DEV Community: Cat

Nevertheless, Cat Coded

Cat — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 14:31:44 +0000

Greetings,

I've been told I'm not enough, that I didn't choose right(my career so far, I work in tech, just not in coding), that I didn't know enough, that I was better doing what I do today(solution architect mixed with business analyst and QA), that I was going to get bored of that job because I didn't know what it entails, that I was going to lose what makes me a good professional, you name it.
Nevertheless, I coded.

I went to my first software engineering technical interview (within my company) two weeks ago, It was not amazing, I was quite nervous and I didn't perform my best, I was not accepted to the position yet, and it was identified I still have a lot to learn when it comes do Data Structures and other topics, but, nevertheless, I exposed myself, I tried, I coded(for about 2 hours in front of two people I admire and are good software engineers).

Don't let anybody tell you are not good enough, try it, go for it, if it works, it works, if it does not, you know what you have to do, to make it work afterwards.

Thanks,
Best Regards,
Cat

The incongruity of being sensible on your workplace

Cat — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 11:27:36 +0000

Greetings,

I don't know when did this become a place to ramble about my thoughts on being a woman in a tech workplace, but something happened yesterday, and I'm in the mood to write about it.

Yesterday, I saw a situation where a co-worker(a girl) that works in dev, went through something that happened to me a couple of times, and that ends up leading me into a realization, that I probably should have reached sooner when it was with me.

She was caught in a conversation with a manager, where she got hurt from something he said, and couldn't continue the conversation, she started to get emotional about the situation and left saying she didn't want to talk about it at that point. From my point of view, she was not rude, she didn't want to say something she regretted, so she left. I actually feel like I wish I was able to do something like that, when I was younger, instead of sitting there, listening to something I was not ready to ear and end up regretting the situation by saying things I am not proud of.

The same way that happened to me before, she was later accused of losing her reason, by leaving the situation.

So this leads me to the next conclusion, it's not ok, to bully someone, especially in your workplace, into having a conversation with you. Is especially not ok, when you are a manager or his/her manager. It's not ok to accuse someone of losing her reason, by wanting to have time to gather his/her thoughts and talk later.

We often see people saying that is good to have women in their workplace, because they are sensitive to others needs because they understand things differently and give new angles that are way much inclusive, of both men and women.
But then when a situation like this happens, I see the guys(and even girls, which really makes me lose my shit) that usually are cool and inclusive to be the first to laugh, joke, or accuse someone of being too sensible.

When does sensible become too sensible? I've been on a management role, and seen/did things I actually regret now, because I was in believe they were right, and that I had to get rid of this sensibility. And that I or anyone else were immature by being sensible.

Either someone is completely bipolar and is able to be sensitive to some things and not sensible to others, which I don't understand how, since sensibility is not rational, or we are simply being asked to turn on and off our characteristics, when they bother others, in certain situations.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that is especially important, for everyone, but actually even more, for people in management roles, to be able to deal with these situations correctly. And I understand is not easy, we are all people, and the same way I wish this, the manager is probably wishing he/she was able to deal with the person without having to deal with his/her feelings(been there, done that, that is why I now know, management is not for me).
But if you work with people(wish I guess that's why you are a manager), and the person you are talking to, has any kind of minimal interest on what they do, be careful to give them the needed space to deal with their own sensibilities.

Wanting to discuss something later, instead of on that moment, is not a sign of weakness, is a sign you are in front of a person, and that this person is in need of space to calm down, digest what you just said and talk with you later. So just give it, without judging, because you can later understand that you were actually not being your best on this conversation and it will also give you time to try and understand a better way to explain yourself or talk about the subject that leads to the situation in the first place, so it's a win-win.

PS: I'm not actually the best on this waiting game also, when I am on the other side, wanting to say something, to get it sorted, this calming down and not making someone resolve the subject on that moment, applies to me also, so the same way I want to be more sensitive to others feelings and try this out myself, I advise you to do the same.

Thanks,
Best Regards

On being a turtle that thought she was a lioness

Cat — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 10:12:56 +0000

Greetings,

First and foremost, disclaimer, this is not about productivity, or being slow, or anything of that sort, this is mostly a mesh of thoughts about how working in a tech driven environment can somehow change you, and sometimes not for the best.
Not really sure this is even the right place for it, but since this is the one I have chosen to document my voyage and #100daysofcode has been both a technical and otherwise self-learning journey, I decided to do it.

The other day, someone I like and admire, let me know that if I was animal I would be a turtle.

I used to think of myself as a lioness, or at least a wild cat, never as a turtle, but the more I thought about it, the more I understood, that from the outside(of my own head, I guess), I'm nowadays more similar to the last.
Don't take me wrong, turtles are all around a reliable, lastly and strong. I take my time, follow my own path, I survive bigger stronger "animals", and I'm capable of handling a lot of pressure where it comes to the workplace, I'm not afraid to speak my mind, nor do I run from challenges. But I definitely have chosen to keep myself closed off, to hide from spotlight and hide from anything that differentiates me or gets attention to myself and my work at this point.

Was I always like that?
Of course not, I was afraid at the beginning, but I got comfortable enough to expose myself, to get out there and pursue what I think was right, in my awkward, not so organized way, but still doing it. I was being brave and I was learning and growing up a lot in a small amount of time until it stopped being fun.
I guess when you grow a bit too bright there is always someone who will start get uncomfortable, and I started to not be able to deal with the constant situations that eventually lead me to be a different person.
I don't think it's important to focus too much on what happened, but how the reactions of people around, people that I previous admired, and that I considered my mentors, shaped me to be what I am now.

My office, as many tech companies, is full of men, experienced power-hungry man. And now you go, oh here she goes with the story that there is no equality in the workplace.
The truth is that while working in tech, you will know amazing guys, that treat you like an equal, and have no problem with your sexual organs, guys who clearly couldn't care less if you were a woman or a pineapple and then you will meet those guys, men that at the beginning seem like the other group I previously talked, but that patronize everything to do as you say, as "Look at her so cute and unstable, must be her hormones!". The problem is when this last kind of man, is in a place that spoils your experience.

You get so used to see someone around you, which is a guy doing something and being patted on the back and congratulated for being a strong man, and saying it like it is, and when you do something similar, being called out on being immature, bossy or hysterical. At a certain point, you end up, doubting yourself, doubting you were ever right and shutting up. Dimming your light, so that it does not hurt the eyes of others.

You seclude yourself in your shell and stop sharing that you care, that you wish things were different because people don't ear you anyway, not really. They dismiss you and you let them. Is this right? Of course not, but in this situation you have two options, you either focus on the remaining of the things you are getting from your workplace(which are good and satisfying) and don't give them the importance they want to have, waiting out on some change and disconnect, which was what I've done or you go and find yourself a place where things are different/better, which is something I see myself doing in the future.

One thing is for sure, I'm way to feral(proudly) to ever be a domesticated anything.

Best Regards
Cat

To begin... (100daysofcode and some thoughts)

Cat — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 17:40:04 +0000

Greetings,

In #100daysofcode(https://www.100daysofcode.com/) fashion, here I am, somehow with a public, ready to pledge myself to the challenge.

First and foremost, here it goes straight from the source, the rules:
"The main rule: Code minimum an hour every day for the next 100 days!

Code for minimum an hour a day
Tweet your progress daily with the hashtag: #100DaysOfCode
Each day, reach out to at least two people on Twitter who are also doing the challenge."

I will not tweet, since I'm not a twitter user, but I guess, using this space as both logging, and as a responsibility holder counts as something.

The Why?
I guess this is an important part of the Challenge, what drives me to do it? What to I expect to achieve?
I've been working in tech for more than 10 years now, first with Hardware, then in Telecommunications and Networks, and for about 5 and something years in Systems. I went from not knowing how to open and what to do with a console to being able to write small scripts for automations and monitoring.
In this last year and a half, I've been deep into the work of creating microservices, mostly backend, with some internal support portals, I design them, write the requirements, work with the development team directly in day to day, and then test, implement and support that same services.
For some time, I've been wanting more, I want to be capable of creating the APIs that I require, the data models that I define, to implement the testing stories I create, etc..

I've been going from tutorial to tutorial, knowing the basics and from language to language for a while, without diving deeper, and it's time that I take that next step, to go from understanding what is written in that code to actually being able to write it.

The How?
I will be doing the #100daysofcode challenge with C#, since is one of the languages most used in applications, in the end I want to be able to get and apply some knowledge to the work that I do and as a possibility change to a developer position in this or other company in the future.
Since backend, does not have a "proper" roadmap and challenges, such as frontend, this is more or less what I'm thinking about doing:

I will finish the CodeCademy(https://www.codecademy.com/learn) C# path I've been doing to get myself acclimated with the language,
Then do some challenges from the following sites:

Hackerrank (https://www.hackerrank.com/)
CodingGame (https://www.codingame.com/)
CodeWars (https://www.codewars.com/)

After this I will try to build some basic applications, with a database, some portal to get information, etc.. the normal, first applications you build in any backend language.

Suggestions are welcome!!

I won't update on this challenge every single day, since I work full time and I'm taking a Computer Science degree in partial time Online, but I will try to do it at least bi-weekly, in order to understand my own progress, and see how much my plans have changed, since this first pledge.

If anyone is currently on the same journey, for whatever reasons, good luck!

Best Regards,
Cat