Forem: Girl Knows Tech

Woman In Tech? Your Voice Matters In These Communities

Girl Knows Tech — Fri, 18 May 2018 13:00:42 +0000

I have a Facebook group for women in technology. I ask 3 questions to women who want to join the group. One of them is: “Why do you want to join the group? “. All the answers I receive say that it is to meet other women in technology, to exchange tips, etc!

Since not everyone is on Facebook or enjoys the platform, I had the idea to write this article to share all the platforms for women in technology that I know. My goal is to regroup all women in tech communities that you can join and where you can go to exchange with others!

Video version of this post

Women in tech communities to join

Facebook Groups

In French

Les filles du web au Québec : The group aims to bring together girls from the web in Quebec to exchange, help and inspire.
Lesbians Who Tech Montreal

In English

Women Know Tech : My Facebook Group, for anyone who identifies as a woman.
Women In Tech
Global Tech Women
Underrepresented in tech : The group is for people who identify themselves as an under-represented individual in technology.
Moms Can: CODE : For moms to learn how to code, but I don’t have kids and I joined it… really inspiring group!
IronRingGirls – Group : for women in engineering
freeCodeCamp Ladies’ Lounge : FreeCodeCamp FB Group for women.
Ladies Storm Hackathons : all individuals are invited to join the group to reduce the gender gap in hackathons!
#GirlsOnWP : For women who use WordPress
Women Who Tech : Focus on issues related to women in technology

Less active:

She Codes Her Adventure : Group created by Code by Sisters, two sisters who decided to learn how to code.

Slack

Women in Tech

I have been in this Slack for a very long time. The topics discussed are very diverse, but I believe that most members (all who identify as women) are concentrated in the United States. It’s the most active slack this on this list.

Women Techmakers

Women Techmakers is a Google program that aims to give visibility, communities and resources to women in technology. It’s not been long since I was on this Slack, but it’s friendly for the experience I had. Women Techmakers offers 3 different Slack teams: early career, mid-level career, or established career. The goal of these three slacks is to help women’s careers by providing access to resources and events.

Women In Tech Montreal

This group is for all those who live, work or are connected to Montreal in any way. We speak in English and in French in this Slack!

Instagram

Use women empowerment hashtags

I wrote a complete blog post listing all the women related hashtags I could find, so you can easily connect and find other women in tech accounts!

Twitter

*Accounts to follow *

Twitter lists of women in tech accounts
- Women around the world
- Region of Montréal

Hashtags to use

List of hashtags to use

*Twitter Chats *

Twitter chats are discussions that can be said to be “directed” to a particular topic, and where everyone can answer a question and give their opinion. This allows you to meet other people and network a lot on Twitter!

Women in Tech Chat

Snapchat

Women in Tech : Almost every day, a woman takes over the Snapchat account for a day and shares video clips of her day. Sometimes it’s a woman who runs a business. Most often, she introduces her work colleagues and shows us what a typical day looks like for her. Other times, it is about women who go to conferences and make us attend with them!

/r/LadyDevs : full of news around women in tech

Meetups

Meetup.com is a website that allows organizers to create recurring events around a topic. Thus, all people interested in this subject can meet to network.

I can not list all the meetups, but I suggest you go to meetup.com and search using keywords like “women + code”, “women in tech”, etc. You will surely find a group that is near you!

Girl Develop It (New York)
Montréal All-Girl Hack Night (Montréal)

Events

Organizations

United States

Canada

Canada Learning Code, with Ladies Learning Code

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you discover new communities for women in technology! If you ever know a community that I have not listed here, feel free to leave a comment for me to add!

The post Woman In Tech? Your Voice Matters In These Communities appeared first on Girl Knows Tech.

Why Working Longer Than Others Is a Good Quality

Girl Knows Tech — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 13:00:55 +0000

This week, it took me 5 hours to do a piece of code. My teammate did a similar job in 30 minutes. Fortunately, it does not really affect me today. But I remember a time when I would have felt extremely miserable for taking so much time to complete a task while my friend blinked and it was over for him.

Over time, I realized that we do not have to be perfect, or be good at everything. What is important, in my opinion, is the result. Am I able to complete the task? Yes. The time required does not matter to me. I know that many of you who read these lines may have difficulty thinking like me. Let me tell you all the good things working longer will bring to you.

My story

I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD). As early as kindergarten, my teachers talked to my parents about my attention deficit and encouraged me to get medication. Now that I’m 22, I’ve been taking medication for more than a decade. It helps me a lot. On the other hand, it always takes me so much time to complete a task!

Whether it’s a task like a homework I need to complete for school or a task I need to do for a personal project, it doesn’t matter. It takes time.

You are no less good because you study longer than others

This person faster than you probably have more experience in the subject! Let me make sure it’s clear:

You’re not an idiot
You have your place in your field of study, whether it’s computer science or anything else
You will eventually succeed in this difficult task, like all the others before!

This more difficult aspect of your personality makes you who you are. And I dare say it can help you in other areas of your life. Have you already realized? Let me tell you about this problem that can transform you positively.

Why Working Longer Than Others Is a Good Quality

1. You will be determined and perseverant

And yes! When you have to work 10x more hours than anyone else around you, well… it makes you very determined and perseverant! Even if it’s difficult, even if you can’t do the exercises given by your professor, you’ll always work hard to make it happen once and for all.

We are all developing ways to succeed: whether to go to our teachers every week, send them emails continually, raise our hands in class, anything, we want and we will succeed at any price! And that is a quality that many employers are looking for.

2. You will be hard-working

When we have to work that much to succeed… let’s say that we get used to working hard, long, and we never stop until we reach our goal. So you are someone who works, and who is not afraid to put the required hours in order to succeed. Being a hard worker is a magnificent quality!

3. You develop your organization

Having more difficulty, we find ways to overcome our problems. One of the ways I found is to be very well organized. For example, as soon as I have a question to ask a teacher, I write it on a post-it in the margin of my sheet. That way, when I’m in front of the teacher, I can ask him or her all my questions quickly and efficiently!

I now use a digital calendar to record all the events I attend, as well as the Todoist application that I use every day to remind me of the tasks I have to do. You need so much time to work, you learn to find ways to plan your time so you have enough time slots to succeed!

4. You better understand the theory than your friend

Even if your friend spent 30 minutes doing the exercise while you took 5 hours, you’ll have a much better understanding of the theory than he or she did. It’s a bit like the 80/20 rule. For little effort, your friend knows 80% of the material, but the remaining 20% is hard to pick up and requires many more hours to reach it in full.

However, you are able to do this remaining work and you are not afraid! Yes, the ratio effort/result is not very good for you, but at least you have the merit of having given your 100% at all times.

Maybe you don’t see the result of your work in your grades today, but…

Let me talk to you about me again. Throughout high school, my grades were not up to my efforts and my study hours. By cons, quietly, my notes began to rise. Then, in CEGEP, I started to get the best grades in my life. It’s a bit like something was unlocked in me. Finally, my work was showing in my grades, and they are even better now that I’m at university!

If this is your case right now and you do not see the result of your efforts, don’t lose hope. I’m sure it’ll come someday! That day, you will be so proud of yourself! I assure you, it’s worth it!

Conclusion

I wrote this article today because I consider that many people live this problem of loneliness and do not realize that this flaw can be positive in their lives. Not too long ago, I realized how happy I was to be who I am today, with my flaws and qualities.

I am very proud today to be the one I am talking about in this article: determined, persevering, hardworking, organized. And I would not be this person without the flaw of needing a lot more time than anyone around me to complete a task.

This flaw gave me today 4 beautiful qualities, so who am I to complain?

The post Why Working Longer Than Others Is a Good Quality appeared first on Girl Knows Tech.

What brings women into coding?

Girl Knows Tech — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 13:00:52 +0000

One day, on my Facebook group for women in tech, I asked this question: “How did you start to code? What is your story?”. We had so many different replies in that thread that it inspired me to write this blog post today. I reached out to these women to get to know more about how they got into coding.

We all have a different story on how each of us started to code. Whether it was at school, with a parent, a friend, or at 40 years old when you decided you wanted to change your career. Today, I wanted to share various stories of women and how they first learned how to code. So… what are you waiting for?

Madeleine

My name is Madeleine Alzamora, I am from Montreal / Uruguay. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations. I loved my journey through university, especially the 2012 student strike which was an unprecedented milestone and trainer for me. Upon graduating from university, diploma in hand, job opportunities related to my field of study did not come as fast as I had expected. That’s when I got introduced to web programming.

People convinced me that it would be easy to learn by myself since tons of people had done it and that there are tons of resources and tutorials online. So I’ve started learning HTML and CSS through codeacademy.com. Once I completed the lessons, I reproduced simple landing pages. Afterwards, I attended a Ladies Learning Code workshop, and at the end of the day I was told: “The next time you come, I want to see you as a mentor. Challenge accepted! When the day came, it was at this point that I found that my learning efforts had brought immediate results. A month later, I started working at a digital agency as a web integrator…

The quick results obtained are one of the reasons why I like coding. However, it’s a constant work in process that needs tons of perseverance, learning capacity and resilience to restart again and again. Though it also pays back in self-confidence and assurance to keep on going every time you find the way. Since the possibilities of learning are endless it drives me forward. Moreover, this sphere of activity, technology, has secured a part of my life because it gave me opportunities and freedom. The winning strategy of my journey has been the combination of discipline, code at least 20 or 30 minutes a day it really makes a difference, participation in the Montreal’s tech community because you have to put yourself out there, and finally, I have to say that without my mentors Cassie and Guillaume this wouldn’t have been possible – thanks for the challenges, the opportunities, the knowledge exchange and patience <3.

Today, I’m still a web integrator with Valtech Canada, a co-chapter lead of the Girls Learning Code in Montreal, I take web contracts, and I participate in an alternative bootcamp coding: les Pitonneux where I meet people who want new opportunities.

Angela Koceva

Hello, my name is Angela, 23, and I’m coming from one small country in Europe, Macedonia. I was interested in computers even when I didn’t have one; then when I was 9 I got my first one, a year later my first internet connection and the obsession began. Through the years while every kid’s obsession was to chat on mIRC, MSN Messenger and Skype I was doing some stuff what was unimaginable for 14 years old kid, especially a girl. I’m talking about hacking into emails, social media accounts, kicking neighbor’s WI-FI connection, etc. I know this is bad but I’m kinda proud of it (:D) and to be clear, back then the protection of those things was very poor. High school was the time when I finally understood programming, in four years I’ve learned the basics of programming and at the end, I thought that I’m ready for university but I was wrong. The first year was all about C, C++, and RobotC, I got stuck in place for whole two years. I took OOP in Java course in one local academy, and now everything is fine, in August I will become Bachelor in Computer Science and Engineering. Right now I’m a freelance Android and sometimes Backend developer.

The good thing about becoming a pro in coding is that you don’t need a degree, there’s a bunch of courses online where you can learn every language you want, all you need is passion, patience and a lot of practice. I also suggest you to learn how the computer works, what is machine language, what is CPU and how it works, ROM, RAM, BIOS etc. I’ve met a lot of people who don’t understand why their computer or browser freeze when they’re for loop is not written right and believe me that is not good. Learn how the things mentioned above work, and you will know how to “talk with the CPU.If you’re interested in this area, choose your favorite language, start your course today and never forget to bring your passion and creativity with you because the world needs more Women in Tech.

This inspired me to open an Instagram account and share my journey with you. You can find me as @iamacidburn.

Christina Gorton

Most days I go by the name Mom.

But my other name is Christina Gorton. The last five years I have been a stay at home mom. This year, I became a work at home mom/web developer.

I grew up on the Space Coast in Florida. After marrying, I spent some time in Costa Rica and had moved around the U.S. a lot. I currently live in Kentucky with my husband of 10 years, our three kids, and one excellent dog.

Coding. How and Why?

In dreamland my husband and I would be living on a renovated school bus, traveling and busking for money. That dream was less workable with three kids. Even still, we aspired to find a job that would give us the flexibility to work from home or travel. My father-in-law was the first person to suggest that we learn to code. I didn’t entertain the idea at first because I never thought of myself as technical. I listened to a CodeNewbie podcast about an organization called freeCodeCamp. After that, I started to think that web development could be an option for us.

Resources?

FreeCodeCamp was the first resource I used to start learning to code. After awhile I added more resources as I became interested in other areas of web development. I participated in #100daysofcode where I spent at least an hour a day working on coding projects. Many of the projects I worked on came from the #dailycssimages challenge. The challenge is on the site codingartist.io. I am a creative person and found a coding niche with pure CSS images. It motivated me to learn more advanced CSS and I had fun while doing it. I heard many times that JavaScript was the fastest way to a web development job. But I enjoyed CSS more and that showed in my portfolio and projects. Passion for what I was doing helped me land a job.

What do I do?

I am currently a remote front-end developer at Gravity Works Design and Development. I am working on my first web app for the company now and learning how to use Drupal. Most days I ask my fellow front-end developers endless questions. They kindly encourage them and answer them all. I didn’t think my first development job would be a remote position but I very happy with the team I am apart of.

My best advice for anyone considering learning to code is, do it. It’s cliche I know, but if I hadn’t started, I wouldn’t have the job now. Find some part of coding you enjoy (for me it was creative coding) and run with it. Have a passion for learning. It will get you a job faster than any one programming language.

Also for any women reading, apply for jobs even if you don’t think you have all the qualifications. Women are bad about this. I did not think I was ready to be a web developer. My mentor asked me why I wasn’t already applying for front-end developer jobs and encouraged me to start. If he hadn’t, I would still be waiting around for that moment I felt I was 100% ready to apply.

If you would like to read more about my coding journey you can check out my blog at coffeecraftcode.com. I am also active on Twitter and Instagram.

Holly Cart

My name is Holly and I am from Nashville, Tennessee. I currently work in the dental field and have for over 15 years. I decided about 6 months ago that I needed to do something different. At first, I was unsure what that would be.

My inspiration for learning to code actually started with my 11-year-old son. He is very much into technology and is always showing me what his latest project is. One day, I got on the computer and played around on a few coding sites. I realized that this might be something I could do so I ran with it.

A lot of what I have learned so far has been the result of talking to others in the field that is further along in their journey than I am. I still have so much to learn! I am starting a two-year degree program in information technology this fall, but until then I plan on continuing to utilize as many of the online resources that are available to me to continue learning on my own.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this little round-up posts of how these awesome women learned how to code! I also hope that it inspired you and made it clear that it’s never too late to learn how to code, and there’s no right path to do it! You do you!

The post What brings women into coding? appeared first on Girl Knows Tech.

10 Tips to Win your Next Hackathon

Girl Knows Tech — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 16:22:43 +0000

Hello, everyone!

In 2016, I participated in my first hackathon ever. When I moved to Montreal, I discovered a beautiful community around technology where events happen every month. You might wonder what is a hackathon? Well, it is an event that typically lasts a day or two and brings together programmers to work and deliver a complete project during the event. If can be with software or hardware. It has nothing to do with hacking your computer.

I learned a lot from all these hackathons. SlackathonMTL was especially a bigger challenge for me and my team. This is where I learned the most about what needs to be done before and during a hackathon so that it is a successful event for all team members. I will let you read the article if you want to know all the details.

Tips to win a hackathon

Before the event

1. Prepare your Trello or PowerPoint in advance
Sometimes it is possible to prepare a few things before the event, without writing any line of code, of course! When it is possible, organize and assign each task to a member of the team. To do this, you can use a software like Trello. I already participated in a hackathon that had a marketing side: preparing a template for a PowerPoint could have been very useful that day! This step is optional. But that will give you a very good lead over the other teams. When the time comes, you will save a lot of time. Also, if you planned in advance, each person can do a bit of research in order to know or get an idea on how to do the tasks they will have to do (see next point!)

2. Find out in advance what technologies you will use
If you do this step, it can save you once again many hours of trial and error! This is what can make you win and take one step further in the accomplishment of your application. Often, during a hackathon, we choose technologies that we do not yet fully master - or not at all. It's perfect because it is an amazing opportunity to learn something new, but it's even better if you begin to learn the basics of the programming language a couple days before.

3. Install your work environment
Lately, I coded in nodejs and I realized during the event that my NPM was misconfigured. I lost at least a good 2 hours to run NPM to be able to install the dependencies of my project properly ... Do not make the same mistake!

4. Make a brainstorm and find an idea
In my last hackathon, the teams that have applied this tip are the ones that have been ranked among the best. Finding a revolutionary idea before the fateful day is perhaps the most important advice of this list. I lost MANY hours during my hackathons to look for an idea. On the other hand, at certain events, sponsors are present and can propose challenges with a prize to win. You may change your mind about participating in this type of contest, but at least you will always have an alternative idea.

5. Take everything you need to survive 24 hours
When I go to an event, I bring everything: pillow, blanket, a bottle of water and thermos for coffee as well as some snacks. Even though I never sleep, I am always very happy to have brought these objects, because I am comfortable during the night. Also, sometimes showers are available. You can then take a towel and other necessities. I also always bring several t-shirts, because when you stay awake for 24 hours to code, it's good. Also, the events actually last much longer than 24 hours, as after the coding time it sometimes it takes up to 8 hours until the judge's presentations, the closing ceremony and the announcement of the winners. My friend Kim wrote a complete list of what to bring to a hackathon, you should definitely check it out!

During the hackathon

6. Set small and achievable goals
It's very dangerous to aim too high, you could end up with an application that is not functional at all. Set very small goals. It is easier to target a small and functional product and then work to add more features. At the beginning of an event, and especially during a brainstorm, ideas can go very far and be complex. However, once the brainstorm is finished, it is important to remember that you only have 24 hours. Be realistic! You should also be aware that as time goes on, you get more and more tired. Small bugs that would usually take you 10 minutes can take 1 hour when you have been coding for 12 hours.

7. Do a lot of meetings
It is essential to be aware of the progress of the members of your team. You can rely on meal times to make these meetings, and a little more if needed. For a hackathon that starts around 9 am, good meeting hours would be: 12 pm, 2 pm, 6 pm, midnight, 3 am, 6 am, 8 am. This makes it possible to reevaluate the tasks and objectives of your application when problems come up. You will be able to decide the remaining tasks according to the time you have left since it is always necessary to provide a functional application. Also, at each meeting, set a list of tasks that should be completed before your next meeting. This is the secret in order to achieve and deliver a finished product.

8. Use GitHub for version control of your code
This may seem obvious to some people, but I still saw people being able to do a hackathon without git! If you are tired and make a mistake in your code, git will make it easier to go back and fix it. Keep in mind that you can never do too many commits! In my last hackathon, we spent 6 hours without doing any commits. This was a big mistake that we regretted at the end when we finished with an app full of bugs because of a bad manipulation of the commits! ;)

9. Take breaks & enjoy workshops for networking
A big advantage to participating in hackathons is the opportunity to learn new technologies and meet new people. To do this, it is very important to take breaks, talk to the teams around you and participate in the workshops organized! You should take some time to go talk to the sponsors of the event. You'll get some swag and network at the same time.

10. Maintain positive energy in team
It is important that all team members are in a good mood at all times. Everyone will be very, very tired at the end of the event. It's part of the joys of doing a hackathon. On the other hand, we must respect this fatigue and not dispute uselessly with our friends. If the emotions are running high, a group hug will solve all your problems (I speak from experience)!

That's it!

Do you think I left anything out? Write it in the comments section!

This post was originally posted on girlknowstech.com

Nevertheless, Marie-Philippe Coded

Girl Knows Tech — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 12:43:56 +0000

I began coding because...

I wanted to make my guild look cool on neopets.com (seriously)! I started doing graphics on Paint and writing text on them in HTML using coordinates! That was good old times. :)

I'm currently hacking on...

In my classes in software engineering, I'm working on the breakthrough game. We're coding the game using the minimax + alpha beta algorithm, so it performs well. :)
In my other course, we're working on a web application in Ruby on Rails for a non-profit organization.

On my spare time, I'm always working on my blog GirlKnowsTech.com!

I'm excited about...

Working on my blog. This is what motivates me these days and what makes me proud!

My advice for other women who code is...

You are as good as anyone else! Don't be afraid to take your place. You deserve it. Don't let the fear of being the only woman in the room refrain you from amazing opportunities you may have because that is the best choice I ever made for myself.

Forem: Girl Knows Tech

Woman In Tech? Your Voice Matters In These Communities

Video version of this post

Women in tech communities to join

Facebook Groups

In French

In English

Slack

Instagram

Twitter

Snapchat

Reddit

Meetups

Events

Organizations

Conclusion

Why Working Longer Than Others Is a Good Quality

My story

You are no less good because you study longer than others

Why Working Longer Than Others Is a Good Quality

1. You will be determined and perseverant

2. You will be hard-working

3. You develop your organization

4. You better understand the theory than your friend

Maybe you don’t see the result of your work in your grades today, but…

Conclusion

What brings women into coding?

Madeleine

Angela Koceva

Christina Gorton

Coding. How and Why?

Resources?

What do I do?

Holly Cart

Conclusion

10 Tips to Win your Next Hackathon

Tips to win a hackathon

Before the event

During the hackathon

Nevertheless, Marie-Philippe Coded

I began coding because...

I'm currently hacking on...

I'm excited about...

My advice for other women who code is...