Developing Mindsets to Succeed

karen_kepner_prework_career_development.md

Developing Mindsets to Succeed

1. Read through 29 Behaviors That Will Make You an Unstoppable Programmer

• Pick out 3 behaviors that resonate with you in the list and describe why they resonate with you in a reflection (4-6 sentences).

• Use google very aggressively.
  I feel that this is key. I am still learning how to google better. I am improving my googling. There was a link in this area that went to an article that said to open the first ten links that come up on your google search and read them. I have found that helpful already.

• 2. Maintain an obnoxious amount of stick-to-itiveness.
     This is another very important skill. I am working on the balance between stick to-it and too-much-frustration. I feel that if I am persistent with my study of coding, I will be successful.
• 27. Go play foosball. That’s often more important than coding.
      Knowing when to take a break is very important. I have been using pomodoro timing during my studies. It's really helping me be more productive when I take breaks on a regular schedule. It breaks me out of a situation where the frustration is getting too high.

2. Organization is paramount to success both at Turing and in a career as a programmer. There are many ways to stay organized, but in this activity, you'll explore one system in particular -- utilizing a strong checklist.

   • After reading, consider the idea of checklists. Write a reflection (4-6 sentences) on the benefits of a checklist and how an organizational system such as a checklist might help you first as a student and later as a full-time developer.
     I have used checklists in the past as a pilot. I believe that checklists are a great way to remember complicated tasks. I have thought about making a checklist for building a website as a student. I would refer to it when building the site as well as during troubleshooting. In industry, a checklist can help the team follow steps to improve the development process.

3. One tool we'll be using for your professional development at Turing is the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment. Unlike other assessments, one of the hallmarks of StrengthsFinder is that it focuses solely on what you're already doing well in order to understand how to capitalize on those strengths.

   • After reading the three articles, answer the following questions in a reflection (4-6 sentences):

     • What is your impression of strengths-based development? What questions do you have about this kind of development?

     • What do you feel are your top strengths? How do you know?

     • How do you hope to develop your strengths for your new career in software development?