Lydia's Hackbright Q&A with Angie

Since Lydia has been answering a lot of Hackbright questions as well, she thought it would be a great idea to post them in the same place. I agree!  Here are her answers to Angie's questions:

Why Hackbright and Python? There are other "intensive courses" out there like Dev Bootcamp, with Rails.

• Hackbright is great because you’re with other women. I wish I could find the article I’m thinking of, but I know Christian and David have been quoted that they noticed in another bootcamp that sometimes if women were paired with men the men would (intentionally or unintentially) take control. In pair programming there’s a navigator and driver. It seems that many times the men always wanted to be the driver. It’s just easier to learn and communicate with your partner when everyone’s a woman. It helps. Though I’m sure you could learn Rails and front-end skills elsewhere else. I think most of us choose Hackbright because we wanted the camaraderie we got from Hackbright.
• I’m actually interested in front-end web development, which you don’t get a lot of at Hackbright. But because I learned Python I have a good foundational programming language under my belt. It’s been a lot easier for me to learn JavaScript because I know Python so well.
• Python is “made for humans” to read. There’s a lot of white space and it’s easier to figure out what is going on in the code than in other languages. Christian chooses to teach Python because it has a welcoming community (like the Pyladies meetups) and because it’s an easy foundational language. Knowing Python opens a lot of doors and helps you feel more fearless when learning a different language. 

How competitive is the application process and what can I do to better my chances of being accepted? Does early application help?

• The application process is very competitive! With each round more women are finding out about Hackbright and are applying.
•  Early application definitely helps. I applied early and it was helpful to know I was accepted so I could make plans.

How did you prepare for the application process? Any specific exercises/projects you recommend? I'm doing Codeacademy and hoping to get into Learn Python The Hard Way.

• You don’t need to know anything to apply. Christian just wants to know if you enjoy solving problems. He’ll help you actually learn the programming stuff.
• What I wish I had done before going to Hackbright was go through Learn Python the Hard Way and InteractivePython.org (How to think Like a Computer Scientist). I wish I had done both these things twice! It would have helped me understand some of the concepts we learned quicker.  

Do you suggest attending any meetups or workshop events? If so, which ones? 

• Any Girl Develop It or Pyladies event is great for learning how to code and networking. Some Women Who Code events are good. All of these can be found on Meetup.com.
• Oh, and also go to Girl Geek Dinners. They’re big supporters of Hackbright and I always meet interesting people when I go to a dinner.
• [From Michelle: Railsbridge, RailsGirls, Ruby Meetups, Women in Tech meetups, hackathons, anything mentioned on Women 2.0, etc.]

 Did you consider other programs before attending Hackbright?  Why did you choose this program?

• I am a former teacher who started going to Girl Develop It workshops in May and enjoyed learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I saw App Academy and Hackbright mentioned in a GDI newsletter. I didn’t like that App Academy asked you to solve some Ruby problems in their application (they’ve since changed their application). I thought I couldn’t afford Hackbright but was interested. I randomly met Letitia Lew (a current Hackbright mentor) who told me that if I was interested in software development I should “think about Hackbright.” I just needed someone to tell me it was legit. That was just the push I needed. I applied that night.

I currently live in Madison, WI & realize that the cost of living in SF is quite higher. Can you estimate the total amount of money needed, including living expenses like food, lodging, etc to attend the program?

• The cost of living is extremely high in San Francisco and cannot be emphasized enough. One studio apartment in high-demand neighborhoods go for $1300 a month. You should contact Hackbright alumni Sonya Eick who moved to the Bay Area from Michigan. She found an affordable place using Craigslist but had to commute at least an hour a day on BART. Commuting from the East Bay or the Peninsula on public transportation would probably be your best bet if you want to cheap rent. I can’t calculate your living expenses for you. It really depends on your lifestyle. Sonya might be able to help you there.
• [From Michelle: studios are way more after the rent spike of last summer. See my Hackbright living cost estimates here.]

Were you on your own as far as finding accommodations while attending the training or did someone from the program assist with this too?

• We were on our own when it came to accommodations. It takes patience and a strong intuition, but it is possible to find an affordable place.
• [From Michelle: I don't think there are affordable places. Prices are way too high. But pay anyway. You won't regret it.]

What is your overall feedback about the quality of instruction during the program and the support provided in job placement after the program?

• The program is really new so they’re still figuring out their curriculum and what works best. The program has a scrappy startup feel. This can be had for someone who really wants a lot of structure and is seeking a traditional academic environment. You get what you put into the program. You will be coding simple programs with a partner from the first day. You will jump in and work on projects. That’s how you learn in this program. If you’re willing to invest the time and energy while you’re at the school (as well as study and review at home) you will be successful. Everything is very hands on and very fast paced. You learn a lot in a short period of time.
• I think it’s helpful for women thinking about doing a bootcamp to review the points in Pamela Fox’s blog on Proving Yourself as a Self-Taught Developer and keep these ideas in mind as you prepare to find a job. Just remember that you’re still competing with CS majors. You really have to work to prove yourself.
• Support for finding a job is great. David is a great networker. We met 20 partner companies at the speed-dating meet and greet at the end of Hackbright. David is always working hard to help us find a job.

  
Have you found it easy/difficult to find employment based on your training?

• Technical interviews can be hard! You’re put on the spot. I know the point is to see how we perform under pressure, but geez, it can be a demoralizing process. What’s great about Hackbright is that we’re all so supportive. We give each other tips and even let other Hackbrighters know what to expect if we’ve interviewed with a company before. We send each other interesting blogs all the time and constantly quiz eachother. We used the networks we had, the connections we made through David/Hackbright and each other to find jobs. 
• I am currently working for a company I had connections with. I worked as a temp and helped them move offices. They wanted me back and hired me for Tech Support after Hackbright. I might pursue Product Management, Engineering (Developing Internal Tools), or Sales Engineering. I think this is a good step for me and the company is growing rapidly.

And if you are currently employed in a position involving the skills learned at Hackbright, do you feel that the training prepared you well?

• I feel that Hackbright made me fearless about learning programming languages. If I don’t know something I don’t flinch. I simply google a tutorial and start hacking away at a project. Python was a great foundational language and I’m glad I know it. I’m building on the skills I learned at Hackbright by working on projects and going to hackathons. I start my tech support position tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll just jump right in. I’m not afraid of learning technical content and building things. It’s not a mystery anymore.

How long did it take the typical graduate to find a job after completing the program?

• We’ve only had 28 women graduate from Hackbright and each has their own story. I don’t feel there is a “typical” Hackbright situation so far. Some women have started jobs at Survey Monkey and Eventbrite, some have gone back to get CS degrees, some have done Tech Support or Product Management. Every woman is different.
• In this second round of Hackbright, 12 women already have jobs. The last few women have had a ton of interviews lined up.

Do you have any advice for how to best prepare before attending such a program?

• You don’t need to know anything to apply. Christian just wants to know if you enjoy solving problems. He’ll help you actually learn the programming stuff.
• What I wish I had done before going to Hackbright was go through Learn Python the Hard Way and InteractivePython.org (How to think Like a Computer Scientist). I wish I had done both these things twice! It would have helped me understand some of the concepts we learned quicker.”

The First Hackbright Alumnight

In February, I (with the help of a few others, including Michael, who ordered and picked up the food) organized the first Hackbright alumni get-together, now dubbed "Hackbright Alumnight," so we could catch up and see the new school.

Thanks to Angie for the photo. Next time we'll try to focus on one camera. ;)

With the two graduated classes present, we make a group of 28, but we had 19 of us present, plus a few teachers and mentors. We talked about future Hackbright Alumnights and how it would be nice to have some knowledge talks to share our growing web development knowledge and maybe change up the days of the week they'll take place on so different people can attend. We also shared some updates (if anyone doesn't want these publicized, please let me know):

Michelle (that's me!)--working at Get Satisfaction
Mercedes--working at Real Gravity
Sara--working at SurveyMonkey
Sanby--working at Eventbrite
Moon--working at inVitae
Susan--still looking then, now working at Flixster
David--working on the interior design of the new Hackbright location
Louise--working at SurveyMonkey
Annie--looking then, now working at GreenGar Studios
Lydia--working at RichRelevance
Andree--working at Bitcasa
Charles--working at Versal
Sonya--working on projects
Angie (of Women 2.)--joining Hackbright as an employee
Michele--working on her Java certification at school, looking for a summer internship
Zoe--working at New Relic
Melissa--was at a startup, now funemployed, aiming to work at Yelp
Claudia--working on a short-term project
Erica--working at Kixeye
Nicole--working at Eventbrite
Christian--engaged :)
Michelle Sun--working at Buffer

To add to the fun, we received our Hackbright hoodies. As Erica pointed out, those hoodies are the best $6,000 hoodies any of us have ever bought. Worth it? Yes.

Here's to many more Hackbright Alumnights to come!

Hackbright Q&A with Lindsay

Lindsay also emailed me some good questions (like Kat L.) that I'd like to post here for others' use. I'm sorry I haven't been posting questions of women I have met with in person, but it's so much easier when it's all already typed out. 

I've also noticed from people asking me and my Google Analytics that people have been really worried about not having heard back from Hackbright. David is swamped with the highest number of applications yet, so please be patient.

Ballooney and the scrum cat are ready at the new office.

My warning to Lindsay:
I'm happy to answer questions, but I have to warn you that the application process has changed as the demand has gone up.


Lindsay's 1st question:
I was wondering if you had an an active github page you put on your application? (I do not, or rather, I just made one and it has one simple thing on it...)

My answer:
I didn't have an active Github when I applied and that was no problem. I do have one now. If you've ever done any tutorials to make a quick app, you could upload it there just so they can see that you've done something. Otherwise, don't worry.


Lindsay's 2nd question:
Did you put your personal blog on the application?

My answer:
I did put my personal blog on my application, I believe. (It's been a long time--I actually first applied in June but had to defer.)


Lindsay's 3rd question:
Did you make a video of yourself for the application?

My answer:
I did not make a video. I remember Christian telling us that he and David enjoyed watching those just to get to know people a little.

Lindsay's 4th question:
What was the Skype interview like?

My answer:
The Skype interview wasn't as scary as you think. Christian asked me logic questions and showed me some code and then asked me how I would use the code to work through the logic. He guided me through the whole process, so it was less of a test and more of a group project.


Lindsay's 5th question:
What was the project you proposed on your application and was it the same one you finished for the school? (bookfairy?)

My answer:
I don't recall if I proposed BookFairy, but I did have that idea back then, so probably. I think I typed a whole bunch of stuff about how I wanted to make my life easier, and that's what BookFairy does. :)


Lindsay's 6th question:
Did they give statistics about application numbers and acceptance rates?

My answer:
Since I applied for the very first program, there were no statistics. Despite having no track record to go off of, I was confident that the program would be good. What I wasn't sure about was if it was really what I wanted and if I could hack it (hee hee). Since then, I've seen the first class go on to many successful endeavors, and the second class is well on its way to doing so (I think about ten already have offers, but our graduation time was a little tricky right before the end of the year, so it may take a bit longer). David has said that our class had about a 20% acceptance rate, and I know that the amount of applicants went way up from class one to class two, so I am positive that the next class will have an even crazier number as word gets out about Hackbright [I've actually confirmed since sending Lindsay these answers that there were around 200 applicants this time, but there will most likely be two classes of 16]. If you don't get in the first time, maybe you can try again. I worry that Hackbright will start being inundated by applicants who already know so much that the beginners won't have a chance (because I was a total beginner), but it is possible that they'll split the two classes by level.


Lindsay's 7th question:
Also...what was the hiring experience at the end like? I saw on your blog there were lots of companies that wooed you with swag :) Not all of them are on the Hackbright recruiter page...Did you interview with all of them? They were happy with only 10 weeks of training (or maybe you had more?)

My answer:
I think I ended up interviewing with about half of the companies that showed up to our Career Day. Honestly, some of them didn't interest me that much, but Christian encouraged us to get a lot of practice with interviewing. I was really impressed with most companies when I interviewed there. And similar to the Skype call with Hackbright, the interviews were kind of like group projects, except you're the one with the pen in hand (writing on a white board). You just talk about everything you do and ask questions as necessary. My one concern is that I wouldn't make it through an interview with a company that didn't understand that I was only ten weeks into coding, because all of ours knew exactly what we had learned and tested our application of that knowledge.

Networking is so important in the entire process. Not only do I now have a list of 179 companies/people I could ask about jobs, I know where to turn if I have questions.


Lindsay's 8th question:
Also, for my end goal, I'd like to working in programming for some sort of scientific purpose, perhaps large scale data analysis (I guess the buzzword is "big data"). I have heard Python is better than other popular languages (mainly Ruby) for such programming, so that's why I'd be interested in this course over DevBootcamp or others.  I know the class won't teach me exactly that but I figured it would give me a programming base to work on. Does the program give you flexibility to work on what you like?

P.S. I saw in a picture on your Twitter page that you were voted most likely to Tweet but you started tweeting because of Hackbright. I am terrible and lost when it comes to Twitter . . . maybe Hackbright can help me :)

My answer:
As for your interest in big data, you will be totally good with Hackbright! We even heard some data analysts speak and Christian is great at tapering to specific students' interests. Also, you knowing what you are interested in ahead of time could help other students to figure out what they would like. The last five weeks are yours to work on what interests you, so you can work with data as much as you want when you do your final project, and you'll have the guidance of teachers, yay! With that being said, you will also collect five thousand links of things you want to learn about.

Christian mentioned something at the start of the course about Twitter helping others, and I knew that Hackbright is a huge, unique experience, so I wanted to document it, and I got some benefits I hadn't thought about: I made a lot of acquaintances of people who love to help other people in tech. After Google and Stack Overflow, Twitter would probably be my next resource.

Thanks, Lindsay.

Anyone reading this: Feel free to ask me more questions!

Lydia's Hackbright Q&A with Breanna

Since Lydia has been answering a lot of Hackbright questions as well, she thought it would be a great idea to post them in the same place. I agree!  Here are her answers to Breanna's questions:

Do you live in the Bay Area? Did you know people in the program who looked for/found jobs outside the Bay Area?

• A few women were from New York and one woman was from France. Hackbright helps you meet companies, but they'll help connect you with anyone nationally. Just give them a list of companies you're interested in.
• What's really going to help you find a job is following the guidelines in this blog: http://blog.pamelafox.org/2012/11/proving-your-worth-as-self-taught.html
• You will need to network, build your portfolio, contribute code, find a mentor, and look for roles that suit your level. These things will help you find a job no matter where you live.

Have you found that people (outsiders) view the program positively? 

• It really depends on the company. There are large companies (like Google) that only hire the best of the best CS (computer science) majors. They are not willing to put in the time to mentor self-taught developers or people who have just graduated from bootcamps. I believe that medium-sized companies and start-ups that are growing are just right for graduates of Hackbright. They want to grow people. Hackbright has worked with companies like Survey Monkey, New Relic, and Eventbrite. These companies LOVED the graduates of Hackbright. Read more (from a guy that went through a similar bootcamp) here: http://hugomelo.com/becoming-an-apprentice/

Do you feel well prepared to work in programming now? 

• I do feel prepared, but I am a different case from most women. I was working part-time which is not advised if you're going through Hackbright. I believe that because I was working I was not able to put as many hours into mastering what I was learning. Because of that other women know more than me and were able to negotiate internships for 90K a year! I am currently working for a company I had connections with. I worked as a temp and helped them move offices. They wanted me back and hired me for Tech Support after Hackbright. I’m interested in Product Management or Sales Engineering in the future.

Assuming I do decide to apply to the program, do you have a good sense of how hard it was to get into the program?

• The program is getting harder to get into. There are more and more people applying. I think you should apply early and feel free to mention my name.  The founders like bringing on friends of friends.
• The main instructor is looking for people who like to solve problems.
• I am not really sure what an "ideal" candidate looks like for a program like this. Have you heard of any other programs like this in other cities?
• This program is the first of it's kind. Many new and innovative ideas in technology come out of San Francisco then the idea spreads to other cities. I think you should jump on this opportunity now.
• The women chosen come from all walks of life. We had women from electrical engineering, publishing, physics, Biology, architecture  and I was a former middle school teacher. I loved it because we all supported each other and helped each other grow. We all respected where we came from. And we're all helping each other find jobs now. It's nice to have a network!

Did you need your own computer for the program? / Do I need to buy a laptop capable of doing programming? Assuming I do decide to apply to the program, do you have a good sense of how hard it was to get into the program?

• Yes you do need a laptop but it does not have to be fancy. You just need a cheap laptop so you can do the exercises onlearnpythonthehardway.org and interactivepython.org at home on your own. Buy the cheapest one you can find.
•  You will probably be working on your personal project on the weekends on your laptop as well. I have a cheap Windows laptop that one of the instructors helped me put Linux on. Basically, other operating systems (Linux and OS/Apple) are easier to program on than Windows. I have a "virtual environment" that makes it easy to use Linux any time I want to (and I can switch back to Windows when I feel like being lazy....)
•  You can decide to buy a laptop with Linux (Ubuntu) on there: http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/geek-deals-sub-300-dell-vostro-2420-laptop-with-ubuntu-linux-2013014/ or you can buy a cheap Windows laptop and add a virtual environment. You just need something you can use commandline in (http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book/)
• I hope this helps and I hope you get into the next class! It will change your life!

Meet My Mentee Melanie

I am so proud of my Hackbright mentee, Melanie Warrick. She has been working really hard and every time I meet with her or exchange emails with her, I marvel at how smart she is and how much she has picked up in such a short time. Whoever snags her as an employee is one lucky person. Here's the bio she wrote for Hackbright Career Day:

After getting my MBA from GWU, I worked for 12+ years in management consulting for companies like Accenture and Alvarez & Marsal. I focused on improving efficiency and enhancing customer experience through project management and business analytics with companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500. Last year, a major life event helped me take stock. What makes life worth living are the challenges that drive me to grow and learn. I've always been interested in technology, but I perceived barriers to entry when I was younger. I am keenly aware of how pervasive technology is in our lives and its exponential growth. Thus, I realized recently that I want to take on the challenge to learn how to speak its language, build things and solve problems with what I can build. Hackbright gave me the opportunity to test my interests, and proved my insatiable desire to learn "all the things." My career goal is to continue growing software engineering skills and exploring interests in data analytics and machine learning.

Her final project at Hackbright is a weather app called "Sun Finder." Basically, Sun Finder helps you figure out where you can find the sun in San Francisco. She worked with APIs from Weather Underground and Forecast.io for weather data and Google Places & Maps for search functionality and map results. Some of the technologies she used include Python, Flask (including Login and WTForms), SQL, SQLAlchemy, Postgres, Javascript, Twitter Bootstrap, and jQuery. Here she is demoing her app to previous Hackbright students at Hackbright Alumnight:




It's crazy that she'll be graduating this week--how time flies [when you're not the one doing a bootcamp, ha]! She is going to go so far, and I can't wait to watch her spring into the tech world. I'm very happy to be her reference and connect her with anyone who wants connecting.

Congratulations for making it through Hackbright, Melanie!

P.S. More people should try out being a mentor--it's really rewarding!

Hackbright Q&A with Kelley

More great Hackbright questions! (Of course, the answers are my own opinions.)

Kelley's 1st question:
The application emphasized a project; did you feel that Hackbright more emphasized the process/coding steps behind building this or the holistic product? I guess I'm using this to ask how much focus the program has on straight coding and how much focus it offers to other concurrent skills (i.e. you mentioned project management).

My answer:
A lot of us didn't really know what we wanted to do at the start of the program, probably because we didn't have much of an idea of what could be done, and that was fine. It was the coding process that was most important, and when we did come up with/share our idea for our projects, our teachers let us know if they thought it was too grandiose or too simple for our goal of solidifying what we'd learned and, of course, picking up new things. Most of the program is focused on coding, coding, coding. Project management pretty much came just from our guest speakers and networking events.


Kelley's 2nd question:
You've spoken about how overwhelming the 10 weeks were, but did you ever get a chance to debrief and do something for yourself? I know you said your family and friends can wait 10 weeks while you learn, but that's still quite a time to go without indulging in something for your personal sanity!

My answer:
Honestly, I did take some time for myself, but every time I did, I felt mad and sad later, because I could have been trying to catch up on curriculum or re-doing lessons to really learn what we'd been doing. That doesn't mean I didn't occasionally cook dinner or bake something (which I like), and Sundays always consisted of three hours of church and a looong nap. When I said that friends can wait, I meant that this time is very important for your future, so limits need to be set. I decided that asking friends to wait for a few months was the best way for me to preserve my energy. Maybe you can handle more of a life outside of the program than I could. I needed all the energy I could get to just study at Hackbright, which meant that almost all of my other time was made up of me sleeping. Some of the women had enough energy to go do lindy-hopping (a kind of dance), work a part-time job, close a family company, or take evening front-end classes. They rock, and I was jealous, but I think that even they would say that some limits do need to be set if you want to get the most out of the program. One thing that I definitely made time for, despite my exhaustion, was evening networking opportunities. I'll write more about that in answer #5.


Kelley's 3rd question: I come from a business background so I have to ask about the money...Do you feel the program is worth the cost when there are other options like Lynda, Codeacademy, Udemy, etc.? Maybe this is self explanatory and the reason behind why I'm applying (I've had accounts at all three mentioned sites, have barely made progress in any of them). However, Hackbright would strain ALL of my savings to be able to finance it (not to mention the cost of living in San Francisco for 2.5 months).

My answer:
Worth the cost? Yes. Every penny--even if I hadn't been hired by a sponsoring company. All of those online courses are great starts, but we passed all of that stuff up in about two days. We learned how to really apply the concepts. Also, because the course was intensive and full of other women, we had to learn quickly, so our good programming basis was jumpstarted.I think that Hackbright is worth any sacrifice. I wasn't so sure beforehand--I worried so much about the cost. I hadn't been making much and couldn't afford an apartment. I made arrangements that many people would consider crazy in order to finance the program, and I wouldn't take them back for anything--I married my boyfriend, who had a steady income that could bear some of the weight, and we asked for money instead of gifts so I could pay for Hackbright. Truly.


Kelley's 4th question:
I know I have an interest in tech but there are so many career options within the industry! Do most people enter knowing what they want to do and/or does Hackbright help you gain insight into this?

My answer:
I think all of us gained insight as we went along, and honestly, the field is so adaptive that you will probably make changes several times as you get to know more of what you like.


Kelley's 5th question:
The recruiting is heavily based in San Francisco, but I'm definitely interested in coming back to New York or possibly exploring other cities as well. Did you see many options of flexible location placement? Or were those graduates interested in other locations doing more self guided searches and networking?

My answer:
The companies that came to Career Day were mostly based in San Francisco. Several of them had other offices. I know that one of my classmates is from New York and interviewing with several companies there. I worried so much about getting hired by one of the sponsoring companies so I could get money back, but now I kind of laugh at that, because I'm making enough to quickly pay it off, and if I'd gotten hired at another place, I could have just asked for that much more. Ah, well. At the time, I'd never had such a good job and was worn down by money problems that lasted for several years. Anyway, you'll have a lot of opportunities to do networking. My advice is to take every one seriously and talk to as many people as you can, then connect with them via email and/or LinkedIn. The more people you talk to, the bigger chance you have of connecting with someone who has connections at places you're interested in that are in New York.

As always, more questions are welcome.

Hackbright Q&A with Myrna

Myrna had good questions about prepping for the program.

Question number one:

When you deferred until the next session, how did you prepare yourself for when you actually entered Hackbright?

My answer:

How did I prepare until the next session? I didn't, really. I went to the occasional RailsGirls or Railsbridge meetup (even though Hackbright focuses on Python), and I worked through a lot of Learn Python the Hard Way, but a lot of other things happened during that time--I was looking for an apartment, and I got engaged and married in that time! So if people feel like they aren't prepared enough to start the class, they're wrong. That doesn't mean it wouldn't have been bettter if I had done a lot of pre-studying, in fact, there were often times when I wished I had stuffed as much as I could possibly learn into my brain before class had started, because I don't think any of us ever felt like we could catch up.

Question number two:

Since the probability is high I may not get into (fingers crossed) Spring, I'm hoping to get into the Summer/Fall? class, whenever that may be. So I'm looking for some insight into how to best prep and better my chances of getting in.

My answer:

As for bettering your chances of getting in, I don't think there really is a good way to do that, besides maybe doing some logic exercises, because if you're over-prepared, they may not think you need the class. It's not like a job interview where you have to have the skills required. Instead, they want to see how you think, and that you're excited about code, and that you're receptive.

Question number three:

I'd like to know how you got yourself ready, mentally and emotionally, for this. During the pause, did you have second-thoughts or did you get more resolved? Would anything have changed your mind about committing to this? How did you stay enthusiastic about attending after you deferred until you were actually there? What things did you do to keep yourself focused or study to better prepare yourself?

My answer:
I definitely worried about getting myself ready mentally and emotionally. I knew that I would need to focus my entire life on Hackbright, so I tried to get things squared away or put on hold before the program started. I even worried about readying myself physically because of my seemingly-never-ending problem with repetitive strain injury (RSI). Honestly, I had second thoughts many times. I didn't know what most of the subjects listed on the Hackbright page were (I didn't even really know what the back end was or how it worked together with the front end until several weeks into the program), so I didn't know if I wanted to learn them. Even when I read about those subjects online, I didn't understand their descriptions. What kept me aiming for going through with Hackbright was the feeling that no matter what, it couldn't hurt, and that anything was better than the current career path I was on. I became more resolved as plans solidified and I found a way to feel more comfortable about the financial side of things (by hoping for the generosity of wedding guests). Unless someone suddenly offered me a completely flexible job doing whatever I want and getting paid a lot of money (which wasn't likely), nothing could have swayed me.

However, being resolved and prepared (at least mentally and emotionally) did not mean that the program wasn't superbly crushing. I am pretty sure that every one of us cried at some point, even if it was at home, in private. To learn a new career in such a short time is a lot of pressure, and to be doing it with a bunch of others just makes you feel more pressure. I would highly suggest knowing when to take breaks during the weekend and planning ahead to have someone you can cry to. The totally awesome thing is that you know there's an end to the ten weeks, and once you make it through those ten weeks, you know you can make it through everything else because you've got the base you need.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. The Hackbright experience is amazing and tough and totally worth it, so if you don't get in the first time, keep trying. If you still don't get in, I would encourage you to pursue the career anyway--there are a lot of ways to learn on your own or with tech meetups in San Francisco, they just take a little bit longer to give you that main knowledge you need to build on everything else. 

Any more questions? You're very welcome to email me. Tweeting is also good. Also, you may find some answers about prepping and surviving at my advice for future Hackbrighters post.

Hackbright Q&A with Katherine

After a full night with two tech events, one of which included Guido van Rossum (author of Python), here are my answers to Katherine's questions about Hackbright Academy: 

Question number one:

Do you remember how long your interview with Christian was? It sounds like these interviews with David are only 15 minutes long, so I'm a bit nervous about having enough time to settle into it, if you know what I mean.

My answer:
My interview with Christian was probably 15-20 minutes, 30 minutes tops. Just be casual and friendly and do all of your thinking out loud. That way he can see how you think and guide you through the logic.

Question number two:

Also, my impressions from what I've heard is that Christian does more on the teaching side of things and David does more operational stuff, so do you think there's any chance that this 15 minutes might be more like the typical "what's your greatest success" kind of interview? The logic questions that you mentioned don't sound too bad but I'm not very good at those fuzzier "sell yourself" kind of interviews so I should probably practice for those a bit over the weekend.

 

My answer:

I think it is awesome that interviews in the technical field don't usually have those ridiculous questions like "Which animal would you want to be?" or "What is your best personality trait?" I don't feel like you have to sell yourself, because everyone who applies is going to be wanting to learn, so I think Christian is looking for people at levels that could fit together the best in a classroom setting. I mean, obviously any interview will feel better if you feel like you made a kind of personal connection with the interviewer. Christian probably won't really let you that close. He's brilliant but busy, and will cut to the chase during the interview.
 

Question number three:

Lastly, currently I work at [a tech company] in a group that partners closely with engineering, which is how I got interested in programming in the first place. Do you think it might actually work against me that I already have a position at an established tech company, albeit one that isn't fully technical? I was just wondering since it seems like most previous Hackbright graduates go on to work for start-ups but if I were to attend Hackbright, I would most likely return to my current role at [my company], at least for a little while, and only later slowly try to make the move to the engineering side. However, I'm not sure if that would fulfill Hackbright's mission to get more women into programming since it wouldn't be as immediate a transition as someone who goes to work for a start-up, if that makes sense. What do you think?

My answer:
As David told you, internal transition should be fine. I actually hope that more women will be able to have their current companies sponsor them or at least support them as they become more technical so they won't have to be so worried about money as I was. You weren't a programmer before, and you would be after Hackbright, so I think that totally counts, though I would encourage you not to go back to your current position and to slowly transition, but to ask them to immediately put you into engineering so you can keep up what you've learned. I know that it seems scary to us women to ask to do something we don't feel really, really good at, but engineers are paid to figure things out/learn, and you could be so much better off financially and in your professional development.


I am by no means an expert, but feel free to ask me more questions!

Hackbright Living Costs Q&A with Anonymous

This comment was left anonymously, and I'd like to address it in a post:

On average, how much would it cost for living expenses in SF for 3 months? I know it's expensive but any approx number would help. Did any of the students live together in hacker houses to save on housing costs? I want to apply so badly but don't think I have enough saved to live in SF. I'd hate to apply, get in then worry +24/7 about money and not be able to focus completely on the learning.

First, let me say that no one in our session lived together. I think a few asked about living arrangements, but nothing was ever decided and everyone found their own accommodations, with some living outside of San Francisco (from places accessible via public transportation--across the Bay or down in the South Bay) to save a bit.

If you rent a room, you're probably looking at $1000 or more just for renting a room, and you'll need a bed, so unless you get lucky and find a furnished place, let's add $100 for a mattress. Plus another $100 (actually, I've lived on much less) for food and $4 for Muni bus transportation per day, which equals out to about $200 for the duration of the program. People who prefer to live alone and rent studios are paying upwards of $2000 these days. My parents' monthly house payment is less than a typical room costs in San Francisco, and I used to pay about $210 to rent a room in Germany, so I know how freaking scary it is coming from much cheaper places.

I'm going to assume you want to go the most inexpensive way, so in short, here's the math for three months:

$15,000 tuition *UPDATED 26 November 2013
$3,000 housing
$300 food
$200 transportation

$18,500 total *UPDATED 26 November 2013

That is a large number--larger than the amount I had in my bank account when I started the program.
Despite the scariness of the living costs, I would suggest that you consider the future. In four-ish months, you'll have a job that will pay off all of Hackbright and your living expenses in a couple of months, even while you're still paying rent and buying food at San Francisco prices. And if you get hired at one of Hackbright's partner companies, then you will get your tuition back. (Though honestly, I keep thinking that it's funny how intent I was on getting my tuition back, because I could have gone anywhere and just asked for more money that would have paid it off.)

You don't have to go and get married like I did, but take out some loans from banks and people. Or go rob a bank (well, actually, I don't suggest doing that). I was scared, I did it anyway, and the payoff has been amazing--financially, professionally, mentally, socially, etc. Asking for a loan seems far-fetched. But you'll never know until you try.

Another suggestion I've been giving people is to ask their companies to sponsor them, and then make a deal about coming back as a developer. There are definite advantages to this plan, and it's arguable because both of you win: the company gets some tax refund that I don't know anything about as well as a future female developer to make them look good, and you can go through the program without all that worry.

My friend Lydia worked part-time at a pie shop while she did Hackbright. Sometimes that meant that she had to leave a little bit early for a shift, but mostly it meant she had busy evenings and weekends and we got occasional pies. I don't know how she did it, but props to her! She'll be starting at a company she worked at before Hackbright, but in a different department altogether--I'm sure that feels great!

So, dear anonymous, know that you're not alone in being scared. But this is a jump of faith that is very worth it. If you get in, please do whatever you can to make it work financially, and Hackbright will work for you.

Getting Hired as a Hackbright Graduate and Negotiating My Salary

Hackbright Career Day was December 4th and graduation was December 7th. I planned on spending the next month studying, seeing as how I'd been in hiring positions before and knew that companies don't usually plan on hiring at the end of the year. However, most of the companies seemed keen on interviewing immediately, and since other Hackbrighters were interviewing, I felt like I needed to interview as well to have any kind of edge.

So I spent the next week catching up on emails, cramming, and interviewing. I actually really enjoyed seeing companies, meeting people, and working through code with engineers, and I felt like I was able to put myself across well.

That didn't stop me from being surprised and ecstatic when, one week after graduating, I got a call saying that a company wanted to give me an offer. As I'd been tutored to do, I didn't want to give "a number" when asked, so my potential employer said they'd put in their own number.

As I waited for the official offer, I worried about negotiating a counter offer. At Hackbright, we'd heard sad statistics about women making 75 cents to men's dollar; women don't make as many counter offers or ask for raises; we even downplay ourselves in interviews when men brag themselves up. When I received the offer, I was disappointed. I felt like they might have thought, "We can save money by hiring these Hackbright women because we can argue that they don't have any experience," or that they didn't think I was worth much, which started to give me a negative view of the company.  But I remembered what I'd been told--that in this case, most men would just forge on and make a counter offer, so that's what I should do, and it was not a big deal on the company's side.

The number was lower than the low I had prepared myself for, and the last time that happened to me, I was told the company couldn't pay more, but I couldn't pay rent, and I had to look elsewhere for work. I knew that if I ended up working at the company now offering me a job, I'd have to make a counter offer, or I would be forever bitter that my company undervalued me. But the counter offer I wanted to make was pretty high.

I consulted with David and with Michael (who both said that the job would be good experience anyway but that I could try for more) and decided that no matter how demanding it may seem, I was going to throw them a much larger number (about a 35% increase) and be willing to walk away if I didn't at least get 5,000 lower than that number (as Poornima of Femgineer suggests). I was also concerned because the offer said a different job title than what I thought I had been interviewing for.

Before calling back, I was so nervous that I practiced the phone conversation with Michael many times. I finally called and confirmed first that the position would still be engineering-heavy and that I would have opportunities to learn. When I was satisfied, I said that the number had been quite low and because of what previous Hackbright students were getting, the market average, and my experience in B2B companies, I would need closer to X to accept the offer. Then I paused (and held my breath). What did he say? "That's fair. Is the money the only thing holding you back?" "Yes." "Let me call you back after I consult with HR." Forty minutes later, he called back and didn't even haggle. "It's a deal," he said. Wahoo! It was so nice to have everything squared away before Christmas so that I could enjoy time with my family.

I honestly think that negotiating my salary was one of the scariest things I have ever done, but now I know I can do it and that it can turn out positively.

No matter what happens with this job, I consider how far I've come a success story already.
I've made so much progress in such a short time and I feel so much more satisfied now than I did in the career direction I was headed not even a year ago. Hackbright has changed my life and I would honestly tell anyone that it's worth any sacrifice if you can get in.

Next post: on being a brand-new developer!

Re-printed by Women 2.0 here.

Interviewing at Hackbright by Katherine

Katherine, who asked questions pre-interview, sent me these synopses of her experience. She is now in the midst of the good craziness of Hackbright!

David didn't ask any technical questions, more about my background and why Hackbright in particular.

My interview with Christian was scheduled for 15 minutes but was in total around 30 minutes, though part of that was technical difficulties (I should've just had it with me but there was an echo in the room so I had to run back to my desk to grab my headset). He actually started off with some of the similar non-coding questions that David had had, basically around what brought me to this point of being interested in Hackbright. I think they're really focused on making sure that the personality dynamics will work for the class and go towards building up the community of Hackbright grads, and as an applicant you want to see if this program will be a good fit for yourself as well, which is something that I forget a bit about sometimes when I get nervous about interviews.

The part that was a bit different from David's was that Christian went through the optional coding question on the application about how to write a function to get the multiples of a number in a certain range, which I had taken a stab at for theoretically how I might do it but didn't actually write any code. He shared what he thought was the optimal solution and walked me through it, so I think here this was a sort of mini-test of what his teaching style is like against what your style of learning is. Ultimately while I know I have certain tics I need to keep an eye in during an interview situation (if it's not an in-person interview, I'll pretty much always put up a post-it note somewhere to remind myself to SLOW. DOWN.), you should fall back on the general advice of being yourself, because I figure if you can't be yourself in two 15-minute interviews, it would probably be a lot harder to get through 10 intensive weeks.
 

The Story of a Pythonic Hackbrighter and a Ruby on Rails Saturday

To all those who have asked the question "Why is Hackbright teaching Python and what if I want to work for a company that uses Rails?"--I have a good answer for you now.

Ruby on Rails and Python can be friends, see?
























Since Rails is the first backend language I touched, it has a soft spot in my heart--especially because the Rails community in SF is so giving--I've been to several free workshops and meetups, with experienced, helpful people, and free food. But because of my intensive experience at Hackbright, my knowledge of Python surpassed Rails within a couple of days of the beginning of the program. Thus was I curious about where I would stand with Rails when I went to a RailsBridge workshop last Saturday (for the first time since learning Python). I'd heard that some of the graduates of the first class of Hackbright are now working in Rails or other languages, but I wasn't so sure how easy that would be for me.

To my amazement, I understood so much more of Rails, and even though I was in the advanced class, I finished my app and got all my questions answered within an hour. Knowing that I'd recently seen a link to a new intermediate curriculum in my email, I started working on that one and soon found a mistake in the code. After talking to both the teacher of my class and the woman working on the code for the intermediate curriculum, I was asked to be a beta tester for the new curriculum.

Thus I spent the rest of the afternoon happily discovering new vocabulary and defining it using Pythonic terms. ERB? That's embedded Ruby, or as I called it, "the Ruby version of Jinja."

I now understand better why some programmers look down on Rails for having too much magic--it is very easy to launch an app without knowing what happened in the background. However, I realize three things:

• We humans want easy ways to do things.
• Everyone in the world wants multiple websites now, and easy ways to accomplish that are going to flourish.
• Technology is constantly getting more complex.
• There are a lot of things that we don't understand exactly how they work and they are nevertheless good tools (like microwaves). 

The intermediate Rails class curriculum is pretty cool (Lillie Chilen is working on it and I hope to meet up with her again this week). The intermediate RailsBridge class opened up today and it's already full with a waiting list. I know that any of my classmates could do just fine with it, considering our Pythonic background, because I didn't realllly understand what I was doing with Rails before anyway. As many programmers have told me, once you learn one language pretty well, you can pick up other ones pretty quickly.

So there you go.  Python and Ruby on Rails can be friends. Or rather, we can be friends with Python and Ruby on Rails. :)

Please, if you have questions about the Hackbright experience, ask me! I cannot stress enough how life-changing this program is!

Networking as a Hackbrighter

Last week was a week of events. In San Francisco, coding is not just about coding. It is a whole culture. There are events almost every single night.

The week before last, we went to hear some women from Survey Monkey speak. The title of the event had the word "dinner" in it, but after an hour and a half of driving, we showed up to find that there were cheese and crackers. Kind of disappointing, especially for my friend who can only have gluten-free stuff. The talks were interesting, though. One woman talked about how when she travels with male members of her team, people automatically assume that he's the boss. Another woman seemed really witty, so I talked to her afterwards, and she told of how she accidentally went into an interview holding a half-drunk bottle of beer. She figured she may as well drink it, so she did, between answering questions.

Here's a picture of some of us at that event (if you look closely, you'll notice I'm holding a plant, which I got to take home with me):





















Then, on Tuesday of last week, I attended a Technovation event at Airbnb--more about that later. I do have to mention here that I perhaps a little too exuberantly met Angie Chang from Women 2.0.

Wednesday, we met our mentors--I was sooooo glad to be paired with the one I had hoped for (Julia Grace), and she's already affecting me positively--I've done pushups every morning since meeting her, because that was her reason for having good-looking arms. ;)

Thursday, we went to Twiliocon, a huge tech conference, where I started handing out David's Hackbright cards like crazy and ran into some people I almost consider my work family even though we've never officially worked together. I skipped the crazy, all-night party to go to a panel moderated by a Bloomberg correspondent named John Erlichman called "Tech Industry to Disrupt Status Quo of Women at Work?"--there they had real food (not pizza or crackers! Samosas!), and Michael and I were able to hear from these women:

• Kelly Steckelberg, CFO & COO, Zoosk
• Jamie Wong, CEO, Vayable
• Kimberly Bryant, Founder, BlackGirlsCode
•  Sepi Nasiri, VP, Women 2.0 
• Saroj Yadav, Sr. Software Engineer, Zendesk

There were great discussions and points. I was also able to talk to a recruiter there, and meet many women who wanted to talk about a comment I had made. I handed out even more cards.

Luckily for me, David was willing to bring more Hackbright cards on Friday, because on Saturday, I went to an all-day event called "Confident Coding" at Microsoft. I heard of so many resources new to me that I may never be able to close my zillions of tabs, and in return, I gave people cards and told them about how great Hackbright is. I also debated going to two different hackathons (this one especially because I'm passionate about transportation and because their website is so cool), but in the end, I wanted to learn during the weekend rather than sitting around wishing I could contribute.

Yes, learning coding for hours and hours and spending all day with people is tiring. But there is strength in numbers--these events refreshed me more than I thought they would. We'll see what the next weeks bring. I have so much more to say and so little time to even study . . .

If you want to know more about everyday goings-on at Hackbright, check out my Twitter feed, because that's where I am able to post on the fly. :)

My Advice to Future Hackbrighters

Dear future Hackbrighters:

Congratulations for making it into Hackbright! It will be one of the most life-changing experiences you will ever have! I have some advice for you, and it goes like this:

• Go to any measure to finance Hackbright. You WILL be able to pay it back with your new career, and it will be worth it no matter what you end up doing. Don't be afraid to ask your company to pay for all or some of your tuition, if that is possible. 
• Study as much as you possibly can before the class starts. No matter what, you will feel behind since the class is so high-speed. If this involves coding with me on Saturdays or sending me a multitude of emails, so be it.
• Reach out to as many people as you can. It was miraculous to me the way the tech community likes to help each other.
• Attend meetups and hackathons, even when you're bone tired at the end of the day, and exchange contact information with as many people as possible.
• Recruit others to join Hackbright and tell other women who might possibly be interested in tech about your experience.
• Don't compare yourself with others. As Lydia says, "Comparison is the killer of joy."
• Write notes in complete sentences as if you were writing a manual. Otherwise, your notes may not make sense later.
• Review said notes often. 

Getting ready to demo at our Girl Geek Dinner. (There's more advice below. Sorry.)

• Hackbrighter Ashley Lorden told us to put off spending any time on our friends and family for the duration of the class. It sounds harsh, but she's totally right. Every time I took off more than a couple of hours, I felt like I'd missed my chance to learn more while I still had access to a great resource. With that being said, I suggest you tell all your friends and family members why you won't be contacting or responding for at least 10 weeks (to avoid trouble).
• Have someone change your Facebook password so you don't get distracted.
• Start studying for technical interviews early--memorize string and list and dict functions and learn to code on command in front of people.
• Work out logic problems on your phone when you can't be looking at your computer.
• Hog the instructors. I was too wussy to do this most of the time, and it was my loss and others' gain. 
• Ask as many questions as you can.
• Google errors.
• Since most documentation will leave you scratching your head, read it through several times, try to explain it to your imaginary friend, and if that still fails, ask a teacher to explain it in English.
• Be as ergonomically friendly as you can--stretch frequently, take breaks, sit high enough for your arms not to dig into the table, etc., because you are going to be spending a boatload of time at the computer. 
• Make a techie vocabulary list and add to it any time you hear a word you're not sure about. Look up the words and get a good understanding of them and drill.
• Split up your studying--an hour of this, an hour of that--so you don't go crazy and so you get a little of everything (you'll never have time for it all).
• Get enough sleep. You are going to be exhausted anyway, so I would suggest doing what I did: go home after class, eat dinner, and go to bed. 
• Use Twitter and connect with as many techies as you can--they will pull you out when you're stuck in muddy code. :)
• Figure out git and practice, practice, practice pushing all the time. 
• Keep your Github account clean and organized as you go so that you don't have a big mess of shameful code like I do.
• Stay tuned for more advice as I dive into this career with my new skills.

Questions? (Comment or email me with my first and last name at gmail.)

Lydia's Q&A with Rosette and Anon-Gal

Since Lydia has been answering a lot of Hackbright questions as well, she thought it would be a great idea to post them in the same place. I agree!  Here are her answers to Rosette's questions:

1. How was it for you? when did you attend?

I attended from October 1st until December 7th. I only learned some HTML, CSS, and Javascript from attending 2 workshops. I played around on Codeacademy but I was not a professional. I learned A LOT in 10 weeks. I'm a commandline master, can read code, built a website, and know a lot about databases. I can talk about front end and back end technologies. The program is still run like a startup, sometimes I was frustrated that things were a bit unorganized, but I still think the experience was worth it. I wouldn't have learned without the push.

 

2. Did you find programming work straight out of Hackbright?

I'm interviewing now. I have two phone interviews scheduled for tomorrow. I got to meet 20 companies during the "speed dating" Career Day. [Since these answers, Lydia has started working at Rich Relevance!]

3. How much programming experience did you have before attending? 

    Those Girl Develop It workshops I attended on HTML, CSS, and Javascript. I highly recommend them.

Other helpful links:

The Secret to Learning to Code - http://skillcrush.com/2012/12/14/the-secret-to-learning-to-code/

Proving Your Worth as a Self-Taught Developer - 

            http://blog.pamelafox.org/2012/11/proving-your-worth-as-self-taught.html


 
And here is Lydia's answer to Anon-Gal's question:


Hi!!  I'm planning to apply to the next round of Hackbright. I'm hoping to get the scholarship because I doubt I can pull together $6k. Do you have any tips or thoughts on the program that you'd be willing to share with an applicant?

Thanks for reaching out to me. I think (like most good job opportunities) getting into Hackbright is a mix of personality, natural strengths, potential, and cultural fit.

You don't need to know anything about programming. That's fine. BUT you do need to show enthusiasm for technology and that you have motivation to learn new things and are very curious. You should be hyped to change the demographics of tech companies. You should want to get other women and minorities hyped as well. Make sure this comes across in your interview.

The program is fast-paced, so you can't be afraid of hard work and a little stress for 10 weeks. Let them know you're not afraid and you play well with others.

As far as personality, strengths, and fit: Well, the lead instructors have to be in the same room with you for (at least) 40 hours a week. They want to make sure you're friendly, you won't complain (too much! ;) ) and they might want to be friends with you after the program. There will be some pseudo coding in the interview. It's basically a brainteaser with variables. Nothing scary. The instructors are just trying to see if you like solving problems. They're testing you under pressure. Do you become a jerk when you're frustrated? (I'm sure you're not. I'm just sayin' . . .) The whole program is about loving the thrill of being a master puzzle solver. Make sure they know this is what motivates you.

As far as the scholarship: As soon as you interview, write out a thought-out, organized e-mail explaining your financial situation and why you feel you deserve the scholarship. Be very detailed and objective about it (don't beg or be overly emotional). The guys will consider it and respond accordingly.

GOOD LUCK!

Why Hackbright > Learning Code on Your Own

Why going against your better instincts and quitting your job and paying a lot of money while living in one freaking expensive city to spend 40+ hours a week at Hackbright is greater than learning coding on your own (or at least the 26 reasons I've come up with so far):

I survived!

• Networking opportunities are provided for you.
• While you're busy learning, networking is being done for you.
• You get to visit companies you'd probably never see the inside of otherwise.
• You get professionals' views of companies so you have a better idea of where to work and where not to work.
• You're part of a feminist movement to balance the tech industry (women make up about 9-12% of the industry right now). 
• You have a schedule to stick to.
• Knowing that everyone else is expecting you to be there motivates you.
• It's a huge investment initially, but with your new skills, you can pay it off quickly.
• The other students provide a support and networking group that continues even after the program.
• Since the program is for women only, you get to hash out your feelings about learning and your projects every day. :)
• Pair programming motivates you to keep up.
• When you have a question, you can pick the brains of the instructors (I used to work on a tutorial until I got unstickably stuck, and then I would move on to get stuck on another tutorial).
• Potential employers and connections are impressed upon hearing what you've accomplished in such a short time.
• You find out about a zillion resources that you otherwise wouldn't know about.
• You're given up-to-date coursework written by your instructors, meaning they know it inside and out.
• You're provided a mentor who can help you with your individual project and learning.
• All the computer supplies you need are there for you.
• You get to sit at cool S-shaped desks that Christian built expressly for pair programming.
• Interview practice is part of the program.
• There is a career day where you can get to companies and they can get to know you in 7-minute speed dating sessions. 
• If you end up working at one of the sponsoring companies, some of your tuition is reimbursed!
• You're able to meet many women who have gone far as programmers, as well as those who are just beginning and get their advice.
•  Swag. 
• It challenges you more than you've been challenged in a long time.
• At the end, you have your own cool app to show off (mine's BookFairy). 
• Your net worth as an employee goes way up. In my case, it's at least quadrupled. ;)

Basically, I think Hackbright is worth every sacrifice, and there were many in my case, as I'll write about later.

Hackbright Q&A with Kat L.

A happy introvert = in the zone alone.

Kat L., a fellow introvert, asked me some questions about Hackbright, so I've included the questions and answers below for the benefit of future Hackbrighters who may have similar questions.


Kat's 1st question:
It sounds like we have similar backgrounds: I did an M.A. in English, worked at a special collections/academic library, and made my way into tech at work piecemeal from there. I understand that the Academy supports a beginner level in terms of tech skills. But does the program assume familiarity with the tech community? And if not, was it difficult to absorb that social knowledge while also learning the skills component?

My answer:
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the tech community--it sounds like you are talking about the people involved in tech? Because if so, you don't need to be well-connected at all--that will come with the program and with going to as many meetups and hackathons as possible. That part is tiring, but the heavy-duty learning is more so, and since you're already super-tired, you may as well meet other people who are looking at the same things every day as you are.

If you mean familiarity with technology in general, then I would say that what Christian is looking for is someone who has good logic, who learns fast, who is enthusiastic about technology. I would suggest that you cancel every single social interaction you have that isn't somehow tech community-related or Hackbright-related. You are going to need every night (or morning, if you're a morning person like I am) to go over what you learned that day and every weekend to review the whole week and see if you can delve into the next week. Seriously. There were several times when I thought, "Oh, I can just take a few hours to go see a friend," and I completely regretted it later. Your friends and family can be patient for ten weeks--just give them a heads up beforehand. Also, I would suggest having someone change your Facebook password. Facebook will suck away your life since you don't have time for one. ;)



Kat's 2nd question:
Does the academy track you specifically towards the "Junior Developer" position, or is the mentorship network designed to support a variety of related careers that require programming/development skills?

My answer:
Most of us are looking at junior developer positions right now, but I don't think we'll all work in that area forever. The skills we learned (and are still learning) will be good for any job, really, and I think most of us just want to solidify what we learned while gaining new skills and earning money. I mentioned at the beginning of the program that I might be interested in a project/product manager type position eventually, and so we had a few speakers talk about that.



Kat's 3rd question:
Your blog post "Michelle Glauser, Hackbrighter", makes it sound like you're a fellow introvert! (I.e. worn out by constant social stimulation.) Did you figure out a way to deal with the lack of time to recharge? Pair programming sounds useful, but also incredibly hard to concentrate.
 
My answer:
I'm glad you know the true meaning of introvert. So many people still think that it means shy. I'm not shy; I am quite comfortable talking to people when I need or want to, but I just can't do it all day or I will die. I know this sounds a little bit crazy, but go to bed as soon as you get home and have had dinner, then study in the morning before class starts. Or, if you're a night person, study at night and then sleep in until the last possible minute. Because I felt so worn out, I felt really cheated that other people seemed to be able to carry on normal lives in addition to the class, whereas I went home and crashed. Don't let it get to you, just know your limitations and try not to go past them. If you're like me, your ideal night consists of at least nine hours of sleep. The more sleep I was able to get, the better I could follow along and process what we were learning, but I also needed to have time to look at things alone. There's little worse than the cycle of being tired and not able to understand and then feeling discouraged and then being even more tired and understanding even less, etc.

Honestly, after about four and a half weeks, I was about ready to explode from the constant social interaction. At lunch one day, I'd had it. I told one of the instructors that I was THROUGH with pair programming and would never catch up if I didn't get some time to myself. After that, we were allowed to work by ourselves and I was finally able to catch up a little. I should have done that earlier. I mentioned to Christian that there needs to be at least a bit of alone time each day, and I think he agreed after he saw how many people liked it, so if he doesn't implement that early on, ask for it. When you do have to pair program, see if you can get Christian to tell you what you'll be going over each day, and read and try to understand it beforehand. That way you don't feel so rushed to understand while your pair partner is sitting there. Be insistent and aggressive about needing help, about needing more time to read things, about taking your turn, about asking questions, etc. It's tiring and sometimes it feels rude, but you're shooting yourself in the foot if you try to always do what seems like the "polite thing."

Oh, I kind of wish I could do it all over again with what I now know--I'd pick up so many more things that I couldn't make connections to earlier! You'll be great, and each class is just going to get better and better. I live close to the new Hackbright office, so you could come review with me if you need to.

Feel free to ask me more questions!

Hackbright Career Day Fall 2012

We had Hackbright Career Day yesterday at Connections SF (424 Clay St.). A lot of my fellow Hackbright students were really scared about the mini-interviews and wanted to practice answering questions about their projects. Honestly, I wasn't scared--I was more worried about making my app work to my own satisfaction and then studying for the real, technical interviews. I figured that only circa 7 minutes with each company representative (or set or reps) would pretty much be the same as going to a meetup and networking--you ask about their company, they ask you about you and your skills, and both of you are looking for something you can connect on. 


My interview space (number 8 was taken, so I took number 4, but I just remembered that the number 4 is NOT a good number in Chinese culture--oh well, despite what people say, just because I married a Taiwanese guy doesn't mean that I am Chinese, ha):

 


I think in the end, everyone enjoyed the day; I did for sure. It was really fun to meet smart people who are looking for other smart people. I liked hearing about their technology and actually knowing what they were talking about. I liked their ideas and innovation. Between you and me, though, my favorite part was getting to show off my pretty and functional app to people who actually appreciate the technology I had to use to wade through information and return what my app needed. 

(More about my app later . . .)