Start Your Career Right - ITx 2018

Presented at ITx 2018

Starting off your software development career, especially if it's your first career, can be tough. There is so much to learn, more than just syntax of code! This talk, aimed at junior, intermediate or even senior developers(!) covers some of the key tricks to a successful career, such as finding a mentor, working in a team, finding direction, supercharging your learning, getting your performance reviewed and much more.

Transcript

1. Start Your Career Right @samjarman • Software Engineer
2. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Disclaimer I am time rich at my stage in life The following advice is based on that I present and blog in a purist format However…
3. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Disclaimer Any time spent on your career is time well spent Take what you can from today and have a go applying Happy to chat more after
4. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Disclaimer This is a Twitter Friendly talk! Use the conference hashtag - #itx2018 Mention me - @samjarman Photos and quotes are welcome! Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam
5. Technologies React React Native Objective-C Swift - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Kotlin Angular Angular 2 Ember.Js Node AWS Azure Rails C#.net Go Rust Elm ES2018 TypeScript Kafka Sidekiq Redis
6. Omg Kidding!
7. @samjarman • #itx2018 A successful career is independent of the tech you choose.
8. Soft Skills
9. Core Skills
10. Skills
11. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Today’s Topics Finding Paid Experience Getting a Mentor Teamwork Performance Reviews Unfamiliar Code Bases Code Review Learning New Stuff Side Projects Open Source Personal Brand Public Speaking Interviewing Candidates
12. Finding Paid Experience (Thanks SOT for the image)
13. @samjarman • #itx2018 Too many job seekers don’t put in the effort to find work.
14. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Paid Experience Use resources on offer to you Creative in searching Rely on your networks Keep trying
15. Finding Mentors
16. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Finding Mentors Keep it casual Do something for them first Always pay it back and forward
17. @samjarman • #itx2018 The best way you can pay back a mentor is by acting on their advice, and reporting back on your successes.
18. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Finding Mentors "
19. Teamwork Being a team player
20. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Teamwork Decisions as a team Pick your battles
21. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Teamwork Focus on optimism Process is a product
22. @samjarman • #itx2018 You’re all on the same team. Act like it.
23. Performance Reviews How do I accept feedback and get raises?
24. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Performance Reviews Prepare for your performance review Be open to the feedback For a raise: Ask for explicit steps
25. @samjarman • #itx2018 If you don’t get answers on how to get a raise, get out of there.
26. Unfamiliar Codebases
27. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Unfamiliar Codebases Follow the design patterns Reason and deduce
28. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Unfamiliar Codebases Read the tests Breakpoints and stack traces
29. @samjarman • #itx2018 You always have more time than you think to get your head around new codebases
30. Code Reviews Submitting your code for a successful review, and reviewing the code of others
31. @samjarman • #itx2018 Code review is about improving code, not approving code.
32. @samjarman • #itx2018 No-one understands your code better than you
33. @samjarman • #itx2018 PRs are become history. Always over-communicate.
34. Learning and Direction What do I learn next? How?
35. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Learning and Direction Can’t learn it all Look for patterns, trends among tools and technologies Try to reduce your unknown unknowns overall in your career
36. @samjarman • #itx2018 It’s not about learning everything. Its about learning to learn anything.
37. Side Projects “But I don’t have any ideas!”
38. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Side Projects Practice what you’ve learned Automate stuff Connect some APIS
39. @samjarman • #itx2018 Side projects improve your skills, let you experiment, and give you something to talk about next interview.
40. Contributing to Open Source How to get started with open source and contribute back to the community
41. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Open Source Start Small OS your own work Conventions - Use COC, PR Guidelines, Good ReadMe etc
42. Your Personal Brand The term may make you gag, but the right mindset will open doors
43. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Personal Brand Brand != Skill Brand == Reputation Give value without any expectation of anything in return Blog, Tweet, Github, Vlog, Podcast, Radio, etc Dev.to, Medium
44. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Personal Brand Luck = Opportunity + Preparation Personal brand creates Opportunity Honing your craft is Preparation You’ll get lucky.
45. @samjarman • #itx2018 Ignore the term. Having exposure that creates opportunity is a good idea. Period.
46. Public Speaking Why you should and how to start
47. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Public Speaking Great for learning what you know thoroughly Start internally, move to meet ups Look for CFPs, follow conferences, on twitter, sign up to mailing lists Try and try again!
48. Interviewing Candidates How to make candidates feel comfortable, and find the right addition to your team
49. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Interviewing Candidates Get bias training - avoid biases Think about team add rather than fit Prepare prepare prepare Make candidate feel great, even if it’s a “no”
50. @samjarman • #itx2018 In the best case, rejected candidates should still be your biggest fan.
51. Do What You Can. Be Great. Have Fun.
52. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam GOOD LUCK <3 Sam Jarman @samjarman sam@samjarman.co.nz samjarman.co.nz/diaries DeveloperPosters.com samjarman.co.nz/chats
53. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam Questions! bit.ly/ITXSam
54. @samjarman • #itx2018 Questions? bit.ly/ITXSam