Forem: Jeff White

What's Your Tech Journey?

Jeff White — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 15:54:54 +0000

For the past couple of weeks at Tech Elevator we have been learning about different types of roles within the tech industry and thinking about what type of position we might want to pursue at the end of the program. Since I am currently attending a software development bootcamp my main goal is to become a developer. I’m not sure if I want to pursue a full-stack, front-end or back-end position. I’m also curious to learn more about other opportunities that are out there beyond software development. My purpose in writing this post is to hear from people around the world about their tech journey. Feel free to answer any or all questions in the comments below. I’d love to hear your story!

* What is your current title?

* What steps did you take to get there?

* What would you have done differently if you had the chance?

* What do you love about your job?

* What’s difficult about your job?

* What’s been the most interesting/rewarding project you’ve had the opportunity to work on?

* What’s something you would like to see improve in the tech industry in the next 5-10 years?

* If you could give one piece of advice to a junior developer, what would it be?

How to Market Yourself

Jeff White — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 17:31:50 +0000

One of the more difficult aspects of attending a coding bootcamp has been juggling all of the requirements in order to be successful. We aren’t just here to learn software development. Many, if not all, who are in similar situations have the ultimate goal of finding a job as a junior developer at the end of the program. That takes work, important work, in addition to the hours already dedicated to learning to code. So how can you effectively market yourself, especially in the early stages of learning software development?

1. Networking

As a former teacher I never had much use for networking. I actually avoided it at all costs. Small talk is probably one of my least favorite things in the entire world. So when I was told that networking would be a crucial part of finding a job as a software developer and continuing to be successful in the tech industry, my heart sank a little. It makes me uncomfortable to talk about myself in a way that highlights my skills and accomplishments. But once you get over those feelings of insecurity and actually put yourself out there, it can surprisingly be a lot of fun. Networking in Covid times looks much different but it can be just as beneficial. Meeting people that you wouldn’t normally get the chance to interact with, in person or virtually, can be invaluable.

2. LinkedIn

Ah, the infamous LinkedIn. Has anyone else heard the rumor that if you create a profile on LinkedIn you’ll immediately get ten job offers? No, just me? Okay, great… Well speaking of networking, LinkedIn has proven to be a great tool for staying connected with those very same people you meet during networking events. Giving recruiters the opportunity to see your previous experience, education and skills can be very helpful in securing interviews. Your LinkedIn profile is almost like a pre-interview, so don’t handle it the same as you would your Facebook or Twitter profiles! Check out my profile here: Jeff White.

3. Elevator Pitch

Crafting a 30 second to 1 minute long elevator pitch can be helpful when interacting with people you’ve just met. Highlighting your main passions, skills and motivations can be difficult to do in that short period of time, but it’s important to have something like this in your back pocket. Elevator pitches are perfect during an interview or when you want to introduce yourself at a networking event without word vomiting your entire professional experience.

4. Write a Blog

This is my favorite part! Writing a blog is a great way to connect with people you wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to meet and to share about your experiences. Writing about projects, sharing tutorials or observations about a particular topic are good ways to get the attention of those who are in a similar field as you. I also use writing to decompress after a long week, so that’s an added benefit!

5. Portfolio Website

I have yet to venture into this part of marketing myself but I can’t wait until I have the technical skills to do so. I love exploring portfolio websites and seeing projects that people have created. It’s a great way to see someone’s passion and technical skills all in one place. Creating side projects and sharing them on your website or somewhere like Github can be crucial in acquiring a job. If you have created a portfolio website share the link in the comments. I’d love to see what you’re working on!

What are some ways that you successfully acquired that dream job?

How Imposter Syndrome Limits Your Potential

Jeff White — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 00:05:22 +0000

“Hi, I’m a Junior Software Developer…”

Recently, one of our Pathway Directors (like a career coach) at Tech Elevator told us to start referring to ourselves as Junior Software Developers. Yikes… As soon as those words left his mouth I could feel my heart rate begin to increase and my palms start to sweat. How can I refer to myself as something that I’ve only just started learning a few months ago? I feel like I need to at least graduate from the program first or, even more, obtain a job as a junior dev before I can actually use that title for myself.

I’m sure we’ve all felt it at one point or another. That feeling that we don’t belong or haven’t “earned” a particular job or achievement. I felt it as a teacher and I feel it even more strongly now. But it wasn’t until I ventured into software development that I first heard a term for this feeling. Just from listening to others talk about their careers or reading blogs it seems to be a common source of stress in the lives of developers.

Cue Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter Syndrome is a tricky monster and loves to rear its ugly face in the midst of venturing into a new career, especially. It’s so easy to allow this feeling of inadequacy to creep its way into our minds and discourage us from pursuing new opportunities out of fear of seeming inexperienced. Personally, I can believe the lie that I have to know how to do something perfectly before I can claim that as a part of my identity. I’ve been a writer for quite some time now but because I’ve never published a novel I don’t refer to myself as such because I don’t want to seem like a failure. It’s a self-preservation technique. If I don’t take on “writer” or “junior software developer” as a part of who I am, then I won’t fail if I don’t become successful in those areas.

What I’m beginning to discover is by limiting the way I view myself or the way I allow others to view me, I’m actually limiting my potential. I’ve already made up my mind that this isn’t going to work out in the end so why set myself up for embarrassment? When, in reality, if I don’t end up being a software developer for the rest of my life that is completely and entirely okay! I don’t view my teaching career as a failure just because I decided to move on so why should software development be any different?

Transparency is Key.

Yesterday, we heard from a panel of Senior Developers and I was surprised to hear that many of them still struggle with feeling like they don’t belong. These were established developers with years of experience and yet they could still relate with something that I’m feeling right now. That was huge a relief! It was encouraging to hear that no one expects me to be a perfect developer in order to obtain a job. This industry is constantly changing and requires learning and relearning and even more learning!

I think we’ll all feel inadequate at one point or another but talking about it makes it all the better. Knowing that there are others around you who are experiencing the same insecurities as you gives those insecurities less power. You realize that you aren't the exception. Someone has been where you are and they overcame it, so you can too! You begin to feel the pressure slip away and notice that you’re able to breathe a little more easily. This minor adjustment can greatly improve your career outlook and how you view life in general. So, in the spirit of transparency and being open to failure, let’s try this again. Hi, my name is Jeff and I’m a Junior Software Developer.

What do You do When You're Stuck?

Jeff White — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 16:21:38 +0000

I just completed my second week of Java bootcamp at Tech Elevator. This week we learned more data structures than I thought my brain could handle and tried (keyword: “tried”) to implement them in solving several algorithms. And that was just Monday-Wednesday! One of fellow classmates mentioned that he didn’t learn this much throughout an entire semester of a Java course in college. So needless to say this week provided a lot of opportunity to learn how to deal with and overcome being stuck.

The Algorithm is Laughing at Me

A commonly misquoted definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I guess that means I’ve gone insane because I found myself trying the same thing over and over again to solve some of our algorithm exercises, to no avail. It felt like trying to press a square peg into a circle-shaped hole. No matter how you twist the square peg or how hard you press down on it, it’s not going to fit! So what do you do when you finally realize that it’s not working and you have no idea how to fix it? Here are some ideas that I tried this week that proved to be very helpful:

1. Walk Away

Sometimes you just need to walk away and take a break before you end up throwing your computer across the room. Personally, my brain begins to feel all fuzzy and like it might explode if I try to reconfigure one more loop or if statement. Taking a break gives your brain time to breathe and can surprisingly open the door to the solution once you’re not staring blankly at a screen anymore.

2. Google

Google has always been a close friend of mine but at this point I may have to start paying a subscription fee for how much I’ve used it over the past two weeks. There are tons of coding resources online for any language that your heart desires to learn. I have found that there is a bit of a science to googling effectively especially when learning the basics. It can be very easy to search a specific problem and find the exact answer you need. This can be helpful from time to time but should not be relied on. I tend to use google for more general searches to learn more about a concept before getting more specific.

3. ASK FOR HELP

Honestly, this should be an obvious given but for me I am much more likely to stare at the same problem for two hours before asking for help. I think it’s this sense of wanting to figure it out on my own but I’m learning more and more that programming is about teamwork and bouncing ideas off of those around you. I’ve made it a point to be a part of a virtual study group, which has been really helpful! Our instructors are also incredibly approachable and always willing to walk through a problem with you.

4. Self-care FTW

Taking on the challenge of a software development bootcamp can be daunting. For most programs it’s 3-4 months of learning as much as you can while trying to polish up your resume and network as much as possible so that you can find a job afterwards. It can be very easy to lose track of taking care of yourself. Last Saturday I sat at my computer for 8 hours and forgot to eat anything or drink any water. Not okay! You have to make sure you’re taking care of yourself because that’s the only way you’ll be healthy enough to retain all of this crazy information. So if you find yourself sitting at your laptop, stuck on problem, maybe go eat some food, go for a run, get some sleep or take a shower. You probably need it.

5. Vent

Last on my list, but certainly not least. Finding someone to vent to, especially someone who understands where you’re coming from can be very therapeutic. Yesterday we had a virtual breakout session where we discussed common stressors and how we’ve learned to cope. We also participated in an alumni panel where former TE students shared their experience through the program and what their life looks like now. It was so encouraging to hear from alumni who have been exactly where I am and hear about their successful careers after completing the program. It’s extremely helpful to know that you’re not the exception, most have been where you are. Everyone gets stuck at one point or another and the sooner you realize that the sooner you guys can band together and kick some algorithm butt!

How do You Get Unstuck?

Obviously this is not a comprehensive list and I’m learning daily what techniques work and which ones don’t. I’d love to hear your go-to for getting unstuck in the comments!

So You Want to be a Coder?

Jeff White — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 20:32:34 +0000

I quit my job.

In the middle of a global pandemic.

While millions are being placed on unemployment.

To attend a coding bootcamp?

I realize how crazy that may sound. Why would any sane person quit their comfortable, reliable job while masses of people are being laid off every day? From an outside perspective it doesn’t make much sense. To me, this feels like one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

For the past six years I have been a teacher. Teaching can be an incredibly rewarding and exhausting profession. Teachers do not receive enough credit for everything they have to do both inside and outside of the classroom. To be honest, I had been considering a change of profession for quite some time but I could never figure out what I wanted to pursue after education. Do I go back to school? Start over in an entry-level position somewhere? Nothing sounded like a good fit. I wondered if I was meant to stay in my teaching position and just “suck it up”.

Then COVID hit.

Seeing a global society faced with the reality of their own mortality gave me a new perspective: Life is fleeting and can be gone in an instant. I couldn’t wait around any longer for some “ideal” job opportunity to fall into my lap. I had to go out and find it. And I had no idea where to start.

But one day that all changed.

Tiktok Saves the Day!

It was literally two weeks before I would have to put in my notice at my school and I was scrolling through TikTok (like so many others during Quarantine) and I saw a woman’s video about how she graduated from high school and instead of going to college she enrolled in a coding bootcamp. She completed the program and was hired as a junior developer at the age of 19! I didn’t even know those types of things existed but I was curious.

I have always been interested in technology and the idea of software development but it always seemed like an unattainable field for me for some reason. I don’t know if it was the way that developers are portrayed in television and movies or just the fact that I knew nothing about programming, but it was just an industry I felt I could never pursue. But after learning that coding bootcamps existed I decided to do some research and I found a TON. How I had never heard of them before I didn’t know because they seemed to be everywhere and there were even local ones here in Columbus, Ohio.

Choosing Tech Elevator

Over the course of the following days, I narrowed my list down to three that I wanted to apply to and went for it. I was accepted into two pretty quickly but my top choice, Tech Elevator, had a waiting list and my time at my job was up. I had to make a decision: quit my job without knowing for sure if I got into Tech Elevator or enroll in my second or third choice. So I quit my job and I waited. Thankfully, Tech Elevator got back to me and offered me a spot in their 14-week full-stack Java program. I guess taking risks does pay of sometimes!

I just completed my first week of the program and I am loving it so far! It’s challenging, engaging, mind-numbing (at times) and fun. Because of the pandemic the program is completely virtual but Tech Elevator has done an amazing job at transitioning the program to a virtual platform. This week we learned about data types, variables, expressions, conditionals, arrays, loops and Command Line programs. Each day we have individual exercises to complete and we also had our first pair-programming exercise.

Moving Forward Can Be Scary

I'm trying my hardest not to think about the possibility of this program coming to an end and me not having a job. All I can do is put everything into this program and hope it pays off in the end. I am expecting the content to become even more difficult from here but I am excited for the challenges to come!