Networking used to be a very scary word for me. It's still not my favorite activity, but I have some strategies now that take the fear out of it. As someone pretty far down the introverted side of the Introvert-Extrovert Scale (It's really not a binary), traditional networking has long been intimidating and never really worked for me.
When I go to big events, I find it difficult to make any connections or even stick around long enough to meet more than a couple people. The noise and the swarm turn me away pretty quickly.
I know I know - just a couple months ago I wrote a blog post about how meetups are not as awkward as you think. However, that doesn't mean they are not tiring, as an introvert. And when your job hunt relies hugely on making connections, that suddenly puts a lot of pressure on the meetups. I still attend a few meetups, but I make the best connections when I'm there to do something other than network. I'll attend a JavaScript meetup and hear about Typescript for the first time, giving me some excellent new research to do, and networking slides in as a secondary benefit. Turns out Typescript is a language that uses JavaScript as a base. From my understanding, it essentially allows you to write a statically typed language that then compiles to plain JavaScript. Sort of best of both worlds, for those who prefer static typing but don't want to miss out on the wide usage of JavaScript. Neat!
No, my biggest success in networking during my post-bootcamp job hunt so far has been reaching out to people one-to-one online. I attended a small college, and have had a fair amount of success reaching out to fellow alumns working in software in the area. The same can be said for fellow graduates of my bootcamp. I'll send an email (if I can find their address) or a linked-in message briefly introducing who I am and how we are connected, and asking for a phone call or coffee (I always offer to pay) to discuss what they do. More often than not, this results in a referral or a name drop, or at least some valuable info about the company.
I'd heard several times the advice that you should find a connection to reference when reaching out to someone, and while that made sense, it wasn't until I'd started doing so that I realized the flip side of that advice - it also makes me feel more at ease about the interaction. When I'm talking to someone who shared some professors with me, or attended the same social club at school, even if they were there a different year from me, I feel much more able to connect and less like I'm being a total weirdo imposing on them and demanding their help and attention.
I don't have any massive revelations or ultimate wisdom here, I just thought I'd share this small success. I'm seeing more and more of the tech industry, and learning about all sorts of neat languages and frameworks that I should check out. Networking doesn't have to be scary. You just have to learn how to do it from someone who gets your perspective.
Top comments (4)
Hey Helen. I'm in high school and feel pretty far down the scale too.
I enjoy coding because it feels logical to me and I like the immediate feedback I get when something works (or doesn't in many cases 😄). It's something I can do alone and not have to deal with others and their inappropriate comments.
When I apply for college, I'm not sure if computer science is the way to go (too many guys). I was thinking something like Psychology might be the better choice.
What do you think?
Katie.
Ohhhh man here I go, I'm gonna pretend I'm an Adult(tm). Here's what I'll say. I can't tell you what the right path for you is. So a couple things.
Life is long, and no matter how it may feel, deciding your very next move at this point in your life will not lock you into anything for the rest of your life. You can try different things, and you can take a while to figure your shit out! If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be "BREATHE, it's gonna be ok. You have. So much time."
So along that vein, if you're not sure what you wanna do exactly, explore! Take some CS course, take some Psychology courses, give them both a try. I was a psychology major so I'm a bit biased. I think psych is awesome and fascinating and learning it is good for any career trajectory. I personally was glad that I didn't lock myself into a major right away when I headed to college - though I recognize that for many people scholarships and such will mean you have to become more specialized more early.
Also you don't have to do a pure CS degree to go into get a coding job. It helps for sure, but I obviously didn't do it at all, and I'm confident I'll have a job in this field in the next few months. I know some people who did sort of combo degrees and have had great success.
But finally, if CS is what you want to do - do it! It's true you may be in the minority gender wise in your courses, and I won't lie and tell you that being the only woman in a group isn't a pain. But those numbers are changing all the time, and you have JUST as much right to be there and potential to thrive there as the guys. And there are a ton of resources out there to support you along your way. Seriously, so many groups and scholarships and things just aiming to help get more women into tech.
If things get scary along the path, remember that That's OK. You'll make it through. If you do your best, you're doing enough, because that's all you can do. You Are Enough.
There, I got my sappy personal mantras in there. You can do this!
Geez, you sound like my parents (just kidding). But it's good to hear it from someone who isn't always asking if my homework is done.
I like coding, but I'm not sure I'd want to do it as a full-time job. Especially if I get stuck working for a large company on some boring data collection and reporting project. Now, if it were a job in the fashion industry working on stuff for clothing or cosmetics, I wouldn't hesitate.
Thanks so much for the pep talk. I'll take it slow and keep my options open going forward.
Oh nooooo I'm a stuffy grown up already what has happened to me ;-; Ah well. It's all true. I will say, there's a wealth of different stuff you can do with coding, and I'm sure you could find options around the fashion and cosmetics industries. Good luck!