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practical advice for establishing your engineering career Liz Abinante @feministy
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preface
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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 1 conference panel mentor lots of new devs organize/attend ~40 meetups
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5 conference talks 1 conference panel mentor lots of new devs organize/attend ~40 meetups
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5 conference talks 1 conference panel mentor lots of new devs organize/attend ~40 meetups
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5 conference talks 1 conference panel mentor lots of new devs organize/attend ~40 meetups
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girl develop it chicago education leader
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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 literally me
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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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contribute to open source!
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be public! use twitter!
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write blog posts!
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answer questions on stack overflow!
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attend every meetup!
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introduce yourself to everyone at all of the meetups you attend!
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learn a new programming language!
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volunteer!
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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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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