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practical advice for establishing your engineering career Liz Abinante @feministy

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hello!

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i don’t know everything.

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i don’t know a lot.

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here is what i do know…

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this shit is really, really hard.

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the same advice doesn’t work for everyone.

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do the things that make the most sense for you.

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my story

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age 7 typing

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age 12 building websites

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age 15 blogging & designing

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age 19 profit… kinda

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age 26 building web apps

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OMG THE INTERNET

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age 26 first engineering job

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my first year

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5 conference talks

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1 conference panel

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mentor lots of new developers

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organize & attend ~40 meetups

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education leader gdi chicago

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rails girls summer of code coach

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learn 3 javascript frameworks

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make ~2,000 commits

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OMG TOO MUCH WANT TO DIE :(

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1 burn out

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seriously. don’t do this.

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i did all of this because people told me i had to if i wanted to grow my career.

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their advice

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speak at conferences!

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speak at conferences! introvert? oh, that’s easy! just come out of your shell!

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contribute to open source!

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contribute to open source! be excellent to each other! all contributions welcome! (but we will judge the shit out of you) (and possibly harass you) ethics of free labor be damned!

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be public! use twitter!

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trigger warning

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be public! use twitter! twitter is great… if you ignore the mansplaining harassment doxxing stalking rape & death threats trigger warnings racism sexism TERFs transphobia

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write blog posts!

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write blog posts! don’t feed the trolls! NEVER READ THE COMMENTS!

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answer questions on stack overflow!

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answer questions on stack overflow! we promise it’s a ~safe space~

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attend every meetup!

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attend every meetup! we promise it’s a ~safe space~ we have a code of conduct and NEVER ENFORCED IT because we are all excellent to each other!

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introduce yourself to everyone at all of the meetups you attend!

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introduce yourself to everyone at all of the meetups you attend! even if we’re staring at your ass we promise it’s a respectful stare!

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learn a new programming language!

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learn a new programming language! prove you’re a REAL ENGINEER

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volunteer!

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volunteer! free labor + toxic environment = networking!!!

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do ALLTHETHINGS!

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do ALLTHETHINGS! WHAT BURNOUT????

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their advice is a mine field.

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their advice requires you to take risks.

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who are they?

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people with privilege who feel safe being public.

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people with and without privilege fighting the fight.

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people who actually like doing these things.

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you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel

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you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel unsafe

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you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel overworked

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you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel unhappy

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you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel unappreciated

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you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel inadequate

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you can follow this advice if it sounds good to you.

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it is not bad advice.

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in fact, i will give you some of the same advice.

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it simply doesn’t work for everyone, and it’s not the only path to career growth.

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my advice

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two principles

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two principles consume

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two principles consume share

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four axes

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four axes code

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four axes code knowledge

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four axes code knowledge experience

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four axes code knowledge experience network

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the things you choose to do depend a lot on the path you want your career to take

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growing on different axes will shape your career in different ways

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consume

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consume consuming takes time, the amount is up to you

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consume you don’t have to consume everything

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consume you don’t have to learn from toxic sources

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consume you can consume at your own speed

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consume you can consume things relevant to what you do, or completely different

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consume you can consume in many different ways

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consume you don’t have to be present physically to take advantage of a resource

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consume you can consume online

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consume you can consume in person

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consume you can consume alone, in a quiet dark corner with a cute fluffy puppy

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code read the source code for everything you use

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code lurk in pull requests for things you’re interested in

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code review solutions to popular coding problems

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code compare solutions for coding problems across different languages

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knowledge watch recorded conference talks and panels

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knowledge subscribe to technical mailing lists

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knowledge read technical blogs or books by people you like

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knowledge attend conferences, meetups, and trainings

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knowledge listen to podcasts

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experience read things by people who have come before you

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experience ask for help

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experience ask for advice

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network ask for introductions

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network turn a friend into an acquaintance

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network use resources created by friends-of-friends

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network join irc or slack channels

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share

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share you don't have to share with anyone you don't personally know or trust

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share you don't have to share everything you do

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share you can say no to sharing

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share you don't have to be a public figure, on the internet or in person

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share you can share anonymously

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share sharing anonymously will still help you grow your career

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share sharing isn’t just to get your stuff out there so you can be seen or recognized

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share sharing is also about practicing how you present yourself, your work, and your achievements to others

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share sharing will help you practice talking about your achievements when it comes time for a review at work or a new job interview

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share sharing will help you catalog your professional history and growth

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share sharing will help you find trends in your own work

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share sharing will help you find your strengths and weaknesses

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code publish what you can, not just what you think is “good enough”

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code pair up on projects with friends, remote or in person

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code play with things that interest you

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code revisit, refactor, and review your old code

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code document your refactoring

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knowledge write down or explain your technical decisions, processes, and ideas

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knowledge informal lunch and learns with friends and colleagues

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knowledge share ideas and work through challenges over email and irc

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knowledge conference talks, lightning talks, panels

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knowledge teach workshops

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knowledge teach a friend

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experience share your story

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experience share your mistakes

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experience mentor people you know

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network work with your friends whenever you can, and invite new people to join

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network introduce new friends to your social circle

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network start a small, informal hack night, discussion, or forum

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network contribute to a friend-of-a- friend’s project

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network create irc or slack channels and invite all your cool new friends

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network nepotism

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“If you and your friends are in the same field and you can collaborate with each other, do this without shame. Men invented nepotism and practically live by it. It’s ok for women to do it too.” - Roxane Gay, “Bad Feminist”

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final tips

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take what works, throw out what doesn’t

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take breaks and don’t push yourself too hard

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try a new thing sometimes

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set goals

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measure progress

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reevaluate goals

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questions? slides: speakerdeck.com/feministy blog: lizabinante.com (resources, links, etc) email: [email protected] twitter: feministy irc: feministy