Mentoring Developers

Mentoring Developers

Helping software developers thrive

Episode 19 – What’s it like to be a guest on Mentoring Developers? Sarah Mei special!

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What’s it like to be a guest on Mentoring Developers? Sarah Mei special!

Hello dear listeners! I’m your host Arsalan and I am really glad you could join me in Episode 19. This episode will be different from the first 18 episodes and we will look back at the way the podcast has gone in 2015 and where it’s going in 2016.

If you have listened to past episodes, you may have heard me talk about doing panel discussions with a diversity of opinions from people at different experience levels and backgrounds. Well, now the time is right to alternate between in-depth and thoughtful interviews that you love so much with these panel discussions that are badly needed. We need to understand each other better in order to create better professional environments for everyone and it always starts with open and honest discussions. I am excited about these discussions and I am sure many of you are as well.

Please let me know if you would like to be part of a discussion panel or if you would like to share your ideas, opinions, or questions. This is, after all, a safe place for everyone. Alright, people. Let’s go!

Sarah’s Bio:

Sarah Mei is a Ruby and JavaScript developer based in San Francisco, California. She is the Chief Consultant at DevMynd Software, where she spends most of her time pairing with her clients’ developers, helping level up their team. Her particular areas of interest are OOP, service refactorings, growing teams, and inter-developer dynamics.

She has written here about her experiences pair programming while she was at Pivotal Labs, and also her approach to testing. Her most popular article, by a huge margin, is about the dangers of shiny new technology.

Sarah is writing a book with Sandi Metz about how to refactor Rails applications towards happiness.

You can find her on Twitter, GitHub, and LinkedIn.

 

Episode Highlights and Show Notes:

In this episode, you will hear a recent pre-Interview I had with the indomitable Sarah Mei. The full interview is scheduled for February 2016. Sarah is a fantastic conference organizer, speaker, and certified Nice Person™. If you ever wondered, what it’s like to be on the show, you will enjoy this part of the episode.

I hope you listen to this episode and let me know what you think. I will be thrilled if you did!

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Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Episode 85 – Oscar wins the battle!

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Oscar Delgadillo is a software engineer and podcaster who has battled adversity and found success. This is a fun discussion.

Oscar’s Bio:

Oscar is a Mexican-born Chicago-raised Software Engineer with experience in supply chain management. He has an obsession with fountain pens and making sure everyone feels safe. Oscar has a passion for helping folks of underrepresented communities break into tech and support them throughout their career. He currently fulfills this passion by helping organize People of Color Code, a Meetup, and a group that shares his same ideologies of making tech careers accessible. He has also recently launched a new podcast, Casual Viernes, a collaboration with LatinXAmerica Media in order to increase the representation and stories of Latinx folks.

Watch it on YouTube!

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Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Episode 84 – Sara is on a ROLL! | Mentoring Developers | #GirlsWhoCode | #React.js #HowToSucceed

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Sara Inés Calderón is a mobile app developer (iOS & Android via React Native) and a community leader.

In this exciting episode of Mentoring Developers, I talk to my friend, Sara. Her story and career progression is inspirational especially for women and people who come into technology from other professions. Get ready for this amazing no-holds-barred discussion about women in technology.

Share your thoughts in comments!

Sara’s Bio:

Sara Inés Calderón is a mobile app developer (iOS & Android via React Native), community leader and writer based in Austin, Texas. She works as a Lead Mobile Developer and has worked on several music-related apps. She has previously worked on musx and Tribl and currently works at Artistory.

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  • Sara’s Blog: http://www.sarainescalderon.com/

Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Episode 83 – Rob does Android and you can too!

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Rob Joseph is a UK Software Developer practicing his craft in the exciting Android mobile industry. 

Rob is thriving as a freelancer and he will show you the how and why of freelancing in software and why that might be a good choice for you if you are a new or aspiring software engineer. We’ll learn the crazy story about him giving up the chance to be part of a startup that could have made him a millionaire. Share your thoughts in comments!

Rob’s Bio:

Rob J is a self taught Android Developer that has been a freelancer since 2012. he’s worked with startups, corporates & even solo founders, at the same time he’s released more than 20 of his own apps on the Google Play Store over those years that have even been featured on BBC News & Lifehacker. He’s a tech enthusiast, a health & fitness fanatic and he’s the host of the app development focused podcast – Coffee & Coding. 

 

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Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Episode 82 – How do you even break into a software career | Mentoring Developers | Newbie Developer

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How do you even get into the field of Software Development without first going to a 4-year college for Computer Science or an expensive code academy?

How hard is it to switch careers and be accepted as a legitimate software engineer? Will you be considered an imposter? Tune in to this episode to find out! We discuss with Kevin Schwartz his career-switching journey into software and the ways he may have stumbled and fumbled and finally found his way. For show notes and to listen to the audio podcast, visit http://mentoringdevelopers.com/episode82 and let us know what you think!

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Kevin’s Bio:

Kevin Schwartz is 27 and very recently switched careers into the development field after learning on the side for years.  He is working with BYBE and doing some freelance projects for income and mostly interested in Front End Web Development. He graduated from The Ohio State University for New Media and Communication technology with a minor in design. 

 

Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Episode 80 – Greg Thomas shows you how to move up the tech ladder

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Greg talks about his journey into software development and how he moved up the ranks to lead software teams and how you can do it too! Subscribe and write a comment with your career level (Unemployed, Junior, Senior, or Manager) to get the chance to win a free copy of Greg’s new book: Code Your Way Up!

Leave a comment with your career level to get the chance to win a copy of Code Your Way Up for free.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Greg’s Bio:

Greg Thomas has been writing code, leading projects, breaking builds or developing and launching products – all while amassing an impressive wealth of experience as a team leader. 

He is the Founder of BetaRover Inc, a cloud solution provider that helps customers onboard their organizations to the cloud.  He leads a team of developers in delivering solutions on the Azure platform stack building services, databases and any other integrations they need to make the successful transition to the cloud.

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Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Episode 79 – Matt Darby (reloaded)

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In this episode, Arsalan talks to Matt Darby from Columbus Ruby Brigade and Rackspace about his journey into software development and how he feels about the idea of structured mentorship for new and aspiring developers.

Matt’s Bio:

Matt has developed on the web for 17 years. He can configure pools of servers, architect and develop the applications on those servers, and make it all look good (and run). He has a Master’s degree in Computer Science and he leads the Columbus Ruby Brigade. He has launched projects for folks from Rackspace, AT&T, Sprint, LivingSocial and SeoMoz to local engineering and consulting firms.

Episode Highlights and Show Notes:

Matt: I don’t see a lot of companies treating younger programmers as assets. They aren’t investing in them and they are using them to fill in some holes in their staffing but they probably are aware that a certain percentage of those people are probably gonna either not fit in, not like the job – you know certain amount have to shake out…

Matt: You are going to get bruised every single time you promote yourself. Someone’s gonna laugh at you or you’re gonna fail or get punched – metaphorically – but the key is getting over there and it’s like a standup comedian. You know you’re going to get bruised sometimes…

Matt: Keep your head up… programming is a tough journey – it really is. Once you learn something you tend to very quickly forget the pain you went through to learn that… keep working to promote yourself and make sure people know who you are…

Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

How To Have A Real Discussion About Tech Diversity

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Inevitably you’ve had a discussion about racism, sexism, discrimination, diversity, etc., in your workplace with your colleagues that probably started out with the best of intentions. And, most likely this conversation ended when someone shut it down by saying something along the lines of: “I believe that everyone is equal.”

This is not a real conversation about diversity, discrimination, or the things that cause it. Rather, it’s an illustration of the kinds of behavior that contribute to discrimination and a lack of diversity.

Real conversations about anything involve a lot of listening, consideration of others’ points of view, and a legitimate interest in how that information can affect future behavior. You would walk away from a real conversation about diversity thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know that when I did that I could potentially be shutting people out,” for example.

When someone starts to feel uncomfortable, and inserts a knee-jerk blanket comment about how skin color doesn’t matter, it is not an indication not of how non-discriminating that person may be, but rather, how uncomfortable they are with the subject of the conversation. I’m a big proponent of being the change you want to see. In that vein I wanted to provide a brief prescription from my experience that would be beneficial for folks who would like to have a real conversation about diversity.

Listen. Listen as hard as you can, try to really hear what the other person is saying, and see if you can identify with anything from their experience.

Ask. Ask questions that will help you get closer to understanding their experiences. Try really hard not ask a judgmental, leading, or insinuating question — that will only widen the divide you are trying to bridge. The easiest way to ask a good question is simply asking for clarification — Can you expand on that? Why is that? Could you tell me more? I’m not sure I understand. Simpler is better in this case.

Use your imagination. Try to see the world from their eyes. Take some time to try really, really hard to imagine what it would be like to feel their feelings, have their experiences, and reactions.

Empathize. Take a second to ask yourself: How would I feel if that happened to me? How would I react if that were me? What would I have done in that situation?

Say thank you. You might be tempted to share what you think about this situation, but it’s important to recognize that maybe this conversation isn’t about you. Your opinion or feelings about this topic may not be vital to the discussion. Start by saying, “Thank you for sharing,” and know that, oftentimes, just listening to someone can go a long way in bridging gaps.

Most importantly, if you feel the urge to make a blanket statement about how you don’t see color, or that everyone is the same, or that differences don’t matter to you — reconsider. Try listening to whoever is speaking and try to understand their point of view before you say anything, and recognize that “not seeing color” is a meaningless phrase. It’s like saying you really like eating food or that clothes are an important part of your life: it’s a bland, non-specific blanket statement that’s something everyone can agree with. Which is to say, it doesn’t really mean anything or hold any weight at all.

Talking about diversity and the issues around it is going to be difficult. But I hope these tips are useful to someone, as I know in my experience that being able to speak openly and respectfully about these issues goes much further in solving problems than listening to how people feel about diversity without actually ever discussing it.

Episode 78 – Panel Discussion – Which languages and frameworks should you choose in 2021 as a new developer

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2021 beckons. What is a new or aspiring software developer to do! It’s a tough world out there but there is hope. What are the technologies, languages, frameworks, and activities you can do as a new developer to succeed in this crazy new world. Join us for a lively discussion.

Have you been wondering what technologies you should invest your time in as we approach 2021 in the middle of a global deadly pandemic? Listen to this panel discussion to get our thoughts on that and share your thoughts with us in comments and email!

Find the episode on YouTube here.

Warner’s Bio

Warner Moore is a strategic executive leader and manager with a
background in technology and information security. He has focused his
career in working with entrepreneurial growth organizations where
technology is their business and product. Within these organizations,
Warner has an accomplished record of building successful cybersecurity
programs and high performing teams who embrace DevOps culture and
practices. 

As an international speaker, Warner has been invited to present to
university students, technology professionals, and business leaders in a
classroom setting as well as at conferences such as Startup Week,
CloudDevelop, Path to Agility,  InfoSec Summit, CodeMash, Security
BSides, DevOpsDays, and Abstractions.

Warner is passionate about culture, innovation, and community. His
commitment to these values is demonstrated through his work leading
organizations such as Ohio LinuxFest, LOPSA, and Toastmasters. The
culmination of this work is the founding of Tech Community Coalition in
2016, a non-profit organization whose mission is to enable the greater
tech community.

After building security and privacy capabilities for numerous
organizations across industries at companies such as CoverMyMeds and
Bold Penguin, Warner founded the cybersecurity strategy firm Gamma
Force. Through Gamma Force, Warner serves as a virtual CISO for clients
that include Deep Lens and Smart Columbus, and advises startups to scale
them through concept and growth phases.

Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Epidode 81 – CSS vs. SASS vs. LESS : Kevin Mack shows us how to navigate between these and beyond!

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CSS or LESS or SASS – Which one is the right web styling language for you and why!

Kevin and Arsalan discuss the different options available to software developers to style their web pages. CSS is great for browsers to interpret and machines are great at using it but is there an easier, more intuitive way of describing the look and feel for a user interface? Certainly! There are many preprocessing tools and languages that are available to the modern web developer. But are they all equal? What are some good options and which are better for you if you are a new or aspiring software developer. CSS or SASS or LESS or something else? Watch the show to find out.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

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Thanks for Listening!

Do you have some feedback or some advice for us or our audience? Please give us a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher and share your thoughts.

If you found this episode useful, please go ahead and share it with your friends and family. You can also listen directly and give your feedback on the website.

You can subscribe to Mentoring Developers via iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. 

Tech Comadres: Women Helping Women Grow Professionally in Tech

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I didn’t even really want to be there the night I met my tech comadres. I had been looking for a software developer job in Austin for several months already and I was tired and grumpy and I didn’t want to leave the house — but I forced myself, because I figured nothing worse could happen than being by myself at home, unemployed and desperate for a job.

It wasn’t my first tech event in Austin, but it was the first time I had connected with folks on a visceral level. It was February 2015, at the Women Who Code Austin Lightning Talks at the Capital Factory. I was just blown away by all the women coming together to talk about their work — good and bad — and the honesty and openness that accompanied that conversation.

That night changed my life, as I am now a member of a community of intelligent, driven, successful, technical and kind women who work in Austin Tech and are determined to see people like me succeed here. What’s more, I made an awesome group of friends who have proven to be caring, kind, diverse, supportive and genuine that has made all the difference in my life in this city.

That night in February I wanted in, and I told WWCodeATX Founder Holly Gibson as much when I met her — How can I help? I can do social media. — and these months later I find myself co-director of Women Who Code Austin, having successfully doubled our social media presence online, the proud co-organizer of a diversity hackathon, a mentor to women looking to enter Austin Tech, now a happy member of Austin’s tech crowd myself.

Finding this community of women turned out to be a game changer for me. I now understand the hype around women in tech not so much as an abstract ideal, but a tangible, useful, practical way for women from diverse backgrounds to make up for lost time and connections in tech by consolidating resources. After all, a high tide lifts all boats.

$100,000 is about how much more money the women in the circle have earned since we started helping each other with interviews, resumes, LinkedIn profiles, job referrals coding projects and general encouragement and advice. In less than a year women in Austin Tech have earned more because they’ve had a support system, but we also feel supported, more confident, like we belong — and you can’t put a price on that (especially since we’re almost always the only woman on our respective teams).

Additionally, several of us are working on pet projects together, our social media presences are growing, we’re being headhunted on LinkedIn, several of us will be on a SXSW Interactive panel this year, and while many of us are the only women on our dev team, none of us feel alone because we have a support group where we can ask questions without feeling talked down to, and we can share advice and tips to accelerate our professional development.

In short, serendipity has allowed us to make up for a lack of women I tech by forming a social group that has helped us all grow as professionals.

Imagine the potential for us if there were more diversity in tech to begin with! To any women out there in tech looking for professional growth and not finding it at work, I highly recommend getting out to Meetups, hackathons, tweet chats, and anywhere else you think you might find people like you and introduce yourself — you never know how life changing the people you meet might be.