From Start to Finish - A Bit of Something for Everyone

I wrote this up for the students on the CareerKarma platform to recap the awesome conversation that we had regarding my decisions around career changing. I've decided to share here in case it could assist the journey of others outside of the platform! This is what worked best for me, be mindful of your own experience and what works best for you!

Some primary considerations I made when learning to code:

• Understand my Purpose - Do I understand some basic technical roles? Do I know if I want to work with data, security, networks, supportive operations? Do I know what technical knowledge is required to get to where I want to go? This developer roadmap helped me, here's the github repo if you prefer to view each roadmap on a single page.
• Assess Any Obstacles - I was homeless when I made the decision to formally begin learning to code, so I had some key consideration to make (i.e. how to obtain a laptop, where to charge the laptop, what social service programs where around that could help to bridge these gaps, etc). I was also a single mother of two small children as well as a person with a disability. These factors helped me to understand the amount of "stress" I was willing to take on when searching for a potential bootcamp or courses that could assist me (i.e. would I be taking on deferred payment, does the organization have accommodations for my lifestyle, what built in support do they presently offer, what does mentorship look like, is there an option for remote learning, what happens if I miss days, etc). Ultimately, anticipating my obstacles helped me to strategize my level of support, identify key resources, as well as shaped the type of bootcamp I decided to go into. OneDegree helped me gain access to resources that addressed most of my obstacles. Additionally, I challenged myself to ask others for help which sped along my progress in strategy as well as skill retention.
• Realistic - I did some research as well as began to take some initial courses in HTML and CSS to decide if the switch was something I could do. I also looked into the different technical skills I would likely need to acquire and learn about if I wanted to be a Full Stack engineer. From there, I was able to define a reasonable plan: map out how much personal time I was able to dedicate in addition to working, parenting and securing housing. I utilized calendared committed time-blocks to coordinate childcare with friends and family, identified which libraries might have a children center with neighboring charging stations, and identified related local (and online) communities (i.e. Code Tenderloin, LesbiansWhoTech, FB: Sista Circle: Black Women in Tech, and FB: Bay Area Blacks in Tech (BAYBIT)).

After taking a few courses and having a moderate grasp on JavaScript, I went to Techtonica a self-study driven apprenticeship style bootcamp for women and non-binary adults. I was given a monthly stipend the duration of the program, childcare assistance, course participation accommodations, mentorship and connection to an internship with SurveyMonkey.

Some key points about interning / apprenticeships:

• Difference Between Self-Learning / Bootcamp and Production Team - I learned that bootcamp gave me the foundation to understand the tech tools being used and the knowledge of how to advocate for myself when I needed help. It also made my questions much more specific, meaning that instead of asking general questions I now began offering information about what I knew, what my assumptions were, what I tried to do. In doing this, I showed the engineers that I valued their time while I am also confident in discussing something I may not have complete understanding of. The code base adjustment was huge, going from small localized personal projects to company-wide with hundreds of files was very daunting at first. In order to understand navigating the code base I set up a few context and history meetings so that my manager and mentor could explain to me how the difference services worked. I also spent large amounts of time debugging the code so I could see how different functions worked together. I often recommend working in open source projects to recreate this production environment. It helps to prepare for the transition with less shock and you get exposure of working with engineers of varied skill level, I participated in If-Me.org which has a very clear contribution wiki guide.
• Making Connections - I challenged myself to have lunch or coffee with a different person each day while interning so that I could learn about the different departments, roles, and company culture. Additionally, anytime I worked on something or learned something new, I talked about this with my manager, their manager, and that manager's manager and so on. I also tried to meet with leadership within the engineering department as often as possible (i.e. 3 or 4 times during my internship). I would also post on social media about some of things I was learning and tag the company. These strategies kept an eye on the company, afforded them some additional PR, as well as afforded me a bit of attention by key personnel in the company! Each time I had a 1:1 with my manager and the respective other engineering managers and leadership I made it very clear that I wanted to be converted, saying things like "when you guys convert me I would love to explore XYZ more"...etc etc. Outside of my internship, I made similar connections via frequenting meetups, being interactive on Twitter using hashtags (i.e. #BlackTechTwitter, #TechTwitter, #MomsWhoCode, #ParentsInTech, #100DaysOfCode etc), and asking for informational interviews on LinkedIn. If you have the energy to do so, I highly recommend documenting your learning journey to give you visibility and reach.
• Pay and Benefits - Some internships and apprenticeships have standard pay for everyone in the program, some are able to be negotiated. Even so, typically, this pay is usually above a living wage and well under the amount that full time employees are paid. Some programs offer company benefits or third party contractor benefits. Sometimes it can be good to seek out alumni or some of your network to research and compare notes.

The job search! I will say, I think my job search for my current and first role in tech was a little different as the interviewing process for my internship was very nontraditional and I tried to position myself during interning as a great candidate for conversion. That said, I did also interview at different companies so as not to have all of my eggs in one basket.

• Mindful Company Choice - I sought out companies that were moderate in size because I did not want to deal with the woes of startup culture, an engineering environment for growth and mentorship, and the ability to support underrepresented intersectionalities such as mine (queer, WOC, single mother of young children, person with a disability). I found out this information by way of talking with my network as well as asking related questions while interviewing with companies.
• Prioritizing Energy - The job search can take anywhere from 3 months to 2 years, so be sure to prioritize how you are spending your energy. Do NOT blind apply to roles, as for referrals or apply and then notify a recruiter about the job post ID that you applied for. Be considerate about how you are interacting on social media and at meetups, try not to get sucked into black holes of scrolling and be selective about how respond to and create content.
• Consistency through Tasking - Prior to attending bootcamp, I got in the habit of calendaring my meetups ahead of time (i.e. re-ocurring events I would prioritize monthly or biweekly, etc). I would time box how long I would job search and create an agenda ahead of time (i.e. referral, and recruiter connects, job posting research, etc). Additionally, I dedicated 30 minutes each weekday to "templated" informational interview connects and 30 minutes of basic algorithm warm ups on platforms such as LeetCode and HackerRank.
• Technical Interviewing - When going into an interview, especially the technical part, I try to consider it a partnership audition! For example, you want to be able to show that you can confidently recall similar principals and are comfortable working collaboratively when you need help. I typically explain my thought process at every step of the way from, contemplating the problem to reasons behind implementation.
• Offer / Negotiating - For me, this was the scariest part of it all! It was also the part where I felt most supported by my communities that I had built because I was able to compare offers, benefits, and learn more about industry standards. While I wanted to accept the first offer I was presented, I negotiated after some discussion and comparison. When looking at your salary offer, do your due diligence and research the company's historic payment, market rate for the role, and talk with your network. It's okay to take some time to mull over the offer, in fact its recommended. Additionally, take a look at other things that may be in the offer such as remote days, company stocks / equity, sign on bonus, annual bonus, etc. If the company isn't willing to budge with salary definitely negotiate these other benefits, especially the equity.

Additional Resources that helped me:

• What the Heck is an RSU? What’s vesting? How does equity work? Do you pay taxes on that? What is a 83(b) Election and why do I need to know about it? SurveyMonkey is my first employer to give me equity, this repo has answered a lot of my questions about what the heck to do with it or what to consider when thinking about company stocks.
• Building Experience with FrontEndMentor - It's very similar to what I do at work: I am given designs, assets, and a ticket with instructions. Sometimes there is code already built out (I will be enhancing or adding a feature to). Sometimes not (I will be building from scratch). This site has incremental levels from newbie to advanced. If you sign up for the paid service, you may incur an international charge as the company is based out of London.

Feel free to comment about your own experience, as the industry and the world continues to change, this sort of "advice" should always be evolving.