How I Landed My Dream Software Job in 12 Months

Twelve months ago, Matt Woods was just wrapping up his first developer conference. Now, he's shipping real code at Tailwind, an OKC software SaaS startup. In this talk, Matt unpacks the 3 cornerstone habits that paved the way to consistently grow as a software developer, balloon his professional network, easily share the best takeaways to begin building an audience — and of course, get his dream software job.

Matt Woods is a marketer and developer at Tailwind. He's crazy about craft coffee, podcasts and leveling-up the skills needed to create jaw-dropping products that make people's lives better.

Transcript

1. How I Landed My Dream Software Job in 12 Months Matt Woods - @matopher
2. From "What is an Array?" Pairing with my co- founder & tackling real code ! " ➡
3. Leveraged LinkedIn to connect with 25 growth professionals from great companies in ~24 hours
4. Opportunities to meet founders & CEOs from Hubspot, Drift, Shareaholic & more
5. 3 Key Habits Opened the Door to My Dream Job in Software 1) Become an automatic learning machine 2) Build a 3 circle network 3) Share your byproducts
6. Hi, I’m 
 Matt Woods. Marketer + Developer mattwoods.io @matopher
7. Become an Automatic Learning Machine
8. "Why am I feeling apprehensive towards getting involved in new projects involving software development?"
9. A: You need more wins. How do you get wins? 
 Ship more.
10. Start small & consistent
11. "When you want the absolute best chance to succeed at anything you want, your approach should always be the same. Go small.” - Gary Keller
12. Healthy inputs & outputs Input: Tutorials, Classes, Podcasts, Events, Blog Posts 
 Output: Create a Forcing Function for yourself to SHIP
13. What worked for me ) Input: OK Coders, Tutorials, Podcasts, Events 
 Output: Mentors & Work Projects
14. Always Be Shipping - Habit Tracking App - Search Tool - Simple API - Blog - Personal Website - Random quote generator
15. How to Ship MORE - Pair with someone who ships - Copy on "easy mode" - The Airbnb 10-to-1 exercise - FreeCodeCamp, Javascript 30 - Build something to learn something cool - Get paid to make things
16. What to Learn? - How you learn is often more important than a specific tech stack - https://codeburst.io/the-2018-web- developer-roadmap-826b1b806e8d
18. Build a Three- Circle Network
19. MATTWOODS.US Inner Circle Professional Network The Crowd Start with your Inner Circle and grow naturally
20. Inner Circle Prioritize Mentors, role models 1-level above you, best-in-class peers, and mentees “Who can I learn from for 10x growth and tough decisions?”
21. Professional Network Professional groups, “superconnectors,” classmates, family friends, relatives, former coworkers “Who can I ask a favor from with a quick message?”
22. The Crowd Social media followers, email subscribers, website visitors, blog post readers “Who can I meaningfully help today?”
23. Surround yourself with the right people Introduced me to new new ideas ✅ Gave feedback on my podcasts, videos, and side project ideas Keep me accountable to actually ship work — whether it’s a blog post like this or a quick-and-dirty API.
24. Endless follow-up = your new default. Don’t attribute to hostility what can be easily blamed on busyness.
25. Once I followed up with an investor 48 times until I got a meeting. -Steli Efti, CEO @ Close.io “ “No,” can mean “not right now.”
26. General Follow-Up Schedule Day 1: First follow-up (+2) Day 3: Follow-up (+4) Day 7: Follow-up (+7) Day 14: Follow-up (+14) Day 28: Follow-up (+30) Day 58: Follow-up (+30) … (from there on once a month).
27. Share Your Byproducts
28. Why share your byproducts? Help others, help yourself. Create opportunities.
29. Don't "create." 
 Document instead. https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1620-sell-your-by-products
30. Always Say “Yes” to Public Speaking (Even When It’s Scary)
31. Pick 1 primary channel (and stick to it.)
32. Two contrasting specialties = your superpower MATTWOODS.US Software Development Marketing (Skill #1) Your Superpower (Skill #2)
33. 1) Discover new pain points 
 2) Validate ideas quickly Tap your community for on- the-fly insights
34. Social Post -> 1:1 Follow-up
35. Matt Woods - @matopher 3 Key Habits Opened the Door to My Dream Job in Software 1) Become an automatic learning machine 2) Build a 3 circle network 3) Share your byproducts