uh-developer-employment-talk
uh-developer-employment-talk
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uh-developer-employment-talk
My talk on developer employment at UHOn Github AntJanus / uh-developer-employment-talk
What I do and how you can do it, too
Created by Antonin Januska / @antjanus
In a nutshell
- I'm a developer
- I love my job
- I make good money
- I have a life outside of coding
How I got started
- started with basic programming when I was 10-ish (Delphi, Visual Basic, HTML, etc.)
- did some design gigs around town
- pressured into programming by best friend from middle school (Raphael Caixeta)
- gave myself a week for HTML/CSS, a week for PHP, and got started
- started freelancing and working for small businesses
- full time job as Lead Developer
- moved up from there
About me
- contractor for one of the best design companies in the US <- Zurb
- full-time developer & ocassionally contracting as designer
- self taught: Used Lynda, blogs, and ocassionally (very rarely) books
- dropped out of college in Sophomore year to become a Lead Developer (meant to return, never did)
- in the top 10% in pay according to Salary.com in Houston (as of last month)
- dedicated writer of fiction and non-fiction (blogging mostly)
My current and past work
- prototype and rapid development of various apps
- Education monetization platform
- Wordpress sites
- brand design
My work environment
from my last job:
- work among very smart individuals
- relaxed environment (shit + jeans only!)
- very challenging work
- flexible hours
- very collaborative work at times, independent at others
The best parts:
- seeing my work directly affect revenue
- seeing my work help people do their jobs
- wowing clients with superb work
- challenging myself and learning
How I feel about my life
Let's talk about you
About the job market
It's a wonderful time to be in the tech industry
Development
- highest job growth in all of industries
- demand exceeds supply in many sectors
- recruiters and companies can pay in the range of $30K or more to find someone
Design
- trails behind development by about half in growth
- design is increasingly becoming a "skill" not a profession
- slowly becoming an integral part of most companies
Cross skills
Development and design is not just one skill
Developers
Developers are required to have more skills as times goes by:
- quickly pick up new frameworks
- back-end and front-end programming principles
- DevOps
- testing
- documentation
Designers
Design is slowly merging with development and other professions. Skills:
- User Interface (designing an application)
- User Experience (designing the process of using an application)
- writing (top design agencies require designers to have writing experience)
- rapid prototyping (use HTML/CSS/JS instead of mock-ups)
- front-end skills
- animation
Hobbies outside of your job pay off!
Finding a job
Finding a good job can be the difference between eagerly driving to work in an expensive car and scraping by, working for a boss you hate
Conventional method
write a resume (if you do write one, treat it like an SEO project!) submit it to Monster.com, LinkedIn or similar sites Apply for jobs in the area Cross fingers remember that you need a portfolioModern method
- create a personal brand (social media, blogging, meetups, etc.)
- publicly demonstrate skills (behance, Github, blogging)
- participate in public discussions (HackerNews, Reddit, Tavern)
- apply directly at companies where you build connections
Remember:
The best jobs are not listed.
Tips
When writing a resume, treat it like a website that needs to be SEOed. Use keywords, be clear about what you do, emphasize willingness to learn Many companies look for "culture" fit, increasingly more important Recruiters attend meetups, people that go to meetups work at companies that need people, let organizer know you're looking! Ask others for advice. Every person gets their first, second, etc. job differently Make sure you get a job you'll love!Finding a job: anecdotes
- future employer learned how to use a skill because of my tutorials
- future employer recognized my handle from social media, agreed with my views
- future employer researched my background via personal brand hired me because he felt like he "knew me already"
- co-worker was hired on the basis of a Twitter discussion
- several high quality blog articles made me stand out and memorable