NOLAvate Black

?It's that time of year again! We need your nominations for our NOLA Tech 30 Campaign. We are celebrating 30 Black and Brown techies for 30 days from December 1st - December 31st. ??Deadline to nominate is December 6th. Nominees can be a founder, creative, engineer, developer, marketer or any intersection of innovation in the technology industry. Tell us who you think is changing the game in tech in New Orleans! #blacktech #blacktechnola Nominate here https://lnkd.in/g-nYje5p

?? Tech exploring tip: cross-reference the top jobs in tech for the calendar year and see if Microsoft provides training opportunities for those positions! The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has named the following positions as part of their Top 10 In-Demand Tech Careers of 2025, and Microsoft has courses and/or info for all of these: ? AI Engineers ? Data Analysts ? Cybersecurity Analysts ? Cloud Engineers

Do you know the real difference between being a Culture Fit and a Culture Add to a company? ?? This is a conversation we have pretty often in our meetups, and it was something we delved deeper into during our Explore Tech program. Here's the tea ?? Culture Fits typically... ?? Blend into the general company demographic ?? Can be indicators of implicit bias ?? Usually provide expected perspectives to the team Culture Adds typically... ?? Do not fit into the general company demographic ?? Can be indicators of team diversity ?? Usually provide unique perspectives to the team If belonging (or even standing out!) matters to you as you navigate your work life, this is something you need to know! Which one are you at work? ??

Welcome to Day 24, our LAST DAY ???? We're onto our last step: 71, in building our Cat Photo App!!! In that step, you'll... ? Add a Meta element. ? Run your finished code! ?????? Congratulations!!! ?????? You've really DONE the thing! We can't wait to see what you've built, and what you will go on to build now that you have these skills in your portfolio. #nolacodesblack #coding #HTML #HTML5 #BIPOC #BHM #Tech

Nicole Creshon, a Front-end Developer with iSeatz, spoke to our Explore Tech Fall cohort about creating effective job search strategies. Here are some of her favorite job boards in tech: ?? Dice ?? Levels.fyi ?? Black Tech Jobs ?? TechFetch.com - On Demand Tech Workforce hiring platform

Welcome to Day 23 ???? We're onto steps 68 through 70 in building our Cat Photo App. In those steps, you'll... ? Add a Title element. ? Add a Lang attribute. ? Format your page properly with . #nolacodesblack #coding #HTML #HTML5 #BIPOC #BHM #Tech

Hello, what's the 411 on Negotiating? ?? Myra Rolden, a Principal Applied AI Engineer with decades of experience, spoke to our Explore Tech Fall Cohort about negotiating salaries as a woman of color. She spoke to the unique challenges of advocating for yourself in tech spaces where you stand out. Here are some of the tips she gave us: ? Establish your "drop-dead" number. What's the salary amount you're standing on business for? Think of a number that, no matter what, you need to at least meet that amount if it's a job worth entertaining for you. ? Dream big. Don't keep your numbers humble: know your worth! ? Be confident and assert yourself in the spaces you desire to be in. Insecurity is contagious! If you don't believe in yourself, others can't believe in you.

What are SMART Goals? Two amazing women spoke to our Fall Explore Tech cohort about professional goal-setting and gave us the tea. Raven Armant is a Talent and Acquisition Specialist with the City of New Orleans. Sheila Robinson is an HR professional with nearly 2 decades of experience. Both women spoke about a specific acronym: SMART. I think we should ALL be using this goal-setting hack to establish some actionable goals (personal and professional!) -- ? Specific ? Measurable ? Actionable ? Relevant ? Time-bound What are some of your SMART Goals?

Welcome to Day 22 ???? We're onto steps 65 through 67 in building our Cat Photo App. In those steps, you'll... ? Nest more elements. ? Add an Anchor element. ? Add a Head element. #nolacodesblack #coding #HTML #HTML5 #BIPOC #BHM #Tech

What is Intentional Networking? ?? Now, if we gather and synthesize all of our notes from Explore Tech and networking nights, I think we get a little something that looks like this (NO more random LinkedIn follow requests!) -- ?? Research your intended target: Who exactly are you trying to reach out to and why? What is their work about? Do they have any projects you can read up on and talk about with them? ?? Establish a genuine interest: Don't just think of your connection as just a name that is part of a company. How do you think this connection genuinely relates to your career aspirations and goals? What about them inspires you? ?? Build a mutually beneficial relationship: If they are to lend a helping hand to you, what can you do to help them? Offer your expertise when necessary, and if not that, your time! Are there any volunteer opportunities they may have? That's for you to seek out, should that be the capacity in which you want to connect. Happy Networking! Techie, you've got this. ????