LAMP Camp Wilderness Week Lunch-and-Learn (June 2015)

I had the privilege of speaking to the campers at LAMP Camp about my experiences in the web industry. I told my story of how I got into the industry and shared advice and things I've learned along the way.

These slides were not intended to convey good content but were merely placeholders to help organize my thoughts and keep me on track.

Transcript

1. English Major
   From
   to PHP Rock Star
   

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2. I hate the term “x rock star.”
   

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4. Soft skills.
   

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5. Beginnings.
   

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6. Never forget
   where you came from.
   

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7. Purpose.
   

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8. “Why do you work with the WEB
   especially and not with any
   other programming? What is it
   about the web that excites you
   and thrills you to go forward?”
   —Michelle Sanver
   

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9. Advice.
   

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10. Seek out and listen
    to the advice of others.
    

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11. But don’t always follow it.
    

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12. Serendipity.
    

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13. Sometimes you’re in the
    right place at the right time.
    

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14. Luck.
    

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15. “Luck is what happens when
    preparation meets opportunity.”
    —Seneca
    

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16. Intuition.
    

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17. Network.
    

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18. Find a mentor.
    

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19. Interview the
    interviewer.
    

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20. 1. Ask what coding standards the
    company follows.
    2. Ask whether the company uses
    dependency/package management.
    3. Ask how much of the code is
    covered by tests.
    4. Ask to have the company’s
    deployment process described.
    

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21. Learn
    from your
    mistakes.
    

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22. THANK YOU.
    ANY QUESTIONS?
    benramsey.com
    !
    " @ramsey
    # github.com/ramsey
    $ ben@benramsey.com
    If you want to talk more, feel free
    to contact me.
    

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23. PHOTO CREDITS
    1. “PopRoxx at the DNA Lounge” by Jacob Applebaum, CC BY-SA 2.0
    2. “lecture hall / university” by marcus spiske, CC BY 2.0
    3. “A Little Luck” by JD Hancock, CC BY 2.0
    4. “Lotus 荷花” by Eddi Tsai, CC BY-SA 2.0
    5. Untitled by Eli White, CC BY-SA 2.0
    6. “Bonnaroo 2010 / Jay-Z” by Jade McClelland, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
    7. “Cairns in the Valley of Fire” by Ben Ramsey, CC BY-SA 2.0
    8. “PHPers out to do Amsterdam” by Aaron Wormus
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