notes.html

            <aside class="notes">
                Name, Work for... heard me on...
                <br>
                Also pretty new...
                <br>
                Before becoming a dev, spent 15 years skating...
                <br>
                Come to realize over the past few years as I've worked to enter this field
                <br>
                Becoming a developer feels a lot like becoming a successful skater.
                <br>
                With that said, I'd like to show something...
                <hr>
                Now, I want to do a quick exercise;
                <br>
                Hands above head, 1 turn. (Confident!)
                <br>
                Bet you guys feel uncomfortable... That's what it's like to be a Jr learning!
                <br>
                I’m comfortable here...
                only because I’ve learned to get comfortable with this feeling! :)
                <br>
                Over and over again I talk to juniors and we always have the same conversation.
                <br>
                I’m not going to say you have to do this... or that... today
                I don't believe in those kind of absolutes...
                <br>
                But I am... going to share what’s worked for me... common things I keep hearing.
            </aside>


            <aside class="notes">
                I want to talk about some numbers for minute: (FADE IN 7)
                Right now, for every person in tech looking for a job, there are 3 open openings.
                <br>
                Average occupation = 1, with 6 people competing
            </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    So, how do we effectively funnel incoming devs to address this?
                    <br>
                    That's one problem boot camps are good at addressing!
                    <br>
                    They're popping up everywhere, churning out highly motivated Jr's,
                    but let's be honest, companies are usually looking for seniors.
                    <br>
                    In order to bridge the gap together, going to talk about what it actually looks like
                    to go from a bootcamp,
                    to full time developer, and what senior devs can do to support the process.
                    <br>
                    We all like to talk about numbers.
                    I challenge you, to look at the solution,
                    and acknowledge what the process actually looks like.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    It's all about moving outside your comfort zone, and pushing through the stages of competence.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    After skating => College
                    <br>
                    Ended up in marketing
                    - Intrigued by CMS
                    - Starting to experiment a little :)
                    <br>
                    Treehouse - Basics - Wordpress
                    <br>
                    PHP => Should do Rails... 4 hours to Rails Bridge, Rails Girls
                    <br>
                    Got more serious... decided on 2nd Bachelors in IT.... too slow... no Rails!
                    <br>
                    Bootcamp research =>
                    3 DAYS to another only to turn around & come home => (airbnb & flat tire along the way)
                    <br>
                    All in!!! Wanted something longer and harder => NSS
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    While I at NSS saw this...
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Followed by this... which peaked my interest
                    <br>
                    Speaking to voice inside looking for next challenge!
                    <br>
                    No I could do even more Node when I moved from Nashville!
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Finally, I saw this...
                    <br>
                    There I was, impressionable young developer. JavaScript it is!
                </aside>

            <aside class="notes">
                Pretty soon after that decision, I did start to miss Rails and synchronous flow!
                <br>
                Past DOM manipulation JS typically isn't the most beginner friendly.
                <br>
                Wrking butt off though, and started to notice things...
                <br>
                Two of my mentors were saying really nice things about me on Hacker News.
                <br>
                Then was interviewed on some podcast's.
                <br>
                I was asked to help with some large conferences and a Meetup.
                <br>
                And got a raise!
                <br>
                All feeling totally out of my element.
                <br>
                Contrary to how uncomfortable I was... I was doing something right!
            </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Ok, now for lessons learned! (FADE IN 3)
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    I'm definitely not talking about this kind of advice!
                    <br>
                    Those are all things that should evolve organically.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    As we dive in always keep this in mind!
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Let's first dispel the elephant in the room, and start with breaking in.
                    <br>
                    Employers probably aren’t hiring you expecting you to solve their most complex problems.
                    <br>
                    On the other end of the spectrum, don’t hold back from applying for jobs because you don’t feel ready.
                    Let your future employer decide this!
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) Making 'some' mistakes is expected & normal.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    You also don't want to be this guy
                    <br>
                    Contrary to what pop culture says, you should be
                    Leveraging social media, Hackathons and Meetups.
                    <br>
                    Establish a presence in the community.
                    <br>
                    Jr's have flooded the market... need got to speak up & stand out!
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Be passionate. Literally everywhere, and with every one you meet.
                    <br>
                    The industry is filled with people who've been writing code, and studying CS since they were kids.
                    <br>
                    It's also filled with passionate people who enjoy it as a hobby.
                    <br>
                    When you're entering the field, you've got a lot to prove,
                    & people will be making a bet on you.
                    <br>
                    The more excited you are, the easier the decision will be.
                    <br>
                    Can also look for ways to contribute on GitHub.
                    Doesn't matter what.
                    <br>
                    A lot of juniors have said, this how they broke in!
                    <br>
                    Asked to work on first prod Rails app after submitting a doc PR
                    to the Rails Bridge Curriculum.
                    <br>
                    You're degree doesn't really mean anything if you don't have the work ethic and passion to put it into practice.
                    <br>
                    Dave Thomas who wrote the "Pragmatic Programmer" even talked about
                    the power of a passionate dev on a recent podcast essentially saying
                    <br>
                    those who weren't should even be in the field in his opinion.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Next, all jobs are not created equal!
                    <br>
                    You may need to strike a balance between your dream job,
                    and ok for now, because ‘a job’ is better than sitting at home doing tutorials forever.
                    <br>
                    Sure perks & high salary are nice, but if you want to grow & sustain your career,
                    mentorship, testing, coding standards, and code reviews should all be at the top of your list.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    So, you've got the job... and you see the code base for the first time!
                    <br>
                    If you're anything like me, looking at 1/2 dozen apis, 2 etls, and a webui...
                    you might feel like this!
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Bootcamps are a great way to jump start you're learning,
                    but they're not meant to take you 100% of the way.
                    <br>
                    Some things you can only learn on the job.
                    <br>
                    So, what does hard work look like?
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    You’re going to be doing less of this...
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    And more of this...
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    1st: Start with test - Read them AND write them
                    <br>
                    Reading them is best way to get up to speed on a large code base.
                    <br>
                    Writing your own makes you look professional and like you care.
                    <br>
                    2nd strategy: break stuff
                    <br>
                    Figure out what went wrong & how to fix it. Makes thing stick.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Work to always leave the code better than you found it.
                    <br>
                    There are tons of things that go on day to day outside of
                    just writing code.
                    <br>
                    Regardless, you should always focus on writing maintainable code.
                    <br>
                    That means the code you write is readable, extensible, & testable.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    In order to grow, you also need to start looking past tutorials.
                    <br>
                    Instead, check out source code for the libraries you use on GitHub.
                    <br>
                    Read RFC's as well.
                    <br>
                    Easier to understand than you think,
                    and usually the most accurate documentation.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Next up, let's talk about working smart.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Everyone knows the saying, ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail’.
                    <br>
                    Spend time thinking before coding. Ex: API => start with Docs.
                    <br>
                    Have an opinion... be able to explain why you made the choices you made!
                    Nothing is more painful than seeing code that's been C&P'd and you know it.
                    <br>
                    Understand every line of code you write.
                    If it’s there, it should have a purpose.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    With my background in skating and coaching, I know first hand
                    that practice does NOT make perfect... it makes permanent.
                    <br>
                    Focus less on being a great developer, more on being great problem solver.
                    <br>
                    With that said, you should be reflecting on your work regularly.
                    <br>
                    When you're working on a tough problem, and you finally come up with a solution,
                    step back, and retrace your steps.
                    <br>
                    Write things down even.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Pick one thing and stick with it - ES6, Angular.
                    <br>
                    I knew I wanted to do full stack JS,
                    but also knew I wasn't going to learn 1/2 dozen API's & Web UI at once.
                    <br>
                    Also, don't be overwhelmed by the # of libraries & frameworks.
                    <br>
                    Pick one thing, with an overall focus on problem solving.
                    <br>
                    Languages, libraries, and frameworks are just tools. They come and go.
                    What's popular today probably won’t be popular a decade from now.
                    <br>
                    Be lifelong learner.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Take care of yourself mentally and physically.
                    I’ve been determined to stay in shape, & balanced.
                    <br>
                    Up at 6 => gym => run => work
                    Sneak in podcasts sometimes. (Sshhh!)
                    Only when up for it.
                    <br>
                    Finish the day => meditation
                    <br>
                    Stay grounded & focused.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Stop calling yourself dumb! => Self fulfilling prophecy.
                    <br>
                    Self talk = time to ‘fake it till you make it’!
                    <br>
                    Much as want job only about writing code, not reality.
                    <br>
                    Can be emotional career.
                    Whether we (yes even guys) want to admit it or not,
                    going to be highs and lows.
                    <br>
                    Also be aware of The Dunning-Kruger effect.
                    <br>
                    Says there's tendency for under performers to OVER estimate abilities
                    <br>
                    & high performers to UNDER estimate their abilities.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    When you don’t know how to do something,
                    or you come across a tough bug remind yourself (FADE IN)
                    <br>
                    Every time something goes wrong in your program = opportunity to learn something new!
                    <br>
                    Ton of fun, but time consuming & stressful.
                    <br>
                    Positive outlook is huge.
                    <br>
                    Without it you can enter a vicious cycle.
                    <br>
                    Work butt off because you feel inadequate.
                    <br>
                    Then burned out.
                    <br>
                    Happens over and over.
                    <br>
                    Establish boundaries to avoid that.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Finally, I want to talk about pair programming.
                    It's a really popular topic, for good reason (FADE IN 2)
                    <br>
                    It's valuable working with people close to your skill set, & Sr's
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    A lot of people ask my opinion on whether they should do bootcamp or learn on own.
                    <br>
                    Started alone, and was grateful
                    for the opportunity to learn with others.
                    <br>
                    So much so, I've tried to keep the theme going. (FADE IN)
                    <br>
                    Private Slack channel at work for Jr's.
                    Manager watching probably didn’t know till this talk!
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    <br>
                    Also helped start study group meetup & do regular Sat. hangouts.
                    <br>
                    Recommend leveraging the awesome communities out there..
                    Code Newbie => podcast, twitter chat & Slack
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Now on mentoring and working with seniors
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) Sun Microsystems studied the progress of
                    1,000 employees over a 5-year period and determined devs who had mentors got promoted 5x
                    more than those that didn't
                    <br>
                    Ask if you can pair at work. As a Jr still learning to create a mental model...
                    Paring allows you to step back and form an overall picture of the problem.
                    <br>
                    Also get mentorship from code reviews, contributing to open source.
                    <br>
                    If nothing else stand back & soak up what you see Sr's do.
                    Ask if you can stay late & peek over shoulder.
                </aside>

            <aside class="notes">
                I spent a lot of time reflecting over the past year getting ready for this talk and realized...
                <br>
                It really was all about getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and working my butt off.
            </aside>

            <aside class="notes">
                Already have this down, here's what you can do to help.
            </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Want to start by talking about preparing yourself & team.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    You're probably going to feel like this at times... advise you to suppress those.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Because this is what it's like for most Jr's starting out.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Let's imagine for a min. you're adopting a dog.
                    <br>
                    You can either go to the shelter and find an old one, or... you can get a puppy!
                    <br>
                    Older dogs are usually already house trained, but they also have bad habits.
                    <br>
                    Puppies are notorious for chewing/making a mess, but given a nice environment & training
                    the investment can be rewarding.
                    <br>
                    If getting a puppy sound fun, make sure you’re committed to the process, or they’ll end up in the shelter!
                    <br>
                    In other words, realize, you're directly responsible for the success of a Jr.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    (FADE IN) If you don't already have one, establish a culture of open communication.
                    <br>
                    Everyone should be sharing knowledge no matter what their job title is.
                    <br>
                    A lot of people entering the field are coming from another career.
                    Their insight can offer new perspectives.
                    <br>
                    It builds trust & an environment where disagreements are healthy &
                    highly constructive.
                    <br>
                    If your team has Jr's, make sure you're checking in often & asking lots of questions...
                    <br>
                    Some newbies find it intimidating to speak up.
                    You may need to watch for non-verbal queues.
                    Ask directly, “Does this make sense”?
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Learn to empathize and sincerely listen.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    One big thing I've noticed over the past few years is how easy it is to forget
                    what you actually know.
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) You'll help Jr's on your team immensely, if you frame conversations accordingly.
                    <br>
                    Which means explain things differently to a Jr than you would a Sr.
                    <br>
                    A lot of the time Jr's don’t have the same context to rely on.
                    <br>
                    If you and I were watching the Olympics together and I told you 'a skater cheated their
                    double axel & had a wrap’, you’d have no idea.
                    <br>
                    Instead, I could say to you 'they rotated their foot a 1/4 turn
                    before taking off (cheating),
                    <br>
                    and their leg went above their knee in the air
                    (wrapping) which is poor style’.
                    <br>
                    I might even get up and draw… hint!
                    <br>
                    With the inverse approach:
                    <br>
                    You might not know what a double axel is, so you Google that,
                    <br>
                    then you have to figure out what the heck
                    ‘cheated’ and ‘wrap’ mean.. in that context.
                    <br>
                    Before you know it, what could be explained quickly,
                    turned into a 30 minute rabbit hole for you.
                    <br>
                    You might think this is a pain, but it'll help you grow as you’ll
                    have to think about problems in a different way.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    (FADE IN) Project mgmt. is another subtle, but extremely crucial step.
                    <br>
                    Managers & product managers should work together
                    to ensure projects flow smoothly.
                    <br>
                    Jr's are still getting used to being able to gauge timing on projects,
                    and will probably need time before they're able to give solid estimates.
                    <br>
                    Ambiguity can be tough to deal with too.
                    So, you need to set explicit expectations.
                    <br>
                    Provide additional details or constraints & break tasks down.
                    Doing so will ultimately help a new developer contribute faster.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    I've also seen the inverse, where Jr's aren't given enough to do.
                    <br>
                    It's easy to resort to having a Jr's sit idle, or to never be delegated substantial tasks.
                    <br>
                    It all goes back to planning & making an informed, strategic decision hiring.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Let's talk about preparing your code base, (FADE IN) specifically with testing.
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) Microsoft did a study and found the number of defects decreased 40-90% when they started doing TDD.
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) And they initial development time only increased 5-35%
                    <br>
                    Increases confidence making changes for everyone.
                    <br>
                    With a Jr it will serve as docs, & prevent regressions learning the code base.
                    <br>
                    If nothing else, start writing tests in tandem with bug fixes.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    As with testing, having code standards, style guides, and linting in place is valuable for everyone,
                    <br>
                    but with a Jr on your team, it means you'll have less to worry about in your code review.
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) A really important part of this is comments.
                    <br>
                    Saying goes, those who don’t think they need comments, are usually the worst offenders!
                    <br>
                    Developing a team style guide is also great project for a Jr because it will ensure
                    they understand best practices.
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) JSCS makes this easier and helps with docs.
                    <br>
                    Without a doubt teams should be linting as well.
                    <br>
                    (FADE IN) There are things like
                    Cyclomatic complexity: Number of paths within a method or function. 5-10 = danger => refactor
                </aside>

                <aside clsss="notes">
                    (FADE IN) Next, I want to talk about code reviews.
                    <br>
                    Can either be an awesome way to learn, or extremely painful and discouraging.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Don't let this happen. With a Jr, every review is an opportunity to teach them something.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Unless you want your dog (air quotes) to wear a muzzle the rest of their life,
                    resist the urge to do this too.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Don’t just tell a Jr what to do.
                    Ask them their thoughts on doing something in the way you propose.
                    <br>
                    It forces them to think, and come up with own thoughts.
                    <br>
                    After, tell them ‘why’.
                    <br>
                    Offer's more technical value & build trust.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Next, pair programming.
                    <br>
                    #1 Thing:
                    Tell the Jr when you’re not sure.
                    Seriously... please!
                    <br>
                    sets an example for humility, and NOT doing so will eventually come back to bite the team.
                    <br>
                    Don’t get too clever with your solutions.
                    <br>
                    If it was hard to write, it’ll be even harder to read in the future!
                    <br>
                    Debug pair programming can be immensely valuable
                    <br>
                    Whether people admit or not, everyone writes bugs.
                    <br>
                    More often than not, we're working on existing code bases.
                    <br>
                    Learning strategies to quickly pin point issues in code you didn't write is
                    arguably more difficult than writing your own program from scratch.
                    <br>
                    With that said, next time you’re debugging grab the Jr on your team
                    and walk through the process with them.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    (FADE IN) Finally, I want to talk about how working with a junior can boost your career.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    Maybe you're feeling like this lately.
                    A Jr can totally fix that!
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    (FADE IN 2) Sun Microsystems compared career progress for 1,000 employees
                    over a 5 year period and found mentors were promoted 5x's more often & were 20% more likely to get a raise.
                    <br>
                    Training Jr. pays off for the team when you can start delegating more work.
                    <br>
                    They'll also help you understand how people perceive you better.
                    <br>
                    Mentee reveal ALL the good and bad traits you possess.
                    <br>
                    There’s a very strong mentorship model in this industry.
                    <br>
                    Pay back into it by taking an active, rather than passive role in the progress of the Jr's on your team.
                    (Less Tweeting… more doing!)
                    <br>
                    Of course teaching is a skill.. not something everyone enjoys.
                    <br>
                    Strive to contribute in whatever way you can.
                    <br>
                    Financially through sponsorship.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    (FADE IN) Above all... be nice!
                    <br>
                    Keep in mind that every developer learned from a more
                    seasoned developer at one point.
                    <br>
                    Keeping a positive attitude can empower people to work even harder than they might otherwise.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    No matter what side you're on you'll need to learn to embrace frustration
                    and move outside your comfort zone
                    <br>
                    Success isn’t what is looks like on the surface,
                    and moving through these steps will be rough at times.
                    <br>
                    By focusing on concrete objectives,
                    we can all advance collectively, close the talent gap along the way.
                </aside>

                <aside class="notes">
                    (FADE IN) Just remember, when you're frustrated and uncomfortable, you're in excellent company.
                </aside>