1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,276 [MUSIC] 2 00:00:07,276 --> 00:00:08,825 All right. 3 00:00:08,825 --> 00:00:10,360 >> Hi. 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,380 Can you hear and see me okay? 5 00:00:12,380 --> 00:00:15,518 >> Actually, Hal, I can hear you just fine, yeah. 6 00:00:15,518 --> 00:00:21,049 And yeah, I'd like to welcome everyone to how to fail the technical interview and 7 00:00:21,049 --> 00:00:22,770 still get the job. 8 00:00:22,770 --> 00:00:26,980 So, I'd like to welcome up this session speaker, Nya Bere. 9 00:00:26,980 --> 00:00:30,804 Nya Bere is a software engineering professional who began coding in 10 00:00:30,804 --> 00:00:32,220 the spring of 2020. 11 00:00:32,220 --> 00:00:36,469 And after obtaining her bachelor's in business administration that year, 12 00:00:36,469 --> 00:00:40,070 she decided to switch course and pursue development. 13 00:00:40,070 --> 00:00:44,831 Now, six months later, Nya received a job offer from Comcast, NBC Universal and 14 00:00:44,831 --> 00:00:49,890 now works to aid others with their transition into software engineering. 15 00:00:49,890 --> 00:00:54,412 Her passion for helping to increase the number of women and people of color in 16 00:00:54,412 --> 00:00:59,300 the tech space drove her to create her YouTube channel the black female engineer. 17 00:00:59,300 --> 00:01:05,970 Here, Nya shares her experience learning, job hunting and other career insights. 18 00:01:05,970 --> 00:01:10,452 When she is not working, Nya enjoys spending time with her two year old baby 19 00:01:10,452 --> 00:01:15,077 brother, whom she describes as the light of her life, and building apps that 20 00:01:15,077 --> 00:01:20,500 she believes are necessary today revolving around social justice and activism. 21 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:21,200 Wonderful. 22 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:22,950 So, everyone please welcome Nya. 23 00:01:24,310 --> 00:01:27,920 >> Hi, everyone, let me share my screen. 24 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,520 Thank you so much for the amazing introduction. 25 00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:33,220 Okay, can you all see this? 26 00:01:33,220 --> 00:01:36,370 I don't know if I can hear somebody else? 27 00:01:36,370 --> 00:01:37,790 Let's see, let me go. 28 00:01:37,790 --> 00:01:39,680 Okay, I think you can see this. 29 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:44,692 So, if you can, but yes, my name is Nya, welcome to how 30 00:01:44,692 --> 00:01:50,110 to fail the technical interview and still get the job. 31 00:01:50,110 --> 00:01:55,330 This is something that, yeah, happened to me specifically. 32 00:01:55,330 --> 00:02:00,050 But, yeah, now I share content on YouTube as the black female engineer. 33 00:02:00,050 --> 00:02:05,170 But as shown that was a very different situation last year for me. 34 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:12,136 So, last year I had just graduated with a dual major in accounting and 35 00:02:12,136 --> 00:02:16,644 finance, that's truly just where I just saw myself being 36 00:02:16,644 --> 00:02:20,860 throughout college, even before college. 37 00:02:20,860 --> 00:02:26,051 I gained career insights and experience at places like Bank of America, 38 00:02:26,051 --> 00:02:30,200 EY, big four and five banks and accounting firms. 39 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,770 And I just constantly did not like it at all. 40 00:02:34,770 --> 00:02:39,531 I always loved the companies and the people I was working with, but 41 00:02:39,531 --> 00:02:42,347 the work, I was like this is not for me. 42 00:02:42,347 --> 00:02:47,416 And so in spring of 2020, the spring I was set to graduate, 43 00:02:47,416 --> 00:02:52,499 that is when, as you all know, the world decided to shut down. 44 00:02:52,499 --> 00:02:57,388 And it became very apparent to me that I was graduating in one of the worst 45 00:02:57,388 --> 00:03:00,240 economic climates we've seen. 46 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,015 And I kind of used that as an excuse to kind of go a different way, 47 00:03:04,015 --> 00:03:06,745 because I was interviewing, I was getting. 48 00:03:06,745 --> 00:03:12,615 Actually, I wasn't getting interviews with the business routes and everything. 49 00:03:12,615 --> 00:03:15,455 Because, yeah, there were just no jobs, people were laying off workers. 50 00:03:15,455 --> 00:03:20,270 And here I am, 22, being like, hey, can I get a job here? 51 00:03:20,270 --> 00:03:21,310 No, you cannot. 52 00:03:21,310 --> 00:03:26,754 So, decided to start learning how to code really just to learn something 53 00:03:26,754 --> 00:03:32,573 during the whole pandemic, not really for the career switch specifically. 54 00:03:32,573 --> 00:03:37,900 But immediately, immediately, immediately, loved it so much. 55 00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:45,970 And I would spend days on days just 4 AM learning and building static sites. 56 00:03:45,970 --> 00:03:49,257 And within a week I was like, okay, we need to make a change, 57 00:03:49,257 --> 00:03:50,815 something needs to happen. 58 00:03:51,855 --> 00:03:53,845 Let's, yeah, let's see how we can do this. 59 00:03:53,845 --> 00:03:58,511 So, I joined a coding boot camp in June of 2020 and 60 00:03:58,511 --> 00:04:01,842 graduated October 2nd of 2020. 61 00:04:01,842 --> 00:04:03,986 And by the end of the month of October, 62 00:04:03,986 --> 00:04:07,883 I signed an offer with Comcast NBC Universal as a software engineer. 63 00:04:07,883 --> 00:04:13,366 And now I just try my best to share my experience, share tips and advice and 64 00:04:13,366 --> 00:04:18,765 insights, and really anything people ask through my YouTube channel, 65 00:04:18,765 --> 00:04:20,906 The Black Female Engineer. 66 00:04:20,906 --> 00:04:26,440 And so let's back it up a little bit and talk about the job hunt. 67 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:30,399 If you all are going to the job hunt right now or you're about to, or 68 00:04:30,399 --> 00:04:32,534 you plan to sometime in the future. 69 00:04:32,534 --> 00:04:37,443 I'm pretty sure you've seen that the consensus is it blows. 70 00:04:37,443 --> 00:04:39,357 It is not fun at all. 71 00:04:39,357 --> 00:04:42,718 And a lot of times it's because of that 72 00:04:42,718 --> 00:04:47,454 technical interview portion with this line of work. 73 00:04:47,454 --> 00:04:51,337 And it's something that when I was going through the job hunt, 74 00:04:51,337 --> 00:04:54,280 I was going through it while still in boot camp. 75 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:58,996 And I was kinda just mindlessly applying left and right, to be completely honest. 76 00:04:58,996 --> 00:05:03,203 I was more playing the numbers game just trying to get it out there. 77 00:05:03,203 --> 00:05:07,968 And then I stumbled upon what for me was just my dream job, 78 00:05:07,968 --> 00:05:14,038 truly just a focus on training, and teamwork, and actual innovation. 79 00:05:14,038 --> 00:05:18,187 And I just stopped everything and was like, okay, come hell or 80 00:05:18,187 --> 00:05:21,648 high water, we are gonna make this happen somehow. 81 00:05:21,648 --> 00:05:26,530 And so started really applying myself with the studying for algorithms and 82 00:05:26,530 --> 00:05:30,262 understanding time-space complexity and all of this. 83 00:05:30,262 --> 00:05:34,457 Because if you remember just four months ago, I graduated with finance and 84 00:05:34,457 --> 00:05:35,264 accounting. 85 00:05:35,264 --> 00:05:40,419 So, it really was a quick turnaround of having to learn all these things so 86 00:05:40,419 --> 00:05:41,763 I can get that job. 87 00:05:41,763 --> 00:05:47,250 And I shockingly for me, just because when something is so big to you, 88 00:05:47,250 --> 00:05:52,760 you kind of, I don't know, discourage yourself a little bit. 89 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,907 And, yeah, shockingly to me, I got a first round interview and 90 00:05:55,907 --> 00:05:59,980 then got a second round interview and then got a third round interview. 91 00:05:59,980 --> 00:06:03,370 And the third round was the last and final round. 92 00:06:03,370 --> 00:06:09,134 And that was where I was going to be in that technical space, in the, 93 00:06:09,134 --> 00:06:15,090 yeah, technical interviewing, and I was scared beyond words. 94 00:06:15,090 --> 00:06:19,718 And I was just like, you know what, this is the job, this is what I have to do, 95 00:06:19,718 --> 00:06:20,663 let's get it. 96 00:06:20,663 --> 00:06:23,617 I'm sorry if you hear just like a helicopter flying by. 97 00:06:23,617 --> 00:06:27,070 [LAUGH] But yes, it was time for the technical interview. 98 00:06:27,070 --> 00:06:32,086 And I, long story short, got a zero out of 70 on my 99 00:06:32,086 --> 00:06:39,300 technical interview in terms of the score I got for my solution. 100 00:06:39,300 --> 00:06:44,256 HackerRank looks for very specific things in terms of how to score and 101 00:06:44,256 --> 00:06:47,230 all of that, and for them, I failed. 102 00:06:47,230 --> 00:06:51,911 I got a zero out of 70, and so I saw this score and I just, 103 00:06:51,911 --> 00:06:56,070 I was like, shoot, honestly I can leave now. 104 00:06:56,070 --> 00:06:58,628 Don't even bother talking to me. 105 00:06:58,628 --> 00:07:00,684 I'll go, I know where the door is. 106 00:07:00,684 --> 00:07:04,114 But because of how I went through the problem and 107 00:07:04,114 --> 00:07:09,086 showed them how I can problem solve and how I think, I ended up getting 108 00:07:09,086 --> 00:07:14,006 the job offer literally 20 minutes after the interview was over. 109 00:07:14,006 --> 00:07:17,405 Which is something that, yeah, you can see me smiling. 110 00:07:17,405 --> 00:07:20,457 Something that I could have never imagined, and 111 00:07:20,457 --> 00:07:23,220 it really was the best day of my life. 112 00:07:23,220 --> 00:07:26,869 And so when I looked back into, yeah, 113 00:07:26,869 --> 00:07:32,400 I got the score and yet I got this amazing offer. 114 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,690 There's a disconnect here. 115 00:07:34,690 --> 00:07:39,104 And so I looked back and realized really 116 00:07:39,104 --> 00:07:44,468 pinpointed what I did and even elicited there. 117 00:07:44,468 --> 00:07:48,129 Really, it came down to how I broke down the problem, not only in thought, but 118 00:07:48,129 --> 00:07:50,138 in procedure and a couple of other things. 119 00:07:50,138 --> 00:07:52,510 And so let's get into them. 120 00:07:54,860 --> 00:07:56,333 Do these four things. 121 00:07:56,333 --> 00:08:00,087 One, breaking down the problem, inspecting your inputs. 122 00:08:00,087 --> 00:08:04,412 Two, maintaining efficient and proper coding procedure. 123 00:08:04,412 --> 00:08:07,942 Three, if there is a roadblock, go around it. 124 00:08:07,942 --> 00:08:12,320 And four, keep the company's goals in mind. 125 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,528 Now, we're gonna go through all of these one by one. 126 00:08:15,528 --> 00:08:20,757 But I am sure, especially if you are going through the technical interview right now, 127 00:08:20,757 --> 00:08:24,940 you've received tons and tons of advice and tips and everything. 128 00:08:24,940 --> 00:08:26,227 And I'm not saying abandon those. 129 00:08:26,227 --> 00:08:30,375 Those are all, most of them, great tips and things to follow. 130 00:08:30,375 --> 00:08:34,907 But I realized these are things I did that no one really talked about, 131 00:08:34,907 --> 00:08:36,870 maybe except for number two. 132 00:08:36,870 --> 00:08:40,758 But yeah, other than that, no one really talked about until 133 00:08:40,758 --> 00:08:45,350 I got the feedback that that was really what made the decision for them. 134 00:08:45,350 --> 00:08:49,600 And so to go into this, I'm actually going to provide you all with a little problem. 135 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,323 We're not gonna go too deep in solving it, so don't worry. 136 00:08:53,323 --> 00:08:55,376 But let's look at this problem. 137 00:08:55,376 --> 00:08:57,021 At Treehouse Theme Park, 138 00:08:57,021 --> 00:09:01,508 visitors want to maximize the time they can spend enjoying the rides and 139 00:09:01,508 --> 00:09:07,200 activities in the park, while minimizing the time they spend waiting in line. 140 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,495 We would like your help implementing a feature to help park 141 00:09:10,495 --> 00:09:13,801 goers tailor their Treehouse experience to their needs. 142 00:09:13,801 --> 00:09:17,860 We want to calculate current wait time for each ride in the park. 143 00:09:17,860 --> 00:09:22,650 This will help park visitors decide which rides to enjoy. 144 00:09:22,650 --> 00:09:25,630 So, pretty simple and everything. 145 00:09:25,630 --> 00:09:28,952 But if you've seen any of these problems before, 146 00:09:28,952 --> 00:09:33,711 you know that typically there's an overarching goal that they state. 147 00:09:33,711 --> 00:09:37,990 And then it really goes into specifics, which really is where the trouble happens. 148 00:09:37,990 --> 00:09:39,800 So, let's do that. 149 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,867 So, you are given first the number of rides, 150 00:09:43,867 --> 00:09:47,860 array of strings representing rides. 151 00:09:47,860 --> 00:09:50,920 Each string includes the ride's title, the ride's type, 152 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,380 like a coaster, simulator, water ride, etc. 153 00:09:54,500 --> 00:10:00,130 Ride length in minutes, number of seats, and current number of people in line. 154 00:10:00,130 --> 00:10:05,510 So, an example would be a string of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. 155 00:10:05,510 --> 00:10:09,950 Comma, simulator, the right type, 4, the right length and minutes, 20, 156 00:10:09,950 --> 00:10:12,714 number of seats, 30, current people in line. 157 00:10:12,714 --> 00:10:15,000 And that is one string. 158 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:19,817 And we get this in an array of a bunch of these different strings. 159 00:10:19,817 --> 00:10:24,600 So, imagine an array of 30 of these exact different strings. 160 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:30,829 So it comes down to two parts, the calculations and the sorting. 161 00:10:30,829 --> 00:10:32,726 So on the calculation side, 162 00:10:32,726 --> 00:10:36,681 you need to complete the function getWaitTimeEstimates, 163 00:10:36,681 --> 00:10:41,810 which will organize the rides based on their ride type and wait times. 164 00:10:41,810 --> 00:10:46,049 Then, you need to calculate the estimated waiting time for 165 00:10:46,049 --> 00:10:48,607 each ride using the given formula. 166 00:10:48,607 --> 00:10:52,670 So okay, simple enough, this calculations, like okay, we got it. 167 00:10:52,670 --> 00:10:56,981 Then there's the sorting, which really is where the cantor words comes in. 168 00:10:56,981 --> 00:11:01,060 But first, you need to sort the rides in alphabetical order by ride type. 169 00:11:02,180 --> 00:11:03,944 Within each ride type, 170 00:11:03,944 --> 00:11:08,713 sort rides by estimated waiting time from shortest to longest. 171 00:11:08,713 --> 00:11:11,872 For rides with the same right type and wait time, 172 00:11:11,872 --> 00:11:15,190 sort them in alphabetical order by title. 173 00:11:15,190 --> 00:11:19,481 Print the sorted list of rides with each ride's title, ride type, and 174 00:11:19,481 --> 00:11:21,066 estimated waiting time. 175 00:11:21,066 --> 00:11:23,540 Now, we're not gonna go into this. 176 00:11:23,540 --> 00:11:25,244 We're not going to try to solve this. 177 00:11:25,244 --> 00:11:31,450 But this is just an example of what you could see in a technical interview round. 178 00:11:31,450 --> 00:11:36,149 And here, we'll practice the things I listed before. 179 00:11:36,149 --> 00:11:42,870 So if you remember, number one was break down the problem, inspect your inputs. 180 00:11:42,870 --> 00:11:49,305 This is something that really will show your interviewer that you understand 181 00:11:49,305 --> 00:11:55,249 the need for things to be presented in the most efficient way possible. 182 00:11:55,249 --> 00:11:58,079 And the reason this specific point is so 183 00:11:58,079 --> 00:12:02,450 important is because in technical interviews, it is so, so 184 00:12:02,450 --> 00:12:07,165 easy to just jump right in and try your best to solve this problem, 185 00:12:07,165 --> 00:12:12,052 especially when you see this ticking time bomb, that is the clock, 186 00:12:12,052 --> 00:12:16,804 staring at you, and trying your best to just get as far as you can. 187 00:12:16,804 --> 00:12:20,930 However, with this, we're taking a step back and we're looking at our inputs. 188 00:12:20,930 --> 00:12:23,877 So if we go back here, our input is this right here, 189 00:12:23,877 --> 00:12:27,734 the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Simulator,4,20,30. 190 00:12:27,734 --> 00:12:32,299 This right away, you can tell, is not the most proper 191 00:12:32,299 --> 00:12:37,169 way to present any type of variable or elements or input, 192 00:12:37,169 --> 00:12:43,164 because really right here, we have three sets of numbers in a string. 193 00:12:43,164 --> 00:12:47,488 That's going to be really hard to use in terms of calculating things like wait time 194 00:12:47,488 --> 00:12:48,373 and all of that. 195 00:12:48,373 --> 00:12:52,302 So right away, you can tell that, okay, something needs to happen here. 196 00:12:52,302 --> 00:12:55,230 Then we see that there's just different information. 197 00:12:55,230 --> 00:12:59,050 And when we look at the sorting, we're gonna have to sort by type and name and 198 00:12:59,050 --> 00:13:00,135 all of these things. 199 00:13:00,135 --> 00:13:04,120 And to do that, you kinda need to be able to have these things broken up. 200 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:08,737 So by inspecting your inputs, you could right away before you even, 201 00:13:08,737 --> 00:13:12,239 I know it's not even part of the problem itself, but 202 00:13:12,239 --> 00:13:17,992 take a second to say to your interviewer, you know what, I appreciate this problem. 203 00:13:17,992 --> 00:13:20,040 But before I even get to the solution, 204 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:24,264 I understand that this is not the most efficient way for me to get these inputs, 205 00:13:24,264 --> 00:13:27,029 because, how can I calculate with these numbers? 206 00:13:27,029 --> 00:13:31,820 How can I organize and sort when all of these are in one string? 207 00:13:31,820 --> 00:13:36,584 So by doing a simple formula, I'm not gonna go too deep into it, but 208 00:13:36,584 --> 00:13:42,104 doing a simple formula called makeArray, this isn't JavaScript by the way, 209 00:13:42,104 --> 00:13:46,557 makeArray(rideString) which is a string that we get first. 210 00:13:46,557 --> 00:13:51,563 And then making it so that each number is actually recognized as a number, 211 00:13:51,563 --> 00:13:53,270 not a part of the string. 212 00:13:53,270 --> 00:13:56,584 And so that's where this comes in, the parseInt, parse integer. 213 00:13:56,584 --> 00:14:01,070 And so the output ends up being, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, 214 00:14:01,070 --> 00:14:05,894 in its own string, comma Simulator in its own string, and then 4, 215 00:14:05,894 --> 00:14:08,619 20, 30 represented as numbers. 216 00:14:08,619 --> 00:14:13,188 And so what ends up being, because this is just one of the strings, but 217 00:14:13,188 --> 00:14:18,300 in a real world situation, we'd have, let's say, 100 of these, what it 218 00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:23,830 ends up being is an array of arrays or an array of all of these different things. 219 00:14:23,830 --> 00:14:26,619 And this right away just shows the interviewer like, okay, 220 00:14:26,619 --> 00:14:29,517 this is a type of employer that even in high stress situations, 221 00:14:29,517 --> 00:14:31,933 they understand when something's not right here. 222 00:14:31,933 --> 00:14:37,797 And It's so easy to come into interviews with a mindset of, 223 00:14:37,797 --> 00:14:45,092 I need to finish, I need to get the answer, erase that completely [LAUGH]. 224 00:14:45,092 --> 00:14:49,082 And instead, come into these interviews with a mindset of, 225 00:14:49,082 --> 00:14:52,222 let me show them the type of employee I would be. 226 00:14:52,222 --> 00:14:55,880 Let me show them the type of developer, the type of teammate, I would be. 227 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,867 And I'm going to be saying this a lot of times, so that it really sticks with you. 228 00:15:00,867 --> 00:15:04,775 But yes, showing them that even in high stress situations, I can stop, 229 00:15:04,775 --> 00:15:09,004 I can wait a second and say, something's not right here, and make things just 230 00:15:09,004 --> 00:15:13,490 the easiest to work with, because coding can be hard enough, we don't really need 231 00:15:13,490 --> 00:15:17,780 to make it that much harder by working with things in this type of manner. 232 00:15:17,780 --> 00:15:20,073 So yeah, then increase this output. 233 00:15:20,073 --> 00:15:23,827 So now, we can get into the problem. 234 00:15:23,827 --> 00:15:28,290 So number two, maintain efficient and proper coding procedure. 235 00:15:28,290 --> 00:15:31,271 Again, we're showing them the type of developer we are. 236 00:15:31,271 --> 00:15:36,650 Even in high stress situations, we wanna make sure our code is easy to follow. 237 00:15:36,650 --> 00:15:41,280 And one way to do that if we look here, with our calculate wait time equation, 238 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,986 being able to make sure that your variables are descriptive, 239 00:15:44,986 --> 00:15:49,759 being able to break things up and not have a single, because wait time here could 240 00:15:49,759 --> 00:15:53,605 have been calculated in a single by saying, by the way, 4, and 241 00:15:53,605 --> 00:15:58,630 by the way 3 and 2, and calculating all together and Math, floor and all of that. 242 00:15:58,630 --> 00:16:02,829 But by breaking things up like this and naming things this way and 243 00:16:02,829 --> 00:16:07,028 making sure that your functions are just a couple of lines long, 244 00:16:07,028 --> 00:16:12,002 it makes it so that even if you showed your mom, your father, your brother, 245 00:16:12,002 --> 00:16:17,110 this equation, they could probably get the gist of what you're doing here. 246 00:16:17,110 --> 00:16:20,924 They may not understand the code behind it, but they can understand what you're 247 00:16:20,924 --> 00:16:25,020 doing, like, you're getting the lineLength, and now you're getting seats, 248 00:16:25,020 --> 00:16:28,940 and now duration, and now you're using these things to get your wait time. 249 00:16:28,940 --> 00:16:33,311 And so that's a really easy test, making sure that you 250 00:16:33,311 --> 00:16:38,539 are maintaining that proper procedure, is by asking yourself, 251 00:16:38,539 --> 00:16:43,673 could someone see this even without a computer science degree or 252 00:16:43,673 --> 00:16:48,160 anything and get the gist of what I'm trying to do here? 253 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,058 And so in high stress situations, again, it's so easy to just say, 254 00:16:52,058 --> 00:16:54,289 I'm just trying to solve the problem. 255 00:16:54,289 --> 00:16:58,743 But no, let's show them that we are a person who understands the importance of 256 00:16:58,743 --> 00:17:02,524 keeping things simple, because in the actual work environment, 257 00:17:02,524 --> 00:17:06,032 odds are you are not the first to get this type of assignment and 258 00:17:06,032 --> 00:17:07,948 it's not going to stop with you. 259 00:17:07,948 --> 00:17:09,101 You're going to hand it off to someone. 260 00:17:09,101 --> 00:17:12,838 You're going to hand it off to maybe even people not even part 261 00:17:12,838 --> 00:17:17,178 of the engineering team, and now they have no idea what you have here. 262 00:17:17,178 --> 00:17:20,324 And so, we don't wanna be the person that make things harder for 263 00:17:20,324 --> 00:17:22,315 everyone else even if we got the answer. 264 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:29,646 Then number three, if there's a roadblock, go around it. 265 00:17:29,646 --> 00:17:34,110 With technical interviews, we're trying to show them our skill sets. 266 00:17:34,110 --> 00:17:38,327 We're trying to show them how we problem solve, how we go about fixing problems. 267 00:17:38,327 --> 00:17:42,993 But we can't really do that if we spend ten minutes stuck on 268 00:17:42,993 --> 00:17:46,802 a specific calculation or anything like that, 269 00:17:46,802 --> 00:17:51,469 because now all those ten minutes that we could have used to 270 00:17:51,469 --> 00:17:56,253 backup additional points is used on this one little thing. 271 00:17:56,253 --> 00:17:57,680 And that's not good. 272 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,393 So if there's a roadblock, go around it. 273 00:18:00,393 --> 00:18:04,255 Let's say we did not have the calculation for wait time. 274 00:18:04,255 --> 00:18:05,859 Let's say they did not give it to us. 275 00:18:05,859 --> 00:18:08,153 In this specific problem, it was actually given. 276 00:18:08,153 --> 00:18:12,415 I don't think I gave it in this specific deck, but it was given. 277 00:18:12,415 --> 00:18:17,823 But yeah, let's say they didn't give us wait time, and let's say in the stress of 278 00:18:17,823 --> 00:18:23,092 what we're in right now, the calculation, we just forgot seventh grade math. 279 00:18:23,092 --> 00:18:26,350 Seventh grade algebra has escaped us, let's figure it out. 280 00:18:26,350 --> 00:18:30,501 One thing you can do after spending, let's say, two minutes trying to remember 281 00:18:30,501 --> 00:18:33,186 what we typed was, you can end up putting commas in, 282 00:18:33,186 --> 00:18:37,214 okay, due to lack of the formula for wait time, I will generate a random number 283 00:18:37,214 --> 00:18:40,110 between one and ten to act as the wait time for visitors. 284 00:18:40,110 --> 00:18:43,736 Because this is something that we can't really skip because 285 00:18:43,736 --> 00:18:47,512 it is going to affect the rest of the problem if you remember it. 286 00:18:47,512 --> 00:18:50,740 We're going to be sorting by wait time in x, y, and z, 287 00:18:50,740 --> 00:18:53,564 so we need to have this, we can't just move on. 288 00:18:53,564 --> 00:18:57,425 So being able to say, you know what, I'm gonna create a random number generator, 289 00:18:57,425 --> 00:19:00,567 and this will serve as wait time, because the thing is, on the job, 290 00:19:00,567 --> 00:19:02,920 you could have easily just looked this up. 291 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,714 There's Google, and many developers, not even many, 292 00:19:06,714 --> 00:19:10,903 everyone googles and looks things up and reads and all of this, 293 00:19:10,903 --> 00:19:16,595 to find the answers they're looking for, because it's not all about what you know, 294 00:19:16,595 --> 00:19:21,682 it's about how you can find the answer, that's really what the wait is on. 295 00:19:21,682 --> 00:19:26,563 And so, yeah, saying, you know what, let wait time be this random number between 296 00:19:26,563 --> 00:19:30,720 one and ten, and return that number, and that is what we will use. 297 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,500 So, of course, not every time you have a roadblock, 298 00:19:34,500 --> 00:19:38,196 it can be solved with a random number generator, but 299 00:19:38,196 --> 00:19:42,485 take a second to think how you could just kind of go around it. 300 00:19:42,485 --> 00:19:45,983 And then if you do have time at the end, you can go back and 301 00:19:45,983 --> 00:19:47,702 [INAUDIBLE] all over again. 302 00:19:47,702 --> 00:19:52,534 But we're really trying to get as many points from all these different places as 303 00:19:52,534 --> 00:19:55,430 possible to show them all of our capabilities. 304 00:19:56,820 --> 00:20:03,533 And then number four, keep the company's goals and objective in mind. 305 00:20:03,533 --> 00:20:08,068 With technical interviews, and I think this is something that I didn't realize 306 00:20:08,068 --> 00:20:11,535 until I was actually at interviews, because with hackers and 307 00:20:11,535 --> 00:20:15,850 with leak codes and everything, there To random problems you get. 308 00:20:15,850 --> 00:20:21,179 But with technical interviews, a lot of times they are giving you this problem 309 00:20:21,179 --> 00:20:26,428 based on the specific work that team does, based on the specific objective of 310 00:20:26,428 --> 00:20:32,650 the company, or based on specifically what they would give to you when you get there. 311 00:20:32,650 --> 00:20:37,738 And so show that you understand that because we are more than just coders and 312 00:20:37,738 --> 00:20:43,690 programmers, we're people, we are developers we're trying to problem solve. 313 00:20:43,690 --> 00:20:47,346 And so show them that you understand there's more to this than just 314 00:20:47,346 --> 00:20:48,870 getting the answers. 315 00:20:48,870 --> 00:20:50,920 And so I'm gonna share two ways to do this. 316 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,219 So we got the problem we see that it's, yeah, calculate wait times so 317 00:20:56,219 --> 00:20:59,590 that the park runs efficiently and all of this, right? 318 00:20:59,590 --> 00:21:04,302 When you finish reading the problem and the requirements, saying out loud to 319 00:21:04,302 --> 00:21:09,100 your interviewer saying, wow, this is actually a really exciting problem. 320 00:21:09,100 --> 00:21:13,828 Especially given the times right now with COVID and the pandemic wanting to 321 00:21:13,828 --> 00:21:18,483 make sure that things would run as smoothly as possible to decrease chance 322 00:21:18,483 --> 00:21:23,235 transmission rates and decrease possibilities of exposure and illness. 323 00:21:23,235 --> 00:21:27,240 And making sure that people are having fun but also everyone is staying safe or 324 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:28,360 as safe as possible. 325 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:30,260 So I'm really excited to get into this. 326 00:21:30,260 --> 00:21:33,860 And then you go into inspecting your inputs number one. 327 00:21:33,860 --> 00:21:38,308 And so being able to just take a second and show I am a person, I am a person who 328 00:21:38,308 --> 00:21:43,560 understands why you're giving this to me and understands why this is important. 329 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,437 And then if you don't say it in the beginning because of stress you 330 00:21:48,437 --> 00:21:52,175 can even say it in the end or say it again in the end. 331 00:21:52,175 --> 00:21:56,638 And say it in a way of okay, so now that we got the solution or 332 00:21:56,638 --> 00:22:01,562 now that we're done with this problem, one thing I would like to 333 00:22:01,562 --> 00:22:06,030 see is how the operations teams deals with these numbers, 334 00:22:06,030 --> 00:22:09,433 deals with wait time and this list of rides. 335 00:22:09,433 --> 00:22:13,514 Shortest to longest wait time every month, every quarter, every year and 336 00:22:13,514 --> 00:22:18,077 sees how to best restructure their theme parks and their operations based on this. 337 00:22:18,077 --> 00:22:22,107 That's something I would be interested into keeping up with if I were a part of 338 00:22:22,107 --> 00:22:24,210 this organization. 339 00:22:24,210 --> 00:22:26,110 Boom, like pretty simple, right? 340 00:22:26,110 --> 00:22:29,626 It's just a one to two sentence showcase of you 341 00:22:29,626 --> 00:22:32,970 understand that it doesn't stop with you. 342 00:22:32,970 --> 00:22:37,545 And I think that's something that can sometimes take a second to realize or 343 00:22:37,545 --> 00:22:42,121 even until you're actually at work to realize that you're developing and 344 00:22:42,121 --> 00:22:44,100 you're completing projects. 345 00:22:44,100 --> 00:22:49,068 That's great, but you're not going to complete this assignment and then we're 346 00:22:49,068 --> 00:22:53,820 going to make you a whole campaign based off with it or make it live right away. 347 00:22:53,820 --> 00:22:54,950 It goes to someone else. 348 00:22:54,950 --> 00:22:57,293 It goes to either another developer but 349 00:22:57,293 --> 00:23:02,050 it also goes to whole other teams marketing teams, operations, accounting, 350 00:23:02,050 --> 00:23:06,239 trying to see what rides are worth the money and which ones aren't, or 351 00:23:06,239 --> 00:23:11,030 which ones needs to be replicated because the wait times are so long, etc. 352 00:23:11,030 --> 00:23:14,540 So being able to show that, no, I am a team person. 353 00:23:14,540 --> 00:23:19,238 Yes, it says on my resume but let me also show you this by showing that I 354 00:23:19,238 --> 00:23:22,883 understand that I am just a piece of this whole goal and 355 00:23:22,883 --> 00:23:28,310 I will do what it takes to make sure that this company achieves those goals. 356 00:23:28,310 --> 00:23:30,890 So that's yes, number four. 357 00:23:30,890 --> 00:23:35,250 And bonus, if you have the time, refactor. 358 00:23:35,250 --> 00:23:40,259 After you finish going through your solution even if you did not complete it, 359 00:23:40,259 --> 00:23:41,722 even if you did, ask, 360 00:23:41,722 --> 00:23:46,903 can I get a like about three minutes to look back at my solution and just improve? 361 00:23:46,903 --> 00:23:48,530 And go back to your code, 362 00:23:48,530 --> 00:23:52,480 see if you did name things the way you'd like it to be named. 363 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:58,172 See if you have functions that are just so long that you need to break them up and 364 00:23:58,172 --> 00:24:03,530 take a second to refactor, but also make sure you're expressing this. 365 00:24:03,530 --> 00:24:07,762 Make sure that you say, actually looking back I see 366 00:24:07,762 --> 00:24:12,354 that I could have used this type of function instead of this, 367 00:24:12,354 --> 00:24:17,330 just trying to figure out how to make things better for everyone. 368 00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:21,418 And so that's a great way to again show the type of developer you are, 369 00:24:21,418 --> 00:24:23,565 show the type of teammate you are. 370 00:24:23,565 --> 00:24:27,989 You're a person who you want to make sure you provide the best 371 00:24:27,989 --> 00:24:30,010 quality work possible. 372 00:24:30,010 --> 00:24:32,859 It's not enough for you that you've got it right, 373 00:24:32,859 --> 00:24:35,750 it's the manner in which it's presented. 374 00:24:35,750 --> 00:24:37,840 But again, it's a bonus. 375 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,763 Sometimes you don't have the time, even if you ask them for more time, 376 00:24:40,763 --> 00:24:42,210 there's tight schedule, etc. 377 00:24:42,210 --> 00:24:44,773 But see if you can. 378 00:24:44,773 --> 00:24:46,436 Now, I know that was a lot. 379 00:24:46,436 --> 00:24:51,340 [LAUGH] I know that was so much and so do you have any questions? 380 00:24:51,340 --> 00:24:54,570 I'll stop sharing because I can't really see you all. 381 00:24:54,570 --> 00:24:58,673 Well, so if I've been talking to myself, I'll find out now, but 382 00:24:58,673 --> 00:25:02,120 I'll stop sharing and see if there are any questions. 383 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:05,200 I think there's a Q&A portion here. 384 00:25:06,974 --> 00:25:07,911 Let's see. 385 00:25:12,229 --> 00:25:16,662 How did you know you're ready for- wait, that was three days ago. 386 00:25:18,904 --> 00:25:20,750 Are there any questions? 387 00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:24,840 I don't know if moderators can tell me? 388 00:25:33,049 --> 00:25:41,114 Let's see Yeah, all of these are a day ago, the ones I see. 389 00:25:45,035 --> 00:25:45,816 Hey. 390 00:25:51,230 --> 00:25:51,930 Let's see. 391 00:25:53,060 --> 00:25:57,310 I'm going to add a moderator here. 392 00:25:57,310 --> 00:26:06,464 Let's see what happens Nothing. 393 00:26:11,248 --> 00:26:12,225 Okay. 394 00:26:16,613 --> 00:26:20,833 Let's see, can someone, let's see. 395 00:26:23,834 --> 00:26:24,660 Okay, let's see. 396 00:26:26,710 --> 00:26:27,512 No. 397 00:26:33,390 --> 00:26:38,620 Someone has a question or a chat to put in. 398 00:26:38,620 --> 00:26:41,851 There should be a Q&A question you can put that in. 399 00:26:47,412 --> 00:26:55,989 Let's see I see there's a session chat. 400 00:26:55,989 --> 00:26:58,014 Okay, thank you, Liz. 401 00:26:58,014 --> 00:26:59,663 [LAUGH] Okay. 402 00:27:05,073 --> 00:27:09,880 I was going to Q&A, okay, is it bad? 403 00:27:12,020 --> 00:27:13,540 Get it to work. 404 00:27:13,540 --> 00:27:18,510 Is it bad to try a naive implementation first, or 405 00:27:18,510 --> 00:27:24,470 try to work in more advanced functions for a challenge? 406 00:27:24,470 --> 00:27:31,037 It's not bad, the thing is, if you try an advanced function and 407 00:27:31,037 --> 00:27:37,375 then you can't live up to it or you can't really complete it. 408 00:27:37,375 --> 00:27:41,951 Then that doesn't look great if there was a naive implementation that you could have 409 00:27:41,951 --> 00:27:44,600 done and all of this would have been fixed. 410 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:52,200 And so, my own experience is to go straight quickfire answer. 411 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,179 Show that you do not want to over-complicate things. 412 00:27:55,179 --> 00:27:58,082 That's not really, and correct me if I'm wrong, 413 00:27:58,082 --> 00:28:01,737 I'm sure there's different people with different opinions. 414 00:28:01,737 --> 00:28:05,201 But to me that's not really impressive that you over-complicated 415 00:28:05,201 --> 00:28:09,640 something that could have been very easily achieved by doing x, y, and z. 416 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:14,799 And so go for the naive and then in the refactoring portion then say 417 00:28:14,799 --> 00:28:19,550 I could have also done x, y, and z and go into that solution. 418 00:28:19,550 --> 00:28:24,034 But also you also wanna be careful because then we can't complete 419 00:28:24,034 --> 00:28:28,763 that solution then that's kind of what the interviewer is stuck on, 420 00:28:28,763 --> 00:28:32,970 what he leaves with in terms of their impression of you. 421 00:28:32,970 --> 00:28:34,320 So just be careful. 422 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,350 I say if there's a quick answer, if there's an easy answer, go for it and 423 00:28:38,350 --> 00:28:39,725 don't look back [LAUGH]. 424 00:28:39,725 --> 00:28:43,745 What are your favorite resources for practicing coding challenges? 425 00:28:43,745 --> 00:28:45,655 My favorite was LeetCode. 426 00:28:45,655 --> 00:28:50,493 I really liked LeetCode because I have tried a lot of different resources but 427 00:28:50,493 --> 00:28:55,190 a lot of them If I didn't know the answer, there was no way for me to get it. 428 00:28:55,190 --> 00:28:58,680 I would have to pay to see the answer or things like that. 429 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,564 But LeetCode I think is extremely simple with being able to sort problems 430 00:29:03,564 --> 00:29:06,860 by easiest to hardest and also being able to see. 431 00:29:06,860 --> 00:29:11,310 Even if you solve the problem, see this discussion portion of, okay, so I stopped 432 00:29:11,310 --> 00:29:15,634 it like this, but there's hundreds of other people who solved it like this, and 433 00:29:15,634 --> 00:29:17,770 being able to learn from one another. 434 00:29:17,770 --> 00:29:21,620 And so when I didn't solve the problems or when I just couldn't, 435 00:29:21,620 --> 00:29:25,865 I would still go to that discussion to understand how it was solved. 436 00:29:25,865 --> 00:29:29,203 But when I did, I would still go to see how I could have been better. 437 00:29:29,203 --> 00:29:32,605 And so I loved LeetCode for that because that was completely free. 438 00:29:32,605 --> 00:29:36,380 They of course have portions where you can pay but 439 00:29:36,380 --> 00:29:40,815 you can really get a lot out of it by just the free version. 440 00:29:44,170 --> 00:29:45,372 What's your YouTube channel? 441 00:29:45,372 --> 00:29:47,590 It's called The BlackFemale Engineer. 442 00:29:49,540 --> 00:29:55,660 It's like that and then space BlackFemale as one word and then engineer. 443 00:29:55,660 --> 00:29:58,830 And so, it's pretty easy to find. 444 00:29:58,830 --> 00:30:03,565 I share my journey I share more about coding boot camps, 445 00:30:03,565 --> 00:30:08,826 specifically in the quick turnaround and also job hunt tips. 446 00:30:08,826 --> 00:30:11,933 Not just technical interview but getting even an interview and 447 00:30:11,933 --> 00:30:14,310 how your resume should look and things like that. 448 00:30:14,310 --> 00:30:20,138 So go check it out if you'd like more insight. 449 00:30:20,138 --> 00:30:24,059 Then when it comes to getting your first interviews, is it more 450 00:30:24,059 --> 00:30:29,560 important to build personal projects versus more algos and data structures? 451 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:34,950 So, personal projects are important for getting the interview. 452 00:30:34,950 --> 00:30:40,121 Then when you get the interview, start practicing algorithms and data structures. 453 00:30:40,121 --> 00:30:45,053 Because personal projects they're how companies vet you, 454 00:30:45,053 --> 00:30:48,910 I didn't have a computer science degree. 455 00:30:48,910 --> 00:30:52,191 And so especially being able to see okay, 456 00:30:52,191 --> 00:30:58,213 this person didn't take the traditional track but are they still skilled? 457 00:30:58,213 --> 00:31:00,704 Isn't that's where the personal projects really come in? 458 00:31:00,704 --> 00:31:05,010 And so yeah, it's not really a question of either or it's more when? 459 00:31:05,010 --> 00:31:09,204 So first focus on personal projects and then when you start getting interviews, 460 00:31:09,204 --> 00:31:12,173 start practicing with algorithms and data structures. 461 00:31:12,173 --> 00:31:16,616 Because that's also a good way of seeing if your personal projects are up to 462 00:31:16,616 --> 00:31:19,942 par with what people want, what companies want to see. 463 00:31:19,942 --> 00:31:23,807 Or you start seeing you're getting interviews, 464 00:31:23,807 --> 00:31:28,499 it's a good indicator of okay, so I think I can call it a day, 465 00:31:28,499 --> 00:31:33,757 I can pause on the development and all of that and switch sides here. 466 00:31:33,757 --> 00:31:36,867 Let's see. 467 00:31:36,867 --> 00:31:40,127 Do you recommend? 468 00:31:40,127 --> 00:31:44,730 I neither, besides this is the question do you 469 00:31:44,730 --> 00:31:50,168 recommend doing a technical interview prep program? 470 00:31:50,168 --> 00:31:56,850 I did not use one so I can neither recommend nor make you not do it. 471 00:31:56,850 --> 00:32:02,283 I know AlgoExpert is a common thing with people and everything, 472 00:32:02,283 --> 00:32:08,221 but I didn't use it, especially because AlgoExpert is cost money and 473 00:32:08,221 --> 00:32:11,353 I had already paid a couple of grand. 474 00:32:11,353 --> 00:32:14,250 [LAUGH] On a coding boot camp. 475 00:32:14,250 --> 00:32:16,222 And so now I just really wanted the job and 476 00:32:16,222 --> 00:32:18,786 wanted to just use as much free resources there are. 477 00:32:18,786 --> 00:32:21,519 And there's so many, especially now in 2021. 478 00:32:21,519 --> 00:32:26,043 There's so many free resources from the sites like leak code and 479 00:32:26,043 --> 00:32:29,477 code wars, to YouTube channels that go into like 480 00:32:29,477 --> 00:32:34,200 how to solve the Fibonacci series questions and things like that. 481 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,815 So, to me, they're not necessary, but I can see how paying for 482 00:32:38,815 --> 00:32:42,834 an actual program can make you feel more accountable and 483 00:32:42,834 --> 00:32:48,510 more driven to actually pursue and stick with your study you're studying. 484 00:32:48,510 --> 00:32:52,388 So you just need to ask yourself, yeah, what type of person are you? 485 00:32:52,388 --> 00:32:56,105 Are you a person who needs to have that money commitment to 486 00:32:56,105 --> 00:32:57,738 actually stick with it? 487 00:32:57,738 --> 00:33:01,936 But to me at least, start with the free resources, and then if you see that 488 00:33:01,936 --> 00:33:06,360 they're not good enough, then find a program that you think is best for you. 489 00:33:08,170 --> 00:33:10,170 Let's see. 490 00:33:10,170 --> 00:33:13,171 Sorry, it just keeps refreshing [LAUGH] so 491 00:33:13,171 --> 00:33:16,608 I'm trying to make sure I'm not missing ones. 492 00:33:16,608 --> 00:33:20,960 Okay, JavaScript and JavaScript can be frustrating. 493 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,370 How do you get past Roblox when first starting out? 494 00:33:25,580 --> 00:33:26,970 You just got to do it. 495 00:33:26,970 --> 00:33:33,183 It's a terrible answer, but I remember hating the code so much or just practicing 496 00:33:33,183 --> 00:33:38,970 so much I would get all this anxiety because I knew I was gonna know nothing. 497 00:33:38,970 --> 00:33:44,870 I knew that but that's part of the process, you know nothing until you don't. 498 00:33:44,870 --> 00:33:49,390 So you just have to keep on practicing with JavaScript finding resources. 499 00:33:49,390 --> 00:33:53,712 I know like Udemy has a lot of different courses, 500 00:33:53,712 --> 00:33:57,725 Code Academy has a lot of different courses. 501 00:33:57,725 --> 00:34:02,375 But when it comes to just practicing, you kind of have to either, one, 502 00:34:02,375 --> 00:34:06,096 go with and this kind of goes with the previous question, 503 00:34:06,096 --> 00:34:09,428 go with the project side of saying, you know what, 504 00:34:09,428 --> 00:34:13,645 I'm going to set out my mission of creating this dice roll game. 505 00:34:13,645 --> 00:34:17,246 And I'm going to stick with it for the next month and even when I'm frustrated, 506 00:34:17,246 --> 00:34:19,470 even when I'm upset, I'm going to keep going. 507 00:34:19,470 --> 00:34:23,846 Because I think where I kind of got things wrong was when I would get frustrated or 508 00:34:23,846 --> 00:34:25,750 when I wouldn't know something. 509 00:34:25,750 --> 00:34:28,724 I would take it as okay, so I'm not good enough I need to keep learning, 510 00:34:28,724 --> 00:34:31,910 I need to keep studying, I need to just keep reading the book. 511 00:34:31,910 --> 00:34:36,882 That's how you learn, not knowing is how you learn because as a developer at 512 00:34:36,882 --> 00:34:42,030 a company at Google you're going to be Googling how to figure x, y, and z out. 513 00:34:42,030 --> 00:34:46,148 And so, you need to learn how to develop that skill of saying, okay, 514 00:34:46,148 --> 00:34:50,281 I don't know something, so, let me find the best way to find it out. 515 00:34:50,281 --> 00:34:53,629 So, understanding how best to ask questions, 516 00:34:53,629 --> 00:34:58,660 which resources to best go to to get through the parts you're stuck on. 517 00:34:58,660 --> 00:35:02,985 And then getting through it and then getting stuck again and going through that 518 00:35:02,985 --> 00:35:06,920 whole process of asking and reaching out to people and all of this. 519 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:11,526 You have to get stuck you have to learn how to find the answer because when you're 520 00:35:11,526 --> 00:35:14,758 on the job, it's not that everyone knows everything, 521 00:35:14,758 --> 00:35:17,336 it's that they know how to find the answer. 522 00:35:17,336 --> 00:35:21,973 So if you take away anything from this, 523 00:35:21,973 --> 00:35:28,025 take away that, just learn how to find the answer. 524 00:35:28,025 --> 00:35:33,243 Let's see Are you a full stack developer? 525 00:35:33,243 --> 00:35:37,363 If so, how important is the design of your project front-end versus back-end 526 00:35:37,363 --> 00:35:40,630 functionality when it comes to interviewers looking at them? 527 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:43,330 So I practiced. 528 00:35:43,330 --> 00:35:45,930 I'm not a full stack developer anymore. 529 00:35:45,930 --> 00:35:49,361 I'm solely front end, I'm mostly front-end but 530 00:35:49,361 --> 00:35:54,900 in the boot camp it was full stack and so I did build back-end and front end. 531 00:35:54,900 --> 00:35:59,928 And they say don't judge a book by its cover, but 532 00:35:59,928 --> 00:36:06,710 we are not perfect people and we do judge books by their cover. 533 00:36:06,710 --> 00:36:11,000 And front end development is as necessary as back-end development. 534 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,819 So you want to show that you are capable of both, 535 00:36:13,819 --> 00:36:16,370 especially when it comes to your job hunt. 536 00:36:16,370 --> 00:36:18,284 You don't have to be an expert at both, 537 00:36:18,284 --> 00:36:20,900 there's definitely something you can lean on more. 538 00:36:20,900 --> 00:36:25,200 I personally leaned more with front end, I just appreciated it more. 539 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,780 The design I find it just more interesting and fun for me. 540 00:36:28,780 --> 00:36:33,323 So there's one you can prefer more but you want to show proficiency in both. 541 00:36:33,323 --> 00:36:37,322 Because if you're on a team or someone needs help or x, y, z, you wanna be 542 00:36:37,322 --> 00:36:41,721 able to contribute, you wanna be able to be that team player and help people out. 543 00:36:41,721 --> 00:36:46,523 And show that, okay, when the time gets tough I can 544 00:36:46,523 --> 00:36:52,110 rise to the occasion and fix this bug in the back-end. 545 00:36:52,110 --> 00:36:58,213 So, they're important in the sense that you want to show you can do but 546 00:36:58,213 --> 00:37:04,980 you can put on your resume, specifically prefer back-end development. 547 00:37:04,980 --> 00:37:11,300 Here are the projects I've done that shows x, y, and z, and taking it that route. 548 00:37:11,300 --> 00:37:16,185 But it's nice if things look pretty, because again, we're imperfect humans and 549 00:37:16,185 --> 00:37:18,990 a lot of times people judge things by the cover. 550 00:37:20,170 --> 00:37:21,938 And then when you're in interviews, 551 00:37:21,938 --> 00:37:25,700 you can go into a lot of the back-end functionality and impress them with that. 552 00:37:25,700 --> 00:37:31,821 So yeah, again, it's more of a thing of when and where but then either or. 553 00:37:31,821 --> 00:37:37,086 Are you self taught or did you attend a boot camp? 554 00:37:37,086 --> 00:37:42,074 I attended a boot camp, I attended Flatiron School from June of 2020 555 00:37:42,074 --> 00:37:45,520 to October of 2020, so about four months. 556 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:49,793 It was late June to early October, so about four months full 557 00:37:49,793 --> 00:37:54,615 stack about 40 hours' time and so they're not messing around. 558 00:37:54,615 --> 00:38:00,588 [LAUGH] And then there was another about 10 to 20 hours put it in after boot camp, 559 00:38:00,588 --> 00:38:05,525 just to practice to study for for exams and study for assignments and 560 00:38:05,525 --> 00:38:09,701 projects and make sure that my portfolio is really good. 561 00:38:09,701 --> 00:38:16,570 Because I was very career minded of I'm getting a job now. 562 00:38:16,570 --> 00:38:19,530 I already have spent so much on this boot camp. 563 00:38:19,530 --> 00:38:24,450 I just graduated from this whole other career I need immediate returns. 564 00:38:24,450 --> 00:38:29,980 And so I spent a lot of time making sure my portfolio projects were up to par. 565 00:38:29,980 --> 00:38:36,470 And so I really enjoyed my boot camp, but it is a personal preference. 566 00:38:36,470 --> 00:38:41,283 It is not fun to spend 10s to $20,000 on something 567 00:38:41,283 --> 00:38:45,620 that's going to last about three to six months. 568 00:38:45,620 --> 00:38:49,620 So my advice is to start with self teaching. 569 00:38:49,620 --> 00:38:51,224 See where you really need the help and 570 00:38:51,224 --> 00:38:53,360 understand this is why I'm going to a boot camp. 571 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,940 For me, I went to a boot camp because I needed a teacher. 572 00:38:55,940 --> 00:38:59,658 I was just coming off of college, I needed a teacher, 573 00:38:59,658 --> 00:39:04,140 someone to guide me and so that's why I decided to go that route. 574 00:39:07,381 --> 00:39:08,311 Let's see. 575 00:39:08,311 --> 00:39:13,079 And I'm pretty sure there's like three in here that I missed 576 00:39:13,079 --> 00:39:16,960 between the refreshing and whatnot. 577 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,898 If you'd put in a question that I haven't answered, please put it in again. 578 00:39:24,967 --> 00:39:30,454 When adding sites to my portfolio to companies found on WordPress sites or 579 00:39:30,454 --> 00:39:36,130 using bootstrap, do they want to see sites built completely from scratch? 580 00:39:38,820 --> 00:39:42,357 I personally, recommend trying to use 581 00:39:42,357 --> 00:39:46,869 bootstrap because a lot of people are these days. 582 00:39:46,869 --> 00:39:51,809 Bootstrap is one of the leading CCI and so, I personally 583 00:39:51,809 --> 00:39:56,870 recommend doing it so that you have that under your belt. 584 00:39:56,870 --> 00:39:57,450 You know what I mean? 585 00:39:57,450 --> 00:39:59,486 You wanna be able to put that on your resume and 586 00:39:59,486 --> 00:40:01,400 give yourself the best job possible. 587 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:05,326 Because I don't know if you have a computer science degree or that's your 588 00:40:05,326 --> 00:40:09,694 educational background, but if it's not, you really want to just give yourself 589 00:40:09,694 --> 00:40:14,528 the best shot by saying look, I know I'm not from the, This traditional path but 590 00:40:14,528 --> 00:40:19,034 look at all I can do, look at all I've done and take me please [LAUGH]. 591 00:40:19,034 --> 00:40:22,642 So I personally would recommend trying to do Bootstrap and 592 00:40:22,642 --> 00:40:25,840 do they want the site completely from scratch? 593 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,320 No, you don't need sites completely from scratch. 594 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:34,280 You can put on your resume this is the portfolio project I did specifically 595 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:36,922 contributing to this functionality. 596 00:40:36,922 --> 00:40:40,784 Because that's also something, to be honest with you, 597 00:40:40,784 --> 00:40:44,251 that I also kind of got wrong in this whole process. 598 00:40:44,251 --> 00:40:47,844 Because in boot camp, in self teaching, you're building things from scratch, 599 00:40:47,844 --> 00:40:50,613 you're building the back-end, you're building the APIs. 600 00:40:50,613 --> 00:40:55,601 And then you're putting in your CSS from plain white to something that hopefully 601 00:40:55,601 --> 00:40:57,520 will impress them. 602 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:02,982 But when you are hired at a company, good project has been there, 603 00:41:02,982 --> 00:41:07,961 it has been there, and it'll be there after you're gone. 604 00:41:07,961 --> 00:41:11,299 And so that was a big learning point for 605 00:41:11,299 --> 00:41:17,360 me having to understand how to start on an already existing project. 606 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:22,716 That took a lot of time and I'm still working on that for me to best understand, 607 00:41:22,716 --> 00:41:26,937 because there are certain company standards like everyone, 608 00:41:26,937 --> 00:41:29,710 we need to make sure we code like this. 609 00:41:29,710 --> 00:41:34,304 And now we have nice code that we can tell is nice cuz it looks nothing like 610 00:41:34,304 --> 00:41:39,667 everybody else's, but it's right but it's not up to par with what companies do or 611 00:41:39,667 --> 00:41:42,750 how they do function, things like that. 612 00:41:42,750 --> 00:41:46,508 And so I think that's a great skill to have, being able to say I 613 00:41:46,508 --> 00:41:50,717 actually added this functionality instead of I built from scratch. 614 00:41:50,717 --> 00:41:53,306 And so if you can do both. 615 00:41:53,306 --> 00:41:55,660 Yeah, so that was a great question. 616 00:41:58,110 --> 00:42:03,045 What were the biggest challenges you faced during boot camp? 617 00:42:03,045 --> 00:42:08,828 The speed, just to give you an idea not to scare you, 618 00:42:08,828 --> 00:42:12,360 but just to give you an idea. 619 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:16,992 I started out with a cohort of 15 people I believe a smaller because 620 00:42:16,992 --> 00:42:18,373 COVID had just hit so 621 00:42:18,373 --> 00:42:23,830 people were kinda taking the backseat with big financial decisions like that. 622 00:42:23,830 --> 00:42:28,650 But I started with a cohort of 15 people ended with seven. 623 00:42:28,650 --> 00:42:30,965 Yeah ended with seven, four months later, 624 00:42:30,965 --> 00:42:33,982 each different because they're separated by modules. 625 00:42:33,982 --> 00:42:39,056 So each module, two to three people just kind of being dropped 626 00:42:39,056 --> 00:42:43,456 off along the way, not because they couldn't do it. 627 00:42:43,456 --> 00:42:49,660 I do not believe that they fell behind cuz they couldn't, it's the speed. 628 00:42:49,660 --> 00:42:53,940 It is the speed, you can't have a job [LAUGH], you can't have a job. 629 00:42:53,940 --> 00:42:57,185 You can't have these different requirements or 630 00:42:57,185 --> 00:43:01,143 these different people expecting things of you because for 631 00:43:01,143 --> 00:43:06,460 this one because it was full time there are part time ones there are online ones. 632 00:43:06,460 --> 00:43:09,722 But for this one, you needed to devote everything. 633 00:43:09,722 --> 00:43:11,334 I actually moved back in with my parents so 634 00:43:11,334 --> 00:43:14,000 that I wouldn't have to worry about rent, worry about food. 635 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:18,520 I claimed the whole basement area as my own and they would barely see me. 636 00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:23,141 So it's something that because of the speed you need to take away 637 00:43:23,141 --> 00:43:27,580 everything else, eevery other distraction if you can. 638 00:43:27,580 --> 00:43:31,640 And like I said, me, that was my number one goal. 639 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:34,306 I didn't care about anybody [LAUGH] else during that time. 640 00:43:34,306 --> 00:43:35,750 That was my number one goal. 641 00:43:35,750 --> 00:43:41,249 And so I did take away everything else to make sure I gave myself the best shot. 642 00:43:41,249 --> 00:43:45,951 But it is the speed, so practicing and preparing beforehand, 643 00:43:45,951 --> 00:43:49,145 because they give you like a curriculum and 644 00:43:49,145 --> 00:43:53,419 the path that you'll go over the next 16, 15 weeks. 645 00:43:53,419 --> 00:43:56,478 And so being able to before you even start, practice those things and 646 00:43:56,478 --> 00:43:57,770 try to get ahead of things. 647 00:43:57,770 --> 00:44:02,104 And so I'm really glad I did that especially practicing with just building 648 00:44:02,104 --> 00:44:03,010 static sites. 649 00:44:03,010 --> 00:44:09,110 Because I noticed a lot of people were able to just build apps and everything. 650 00:44:09,110 --> 00:44:13,929 They weren't able to make it look nice because we barely focused on CSS, 651 00:44:13,929 --> 00:44:19,230 we barely focused on styling or Bootstrap, we barely touched those. 652 00:44:19,230 --> 00:44:21,270 Because it's also hard to teach. 653 00:44:21,270 --> 00:44:25,450 And so I was glad I focused a lot on learning that beforehand. 654 00:44:25,450 --> 00:44:30,391 Okay, I think we have one more thing left maybe. 655 00:44:30,391 --> 00:44:35,872 For algo, Lord, okay [LAUGH] are there particular 656 00:44:35,872 --> 00:44:40,886 patterns that you practice with them most or you? 657 00:44:40,886 --> 00:44:45,090 I practiced all of them because I don't know what the company's gonna give me. 658 00:44:45,090 --> 00:44:48,614 So you really just want to practice all of these different things. 659 00:44:48,614 --> 00:44:53,157 You don't want to, of course, it's not fun being a jack of all trades but 660 00:44:53,157 --> 00:44:54,195 master of none. 661 00:44:54,195 --> 00:44:57,509 But you don't want to focus on one thing and then you go into an interview and 662 00:44:57,509 --> 00:44:58,889 they give you something else. 663 00:44:58,889 --> 00:45:02,513 And you realize you focused so much on just this one section, 664 00:45:02,513 --> 00:45:05,210 you don't even have a clue about this. 665 00:45:05,210 --> 00:45:08,223 And so I would really to be honest, just alternate, 666 00:45:08,223 --> 00:45:13,810 I kind of just would go down the list of the different problems that LeetCode gave. 667 00:45:13,810 --> 00:45:15,750 So I'll try to run through these next ones quickly. 668 00:45:15,750 --> 00:45:18,099 What are some things to look for when researching boot camps, 669 00:45:18,099 --> 00:45:19,100 especially curriculum? 670 00:45:21,110 --> 00:45:25,890 If you're looking at curriculum, what do you wanna do? 671 00:45:25,890 --> 00:45:29,340 Is it enough for you to just be a developer and get a job, 672 00:45:29,340 --> 00:45:34,140 and you'll figure out the rest later, and figure out the specifics later or 673 00:45:34,140 --> 00:45:36,770 do you want to be a front-end developer? 674 00:45:36,770 --> 00:45:37,700 Do you wanna be back-end? 675 00:45:37,700 --> 00:45:41,750 Do you wanna be in cybersecurity, game development, etc? 676 00:45:41,750 --> 00:45:45,239 So, if you're looking for things like curriculum, 677 00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:47,339 ask yourself what you wanna do. 678 00:45:47,339 --> 00:45:49,323 And then like I said most, 679 00:45:49,323 --> 00:45:55,050 if not all of them do post that curriculum that they are going to go over. 680 00:45:55,050 --> 00:45:57,110 See what then matches for you. 681 00:45:57,110 --> 00:46:00,377 In general, what things to look for when researching boot camps? 682 00:46:00,377 --> 00:46:04,453 Really just see how well it meshes with you in terms of financially, 683 00:46:04,453 --> 00:46:09,102 in terms of time wise, in terms of looking up reviews, and things like that, 684 00:46:09,102 --> 00:46:11,700 trying to see how best in matches with you. 685 00:46:13,240 --> 00:46:17,090 How's the transition from learning at a boot camp into working at a real job? 686 00:46:17,090 --> 00:46:19,430 Did the things you learned at boot camp prepare you for 687 00:46:19,430 --> 00:46:21,590 working with a real employer? 688 00:46:21,590 --> 00:46:22,527 It taught me, 689 00:46:22,527 --> 00:46:27,750 yes, in terms of the first thing they teach you is we teach you how to learn. 690 00:46:27,750 --> 00:46:31,620 So don't think of it as they're gonna teach me how to be a developer, 691 00:46:31,620 --> 00:46:34,777 they're gonna teach you how to be a software engineer. 692 00:46:34,777 --> 00:46:36,441 They're gonna teach you how to learn, 693 00:46:36,441 --> 00:46:38,950 they're gonna teach you how to solve problems. 694 00:46:38,950 --> 00:46:44,340 And that's the biggest takeaway from boot camp is how do I solve this problem? 695 00:46:44,340 --> 00:46:48,061 I don't know this now, but you better believe by end of day at 5 o'clock, 696 00:46:48,061 --> 00:46:50,120 I will have the answer for you. 697 00:46:50,120 --> 00:46:51,910 And then how's the transition? 698 00:46:51,910 --> 00:46:57,170 The transition was hard because, but not bad hard to be honest. 699 00:46:57,170 --> 00:47:01,677 It wasn't bad hard, but it was still difficult because I had worked the last 700 00:47:01,677 --> 00:47:06,483 four to six months of working on my own projects, building things from scratch. 701 00:47:06,483 --> 00:47:10,513 And now I'm supposed to be on a team making sure that 702 00:47:10,513 --> 00:47:14,540 I am contributing to already existing projects. 703 00:47:14,540 --> 00:47:20,900 And so when I get this ticket, that's what they call it, assignments. 704 00:47:20,900 --> 00:47:24,520 I get this ticket that says, hey, there's a bug here figure it out. 705 00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:29,284 I look and I have no idea what's going on in this function because I don't know 706 00:47:29,284 --> 00:47:30,767 the product that well. 707 00:47:30,767 --> 00:47:35,761 I don't know what this whole thing encompasses because I wasn't 708 00:47:35,761 --> 00:47:40,500 part of the building from scratch of it, you know what I mean? 709 00:47:40,500 --> 00:47:42,925 It's here now, but this has been here for two years and 710 00:47:42,925 --> 00:47:44,997 now I have to figure out what's wrong with it. 711 00:47:44,997 --> 00:47:50,940 So that's really where I got to tuck on, and it's a skill that you learn quickly, 712 00:47:50,940 --> 00:47:55,780 I will say you will learn quickly, but it is still just difficult. 713 00:47:55,780 --> 00:47:58,952 But it's a great experience, I've loved my transition and everything so 714 00:47:58,952 --> 00:48:01,100 don't let that scare you please. 715 00:48:01,100 --> 00:48:05,172 Then for newly learned developers, would you recommend working remotely or 716 00:48:05,172 --> 00:48:06,620 in person as the first job? 717 00:48:10,380 --> 00:48:15,096 To be honest now, especially now, a year out, companies have found a way to 718 00:48:15,096 --> 00:48:20,510 still facilitate teamwork and provide resources to you even if you're at home. 719 00:48:20,510 --> 00:48:26,858 And so I honestly didn't mind that I started work from home. 720 00:48:26,858 --> 00:48:30,380 And for me, it was a personal preference. 721 00:48:30,380 --> 00:48:34,421 I prefer to work from home, I actually found out I'm gonna be in office 722 00:48:34,421 --> 00:48:39,130 in like eight weeks, I'm like, [LAUGH] okay I should do like work from home. 723 00:48:39,130 --> 00:48:39,740 And companies? 724 00:48:39,740 --> 00:48:43,786 Of course, in the first three to five months, companies were in a bit of a bind 725 00:48:43,786 --> 00:48:47,354 trying to figure out how to still facilitate that type of teamwork. 726 00:48:47,354 --> 00:48:51,272 But no, they have found a great way to do it where you honestly don't feel like 727 00:48:51,272 --> 00:48:52,430 you're missing out. 728 00:48:52,430 --> 00:48:56,113 They have slack channels, they have meetups or book clubs or 729 00:48:56,113 --> 00:48:59,664 being able to say, hey, can somebody go on a call with me? 730 00:48:59,664 --> 00:49:03,465 And you share your screen and they have all of these tools now where a person can 731 00:49:03,465 --> 00:49:06,505 draw on your screen and say, make sure you do this function and 732 00:49:06,505 --> 00:49:09,810 like it's not a whiteboard, on your VS code and everything. 733 00:49:09,810 --> 00:49:13,772 So they've found great ways to still maintain that type of standard. 734 00:49:13,772 --> 00:49:18,363 So I wouldn't worry about it, I don't think there's a either or for good or 735 00:49:18,363 --> 00:49:20,890 bad it just goes to personal preference. 736 00:49:23,110 --> 00:49:26,130 Is it important to have a technical background when going into this field? 737 00:49:26,130 --> 00:49:27,234 No, I did not. 738 00:49:27,234 --> 00:49:34,513 [LAUGH] I did not, I hadn't coded at all, at all before spring of last year. 739 00:49:34,513 --> 00:49:38,280 And so it's not like I had majored in x, y, and z or I had done this. 740 00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:43,926 I mean it's great if you do and that will probably help get away some of the kinks. 741 00:49:43,926 --> 00:49:48,446 But I didn't but the thing is because I didn't I 742 00:49:48,446 --> 00:49:53,314 made sure to be as dedicated as possible with this. 743 00:49:53,314 --> 00:49:57,233 And if you don't have a technical background, just start. 744 00:49:57,233 --> 00:49:59,110 Just start, try with different languages. 745 00:49:59,110 --> 00:50:02,300 I started actually with Python and realized it wasn't really for 746 00:50:02,300 --> 00:50:06,072 me because I didn't really like how you couldn't immediately see results. 747 00:50:06,072 --> 00:50:09,732 Which is why I ended up going to more front-end before starting the boot camp. 748 00:50:09,732 --> 00:50:14,516 And so no, just start and see where your problems are, 749 00:50:14,516 --> 00:50:17,645 see what you need and go from there. 750 00:50:17,645 --> 00:50:20,703 Really just keep up checking in with yourself and 751 00:50:20,703 --> 00:50:23,325 checking in with your learning journey. 752 00:50:25,270 --> 00:50:27,455 Can I practice algorithms for one or two hours daily and 753 00:50:27,455 --> 00:50:29,200 practice coding the rest of the day? 754 00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:34,360 Well, of course, really what it comes down to is what is your timeline? 755 00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:39,931 What is your timeline for getting the job or whatever you're doing this for? 756 00:50:39,931 --> 00:50:43,160 For me it was getting the job and my timeline was yesterday. 757 00:50:44,200 --> 00:50:49,580 So, it really comes down to what's your timeline and making every accordingly. 758 00:50:49,580 --> 00:50:53,456 So if your timeline is I want to join a boot camp and do that for 759 00:50:53,456 --> 00:50:57,480 four months and then within two months have a job. 760 00:50:57,480 --> 00:51:01,132 Well then you need to make sure you're spending 40 to 60 hours a week learning 761 00:51:01,132 --> 00:51:04,270 and developing and building projects and doing algorithms. 762 00:51:04,270 --> 00:51:06,569 All of them are equally important. 763 00:51:06,569 --> 00:51:11,468 I don't know if you specifically were here when I said this, but 764 00:51:11,468 --> 00:51:17,563 it's not really a matter of if I do this or this, it's a matter of when I do this. 765 00:51:17,563 --> 00:51:21,318 So practice with just learning how to do if statements and 766 00:51:21,318 --> 00:51:25,165 regular functions then go on to trying to build projects. 767 00:51:25,165 --> 00:51:30,181 And then once you start building projects and adding things to your resume and 768 00:51:30,181 --> 00:51:33,664 building that portfolio, then go into algorithms. 769 00:51:33,664 --> 00:51:38,910 Because even in front-end development, you don't really truly need algorithms. 770 00:51:38,910 --> 00:51:44,032 That's not something that's do or die, but in an interview, they may still ask. 771 00:51:44,032 --> 00:51:49,173 And so making sure that you have that down for interviews and everything. 772 00:51:49,173 --> 00:51:55,059 So being able to see what your timeline is and go from there. 773 00:51:55,059 --> 00:51:56,090 Thank you so much for your time. 774 00:51:56,090 --> 00:51:56,969 Thank you, Darien. 775 00:51:56,969 --> 00:52:00,160 Where can I follow you on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn? 776 00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:03,773 Instagram is @theblackfemaleengineer, 777 00:52:03,773 --> 00:52:09,141 YouTube is The BlackFemale, BlackFemale one word, Engineer, 778 00:52:09,141 --> 00:52:13,665 and email is theblackfemaleengineer@gmail.com. 779 00:52:13,665 --> 00:52:18,295 So hopefully that covers all of it and that's easy enough. 780 00:52:18,295 --> 00:52:23,131 But yeah, follow me, DM me if you have more questions because 781 00:52:23,131 --> 00:52:26,948 now I love just letting you all in on some things. 782 00:52:26,948 --> 00:52:31,140 >> Great, well, Naya, thank you so much for sharing your inspiring journey and 783 00:52:31,140 --> 00:52:33,720 other great technical interview tips. 784 00:52:33,720 --> 00:52:35,947 And everyone be sure to check out Naya's YouTube channel, 785 00:52:35,947 --> 00:52:37,650 as she mentioned The BlackFemale Engineer.