Crushing it as a BootCamp Grad/ Self Taught Software Engineer

Introduction:

This series of posts was inspired by several conversations I have had with self-taught and bootcamp grad software engineers who are now doing professional work. I find myself sharing tips, tricks, and advice. Therefore wrapping this up in a series of posts may help someone gain ground in their career. My hope is that my experience gives you a set of practices and techniques that will help propel you to the top in any organization you work in. I want to focus on what happens after you get the job and not how to get an interview, and how to do well in the interview.

With bootcamps focused on interview training, tons of folks are coming out nailing coding challenges and interviews, only to fall flat on their faces after a couple of quarters on the job. This set of posts will hopefully arm newcomers with a mental framework on how to succeed after passing the initial hurdles.

My story:

I joined the programming ranks after doing it as a hobby for a couple of years. In 2006, I knew I did not want to touch Java and instead chose to dive into Ruby on Rails. It was not much of a thing in those days, but I found the language and community super friendly to a new comer like me so I persisted and kept on learning. My day job was not really programming so I essentially tinkered and built small projects on nights and weekends.

In 2008 my day job evaporated with the rest of the economy and I decided to become a full time programmer. I put myself out there and had no luck with established companies. They all wanted CS theory and lots of experience. As many of you can guess, the start up scene accepted me with open arms. Pay was low ( of course ) , working conditions are rough ( also of course) . I knew that going in, I knew that launching a new career required sacrifices, hard work and grit. I am not super smart nor do I have unrealistic expectations. However, I can work hard, take on tons of pain, and I am super creative. These attributes seem valuable in a startup so it made sense.

My entry into software engineering looked like...

The series of posts that will follow are a set of practices that an ambitious newcomer into the field can use as a framework to help architect a fruitful career and gain some mileage over the competition. I am realizing there is tons of material available to help get into/transition into a career in software development but not much material on how to succeed once you get in. I truly hope the series helps newbies like I once was.

A series of practical and pragmatic steps that worked for me are listed below:

Part 1, Learning you something important

Part 2, Work faster and better