Practical Advice for Establishing Your Engineering Career

Getting your first job as an engineer is difficult, and growing a career after you've started in the field can be even harder. 18 months ago I was fresh out of an intensive development training program and searching for my first job as an engineer. Since I graduated my training program, I've spent my time growing and establishing my career as an engineer, both as a technical contributor and communicator. During this talk, I'll share my mistakes along with practical advice, followed by a Q&A session.

Transcript

1. practical advice for establishing your engineering career Liz Abinante @feministy
2. hello!
3. i don’t know everything.
4. i don’t know a lot.
5. here is what i do know…
6. this shit is really, really hard.
7. the same advice doesn’t work for everyone.
8. do the things that make the most sense for you.
9. my story
10. age 7 typing
11. age 12 building websites
12. age 15 blogging & designing
13. age 19 profit… kinda
14. age 26 building web apps
15. OMG THE INTERNET
16. age 26 first engineering job
17. my first year
18. 5 conference talks
19. 1 conference panel
20. mentor lots of new developers
21. organize & attend ~40 meetups
22. education leader gdi chicago
23. rails girls summer of code coach
24. learn 3 javascript frameworks
25. make ~2,000 commits
26. OMG TOO MUCH WANT TO DIE :(
27. 1 burn out
28. seriously. don’t do this.
29. i did all of this because people told me i had to if i wanted to grow my career.
30. their advice
31. speak at conferences!
32. speak at conferences! introvert? oh, that’s easy! just come out of your shell!
33. contribute to open source!
34. contribute to open source! be excellent to each other! all contributions welcome! (but we will judge the shit out of you) (and possibly harass you) ethics of free labor be damned!
35. be public! use twitter!
36. trigger warning
37. be public! use twitter! twitter is great… if you ignore the mansplaining harassment doxxing stalking rape & death threats trigger warnings racism sexism TERFs transphobia
38. write blog posts!
39. write blog posts! don’t feed the trolls! NEVER READ THE COMMENTS!
40. answer questions on stack overflow!
41. answer questions on stack overflow! we promise it’s a ~safe space~
42. attend every meetup!
43. attend every meetup! we promise it’s a ~safe space~ we have a code of conduct and NEVER ENFORCED IT because we are all excellent to each other!
44. introduce yourself to everyone at all of the meetups you attend!
45. introduce yourself to everyone at all of the meetups you attend! even if we’re staring at your ass we promise it’s a respectful stare!
46. learn a new programming language!
47. learn a new programming language! prove you’re a REAL ENGINEER
48. volunteer!
49. volunteer! free labor + toxic environment = networking!!!
50. do ALLTHETHINGS!
51. do ALLTHETHINGS! WHAT BURNOUT????
52. their advice is a mine field.
53. their advice requires you to take risks.
54. who are they?
55. people with privilege who feel safe being public.
56. people with and without privilege fighting the fight.
57. people who actually like doing these things.
58. you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel
59. you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel unsafe
60. you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel overworked
61. you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel unhappy
62. you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel unappreciated
63. you do not have to follow this advice if it makes you feel inadequate
64. you can follow this advice if it sounds good to you.
65. it is not bad advice.
66. in fact, i will give you some of the same advice.
67. it simply doesn’t work for everyone, and it’s not the only path to career growth.
68. my advice
69. two principles
70. two principles consume
71. two principles consume share
72. four axes
73. four axes code
74. four axes code knowledge
75. four axes code knowledge experience
76. four axes code knowledge experience network
77. the things you choose to do depend a lot on the path you want your career to take
78. growing on different axes will shape your career in different ways
79. consume
80. consume consuming takes time, the amount is up to you
81. consume you don’t have to consume everything
82. consume you don’t have to learn from toxic sources
83. consume you can consume at your own speed
84. consume you can consume things relevant to what you do, or completely different
85. consume you can consume in many different ways
86. consume you don’t have to be present physically to take advantage of a resource
87. consume you can consume online
88. consume you can consume in person
89. consume you can consume alone, in a quiet dark corner with a cute fluffy puppy
90. code read the source code for everything you use
91. code lurk in pull requests for things you’re interested in
92. code review solutions to popular coding problems
93. code compare solutions for coding problems across different languages
94. knowledge watch recorded conference talks and panels
95. knowledge subscribe to technical mailing lists
96. knowledge read technical blogs or books by people you like
97. knowledge attend conferences, meetups, and trainings
98. knowledge listen to podcasts
99. experience read things by people who have come before you
100. experience ask for help
101. experience ask for advice
102. network ask for introductions
103. network turn a friend into an acquaintance
104. network use resources created by friends-of-friends
105. network join irc or slack channels
106. share
107. share you don't have to share with anyone you don't personally know or trust
108. share you don't have to share everything you do
109. share you can say no to sharing
110. share you don't have to be a public figure, on the internet or in person
111. share you can share anonymously
112. share sharing anonymously will still help you grow your career
113. share sharing isn’t just to get your stuff out there so you can be seen or recognized
114. share sharing is also about practicing how you present yourself, your work, and your achievements to others
115. share sharing will help you practice talking about your achievements when it comes time for a review at work or a new job interview
116. share sharing will help you catalog your professional history and growth
117. share sharing will help you find trends in your own work
118. share sharing will help you find your strengths and weaknesses
119. code publish what you can, not just what you think is “good enough”
120. code pair up on projects with friends, remote or in person
121. code play with things that interest you
122. code revisit, refactor, and review your old code
123. code document your refactoring
124. knowledge write down or explain your technical decisions, processes, and ideas
125. knowledge informal lunch and learns with friends and colleagues
126. knowledge share ideas and work through challenges over email and irc
127. knowledge conference talks, lightning talks, panels
128. knowledge teach workshops
129. knowledge teach a friend
130. experience share your story
131. experience share your mistakes
132. experience mentor people you know
133. network work with your friends whenever you can, and invite new people to join
134. network introduce new friends to your social circle
135. network start a small, informal hack night, discussion, or forum
136. network contribute to a friend-of-a- friend’s project
137. network create irc or slack channels and invite all your cool new friends
138. network nepotism
139. “If you and your friends are in the same field and you can collaborate with each other, do this without shame. Men invented nepotism and practically live by it. It’s ok for women to do it too.” - Roxane Gay, “Bad Feminist”
140. final tips
141. take what works, throw out what doesn’t
142. take breaks and don’t push yourself too hard
143. try a new thing sometimes
144. set goals
145. measure progress
146. reevaluate goals
147. questions? slides: speakerdeck.com/feministy blog: lizabinante.com (resources, links, etc) email: me@liz.codes twitter: feministy irc: feministy