If you aren’t following thatwifejenna on Snapchat you might not have heard yet - I’m officially a Dev Bootcamp graduate! It’s the last day of 2015 and can officially declare my 2015 New Years Resolution a success. I have the skills and confidence necessary to head out and land myself a kick-ass Silicon Valley job in tech. Hooray!
Last time I wrote I was on the train, mentally preparing myself for our Phase 2 assessment. It was seven hours total of intense coding and problem-solving, and toward the end I felt like I was going to need to start physically holding my eyelids open with one hand while I typed with the other. We built object literals using Javascript and the bare bones of a site using Rails (the bar for passing this part seems to be set at correctly setting up user authentication for the site). My initial assessment review hinted at a hard repeat, but once again I was offered a pass benefit repeat. I knew I couldn’t put the kids through another three weeks of me being gone so much and once again decided to move forward with my cohort.
If there is any phase of DBC that I would gladly repeat, it would be Phase 3. The first week was spent building an eCommerce site and refining our RSpec skills, next a few days on Javascript, and then the last full seven days we were split into groups of four to build our final projects. Final projects were my favorite part of the entire program because it was a reminder that I don’t have to be excellent at everything to be a competent web developer. I was able to take on the role of Lead Designer for our app and would happily sit in the moon chair for hours fiddling with colors and columns and grids until it felt right. I saw how I not only a good team member, I was in many ways crucial to the success of the project. After weeks of feeling behind it was gratifying to become the go-to person in the cohort when people had questions about CSS or the visual design for their project.
The screenshot above is from my profile page on our Accountabuddy app, visit http://accountabuddy.herokuapp.com/
if you’d like to see what I spent the last week designing/coding! The sound quality is quite poor, but if you’d like to hear me walk through the functionality of the app (which lots of clapping, one of my trademarks) start this video at about 36:45. If you do visit Accountabuddy and sign-up to peek around inside, please keep in mind that this site is not maintained and meant to serve as a prototype. You can use it with your friends if you’d like, but you will encounter bugs, and there is no one dedicated to fixing them for you. We’re all on to bigger and better things now that we made it through the DBC gauntlet!
Now that I’ve got my dog tags (it’s a bootcamp, of course we get dog tags!) I’ve got one more week on campus, Career Week. We’ll refine our LinkedIn profiles and resumes, primp our pitches, root out our insecurities, and spend lots of time talking about the best strategies for finding the best jobs. I’m not only trying to find a job, but how to figure out how a job fits in with our family life. I haven’t worked full-time for someone else since college, and now I’ve got a husband and kids to fit in with my career as well. TH is going to stick with his current company and position and we aren’t sure yet how that’s all going to work. I’m excited and hopeful and nervous all at once. 2016 is already set up to be an exciting year of transition and change and as always I’m looking forward to spending some time writing out the experience to share with all of you.
xoxoxox, Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!
Previously in in the coding/DBC series….
Why Coding?
What is Coding? (And what I like about it)
The How and Why on Dev Bootcamp
DBC Weeks 1-4
DBC Weeks 5-9
DBC, Phase 1, Week 1
DBC, Phase 1, Week 2
DBC, Phase 1 week 3 & Phase 2
Also:
Jenna, it has been so wonderful to see you grow and change over the years (I’ve been reading your blog since the WeddingBee days!). You have accomplished so much, and should be so proud of the person that you have become. Anyway as a very longtime lurker, I just wanted to congratulate you on following all your dreams, not just the ones that were set out for you.
Jenna Reply:
January 3rd, 2016 at 4:08 pm
Thank you Anna! I really appreciate you taking the time to share that.
Good luck with the job hunt - what kind of companies are you considering applying to?
Jenna Reply:
January 5th, 2016 at 8:05 pm
I’m very interested in front-end development. I’ll be focusing all of my efforts in that direction right now. Most jobs are found through networking so I’m getting in touch with all of the startup employees/owners I’ve been able to come up with so far to see if they are hiring!
Melanie Reply:
January 6th, 2016 at 9:11 am
Make sure your LinkedIn is in tip top shape if you have one! My company has a ton of FEDs (digital branch of a consulting firm) and they do most of their recruiting through LinkedIn.
I saw your recent Instagram - if you are looking for part time to start out with, maybe look at park districts or local government agencies in your area. A lot of them (at least in my state) need help getting things done but don’t necessarily have the capacity to take on a full time salaried employee. If anything, it would be a good resume builder even if it’s not FED to start with.
Jenna Reply:
January 6th, 2016 at 12:11 pm
I had never heard of the FEDs and looked up Deloitte Digital. It makes sense that the firms would come up with a way to handle the consulting process from start to finish. I’m intrigued!
I saw that KQED is a careers partner with DBC and I’m going to see if they are planning to come to the jobs mixer they are holding. I could use some outside accountability/responsibilities to help me keep my skills fresh while I’m figuring stuff out! I was able to snag a spot at the teacher/intern training at Girl Develop It as well which will give me a chance to get involved somewhere.
Well done Jenna!
Jenna Reply:
January 6th, 2016 at 12:18 pm
Thank you Stu! I’ll miss seeing all of you on a daily basis.
Congratulations! I’ve been reading your posts since you started your bootcamp journey - I’m a coding bootcamp grad myself, so it’s always interesting to hear what other people go through. Thanks for being so open and detailed about your experiences.
Jenna Reply:
January 6th, 2016 at 12:19 pm
What bootcamp did you attend? I feel like it’s a special club and I love finding other people who are in it
Congratulations Jenna!! This is a fabulous achievement - from a personal, familial, and general role model standpoint. Your heart must be feeling so big and I bet your family just boosted their regard for you that much higher.
I imagine it was heart breaking for you trying to decide between re-doing something as recommended by the school and trying to weigh against your (adorable!!) children’s absolute need for you. It’s a chicken vs egg thing. I certainly don’t envy your position.
Anyway, this is exciting and congratulations. Your kids will have fond memories and you’ll be able to help T2 when it’s her turn to make her mark on the world!
Sorry if this comment is overly saccharine… Ive been reading you for years and am vaguely aware of your struggles with particular members of the internet and religious sects so I am ecstatic way for you in what I am hoping is non creepy! also? You remind me of me 5 years ago, trying to make my place, figure out who I am and raise my kids without the previous restraints placed on me. There aren’t many of us that are able to succeed!!
Yay Jenna!
Jenna Reply:
January 6th, 2016 at 12:12 pm
Thank you Ella! You shared so many kind thoughts here that I indulged in reading through them several times. I very much want T2 to feel like she is full of the potential to do anything, and that her sex/gender is in no way a limiting factor for her. I held myself back in a lot of ways with thinking like that. Time to break that mold!
You are most definitely breaking the mold!
It is *so* freeing to give yourself the *permission* to show her reality <3
Like! Way to go!!!!!!