618 --> 00:46:09,330 So we're talking about a 1% success rate. 752 00:46:09,330 --> 00:46:15,332 And so 99 of those companies are gonna say no or not reply. 753 00:46:15,332 --> 00:46:20,190 And you just have to know that, okay, I got 10 noes, great, 754 00:46:20,190 --> 00:46:23,958 so I'm that much closer to getting that one yes. 755 00:46:23,958 --> 00:46:27,767 And like everyone's saying in this panel, it is a part of the game. 756 00:46:27,767 --> 00:46:32,496 And actually, what you can celebrate is getting to the next step, right. 757 00:46:32,496 --> 00:46:36,677 So if you put 500 people in the top left funnel, 5 at each company, and 758 00:46:36,677 --> 00:46:41,273 you get 1 person to accept your LinkedIn connection, celebrate that, right. 759 00:46:41,273 --> 00:46:44,643 That's the thing to say, ooh, okay, that happened, 760 00:46:44,643 --> 00:46:47,381 I moved a little closer to that one job offer. 761 00:46:47,381 --> 00:46:52,111 Versus thinking you're not successful until you get the job offer, right. 762 00:46:52,111 --> 00:46:54,875 So really celebrate that next meeting win and 763 00:46:54,875 --> 00:46:59,312 just know 99 out of 100 companies are gonna say no, and it's okay. 764 00:46:59,312 --> 00:47:05,166 So, and that's not easy to do, right, it's traumatic and hard. 765 00:47:05,166 --> 00:47:09,625 But just knowing that you're marching through this journey as kind of part 766 00:47:09,625 --> 00:47:10,205 of that. 767 00:47:10,205 --> 00:47:11,615 Okay, we got some more great questions. 768 00:47:11,615 --> 00:47:13,443 Gosh, we're gonna run out of time again. 769 00:47:18,244 --> 00:47:23,083 All right, I'm interested in hearing about supportive roles with tech, 770 00:47:23,083 --> 00:47:26,243 like design and UX that are less heavy in coding. 771 00:47:26,243 --> 00:47:27,541 How do you get into those roles? 772 00:47:29,954 --> 00:47:30,903 Any thoughts? 773 00:47:30,903 --> 00:47:32,809 Antonella's smiling. 774 00:47:32,809 --> 00:47:35,540 Go ahead. 775 00:47:35,540 --> 00:47:40,179 >> I have a UX tech degree, that is pretty handy, I'll say. 776 00:47:40,179 --> 00:47:44,975 But I'll find it I think very similar to how you would go 777 00:47:44,975 --> 00:47:48,531 about exploring the role development. 778 00:47:48,531 --> 00:47:52,688 Find people out there who are doing the type of thing that you're interested in 779 00:47:52,688 --> 00:47:54,769 learning about and pick their brains. 780 00:47:54,769 --> 00:47:59,713 They will often be able to guide you to resources and tools and other people 781 00:47:59,713 --> 00:48:04,521 that can kind of help you or open doors for you to get where you need to be. 782 00:48:04,521 --> 00:48:07,352 >> Good call, thank you. 783 00:48:07,352 --> 00:48:11,323 All right, a question from another person. 784 00:48:11,323 --> 00:48:12,891 I'm currently a music teacher, 785 00:48:12,891 --> 00:48:15,468 how much of those skills should I include in my resume? 786 00:48:17,495 --> 00:48:17,995 Grant. 787 00:48:23,159 --> 00:48:27,880 >> I would say you think about as a music teacher 788 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:32,996 your leadership skills, your team building. 789 00:48:32,996 --> 00:48:37,183 Look, there's qualifications to the thought pattern, being able to memorize 790 00:48:37,183 --> 00:48:40,953 music, to be able to read something different in a different language. 791 00:48:40,953 --> 00:48:43,145 I mean music is literally a different language. 792 00:48:43,145 --> 00:48:47,882 Being able to learn that and all these different instruments shows your mental 793 00:48:47,882 --> 00:48:51,702 agility, things like that that will help you as a programmer. 794 00:48:51,702 --> 00:48:54,235 >> I agree, thank you. 795 00:48:54,235 --> 00:48:56,510 >> Actually I'll speak to this as well. 796 00:48:56,510 --> 00:48:58,469 I personally have a background in music but 797 00:48:58,469 --> 00:49:02,337 I've worked with a lot of students in the past who have come from music backgrounds, 798 00:49:02,337 --> 00:49:04,261 and they tend to do really, really well. 799 00:49:04,261 --> 00:49:09,189 I think as Grant kind of mentioned, that there are synergies there that you 800 00:49:09,189 --> 00:49:13,898 can utilize to express, hey, I can pick up new things pretty quickly. 801 00:49:13,898 --> 00:49:16,468 So I would highlight it personally. 802 00:49:18,969 --> 00:49:21,138 >> Go ahead Jeremy. 803 00:49:21,138 --> 00:49:25,391 >> Save that portfolio but maybe not your resume. 804 00:49:25,391 --> 00:49:30,750 When I started to submit my resume to places I was putting my sales 805 00:49:30,750 --> 00:49:36,309 background on here, thinking that it was gonna help me sort of sell 806 00:49:36,309 --> 00:49:41,895 myself in a certain way as far as persistence and things like that. 807 00:49:41,895 --> 00:49:46,001 But a lot of hiring managers simply didn't care about that part of my offering. 808 00:49:46,001 --> 00:49:50,572 But I did have it on my portfolio because that's sort of a more personal intimate 809 00:49:50,572 --> 00:49:51,254 thing, and 810 00:49:51,254 --> 00:49:55,708 I was able to just sort of showcase of a little bit more of my background there. 811 00:49:55,708 --> 00:49:58,330 That's like the only thing that I have to say about that part. 812 00:49:58,330 --> 00:50:01,498 Got it. 813 00:50:01,498 --> 00:50:04,690 What we've been saying over and over again, 814 00:50:04,690 --> 00:50:09,149 whether it's music or gardening or, or dancing or whatever. 815 00:50:09,149 --> 00:50:14,281 If you can use your personal passions to create your experience, 816 00:50:14,281 --> 00:50:20,082 that shows a tremendous amount of productivity, intelligence, grit. 817 00:50:20,082 --> 00:50:22,129 So take whatever it is, if it is music, 818 00:50:22,129 --> 00:50:24,559 figure out how to build a project around that. 819 00:50:24,559 --> 00:50:28,884 I want to build a website for musicians in my local area so we can connect. 820 00:50:28,884 --> 00:50:31,113 And then you're the centre of that community all sudden, 821 00:50:31,113 --> 00:50:33,220 that will separate you instantly from everyone else. 822 00:50:33,220 --> 00:50:36,547 They'll say, my gosh, this person not only built this but 823 00:50:36,547 --> 00:50:38,469 they are the center of a community. 824 00:50:38,469 --> 00:50:43,088 They're proactive, they care about people. 825 00:50:43,088 --> 00:50:48,165 It's a great way to take whatever you're passionate about and make it relevant. 826 00:50:48,165 --> 00:50:53,176 I think a general question it'd be good to hear y'alls perspective on is, do 827 00:50:53,176 --> 00:50:58,743 you need your own personal website, just period, that you're pointing people to. 828 00:50:58,743 --> 00:51:03,631 Tell everyone what you think is kind of the minimum requirement that 829 00:51:03,631 --> 00:51:08,433 you're gonna need as far as what you've got on the web to represent 830 00:51:08,433 --> 00:51:11,198 yourself before you start applying. 831 00:51:11,198 --> 00:51:12,580 We feel strongly about that. 832 00:51:16,923 --> 00:51:17,692 So, Sal. 833 00:51:17,692 --> 00:51:21,246 >> [INAUDIBLE] say I necessarily feel strongly about this, but 834 00:51:21,246 --> 00:51:25,952 I think it definitely helps if you have [INAUDIBLE] one that you built yourself. 835 00:51:25,952 --> 00:51:28,901 I think it is one of those projects that you can say hey, 836 00:51:28,901 --> 00:51:31,161 this is something I built and is working. 837 00:51:31,161 --> 00:51:35,627 How much needs to go into that personal website is different I think, 838 00:51:35,627 --> 00:51:38,554 especially as someone kind of starting off. 839 00:51:38,554 --> 00:51:42,376 You can keep it really simple and kind of look at it like an online resume. 840 00:51:42,376 --> 00:51:47,111 Or you may link to some of your projects out there on GitHub or 841 00:51:47,111 --> 00:51:50,336 somewhere that they're being hosted, 842 00:51:50,336 --> 00:51:56,241 to show off what your code is some capacity, or working demos in some way. 843 00:51:56,241 --> 00:52:01,666 But like I said, I think it's helpful I don't think is a deal breaker but probably 844 00:52:01,666 --> 00:52:06,622 for a lot of hiring managers looks really good for them to be able to say hey, 845 00:52:06,622 --> 00:52:09,603 you built this, this is pretty cool >> Jeremy. 846 00:52:09,603 --> 00:52:15,147 >> I'm a big believer of this, like, everything that you can do, 847 00:52:15,147 --> 00:52:19,059 throw everything and the kitchen sink at it. 848 00:52:19,059 --> 00:52:21,617 So my resume was actually ridiculous. 849 00:52:21,617 --> 00:52:24,846 It had all of our projects I was working on. 850 00:52:24,846 --> 00:52:29,365 It had my daily schedule of how I break out my days. 851 00:52:29,365 --> 00:52:33,187 So like this is like when I'm working on this, this is what I'm working on this, 852 00:52:33,187 --> 00:52:34,825 this is when I'm working on that. 853 00:52:34,825 --> 00:52:41,129 And I even had testimonials on my portfolio. 854 00:52:41,129 --> 00:52:44,373 So I put so much on there cuz I just wanted to just like show a little bit of 855 00:52:44,373 --> 00:52:48,058 this new sort of feeling like I'm a little bit behind the eight ball when it comes 856 00:52:48,058 --> 00:52:49,729 to some of the educational pieces. 857 00:52:49,729 --> 00:52:52,727 But I just put everything there and 858 00:52:52,727 --> 00:52:57,913 I'll let them decide what they were interested in seeing. 859 00:52:57,913 --> 00:52:58,928 >> Great, go ahead, Grant. 860 00:52:58,928 --> 00:53:00,193 Thank you, Jeremy. 861 00:53:04,616 --> 00:53:09,583 >> I would say anything extra you do doesn't hurt, it always helps. 862 00:53:09,583 --> 00:53:12,561 But if you have things that you can show instead of that you have 863 00:53:12,561 --> 00:53:13,603 a strong portfolio. 864 00:53:13,603 --> 00:53:18,055 You have strong, if you're doing front end, strong designs that you've done, 865 00:53:18,055 --> 00:53:19,875 things that work well together. 866 00:53:19,875 --> 00:53:22,975 You can do that in lieu of that, but if you want to do it and [CROSSTALK] 867 00:53:22,975 --> 00:53:24,082 >> Yeah, I agree with that. 868 00:53:24,082 --> 00:53:26,323 I can tell you as someone who's hired a lot of people. 869 00:53:26,323 --> 00:53:31,033 Whenever someone has their own domain, ryancarson.com or whatever it is, and 870 00:53:31,033 --> 00:53:36,023 they've made the effort to showcase who they are, what they're passionate about, 871 00:53:36,023 --> 00:53:37,286 what they've made. 872 00:53:37,286 --> 00:53:40,626 It's always helpful, it's never going to be bad. 873 00:53:40,626 --> 00:53:43,368 I mean I remember site, and 874 00:53:43,368 --> 00:53:48,131 I looked at it before I interviewed her, and it impressed me. 875 00:53:48,131 --> 00:53:52,915 So I think there's a lot to that, that just shows initiative. 876 00:53:52,915 --> 00:53:55,719 So we only have [INAUDIBLE] minutes left, 877 00:53:55,719 --> 00:54:00,097 and there's so many questions so we can't answer all of them. 878 00:54:00,097 --> 00:54:04,710 So I wanna ask each of you to give one final piece of advice. 879 00:54:04,710 --> 00:54:09,349 So what I'd like you to do is focus on what is the one or 880 00:54:09,349 --> 00:54:14,516 two things that are just so important for that getting that 881 00:54:14,516 --> 00:54:19,271 first job in tech without a computer science degree? 882 00:54:19,271 --> 00:54:22,783 You know if someone walks away from this and focuses on one or 883 00:54:22,783 --> 00:54:26,945 two things, what would you really say are the most important things? 884 00:54:26,945 --> 00:54:28,063 Grant, you can start. 885 00:54:32,267 --> 00:54:36,253 >> The one thing that pushed me forward is networking. 886 00:54:36,253 --> 00:54:39,181 I mean, we've been echoing that this entire time. 887 00:54:39,181 --> 00:54:41,868 Build yourself a career support group. 888 00:54:41,868 --> 00:54:43,541 Find people who will mentor you, 889 00:54:43,541 --> 00:54:47,625 find people who will encourage you when you're down and those are hard. 890 00:54:47,625 --> 00:54:50,154 They'll tell you you're still awesome, because you need those words, 891 00:54:50,154 --> 00:54:52,010 you need those people to help you out and bring you up. 892 00:54:52,010 --> 00:54:54,230 Because when you go to your next interview, 893 00:54:54,230 --> 00:54:56,992 you want to go in there with that 100% confidence. 894 00:54:56,992 --> 00:54:59,781 Not the 80% confidence you were left with after that last rejection. 895 00:54:59,781 --> 00:55:03,170 You want people to be able to know that you're doing great. 896 00:55:03,170 --> 00:55:05,937 You want people to know your name before you even get to the interview. 897 00:55:05,937 --> 00:55:09,686 Have those recommendation letters, have people supporting you and 898 00:55:09,686 --> 00:55:11,116 that's gonna be the key. 899 00:55:11,116 --> 00:55:13,229 That was the key for myself to be able to come to Boston. 900 00:55:13,229 --> 00:55:14,804 >> That's awesome, thank you Grant, and Sal? 901 00:55:14,804 --> 00:55:18,559 >> Yes, I think those are great points of advice, Grant. 902 00:55:18,559 --> 00:55:21,771 The things that I think are most important to me what 903 00:55:21,771 --> 00:55:25,807 I've learned in my career as a developer and growing beyond is to 904 00:55:25,807 --> 00:55:29,939 make sure that you are working continuously on your soft skills. 905 00:55:29,939 --> 00:55:35,033 I can't tell you enough how much work you're going to be doing in teams. 906 00:55:35,033 --> 00:55:38,888 Even if you're going to be working sometimes by yourself on certain aspects 907 00:55:38,888 --> 00:55:39,622 of a project. 908 00:55:39,622 --> 00:55:43,969 You'll still be communicating and needing to collaborate with other people. 909 00:55:43,969 --> 00:55:46,069 So it's extremely important to work on soft skills. 910 00:55:46,069 --> 00:55:50,201 The other thing is be very comfortable giving and receiving feedback. 911 00:55:50,201 --> 00:55:53,855 There are so many things that we could learn and grow into. 912 00:55:53,855 --> 00:55:56,479 And I think a lot of times, working with others, 913 00:55:56,479 --> 00:55:58,723 you need to be able to take that feedback. 914 00:55:58,723 --> 00:56:04,642 Sometimes it might not be great, but use that to make yourself better. 915 00:56:04,642 --> 00:56:06,949 >> Thank you Sal, appreciate that. 916 00:56:06,949 --> 00:56:12,166 Jeremy, what are your parting thoughts? 917 00:56:12,166 --> 00:56:16,722 >> [INAUDIBLE] they definitely brought all that [INAUDIBLE] think that I'm 918 00:56:16,722 --> 00:56:17,577 gonna echo. 919 00:56:17,577 --> 00:56:22,924 But the main thing is just to have attention, 920 00:56:22,924 --> 00:56:26,733 passion for what it's saying. 921 00:56:26,733 --> 00:56:31,856 Use my story as an example, I like to see myself as an extremely [INAUDIBLE] 922 00:56:31,856 --> 00:56:36,237 only have a two grade high school education, and that's it. 923 00:56:36,237 --> 00:56:41,732 But I grinded hard, nights, weekends, holidays. 924 00:56:41,732 --> 00:56:46,711 At Thanksgiving, we're watching football but I'm on my computer at the same time. 925 00:56:46,711 --> 00:56:51,616 And if you're all the way in this up to your eyeballs, 926 00:56:51,616 --> 00:56:55,657 there's no way you're not gonna get a job. 927 00:56:55,657 --> 00:56:57,243 Like it's impossible for you. 928 00:56:57,243 --> 00:57:01,161 If you're in the rain you're going to get when you know what I mean? 929 00:57:01,161 --> 00:57:07,146 So make coding an extension of your hands if you really want a job. 930 00:57:07,146 --> 00:57:10,345 And then if you don't have that level of passion, 931 00:57:10,345 --> 00:57:13,936 then it may take a little bit longer to get what you want. 932 00:57:13,936 --> 00:57:19,200 But if you have that passionate like that and it's in your blood, and you're 933 00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:24,473 getting ready to go get it like that, then someone is gonna give you a chance. 934 00:57:24,473 --> 00:57:28,001 And when they give you that chance, you kill it and then make it possible for 935 00:57:28,001 --> 00:57:30,707 the next person that doesn't have the qualifications. 936 00:57:30,707 --> 00:57:31,987 So it's really [INAUDIBLE]. 937 00:57:31,987 --> 00:57:35,872 And that was my responsibility to go into a job knowing that I do not have all these 938 00:57:35,872 --> 00:57:38,890 barriers, but the next person might have some barriers too. 939 00:57:38,890 --> 00:57:42,770 But I have to show up so I can prove to the market that hey, 940 00:57:42,770 --> 00:57:48,152 like we need to take chances on people that don't have traditional degrees. 941 00:57:48,152 --> 00:57:51,289 So those are sort of my thoughts on that. 942 00:57:51,289 --> 00:57:56,775 >> Amen, thank you Jeremy. 943 00:57:56,775 --> 00:57:58,317 Everything Grant and Sal and 944 00:57:58,317 --> 00:58:02,635 Jeremy are saying, those are all very important issues and things to focus on. 945 00:58:02,635 --> 00:58:07,786 And I will say just remember that coding or design is a craft. 946 00:58:07,786 --> 00:58:13,159 Just like learning how to be a carpenter or a florist. 947 00:58:13,159 --> 00:58:15,023 You can learn this skill, right? 948 00:58:15,023 --> 00:58:19,756 The thing that's going to get you the job is approaching 949 00:58:19,756 --> 00:58:24,097 the first job application process like a project. 950 00:58:24,097 --> 00:58:28,761 And you put in 100 companies, you start working on meeting the right 951 00:58:28,761 --> 00:58:33,830 people at those companies, you work on mirroring with them so they like you. 952 00:58:33,830 --> 00:58:39,601 And you build those relationships, and then you apply like a machine. 953 00:58:39,601 --> 00:58:44,336 And you just know that 99 out of 100 are gonna be no. 954 00:58:44,336 --> 00:58:49,320 And it won't be easy, obviously, but if you approach it like a project and 955 00:58:49,320 --> 00:58:53,055 you just don't quit, you're more likely to succeed. 956 00:58:53,055 --> 00:58:58,854 And then once you get that first job, it's so much easier to get your second job. 957 00:58:58,854 --> 00:59:01,522 I mean, then you have experience right, and 958 00:59:01,522 --> 00:59:04,977 then literally computer science doesn't matter at all. 959 00:59:04,977 --> 00:59:09,624 Like I mean it's just laughable, right, after that. 960 00:59:09,624 --> 00:59:13,458 So I think we all just here wanna encourage you, say you can do this. 961 00:59:13,458 --> 00:59:18,231 And we've got a Slack channel now for this festival, 962 00:59:18,231 --> 00:59:23,546 please pop in there and ask for support and encouragement. 963 00:59:23,546 --> 00:59:27,104 Like Grant said that kinda group to encourage you. 964 00:59:27,104 --> 00:59:31,821 But I hope that these three amazing people are examples to you all that you can 965 00:59:31,821 --> 00:59:32,421 do this. 966 00:59:32,421 --> 00:59:38,072 That it absolutely can be done new, you three are all extremely inspiring to me. 967 00:59:38,072 --> 00:59:41,312 And I want to thank you for leading by example. 968 00:59:41,312 --> 00:59:44,953 And I wanna thank you for joining us, so thanks for your time. 969 00:59:44,953 --> 00:59:48,262 It's really good to see you all. 970 00:59:48,262 --> 00:59:52,372 Best wishes everybody, thanks for coming and we will see you for 971 00:59:52,372 --> 00:59:53,981 the festival tomorrow. 972 00:59:53,981 --> 00:59:57,820 Take care everybody.