The Journey to Software Engineer:
From Neophyte to Knowing things
Andy Ernst
Axon
I'm Andy
and I'm a software engineer
finally
FTE
I've taken an interesting path
Now I work at Axon
Geekiest Office in Seattle
http://www.king5.com/entertainment/television/programs/evening/seattles-geekiest-office/226967818
The Bad News
many companies won't hire boot camp graduates
why?
programmer != software engineer
while I work at Axon
and I know stuff
I didn't always
your journey to
software engineer...
Parts of the Journey
-
Learn the basics
- Go to Code Fellows
- Read things
- Build things
-
Get a job where you learn more
- Do your best
- Learn from other people
-
Keep learning
- Branch out
Many different paths
Building on the Basics
Building on the Basics
Don't worry about remembering everything
Aim for 80%, not 100%
Building on the Basics
Web developers are generalists
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- framework
- CSS
- HTML
- HTTP
Building on the Basics
Get good (enough) at one thing
Follow your interest
React
Angular
Backbone
Meteor
the new shiny
Building on the Basics
-
podcasts
-
other code
-
ask Google simple questions
Building on the Basics
-
Books
-
Video Courses
-
Websites
- DevDoc.io
- CanIUse
- CSS Tricks
Build Something Useful
Build Something Useful
Build a portfolio
Can be just one thing
Build Something Useful
-
Simple done well
-
Meets a need
-
site for a friend
-
work for free
-
-
Ship it!
Build Something Useful
Build Something Useful
- Aesthetic
- Functional
- Collaborative
Three (ish) types of projects:
Build the type of thing
you want to work on
Build Something Useful
Get someone to look at your code
Bonus points for getting outside your discipline
Build Something Useful
Resources
a million online tutorials
Looking for a Job
Looking for a Job
It may seem out of reach
but be patient
(no one is coming to stab you with knives)
After the first job, finding the next will be easier
Looking for a Job
-
Meetups
- Seattle JS
- Seattle ReactJS
- New Tech Seattle
-
Networking
- meet interesting people
- not smarmy
Looking for a Job
Contracting is a good option
prevents pigeonholing
less investment
Look for tech you want
to work with
but keep an open mind*
*except for PHP
Interviewing
Interviewing
Interviewing
Because the recruiter won't tell you
On every failure, analyze what you did wrong
Get better every time
Interviewing
- Resume
- Portfolio
- Talk like a human
Recruiter
Interviewing
JS & web basics
-
HTTP
-
what is a __?
Phone screen
Interviewing
- Portfolio
- Research the business
- Whiteboard
Tech interview
Got the Job,
What Next?
Got the Job, What Next?
Everyone (should)
still feel like a faker
Breath, focus on work
Eat the humble pie,
still a mountain to climb
Got the Job, What Next?
Be patient with yourself but keep working
Figure things out on your own, until you start going in circles
Be easy to work with,
eager to learn
Got the Job, What Next?
Look for opportunities
Learn first four Chrome debugger tabs
Learn best practices
no more poor-
mans debugger
Got the Job, What Next?
dealing with
PHP
bad code
Got the Job, What Next?
Don't be like this =>
(obsessed with one technology, forces it on other people)
<= Or like this
(mightier than thou,
smart but no social skills)
Got the Job, What Next?
Keep working hard
And then one day...
Keep learning
Got the Job, What Next?
You'll realize you know things
You are a software engineer
Questions?
Andy Ernst
aernst@taser.com
Journey to Software Engineer
By Andy Ernst
Journey to Software Engineer
A presentation given at Code Fellows about the path from new programmer to software engineer.
