I love learning new things, and am good at researching new concepts/technologies when deciding which to use on a project. The challenge of digging through the endless amounts of data out there in the world to find the best solution for myself or my team is exciting to me. I am good at looking at the big picture and coming up with a plan of action that will result in the most efficient use of time and energy. Another strength of mine is my ability to try and make decisions from an unbiased perspective, and I believe that makes me a good conflict resolver and problem solver.
Tasks that are very tedious or acute sometimes cause me to have tunnel vision and become unfocused. I also sometimes catch myself using research and planning as procrastination. Instead of diving into the work once I have a plan, I'll spend excess time researching the concepts I am about to use. This is helpful in the long run, but sometimes I just need to start the work sooner.
My wife is a teacher in the Northern Colorado area, so I would love to stay between Denver and Fort Collins.
Professionally, I would love to join a company where I can really make a long career. The idea of bouncing between companies for my whole career is not appealing to me, although I am willing to do that in the beginning to find the right fit. I would love to work for a company dealing in environmental research or technology as that is a passion of mine.
Salesforce (Apex, Lightning, Aura) & AWS
- Do what is right, always
- Drive connection and teamwork
- Inspire passion and adventure
- Take ownership. Get it done
- Celebrate authenticity
Recently rated as a top 10 place to work in the US by greatplacetowork.com
React, Redux, AWS
- Energy
- Intelligence
- Need to Achieve
Lots of news about these companies in general and the impact that the 'cord-cutting' trend will have on their business models
React and Rails are the only specific technologies I could find
- Do what's right
- Ownership mentality
- Go the extra mile
Recently rated as a top 10 tech start-up in Colorado
- Who are the key people I should connect with to secure a job? (Make a list of these people, we will be using it at a later time).
- Mike McNeal (Practice Area Director at Slalom Denver, I have been in contact with him already)
- Jeremiah Martinez (Learning Technology Manager at Dish Network/Sling TV)
- Cody Sehl (Turing alum who now works for Gusto)
My dad is in the industry and him and his team have been helpful in my job search and career thus far. My Turing mentor has also worked in the Denver area for a while now and has offered to help with whatever I need in my job hunt.
The Turing demo competition, meetups, company open houses, and job shadows
- What knowledge or skills do I have that I can share with people in the industry? (Think of this in the context of a blog post or a lightning talk).
I am very good at working under pressure due to my prior experience in the emergency medicine industry. I think I could be an asset to a high-pressure development team in my ability to slow down and make decisions under pressure. My undergrad experience also included lots of scientific research experience which is a skill that I believe can be translated into any career. Utilizing the scientific method in any process can limit mistakes and improve outcomes.
During week 1 at Turing I did not apply for any jobs, but I had status changes on a couple jobs I had already applied for. Unfortunately, all of these changes involved a hiring freeze due to the pandemic. I have one application out there (PGA of America in TX), who told me they are not yet in a hiring freeze and to look for a follow up email this week.
One piece of outreach I had was to Mike McNeal (Slalom), who I texted to continue our conversation about a possible job. Screenshot of my text to him:
This week, I was contacted by a company called Alto Pharmacy who are looking for developers. They contacted me because I also have a medical background. Below is a screenshot of my first reply to the person who contacted me:
- To stay resilient with the job hunt especially regarding outreach, I am setting the goal to communicate with a possible employer in some way at least twice/three times a week. Last week, I spoke with my contact at Slalom about my pre-work, talked with Alto Pharmacy, and also made a luke-warm outreach to a contact at Dish Network. I also have been updating my own notes/documents with any outreach I make to keep track of conversations. I think that continuing to track my outreach will help me stay on top of things as I am less likely to not reach out because I forgot where the conversation left off. I also am planning to be more specific in my outreach to not give the contact an excuse to not respond due to my vague-ness.
This week, I had a phone screening with Alto Pharmacy and after officially applying to a position with them. Still waiting to hear back about a next step. For my example of outreach, I messaged a luke-warm contact who works at Dish Network who had offered in the past to talk to me about a job on his team. I also got my LinkedIn connections from 44 to almost 60 in the last week!
This week I used my resiliency plan to stay on top of the job hunt and outreach. I was able to have 2 meaningful conversations with possible employers, so I met my goal in the regard. I also made a cold outreach to PGA of America after seeing a job posting from them online. I sent an email to a contact I found explaining that I would love some more information on the job (the listing did not have any details on requirements), and how I golf has been a passion of mine my whole life and I would love to help grow the sport through their company. I'll post a screenshot of that later today (Monday) - forgot to update this until now and don't have time to get the screenshot ready right now.
My other piece of outreach was a current employee at a company (Slalom) I have already been in contact with. I reached out to get some feedback on how their first few weeks on the job have been and any advice for myself in their interview process and early stages of hiring. It was helpful to talk with someone who is where I want to be in a month or two.