Differentiate yourself using empathy

Presented at Dev Together Chicago.

As a new developer, it's tough to stand out from the pack of junior developers with similar skills to you. In this talk, I'll share my story of how I stood out from other junior devs by caring about digital accessibility, and how you can use the things you care about to be appealing to employers. You don't have to be the best, and you don't have to know a lot, you just need to care and want to learn more.

Transcript

1. Differentiate yourself using empathy Fen Slattery (they/them) @sublimemarch
2. @sublimemarch @sublimemarch@mastodon.social @sublimemarch
3. Accessibility Lead at Clique Studios Front End Engineer Graduate of Dev Bootcamp Chicago @sublimemarch
4. I've gotten all of my developer jobs by demonstrating empathy. @sublimemarch
5. Why is it important to stand out? @sublimemarch
6. Potential employers remember you. @sublimemarch
7. You have a unique value proposition. @sublimemarch
8. It empowers you. @sublimemarch
9. There are plenty of ways to differentiate yourself: • amazing skills • unique background • creative work • purple hair @sublimemarch
10. I suggest that you stand out by having empathy. @sublimemarch
11. Empathy: understanding what someone else is experiencing from their perspective @sublimemarch
12. There are plenty of ways to differentiate yourself with empathy: • writing documentation • user experience • maintainable code • knowledge sharing • inclusion @sublimemarch
13. What happens when you demonstrate empathy by caring about something? @sublimemarch
14. Best case: the company also cares about this! @sublimemarch
15. Worst case: the company actively dislikes the thing you care about and won't hire you @sublimemarch
16. Medium case: the company is indifferent, but you get to teach them to care about it @sublimemarch
17. How do you find the thing you care about? • Remember why you wanted to be a developer. • Find your people. • Look inward. @sublimemarch
18. How can you showcase your empathy? @sublimemarch
19. Write about it! Speak about it! Write some code about it! @sublimemarch
20. Caring about others is a great way to have potential employers care about you. @sublimemarch
21. fenslattery.com • How to give your first conference talk • How to be more comfortable with CSS • How to write a lightning talk • How to get paid to speak at events • Lots of accessibility and inclusion info @sublimemarch