Story of Aaron Aquino

I've had the amazing opportunity to hear Aaron's story and his journey to becoming a full-time front end developer and I would love to share a bit of his story and a few insights I've learned from it.

I first met Aaron at a Google tour a year ago, I remember that he talked about an app that he made for one of his passions. It was an app to help choreographers with creating and sharing formations. This demonstrated that you should work on projects that you truly care about because it will be easier to commit to finishing and lead to greater fulfillment in the end.

I expressed my feelings of not being good enough compared to my peers. Aaron, like many others, felt the same way during his Freshman year. One of Aaron’s friends had already landed a Google internship for the summer after freshman year. They worked together for the final project of a coding class and Aaron was also able to learn about how his friend got the internship. One advice he received was to apply early; The application would be released around September, and you have to be prepared to send it in then. His friend was also kind enough to give him a detailed referral since they were partners on the final project. This started the momentum of Aaron’s journey. 

My questions were primarily focused on how he was able to land that first internship. He mentioned the “Cracking the Coding Interview,” which is a great resource for studying technical interviews. He did a good amount of the coding questions in the book and also said that doing mock interviews with friends will help you learn to communicate your thought process. Additionally, he suggested to start expanding your network early and to not be afraid to reach out and connect with other people along the way.

I'm super thankful that Aaron was able to chat and share his insights and experience of becoming a Front End Developer. The main points I learned were to start projects you are passionate about, learn to vocalize your thoughts for technical interviews, and to network from a place of authenticity and respect. I hope to take his advice and apply it to further myself in my career.

Note: We didn’t talk about the specific details at the internships. I was prioritizing his experience on landing the first one because that was where I felt I would get the most out of the conversation. 

If you want to learn more about Aaron, you check out his website here: