Career-Journal-Andy-Tom.md

Mod 2 Week 1: Creating Your Vision, Part I

1. Start Where You Are (Empathize with the user -- you):

• Health: how you answer “how are you”; intersection of physical, mental, and emotional health
  • How would you rate your overall health on a scale of 1-5? 4
  • How do you currently make time for activities associated with your health?
    Journaling, exercise, healthy eating is a priority for me.
  • What is a small change you could make here to readjust your health ratings?
    See more friends or go to new social gatherings to make new friends.
• Work: what you do
  • Make a short list of all the ways you work right now.
    I help other Turing students with coding concepts.
  • How much value do each of those things bring to your life? How are those activities purposeful for you?
    I don't do much since the pandemic but I would like to get back to volunteering for Habitat and I really liked being a camp counselor, maybe working with children.
• Play: what brings you joy? Think about joy just for the pure sake of doing it; everyone benefits from this kind of play
  I like going outside and playing all sorts of social games like cards. I also read and like stand up comedy podcasts.
  • What activities do you do that bring you joy throughout an average week?
    Cooking, Reading, Exercise, Journaling
  • In what ways could you make a small change to bring more joy into your life?
    Add a bigger purpose to my world and another social group
• Love: sense of connection; who are the people who matter in your life and how is love flowing to and from you and them? My friends in Boulder
  • How does love currently show up in your life? Hanging out with my friends and doing activities with them
  • How do you show love to others right now? Texting friends or zoom calling
  • What adjustments would you like to make in this area? See friends more in person
• Looking back at the 4 areas, do any problems emerge that you want to begin designing solutions for? Having a new social circle.

2. Define your needs, problem, and insights:

• Based on what you wrote about above and your group conversation, what problems have you identified that you'd like to design solutions for? Having a new social circle.
• What do you already about what you want for your career? What do you still need to find out? I want to work in person and in a place with outdoor activites around.
• Who or what do you want to grow into by the end of the Turing program? I want to be an emphathetic leader who is self assured and hard working.

3. Ideate -- challenge assumptions:

• When you discussed software developers with your small group on Monday, what assumptions came up about what software developers actually do?
  They write code and read others code, they answer a lot of tickets. We weren't sure about the interactions between developer and boss.
• What steps could you take to challenge those assumptions and find more facts to answer the question of what developers do?
  Google, ask someone in the industry about their jon. Watch videos, go out to networking events.
• In addition to what a typical software developer life could look like, what do you want yours to include?
  I want to exercise and have a solid social circle.

4. Prototype -- start creating solutions:

• What is the basic threshold that your new career must meet after Turing?
  It needs to be in software development, must be in person, must be somewhere english speaking.
• What would you hope WILL NOT happen in your future after Turing?
  I hope I will not be in an industry other than tech.
• What is your absolute, no-holds-barred, ideal dream for your future after Turing? I would be a CEO of my own startup focused on bio-tech robotics.

5. Test –- solutions:

• Based on this week of reflections, write out your vision statement for your career:
  How do you show love to others right now?
  I am willing to put in work for them, give them gifts and be present with them.
  What adjustments would you like to make in this area?
  I'd like to be more empathetic.
  Looking back at the 4 areas, do any problems emerge that you want to begin designing solutions for?
  I would like to attend more social events to build a social circle.
  Define your needs, problem, and insights:
  Based on what you wrote about above and your group conversation, what problems have you identified that you'd like to design solutions for?
  I'd like to reach out to my mentor for more information on the job search. What do you already about what you want for your career? What do you still need to find out?
  I want to never stop learning and be able to have a social life outside of my job. Who or what do you want to grow into by the end of the Turing program?
  I'd like to be someone that helps others live a healthier, loving, fun life. Ideate -- challenge assumptions:
  In addition to what a typical software developer life could look like, what do you want yours to include?
  I'd like to have a strong mentor at work to show me the ropes.
  Prototype -- start creating solutions:
  Test –- solutions:
  Based on this week of reflections, write out your vision statement for your career:
  I'd like to help people create a less stressful, healthy, loving, fun life.

Mod 2 Week 2: Creating Your Vision, Part II

1. Design Thinking Review: Cultivating Beginner's Mind

• How can beginner's mind be helpful when it comes to thinking about your career and job search?
  Beginner's mind allows you to be open to a number of possibilities, ones that you couldn't even imagine. It allows flexibility and room to grow, as well as have more fun.
• What are some habits you could put into place to cultivate beginner's mind regularly?
  Go in without expectation, meditate, go slow, try to understand what is happening and why.

Optional additional reading: How to Cultivate Beginner's Mind to Become a True Expert

2. Workview & Lifeview

• Summarize what good, worthwhile work means to you (Tip: this is NOT about what work you want to do but about why work matters to you):
  Makes people's lives less stressful, more loving, and happier.
• Lifeview: summarize what you value in life; what matters to you?
  I value autonomy, fun, helpfulness, working hard, helping others, being healthy, moving in nature.
• Where do your views on work and life complement each other?
  They both rely on making other people's lives better. Being of service.
• Where do they clash?
  I don't have anything in work that says I like to be outside, being autonomous or healthy.
• Does one drive the other? How?
  I think my views drive my work views. Since I know what has helped me live a better life, I would like for that to guide my work with other people.

3. Go through the Flower Exercise brainstorming worksheets linked here

4. Complete your Flower Exercise final worksheet here My copy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pvkv7mB_s63m78pcQTpZRwuaAFHi0JhiVM3kVGCamdc/edit

5. Write a refined vision statement here (what new things have you discovered this week to incorporate into your vision statement?): I'd like to help people create a less stressful, healthy, loving, fun life.

Mod 2 Week 3: Job Search Strategies

Reflect on how you’ve spent your time so far at Turing to gauge your engagement and energy:

• When have you been excited, focused, and enjoyed your work? I have been those things when my coworkers are also on the same page and we can feed off of each others. I am most engaged when I feel like I can solve a problem that pushes me.
• When have you felt bored, restless, or unhappy? I felt most bored when I was isolated and when the work wasn't challenging.
• When do you feel energized in your work? I feel energized when I am able to do other things outside of work, when I am learning new things, and when I can help others.
• When is your energy drained? My energy is drained when I was isolated and when the work wasn't challenging.

Setting up habits and routines to make time for the job search this module:

• Block out time on your calendar this week to work on your job search. When will you make this happen? How will you hold yourself accountable to this? What activities will you focus on during this time this week? What outcomes do you hope to reach by the end of this week because of these activities? I will work on this on thursday morning because our project is due on wednesday night. I will hold myself accountable by using a post it note on my computer. I will focus on creating a linkedIn profile and connecting with people I have previously worked with.

Applying wayfinding to using job search resources

• Go through the resources listed here and explore 2-3 tools. List what you looked at here: LinkedIn, BuiltIn
• Apply wayfinding: of what you looked at, what did you discover that aligns with your vision? If it didn't align with your vision, what will you try next? I discovered that I want to be challenged mentally. But I also want a work life balance. Something that allows for rigorous thought but is also 9-5.
• Find a job posting that aligns with your vision. What's the posting? How does it align with what you're looking for? Junior Software Engineer, sounds like a good learning experience but not too much work. Add it to your Huntr.
• What next steps will you take to explore that opportunity and find contacts? Add that information to your Huntr card. I will add a tracker and try to reach out on LinkedIn.

Mod 2 Week 4: Outreach & Networking I

Mind Maps:

• 1. Engagement. What did you reflect on last week in regards to when you're engaged in your work at Turing? Pull out an idea that resonates with you most (e.g., "Talking through a problem with a partner," "The moment when I solve a problem that I previously didn't know how to do," "Setting up a successful project management process for my team") and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?). I am engaged when there is a problem that pushes me and also I am able to solve.

1. Identify a problem.
2. Find steps to solve that problem.
3. Implement solutions.
4. Get feedback/reflect.

• 2. Energy. What did you reflect on last week in regards to when you feel most energized in your work at Turing? Pull out an idea that resonates with you most and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?). When there are other people around/not alone.

1. Be in a room/call with other people who know what they're doing.
2. Problem solve with those people, talking through the problem together.
3. Find common ground with others.
4. Learn from mistakes of myself and others.

• 3. Flow. When have you had an experience recently in which you were in a state of flow? You can also think about this as "joy" or "play." Pull out an idea that resonates with you most and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?). Talking with some classmates about an imaginary app.

1. Start with big picture.
2. Each person adds something new.
3. Able to make connections to outside things.
4. Lateral thinking, connecting ideas that might not necessarily make sense.
   4.5 Like going to the 20th page of google and seeing if any of that could be of use.
   Prototype your mind maps: what do these mind maps tell you about what's important to you as a software developer? What questions do they bring up about what you still want to learn about this career?

I know that I don't want to remain stagnant. I want to push myself mentally and be around other smart people. I still want to learn about applying software development to new technologies and especially wearables.

Prototype your outreach: (Be prepared to share this in your small group discussion)

• Who comes to mind as a person you can reach out to? Why that person? What questions would you ask them? Come up with 2-3 people here to serve as prototypes.

Friends from college - Brad and Andy. I know them pretty well and they would answer any questions I have. They are pretty new to the industry but know a lot more than me.

• How would this outreach help you further your job search strategy?

Help me narrow what I would look for, reconnect with good resources of the industry.

Outreach & Networking Plan: Based on your reflections above, create a concrete plan for your outreach:

• Who is the right person for you to reach out to?
• How will you find them? How do you know they’re the right person?
• How will you reach out?
• What questions do you need to ask them?
• How will you use this information to further your solution?
• How will you follow up?

Execute your plan:

• Reach out to your contact THIS WEEK. If possible, reach out to more than one person OR find a meetup to attend also. What happened? What other next steps should you take? If this is a person connected to a company you're interested in, be sure to add it to your Huntr card.

Mod 2 Week 5: Professional Storytelling & Branding

1. Write a draft of your professional story here as 1-2 paragraphs. Focus on answering the questions who are you, why are you here, and what's next? Consider how to talk about your motives and values, the turning points that led to your career change, and what you envision for yourself going forward.

   I've always been interested in logic. My mom would give me math puzzle books as presents growing up because of how much I loved them. I memorized our home phone number at the same time as my sister although she's 3 years older than me. I graduated to nerf guns around 10, taking them apart to understand their innerworkings. I was never satisfied with what came in the box. When I got to highschool, I started breaking more rules. I was drawn to things outside of school and my classes quickly took a back seat. In college I let my curiosity fall at the wayside in favor of parties, girls, and work. I knew I was missing that childlike wonder from much earlier but thought I would find at a bar. I picked the one of the easiest majors I could but kept close friends with a few computer engineers. I saw what they built and I was totally fascinated. At graduation they all had jobs with bright outlooks and I had an offer to a dead end, I decided I needed to find myself. I moved to Boulder and started rock-climbing a lot. I worked at a juice bar to pass the time. I never end up finding myself but was gradually reminded of the projects my friends in college made. I signed up for a computer science class at CU Boulder but was quickly overwhelmed with the syntax, I took a class too advanced and felt so alone in a class so large. I decided to check out a bootcamp event and felt much better taken care of. The material was well explained and allowed students to thrive. I want to be a software engineer because I've always loved logic, systems, and technology.

2. Update your LinkedIn profile with the following: updated photo/headshot, headline, summary statement using your story, and Turing added to your experience and education sections. Include a link to your profile here in the journal. Remember the guidelines and tips from the lesson here. I don't have a linkedIn

3. What other steps will you take this week to update your branding or practice your story? I will write more of what I want to accomplish.

Mod 3

Intermission Reflections

1. Please list the top 3-5 industries and companies you'll pursue in your job search as of right now. Health-care, Information Technology, Education

2. Why did you pick the industries/companies that you listed above? How do they relate to the values and goals you have for yourself in your job search? These would allow me to help other people improve their own quality of life.

3. How does your LinkedIn currently reflect your goals and industry interests? What changes will you need to make to your LinkedIn to better reflect these? I still need to create a LinkedIn page.

Mod 3 Week 1

1. Refine your career vision: What are the values that will drive your job search? What are your goals for your job search? What kind of role do you see yourself pursuing in your job search? Based on your latest version of your career vision, list the top 3-5 industries and companies you'll pursue in your job search as of right now. Why did you pick these industries/companies? How do they relate to the values and goals you have for yourself in your job search?

2. Build your resume

• What will you emphasize in your resume that directly relates to your targeted industries? I'd like to help people create a less stressful, healthy, loving, fun life. As a camp counselor I had a direct influence of the moods of the campers. If I came in with a good attitude, I got a good attitude back. I want to help others live an active lifestyle that is fun and energizing.

• Pick a template from those listed in the Templates section here

• Order your content in this way:

  • Header (Name + Software Developer OR Back End Engineer OR Front End Engineer, etc.)
  • Contact info
  • Summary
  • Skills
  • Projects
  • Experience
  • Education

• Check out other resources here including the Resume Checklist

• Link to your resume or include a screenshot here:

3. Upload your resume to CV Compiler by following these steps:

• Go to https://cvcompiler.com/students/turingschool
• Click on "Improve Your Student Resume"
• Authorize it with either LinkedIn or GitHub
• Fill out the fields with your Name and Email and the promo code Turing2003
• Upload your resume
• Based on the feedback you received from CV Compiler, what updates will you make to your resume? I should add in more keywords like API and SASS.

4. Set up your Turing Alumni Portfolio:

• Log in with the link you got in your email. Going forward, log in at alumni.turing.io/user
• Fill out all fields
• Select "publish" before saving (projects must also have "published" selected)
• Reflection questions:
  • What do you want this portfolio to say about you? I want it to say that I am hard working and want to work on problems that make other peoples lives better.
  • How will you continue to add to this to portray your story and showcase the kind of work that demonstrates your brand? I will keep it updated with projects I choose to work on.

5. Ian's workshop this week is designed to help you break down your interest in specific industries even further. Make a copy of his template here and post a link to your copy here to show what research you've completed. You can also link this research to your Huntr board. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11tNWPVUFHOLNgnU2Pb8CazkQ9se_dEh1YT3iX7MXXjI/edit#gid=0

Mod 3 Week 2: The Application Process

1. Find a position or use a position you've put on your Huntr board and write a cover letter for that position in a Google doc or gist. Reference these cover letter resources as well as the session to complete your cover letter.

• Post the link to your cover letter here

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zmH1AM6o_zeJn3SgidDhdXBnYJbxmdPNGvifwJPvAmM/edit?usp=sharing For this position: https://www.cybercoders.com/front-end-engineer-job-555807?jobId=EQ1-1594721&refId=EQ1-15947212&ad=recruiticsglassdoor&rx_campaign=glassdoor30&rx_group=100137&rx_job=EQ1-15947212&rx_medium=cpc&rx_r=none&rx_source=Glassdoor&rx_ts=20200712T214509Z&ad=recruiticsglassdoor&rx_viewer=dc6329bfc4a711ea84f2cd75615ccaa124d830e75ff6471bb33b9eb745498c84 2. Review your cover letter with a peer some time this week. What feedback did your partner give you? What next steps will you take to make your cover letter even stronger?

3. If you were to apply to this position (and you should!), how will you customize your resume for it? What other next steps would you need to take here?

I will put my economics forward interests up front.

Mod 3 Week 3: Outreach & Networking II

Start with looking for a company, then conduct research, then outreach to someone at a company, then complete application and go back to your contact.

"I see you have this background and I would like to know more about it"

1. Back to your resume and cover letter you've been working on:

• What other next steps do you want to take to make these two components stronger? Add more person details, get it reviewed by a peer or mentor.

2. Outreach Brainstorming:

• Either explore the company you wrote a cover letter for or find a new company to explore this week; Go to their company LinkedIn page and start to explore the employees. Who are a couple people you could reach out to? Why?

3. Finalize Your Plan:

• Who have you decided to reach out to? Why that person? How will you contact them? What do you want to talk to them about? How will you follow up?

4. Execute your plan:

• Reach out to your contact THIS WEEK. If possible, reach out to more than one person OR find a meetup to attend also. What happened? What did you learn about the company? What other next steps should you take for pursuing this company? Be sure to update this in Huntr.

Mod 3 Week 4: Interview Prep

1. Prepare for Job Shadow: AEIOU

• Activities: what questions do you have about the activities that a software developer does on a daily basis?
• Environment: what questions do you have about the overall environment and culture of this workplace?
• Interactions: what questions do you have about the team at this company? What do you hope to see in your interactions during the shadow?
• Objects: what questions do you have about the code or the product?
• Users: what questions do you have about how the company interacts with their users?

2. After the Job Shadow, reflect on the same questions; what are your takeaways from the shadow?

• Activities: what was engaging to the person/people you shadowed? I thought their work was interesting and they answered some tickets while I was on the call.

• Environment: what did you notice about how they talked about the culture and environment of this company? They talked about how everyone pitches in and sometimes people would answer tickets even if they weren't assigned to be on call.

• Interactions: what did you notice about your interactions with this person/people? They were nice and didn't want to work overly hard.

• Objects: what did you learn about their approach to code and/or product development? They had to document everything and get approval from many people before making changes.

• Users: what did you learn about their approach to their users? I didn't ask about their approach to their users.

• What are your main takeaways from the shadow? How will you use this information to help you with your job search strategy? The workflow everywhere is going to be different and involve many tools.

3. Interview Prep:

• Pick a successful project and write about it with the STAR method (What was the situation/scenario of the project? What was the task/target of the project? What action steps did you take? What were the results?): Scenerio: An educational children's website Task: Create a finished website in 6 days. Action: Work on the project each day and make commits. Result: A project I was proud of.

• Write about a time you failed and what you learned from that experience: When we first learned to write tests I couldn't even get one test to pass. I turned in a project where I knew I would get a poor grade. I tried so hard but it just wasn't clicking. We had a Q&A with our teacher and I asked about testing and finally a tiny click went off. I took it and ran and focused on testing in the next project.

• Write about how you've approached working with a team using a specific example: I like to take a leadership role. I assess the team and see where people's strengths lie. When creating a pokemon game with a few other teammates, I knew one member was stronger than the other and asked for input on what they would like to work on. They didn't give clear answers so I made suggestions and made it explicit what I wanted to spend my time on. I think we worked together well because we had different interests and abilities. For example, a weaker member was interested in adding sounds and he was successful while another member wanted to create a separate view.

• What other stories will you prepare to share? Working on a movie app with a partner, working on a books app solo.

• Do some research into your top companies' tech stacks; what do you already know? What can you compare to your own learning? What do you need to learn more about? React seems very popular so I would like to keep learning that. I would like to learn more about utilizing progressive web apps.

• Using this interview prep resource doc, pick out at least 3 resources you will use to prepare for interviews as well as 3 behavioral questions you could practice: Describe your background. How did you get to where you are now? What was your previous career field? What did you like about it? What didn’t you like about it? Why coding? Describe your coding experience and why you wish to continue. What are you looking for in a company? Why would you want to work here?

Mod 3 Week 5: Refining Your Strategy

1. Taking stock of where you are: what have you accomplished this module? What have you learned? Where are you stuck (have you not been able to follow through on outreach? Is your resume not finished?)? I have finished a resume and cover letter, I have reached out to 1 company. I have talked with a few mentors.

2. Create plans for 3 different companies you want to target:

• Questions to reflect on here: Why do you like this company? What makes you want to work there? Why are you a good fit for this company? What do you bring to the company? What transferable skills do you have? What do you already know about the company (product, team, culture, company size, location, etc.)? What do you need to learn?

• Steps to take:

  • Outreach: look at the company’s LinkedIn page: who could you reach out to? What questions do you want to ask that person?
  • Experience: once you've made a connection at the company, how could you find out more? Consider setting up a job shadow or exploring their tech stack in your projects

• Read back over the plan. How does it reflect your vision?

• Imagine that you get the job. A year later, what have you gained from this experience? How have you started to fulfill your vision?

• Plan #1: Gloo, based in boulder, helps personal development software.

• Plan #2: Whoop, fitness technology.

• Plan #3: Fitbit

3. Make it actionable: rank each plan on a scale of 1-5 for how much your plan aligns with the following:

• Available resources to help you pursue it: contacts, time, knowledge of the company, etc.
• Coherence: how it aligns with your career vision
• Confidence level: how feasible does this feel to you?
• How excited you are about it

Now, pick the plan with the highest numbers across the board. What steps will you take next to pursue this strategy as you go into the next module?

Mod 4 Week 1

-How many people did you reach out to this week? 1 -How many new leads or contacts did you get? 1 -How many jobs did you apply to? 0 -How many interviews did you have? 0 -How many hours did it take you to do all this? 1

What will success look like for mod 4 PD?
I'd like to work on my coding skills as much as possible. Success for me is filling out each question in the career Journal.

What are two things from the guest speaker that you will implement this week? I will always reach out after interacting with someone.

Mod 4 Week 2

1. Explore if you have a fixed or growth mindset around negotiation? What mantra or thought can you use to foster a growth mindset when it comes time to negotiate an offer? Example; “I am in charge of how I communicate my value, goals, and offer to their team.” I started reading about growth mindset before coming to Turing. I believe I am able to learn even complex things.
   Write out what accomplishments, experiences, and the value you bring to a team or role. I am a great communicator, I learned at my last job that was between the development team and the field operations team, I learned how to talk to developers as well as customers.

Mod 4 Week 3

Sign up for Jobscan: https://www.jobscan.co/register How tailored is your resume to the jobs you are applying for?
I got a 46%. I think it is okay since being a entry level role. I don't have much experience in development. If your match rate score is lower than 80%- make the necessary changes and keyword suggestions. Share your new match rate score. I couldn't get my score about 80% unless I copy pasted a ton of info. Scan your LinkedIn profile using Jobscan. Is your profile telling recruiters and hiring managers that you have the right skills for the job? Share in your journal one step you will take to improve your profile. I will add in my projects and add a header to my linkedIn.

Mod 4 Week 4

What is one takeaway or tip you will use from this session on working with recruiters?
I will always follow up with a recruiter even if they forget about it. Just don't message more than twice. How is your networking plan going? Have you had a coffee meeting thus far in Mod 4? If so, how did it go? If you have not, please share your progress and challenges in this area. I had one coffee meeting. I felt okay but unconfortable to ask for a referal.

Mod 4 Week 5

How successful were you in holding yourself accountable to your job search goals for this mod? What is one big win you are proud of? What are some areas that you could fine tune? What is your plan to do this? What are you excited about for Mod 5 now that you are close to graduating! YAY

I am excited to have interviews, I like meeting new people.

Deliverable and tracking of job search: Add these questions for your Career Journal: How many people did you reach out to this week? 1 -How many new leads or contacts did you get? 1 -How many jobs did you apply to? 0 -How many interviews did you have? 0 -How many hours did it take you to do all this? 1 No PD Session this week.

Hi Andy, I wanted to touch base about LinkedIn -- you mentioned that you want to network using LinkedIn but that you don't have a profile. Do you plan on creating a profile? If not, do you have an alternate idea on how you would like to connect with developers and employers? This is something I'd like you to reflect on and post ideas here so that the Career Dev team and I know how to support you best.

Hi Andy, dont forget to set up your mod 4 gist here and adding the pre-work deliverables. I would like to see how your job search is going and your plans in this area.

Andy, thanks for working through most of the journal prompts. Please write out week 2 deliverable of a counteroffer email response based on what you learned from that session or was reminded of. In addition, please update your alumni page. I see that it is partially done. Also, great to see that you had one coffee meeting. I agree that asking for a referral during the first meeting would be uncomfortable. I suggest not asking during that first meeting rather gauge if it even needs to be asked. If you applied perhaps they will offer. if you haven't applied to their company, perhaps wait until you do and ask them questions. This 2nd conversation could lead to a referral. If it doesn't, you will still come away with knowing more about the interview process. Perhaps they will share updates or info they have.