Congratulations! Sarah and Joy are so proud of all you have accomplished and are stoked to work with you until you sign your acceptance letter!
Some things to keep in mind:
- You are in the drivers seat of your job search. You will dictate the success you have by the effort you put into it.
- All final materials MUST be done by Outcomes Bootcamp
- Remember that the next 45 days are the most critical in your job search. Use the momentum and the structure you had in class during this time.
Wednesday, July 26th / 2:30PM - 4:30PM
This is your opportunity to get feedback on what looks good, what works, and how well you present you materials. Be ready with what you want feedback on.
Friday, July 28th / 10:00AM - 3:30PM
This will be your final prep for the Student Spotlight. Reminder that you MUST have your final resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, GA profile and portfolio accessible and ready to do a final walkthrough with Sarah or Joy.
Wednesday, August 2nd / 4:00PM - 6:30PM
Showoff all the work you have done to hiring managers, recruiters, and members of our GA Community who are excited to see all of your hard work!
The journey doesn't end here. There's always...
- More to learn.
- A better way to do what you're trying to do.
- Entire worlds and paradigms in programming that you've probably never heard of, let alone understand.
That is, surround yourself with better developers.
Work will be one way to do this. Chances are you will be part of a team with higher-level developers who have been in the industry for years. Don't pass up on learning their tricks of the trade.
Some of you might end up working somewhere where you're the only -- and therefore the most experienced -- developer on the team!
Learn from people outside of work, whether that's IRL at meet-ups and conferences or through online communities (e.g., GitHub, StackOverflow, social media).
The good news is that there are lots of people who know a lot about programming, and may be willing to mentor you. Finding a mentor isn't easy, but some things might help...
- People giving feedback on a GitHub commit is valuable and could lead to longer discussions on code.
- Answer questions on StackOverflow.
- People are more willing to help those who help others.
- Many of you are fortunate to have some structured ways in which you'll be helping others. For those of you who don't, seek out organizations devoted to helping people. They often have training and resources.
- Teaching is a fantastic way to improve your skills.
- People are more willing to help those who help others.
- Find an "accountabili-buddy" and set measurable, achievable goals for each other.
- Walk through leveling up as a developer.
- Read a book.
- Read the source code for a framework or tool that you have used.
- Root cause analysis: every bug you fix is a level up, but you have to understand why it happened.
- Listen to podcasts like Ruby Rogues and Javascript Jabber.
Never stop learning. Keep that mind sharp. This is important not only for the time between now and your first job, but for the rest of your life.
Being able to express what you don't know if an important skill to have, especially in job interviews. The Washington Post, for example, use their phone screen as an opportunity to identify what you don't know.
How do you go about doing that?
- Talk about what you've learned.
- Talk about the obstacles you've overcome.
- Talk about when you failed.
- Talk about how you will learn what you don't know.
You've had a lot of experiences here - leverage those experiences as you progress forward.
Most graduates don't struggle with a lack of knowledge or understanding, but more a lack of confidence!
- Think about where you were 12 weeks ago. What about 6, even 3? I interviewed all of you, so I know!
- Think about how much you will be learning from here on out.
Confidence is huge -- trust yourself and trust what you are able to accomplish.