tf-la

1. Getting Started in Tech
January 2018
bit.ly/hired-in-la
1

2. About Thinkful
We train developers and data scientists through
1x1 mentorship and project-based learning.
Guaranteed.
2

3. About you
What's your name?
What brought you here today?
What is your programming experience?
3

4. What is "tech"?
Tech isn’t just one industry anymore — it’s the new business
model. Every company is now a tech company.
4

5. Largest in their areas - all tech based companies
Retail / Entertainment
Transportation Media
Entertainment
bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us
Events 5

6. The good news
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics + White House
6

7. The implications for jobs
Increased demand in for technical skills
Creation of new “software plus” jobs
Diffusion of tech organizational culture, roles, and processes
7

8. One such process — career trajectory
Junior sales
Account
executive
Sales
Manager
VP Sales
8

9. In “tech” career trajectories are varied
Front End Developer
Back End Developer
Full Stack Developer
QA Developer
9

10. 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
10

11. Common first jobs
Front End Developer
Back End Developer
Full Stack Developer
QA Developer
11

12. Front end developer
bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us
Events 12

13. Back end developer
bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us
Events 13

14. Full stack developer
+
bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us
Events 14

15. QA Developer
Write software tests and conduct manual tests to catch bugs
before they’re shipped
bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us
Events 15

16. 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
16

17. Coding plus Roles
Coding + Product = Product Manager
Coding + Marketing = Growth Hacker
Coding + Sales = Sales Engineer
Coding + Data = Data Scientist
17

18. 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
18

19. Growth Hacker (Coding + Marketing)
Skills & Tools
Rapid prototyping
Analytics
Communication
Design & implement experiments to drive customer
acquisition and engagement
19

20. 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
20

21. Data Scientist (Coding + Data)
Skills & Tools
Curiosity
Statistics
Analytics
Machine Learning
Use statistics and programming to find valuable insights
from extremely large datasets
21

22. How to get in the door?
Learn the skills
Build a portfolio of high quality work
Develop a relevant network
Prep for technical interviews
22

23. 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
23

24. 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
24

25. 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
25

26. 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
26

27. 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%
27

28. The technical interview
Phone screen
Take home tech challenge
In-person interviews
28

29. Resources
Prep sites (e.g. Interview Cake)
Books (e.g. Cracking the Coding Interview)
Mock interviews with technical friends
29

30. Ways to learn to code
bit.ly/hired-in-laWIFI: CrossCamp.us
Events 30

31. Thinkful's free course
HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Unlimited group mentor sessions
Personal Program Manager
Slack Channel
Thinkful Coding Prep Course
http://bit.ly/web-dev-free
31