I am a developer at The Washington Post and I help build newsroom facing tools. I also am the Chair of the DC chapter of ACM and produce a podcast called DC Tech Stories.
I am also a bootcamper - but a part time one, not an immersive one. I was working at a foundation doing a bunch of communications stuff, including managing a wordpress site. I learned REALLY quickly that I didn't know how to communicate with developers AND stuff was pretty simple to do my self once I learned - so that started me on learning more about the web and websites. After about 6 months of learning I took a part time General Assembly front end web dev course. After that I loved it so much I decided to try my hand at front end web dev and got a job. It's been ups and downs in web dev ever sense :)
I have mixed feelings about bootcamps. For me, it took my learning over the plateau I was experiencing - I do WAY better with in person learning so it was invaluable to have a teacher and ta's to directly ask questions and work on problems with. GA also has a strong community in DC so the network has helped me get jobs. I DO feel that they over promise - no one is going to be a developer in 10 weeks... BUT you will learn the language and context to take your learning to a new level. I learned how to learn web dev basically. Now I am 3 years in and looking to level up - and unfortunately there does not seem to be a ton of classes for that mid level dev - things like best practices in architecture, building a WHOLE program vs. filling in functions/features - that is a HARD plateau to get over... I do consider myself a developer, since I work in code every day, and you don't need a CS degree to be a programmer, however I do with there was some better resources to get the things you miss out on in a fast paced, focused bootcamp.
Totally agree! I think you articulated some rock solid points like "learning to learn web dev" and how it's hard for mid level devs to learn more (I am definitely not mid level -- ...yet -- but can totally relate to the difficulty of leveling up).
I guess the tried and true way of learning is just to code, build, code side projects, but ugh burnout is too real sometimes.
Do you find that having senior developers around you often helps a lot? Any thoughts on mentorship in general?
I am a developer at The Washington Post and I help build newsroom facing tools. I also am the Chair of the DC chapter of ACM and produce a podcast called DC Tech Stories.
I have been SO lucky to have multiple people who have served as mentors - right now I have two amazing senior devs, Andrew Frye and Thomas Lincoln. They are always happy to hep me with ANY issue. One thing I ask of them it to always contextualize the problem they are solving so I can learn to to it myself next time. When I first started out I had an specific mentor - Mitchell Shelton, he was so important to teaching me HOW to be a good mentee - ask direct questions, never lie when you're lost, and never let them 'do it for you'. On top of that my partner is a techie with a CS degree so I get an on demand resource whenever I want (#loveYouBabe). Asking for help, coming with an open mind, and leaving your ego at the door - these things make me a good mentee which I believe helps people want to help me (Plus I'm funny hah)
I am a developer at The Washington Post and I help build newsroom facing tools. I also am the Chair of the DC chapter of ACM and produce a podcast called DC Tech Stories.
Of course! I am happy to share my experiences :)
I am also a bootcamper - but a part time one, not an immersive one. I was working at a foundation doing a bunch of communications stuff, including managing a wordpress site. I learned REALLY quickly that I didn't know how to communicate with developers AND stuff was pretty simple to do my self once I learned - so that started me on learning more about the web and websites. After about 6 months of learning I took a part time General Assembly front end web dev course. After that I loved it so much I decided to try my hand at front end web dev and got a job. It's been ups and downs in web dev ever sense :)
I have mixed feelings about bootcamps. For me, it took my learning over the plateau I was experiencing - I do WAY better with in person learning so it was invaluable to have a teacher and ta's to directly ask questions and work on problems with. GA also has a strong community in DC so the network has helped me get jobs. I DO feel that they over promise - no one is going to be a developer in 10 weeks... BUT you will learn the language and context to take your learning to a new level. I learned how to learn web dev basically. Now I am 3 years in and looking to level up - and unfortunately there does not seem to be a ton of classes for that mid level dev - things like best practices in architecture, building a WHOLE program vs. filling in functions/features - that is a HARD plateau to get over... I do consider myself a developer, since I work in code every day, and you don't need a CS degree to be a programmer, however I do with there was some better resources to get the things you miss out on in a fast paced, focused bootcamp.
Totally agree! I think you articulated some rock solid points like "learning to learn web dev" and how it's hard for mid level devs to learn more (I am definitely not mid level -- ...yet -- but can totally relate to the difficulty of leveling up).
I guess the tried and true way of learning is just to code, build, code side projects, but ugh burnout is too real sometimes.
Do you find that having senior developers around you often helps a lot? Any thoughts on mentorship in general?
I have been SO lucky to have multiple people who have served as mentors - right now I have two amazing senior devs, Andrew Frye and Thomas Lincoln. They are always happy to hep me with ANY issue. One thing I ask of them it to always contextualize the problem they are solving so I can learn to to it myself next time. When I first started out I had an specific mentor - Mitchell Shelton, he was so important to teaching me HOW to be a good mentee - ask direct questions, never lie when you're lost, and never let them 'do it for you'. On top of that my partner is a techie with a CS degree so I get an on demand resource whenever I want (#loveYouBabe). Asking for help, coming with an open mind, and leaving your ego at the door - these things make me a good mentee which I believe helps people want to help me (Plus I'm funny hah)
Hah humor helps 🙃
Great points about being a mentee. Oooooh do I have a lot to learn...
Also, having an on demand resource is so damn helpful! That's great that your partner is available and willing.
We're life partners for that and many other reasons :P shout out to my boo!!