Getting_Started_in_Tech__3_14_.pdf

Transcript

1. Getting Started in Tech: Building a Great Career February 2017
2. About me • Jasjit Singh • Self-taught developer • Worked for Redfin & Bridgewater • Start-up Founder/CEO — Hotspot • Thinkful General Manager, Atlanta
3. About us Thinkful prepares students for web development & data science jobs with 1-on-1 mentorship programs
4. What’s your goal? • Just curious about careers in tech • Somewhat considering a career change • Seriously considering a career change
5. What is “tech”? Tech isn’t just one industry anymore — it’s a new business process that’s displacing old business processes. Every company is becoming a tech company.
6. “Software is eating the world”
7. E.g. Goldman Sachs • Lloyd Blankfein, CEO • “Goldman Sachs is a Technology Firm” • 9,000 out of 33,000 employees are on tech team
8. Other examples • Entertainment => Netflix • Hotels => AirBnB • Logistics => Uber
9. The implications for jobs • Increased demand in for technical skills • Creation of new “software plus” jobs • Diffusion of tech organizational culture, roles, and processes
10. One such process — career trajectory Junior sales Account executive Sales Manager VP Sales!
11. In “tech” career trajectories are varied Full stack developer Front-end developer Back-end developer QA developer
12. In “tech” career trajectory are varied Full stack developer Front-end developer Back-end developer QA developer DevOps Product developer Growth hacker Reliability engineer Architect Manager / team lead
13. Goals for tonight • Define common first jobs • Career trajectories after the first job • Tips for breaking in
14. First jobs • Frontend developer • Backend developer • Full-stack developer • QA developer
15. Frontend Developer You’ll be building the parts of an application that people interact with
16. Backend Developer Building the business logic and handling data storage and manipulation
17. Full-stack Developer Build both front and backend features +
18. QA Developer Write software tests and conduct manual tests to catch bugs before they’re shipped
19. Next step: Senior Developer Everything that came before with the ability to estimate your work accurately, handle challenging problems with less support, and add support for junior colleagues
20. Coding plus Roles • Coding + Product = Product Manager • Coding + Marketing = Growth Hacker • Coding + Community = Developer Evangelist • Coding + Sales = Sales Engineer • Coding + Data = Data Scientist
21. Product Manager (Coding + Product) Turn business goals into product requirements. Work with designers & developers to deliver — measure success Skills & Tools • Customer research • Customer development • User stories • Wireframes • Project management • Analytics
22. Growth Hacker (Coding + Marketing) Design & implement experiments to drive customer acquisition and engagement Skills & Tools • Rapid prototyping • Analytics • Communication
23. Developer Evangelist (Coding + Community) Build community around a technology by helping customers, creating content and participating at events Skills & Tools • Specific technical expertise • Teaching/Mentoring • Customer support
24. Sales Engineer (Coding + Sales) Sell complex technical product by helping customer understand how it works and how they’ll use it Skills & Tools • Communication • Customer support
25. Data Scientist (Coding + Data) Use statistics and programming to find valuable insights from extremely large datasets Skills & Tools • Curiosity • Statistics • Analytics • Machine Learning
26. The Good News • Massive shortages in tech industry • Hiring is based on skills, not credentials • Anyone can learn with a growth mindset
27. 1M unfilled tech jobs by 2020 By 2020, there will be 1.4M computer science jobs available and only 400,000 computer science grads with the skills to apply for those jobs - Bureau of Labor Statistics
28. Many firms recruit from code challenge sites
29. Technical interview is cornerstone of the process
30. Anyone can learn how to code Students with a growth mindset - the belief that intelligence is not just something that you are born with - have higher levels of success. Neural connections grow and become stronger the more you struggle with learning and correct your mistakes. Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University
31. How to get in the door? • Learn the skills • Build a portfolio of high quality work • Develop a relevant network • Prep for technical interviews
32. Learning the skills • Build stuff + Google • Free online resources (e.g. CodeAcademy) • Flexible coding bootcamps (e.g Thinkful) • Full-time coding bootcamps (e.g. GA) • Full degree programs (Georgia Tech)
33. Building your portfolio • Find a niche (based on your background) • Build a personal website • Get your portfolio on GitHub • Try and find contract work • Have professionals guide & review your work
34. Networking the right way • Cold applications suck! • Figure out what you want (size, industry, role, etc) • 50-80% of jobs are never posted • Reach out to someone that works at company • Ask them about their work, genuine interest, build a relationship • Eventually (1-2 months in), ask for referral
35. Tech recruiters • Tech recruiters serve as your agent • Can leverage their relationships to arrange interviews • They are incentivized to find you a job • You might get less say in where, but are helpful • Can be great in getting you feedback
36. Thinkful students find jobs through referrals
37. The technical interview • Phone screen • Take home tech challenge • In-person interviews
38. Resources • Prep sites (e.g. Interview Cake) • Books (e.g. Cracking the Coding Interview) • Mock interviews with technical friends
39. More about Thinkful • Anyone who’s committed can learn to code • 1-on-1 mentorship is the best way to learn • Flexibility matters — learn anywhere, anytime • We only make money when you get a job
40. Our Program You’ll learn concepts, practice with drills, and build capstone projects for your own portfolio — all guided by a personal mentor
41. Our Mentors Mentors have, on average, 10+ years of experience
42. Our Results Job Titles after Graduation Months until Employed
43. Special Prep Course Offer • Three-week program, includes six mentor sessions • Covers HTML/CSS, Javascript, jQuery, Responsive Design • Option to continue into web development bootcamp • Prep course costs $500 (can apply to cost of full bootcamp) • Talk to me (or email me) about special offer
44. October 2015 Questions? jas@thinkful.com schedule a call through thinkful.com