O H , I G R A D U AT E D D E V P O I N T L A B S L A U N C H D AY

@holtbt

W H AT Y O U H AV E D O N E Learned to code Made important connections with your peers Built some cool stuff Survived

W H AT Y O U C O U L D Y E T D O Learn more code Make more important connections with your peers Build some cooler stuff Thrive

B R I A N ’ S S U G G E S T I O N S T O T H R I V I N G

F I N D M E N T O R ( S ) A N D I G N O R E T H E M • Absorbing wisdom from senior developers is a hack to get better (much) quicker • Senior devs have forgotten what it’s like to be in your shoes and will make comments like “this is easy” or “this is simple”; ignore it • Take the good; leave the bad

D E P T H O V E R B R E A D T H • Avoid trying to learn a tiny bit of everything • Find the thing that interests you and go deep • You’ll keep interest longer, learn more, and be more hirable

E N G A G E I N T H E C O M M U N I T Y • Look around you; you already have a social network of engineers that only gets better with time • I’ve never gotten a job from a job posting; always been friends or others reaching out to me • Many of the best jobs are never posted

N E T W O R K • Go to meet ups and conferences; talk to people even if you’re shy • Try to speak at meet ups and conferences. Like, right now • Tweet at people; most “public figures” in our community are very friendly

L E A R N L E A R N L E A R N L E A R N L E A R N L E A R N L E A R N • Spoiler alert: the most important skill you got here is how to properly Google things • Don’t be afraid of SODD – Stack Overflow Driven Development • Just be sure to understand the code before you move on • Personal projects are a key way to learn – build stupid things and over engineer the hell out of them • Try new tech that interests you

C O D I N G I S H A R D • Never feel like you “should” get something. You don’t and that’s okay • Ask too many questions • Don’t burnout. Learn your limits • Take a break and come back

O P E N S O U R C E • Use open source • Write your own dumb projects and open source them • Nothing has to be complete; it doesn’t even have to work • Write your own useful projects and open source them • Open issues on big projects • Correct documentation • Read the issues and see if you can pick off small feature requests

I N T E R V I E W I N G I S A - S H O W • How well you do interview has less to do with you and more to do with what the interviewer had for breakfast • Most companies are horrible at interviewing • Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the job; don’t be discouraged if your friend does • It behooves you to go learn some computer science basics for interviewing

Y O U D O Y O U • Everyone has advice. Carefully evaluate it before you take it • People always want to tell you what worked for them. Take it with a grain of salt • Your path is unique • What works for you may not work for others; what worked for them may not work for you

No content

@ B I T T E R S W E E T RYA N • Have confidence in your abilities • Don’t let imposter syndrome stop you • Have confidence in your ability

@ S A R A H L S H O W E R S • The work isn’t over when you graduate, you still need to put in the time • Try not to compare yourself to those around you, there will always be smarted people, don’t beat yourself up because you don’t understand something, instead figure out how you can learn from the people around you • Get out into the community, build your network • Don’t be afraid to reach out to fellow alumni to help you with hook ups! It could be the difference between a foot in to door with a recruiter and not getting a phone call at all

@ B U R G E S S D RYA N • Don’t be scared to ask questions when you don’t know something. Don’t be scared to take on opportunities you may not be qualified for. Participate in the dev community in some way (Twitter, Github, conferences, meetups) • Listen to Front End Happy Hour • Experiment and continue to learn! • Always write the coolest, hottest new JS framework

@ S A R A H _ F E D E R M A N • Networking is #1 the most important skill for new people in the industry • Just don't do it because you're looking for a job, no one really wants to talk to someone who’s obviously only looking for a favor • Don't settle for the mindset that having any old job is good enough, go for the one you want • Don’t underestimated the value of learning from people who have been at it for a while

@ A U G B O G • Tip: go to meetups and talks when you can to learn and network — we take for granted what being in an learning environment gives us

@ J E M Y O U N G • Try not to get frustrated. Software engineering is really, really hard and most people can’t do it. • Don’t feel bad if you don’t know something. • Most importantly, never stop learning. You may have just graduated but you don’t know

G L H F