Building Dev Skills While Staying at Your Current Job

Want to transition smoothly into a tech role? Here are some tips for the risk-averse who are interested in switching careers, but can't just drop everything and leave!

Transcript

1. Building Dev Skills While
   Staying at Your Current Job
   Tips for Career Changers
   

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2. Who am I?
   

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3. @mirka
   Lena Morita
   ● Former designer
   ● Director for Women Who Code
   Tokyo
   ● JavaScript Developer at
   Automattic
   

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4. We’re hiring!
   

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5. How I got here
   

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6. @mirka
   Editorial Design
   UI/UX Design
   Development
   2007 2018
   What I was paid to do
   

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7. @mirka
   Editorial Design
   Development (for fun!)
   UI/UX Design
   Development
   2007 2018
   What I was actually doing
   

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8. Let’s talk money
   

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9. @mirka
   Earning power
   Skill
   Compensation
   

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10. @mirka
    Earning power
    Skill
    Compensation
    

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11. @mirka
    Changing careers
    Skill
    &
    Comp
    Time
    Old career
    

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12. @mirka
    Changing careers
    Skill
    &
    Comp
    Time
    Old career
    New
    career
    

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13. @mirka
    Changing careers
    Skill
    &
    Comp
    Time
    Old career
    New
    career
    

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15. How to transition
    smoothly?
    

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16. Build up as much
    skill/experience
    before leaving your
    old career.
    

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17. @mirka
    Enter at a higher level
    Skill
    &
    Comp
    Time
    Old career New
    career
    Prepare!
    

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18. But how?
    

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19. @mirka
    Learning checklist
    ● Read books/documentation
    ● Work through tutorials
    

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20. @mirka
    Learning checklist
    ● Read books/documentation
    ● Work through tutorials
    ● “Real” experience
    

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21. @mirka
    Learning checklist
    ● Read books/documentation
    ● Work through tutorials
    ● “Real” experience
    What do I build?
    How do I find the time?
    

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22. Solve problems
    you actually have
    

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23. Look for problems in
    your everyday life
    (and work!)
    

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24. @mirka
    Everyday problems
    ● Repetitive actions
    ● Bad user interfaces
    ● Mentally-draining tasks
    

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25. @mirka
    Maintenance
    ● Versioning (git, svn)
    ● Readable code
    ● Manageable structure
    

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26. Some ideas
    

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27. @mirka
    App scripting
    ● Google Apps Script
    ● Excel macros
    ● Apps you use for work
    

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28. @mirka
    AppleScript or JXA
    ● Control scriptable Mac
    applications
    ● Automate tasks for work
    

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29. @mirka
    Regular Expressions
    ● Master text manipulation
    ● Get your job done faster
    (?<=\.) {2,}(?=[A-Z])
    

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30. @mirka
    Regular Expressions
    ● Master text manipulation
    ● Get your job done faster
    (?<=\.) {2,}(?=[A-Z])
    

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31. @mirka
    Browser scripting
    ● Write scripts to alter the looks or
    behavior of websites
    ● Peek under the hood
    ● Greasemonkey/Tampermonkey
    ● Build a browser extension
    

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32. Conclusion
    

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33. Gain experience
    while making
    your life easier.
    

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34. Thank you and good luck!
    

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