Getting Started in Tech
- 1. Breaking into TechBreaking into Tech http://bit.ly/thinkful-hired-in-tech 1
- 2. About Thinkful We train developers and data scientists through 1x1 mentorship and project-based learning. Guaranteed. 2
- 3. What is "tech"? Tech isn’t just one industry anymore — it’s the new business model. Every company is now a tech company. 3
- 4. Largest in their areas - all tech based companies Retail / Entertainment Transportation Media Entertainment bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us Events bit.ly/hired-in-la 4
- 5. The good news Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics + White House 5
- 6. The implications for jobs Increased demand in for technical skills Creation of new “software plus” jobs Diffusion of tech organizational culture, roles, and processes 6
- 7. One such process — career trajectory Junior sales Account executive Sales Manager VP Sales 7
- 8. In “tech” career trajectories are varied Front End Developer Back End Developer Full Stack Developer QA Developer 8
- 9. In “tech” career trajectories are varied Manager / team lead Reliability Engineer Growth Hacker Product Developer Dev Ops Architect Front End Developer Back End Developer Full Stack Developer QA Developer 9
- 10. Common first jobs Front End Developer Back End Developer Full Stack Developer QA Developer 10
- 11. Front end developer bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us Events bit.ly/hired-in-la 11
- 14. QA Developer Write software tests and conduct manual tests to catch bugs before they’re shipped 14
- 15. Next step: Senior Developer Everything that came before with the ability to estimate your work accurately, handle challenging problems with less support, and add support for junior colleagues 15
- 16. Coding plus Roles Coding + Product = Product Manager Coding + Marketing = Growth Hacker Coding + Sales = Sales Engineer Coding + Data = Data Scientist 16
- 17. Product Manager (Coding + Product) Skills & Tools Customer research Customer development User stories Wireframes Project management Analytics Turn business goals into product requirements. Work with designers & developers to deliver — measure success 17
- 18. Growth Hacker (Coding + Marketing) Skills & Tools Rapid prototyping Analytics Communication Design & implement experiments to drive customer acquisition and engagement 18
- 19. Sales Engineer (Coding + Sales) Skills & Tools Customer Support Communication Sell complex technical product by helping customer understand how it works and how they’ll use it 19
- 20. Data Scientist (Coding + Data) Skills & Tools Curiosity Statistics Analytics Machine Learning Use statistics and programming to find valuable insights from extremely large datasets 20
- 21. How to get in the door? Learn the skills Build a portfolio of high quality work Develop a relevant network Prep for technical interviews 21
- 22. Building your portfolio Find a niche (based on your background) Build a personal website Get your portfolio on GitHub Try and find contract work Have professionals guide & review your work 22
- 23. Networking the right way 80% of job openings are never advertised 120+ average applicants per job posted At Thinkful, roughly 10-12% of cold applications yield a phone screen Source: Forbes 23
- 24. Networking the right way Cold applications are the least effective way of landing a job Figure out what you want (size, industry, role, etc) Reach out to someone that works at company Ask them about their work, genuine interest, build a relationship Eventually (1-2 months in), ask for referral 24
- 25. Tech recruiters Tech recruiters serve as your agent Can leverage their relationships to arrange interviews They are incentivized to find you a job You might get less say in where, but are helpful Can be great in getting you feedback 25
- 26. Thinkful students find jobs through connections Out of 100 students, this is the breakdown: Application: 35% Thinkful community intro: 20% Existing employee referral: 15% Networking: 20% Cold contact from recruiter: 10% 26
- 27. The technical interview Phone screen Take home tech challenge In-person interviews 27
- 28. Resources Prep sites (e.g. Interview Cake) Books (e.g. Cracking the Coding Interview) Mock interviews with technical friends 28
- 29. Ways to learn to code bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us Events bit.ly/hired-in-la 29
- 30. Thinkful's Two Week Free TrialThinkful's Two Week Free Trial 75+ hours of curriculum for two weeks HTML, CSS and JavaScript Unlimited, mentor-led Q&A sessions Personal Program Manager bit.ly/freetrial-webdevbit.ly/freetrial-webdev 30