40-hour "work week"
| Area | Hours Per Week | Week 1 Results | Week 2 Results |
|---|---|---|---|
Coding |
12 |
- | - |
| JavasScript Exercises | 4 | - | - |
| Turing Work - refactoring | 4 | - | - |
| Turing Work - new-features | 4 | - | - |
Continued Education |
4 |
- | - |
| Blog Reading | 2 | - | - |
| New Langauges/Tools sandbox | 2 | - | - |
Job Hunting |
16 |
- | - |
| Outreach & Networking | 6 | - | - |
| Company Research | 4 | - | - |
| Online Applications | 6 | - | - |
Interview Prep |
8 |
- | - |
| Check-ins/Mock Interviews | 1 | - | - |
| Resume/CL | 2 | - | - |
| Turing/Personal Portfolio | 3 | - | - |
| Updating Social Media | 2 | - | - |
Action Step #1: Establish a shareable calendar (like Google Calendar) and block out time on your calendar now to adhere to these goals. Be prepared to show this calendar to your instructors during your portfolio review.
Link to Google Calendar nicksvetnicka@gmail.com
Action Step #2: Backwards plan for your big goal. What is your cut-off for ending the job search? When do you want to receive and sign an offer by?
February 20th would be a decent cut-off date, as Lease ends on March 20th.
Action Step #3: Based on what you outlined above, create monthly, weekly, and daily goals to reach in order to reach your big goal:
Daily Goals
- Spend at least some time on each activity planned, even if it needs to be shortened
- Exercise
- Devote at least some time to life productivity
Weekly Goals
- Refactor this Post Grad Plan
- Have at least 10 new github commits of decent size
- Have applied to at least 5-8 new jobs that look the most promising.
Monthly Goals
- Pay bills
- Devote time to long-term planning
- Review online Turing/Personal Portfolio
For time spent coding during your first 30 days post-grad, consider:
What skills would you like to improve or develop?
- Focus on mastering React and related techs
- JavaScript Exercises
- Create self-challenges for simple html/javascript/css practice
Are there areas from Turing's program that you feel weaker in? How will you level up?
- Review key lessons from mods 1-4
- Fork important repos/gists that accompanied the lesson material
Are there new languages or technologies you'd like to learn? How and when will you do that?
- Will first spend time expanding into related technologies to what I'm currently working in
- Will investigate new technologies, to have a deeper understanding of what tool is doing what job
Action Step: Establish a “daily-practice” repository where you’ll put small daily exercises or work on issues from your own projects that you want to update to keep your skills sharp and your GitHub activity chart active. For your Mod 4 portfolio review, be prepared to describe to your instructors what you plan to work on to sharpen and advance your coding skills for the first 30 days of your job search.
I plan on using several repositories/resources for this purpose, some of which are:
- Murphey Testing Assessment
- JavaScript 30
- find repository link for mythical creatures
- go through slack starred items for other repos to add here
As we've discussed, meeting people, forming relationships, and having conversations are the key pieces to getting your foot in the door at any company. It's important to be proactive in your approach to outreach and networking to stay on track during your first 30 days.
Action Step #1: Identify at least 3 individuals from companies you're tracking who could connect with during your first 30 days. Describe why you want to connect with these people and what you hope to talk about, when you will email them by, and what your follow-up will look like once you've met with them.
- Recruiters from SF that I've worked with as a manager
Because I've worked with them before, this would be different than having a cold-connected recruiter who's only interested in placement numbers. Get intouch with them by the time I leave for Thanksgiving. Follow up before end of year.
- Peter/Paul/Hongra - All work in tech companies in The Bay
Don't think I have any interest in working at their companies, but would be good to see what connections they have, or at the very least what hot new tech companies they know about. Will conduct some of this while in SF.
- Contacts at AAO
Mostly just would be good to touch base, but could result in opportunity. They go on break for the holidays, so might leave towards new year.
Action Step #2: Find 3 new meetups or other career networking events to join during your first 30 days post-grad and describe why you'll attend those particular events. How will attending these meetups benefit you in your job search? How can you contribute to the community of these meetups? If you're interested in speaking at any of these meetups, describe how you'll connect with the organizers to arrange that and give a brief (2-3 sentences) pitch on what you might talk about and why.
- ReactJS Denver
Next meeting: Tue Dec 12 6:00 PM Interest to me, as I want to grow my career into the React world if possible. May not be able to make any direct connections for jobs here in Denver, but would be good to keep up with the react scene, and you never know what connections I may run into for SF...given how big of tech scene it is.
- Denver JavaScript Meetup
Next Meeting: Not yet scheduled This meetup may not be active with events...so may want to see if there is more of an online connection with the group.
- Start Looking into meetup groups in the Bay Area that I may be able to do some remote networking with
- Research any online meetups/discussion groups that would assist with networking
Success in the job search means staying organized. The best way to do that is to have a clear system to keep track of your contacts, research, and updates on what you're doing.
Action Step: Show how you've set up jobtrack.io to keep track of all your company/job outreach, who you talked to, what you learned, what next steps you'll take to follow-up, and anything you might do differently next time. Be prepared to describe this system to your instructors during your portfolio review.
jobtrack.io not setup for our cohort...continuing to use trello instead
During this module, you've had multiple opportunities to practice your technical and cultural interviewing skills. Think about how those experiences have helped you identify strengths and weaknesses in your interviewing skills.
Action Step: Identify 2-3 areas you'd like to continue to improve on for interviewing and outline concrete action steps on how you will improve those skills. If you plan on setting up more mock interviews, identify who you will set those up with and by what date.
I will be continuing to prepare for interviews and the application process by:
- Ensuring that basic javascript/html/css coding exercises remain in my schedule
- I will use resources like Code Wars, Murphey JS, Mythical Creatures, Javascript 30 to incorporate dailing coding exercises into my routine
- Re-do mods 1-3 mid mod and final mod evalautions from scratch in various technologies.
- Continue adding to and filling out the gist for interview questions
- Collect all bookmarks I have saved for interview questions, and add any questions I need to have definitions for into the gist.
- Do more mock interviews / resume / cover letter review
- Gether more feedback on my resume (Ian Douglas offered)
- Mock Interviews (I heard Turing has a process of setting these up with recent grads)
Make sure you have all your job search components up-to-date and looking their best!
Action Step #1: Ensure your Turing Portfolio has at least 3 projects displayed, including your latest work, and an accurate list of your desired locations. Be prepared to show this to your instructors during your M4 portfolio review.
- [My Turing Portfolio](https://www.turing.io/alumni/nicholas-svetnicka)
Need to add more projects, and continue refining the technology list
Action Step #2: Ensure your LinkedIn is up to date and indicates that you’re job hunting. Indicate here a summary of any adjustments you made and how you'll continue to update it and/or use the site to build your network and online presence.
- [My LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicksvetnicka/)
In a pretty good spot, should expand the Turing section by either appending to the general description, or replace it with more details on technologies I worked on, to help with keyword searches.
Action Step #3 (addition): Link to my github account:
- [My GitHub](https://github.com/EndlessHypnosis)
A couple more readme's to add, but for the most part in a good place. Consider what to use as description.
What other areas would you like to focus on during your job search? Some possible ideas include:
- Social Networking
- Blogging
- Planning and submitting meetup and/or conference talks
- Participating in hackathons or open source projects
Action Step: Identify one of the areas above or an additional area that you'd like to develop further during your first 30 days post-grad and be prepared to discuss this with your instructors at your portfolio review.
Social Networking
- Due to my 1st priority of moving back to SF, social networking, and remote connections will be the more important factor for getting through the networking hurdle of being distant. Make sure all my social networking sites have great keywork search hits (detailed technologies)
Personal Website
- I plan on continuing work on my personal website, as it's a great way to keep up with the coding reps, helps accumulate projects and other writings/feedback.
Accountability is key during a job search and being able to check in with a person whom you trust (or, ideally, more than one person) on your progress will increase your ability to reach your goals in the timeline you've created.
Action Step: Identify 1-2 people you'll check in with during your first 30 days post-grad. Consider how you might continue to utilize your PD Peer Groups. Describe why you will check in with this person, how you will check in with them, what you aim to talk about, and what you hope to get out of these check-ins to benefit your job search.
Ian Douglas has offered to assist with resume reviews post graduation. I will be working with him as his time permits on refactoring my resume and possibly cover letters.
These are the 2 primary contacts from my cohort for which I feel we can support eachother, and have a great working relationship, that I hope to continue to develop:
- Christie Lynam
- Laura Caroselli
It's my understanding that Turing assists with post grad mock interview prep, so I will be inquiring about this.
While you've made concrete plans for how to achieve your goal, it's also important to take stock of what could hold you back in the job search.
Action Step: Identify 1-2 "barriers" you might put on yourself in this job search as well as the steps you will take to overcome them. Be prepared to describe these in your M4 portfolio review.
- Difficulty in Finding Job in SF
Due to my priority of finding a job in the Bay area, the networking I can accomplish will be more limited. To overcome this, I will:
-
Connect with contacts I still have in the tech industy in SF
-
See if there are online meetups or community groups that I can join that would directly put me in connection with memebers of the Bay area.
-
Motivation due to available savings
Beacuse I do not have the immediate priority of finding a job, as I am financially secure...It will be important to keep up the pace of coding/interview prep/job hunting. I will use this to stay focused:
- Regularly have check-ins with myself about how well I'm executing my 30 day plan, and what adjustments need to be made to it.
- Ensure that I am exercising and eating regularly
- Make sure that I am maintaining a certain level of application submissions per week.
Fill out this part only if you have already secured a job prior to graduation. (NOT APPLICABLE)
As a member of the Turing community, your support in the job search makes a big difference for your peers as they pursue their first position. Complete the following action steps to
Action Step #1:(NOT APPLICABLE) Identify 1-2 people from your PD Peer Group who you will continue to check in with during the first 30 days post-graduation. Describe what you will do in these check-ins, how you will help keep them motivated, and how you will follow up with these cohortmates afterwards.
Action Step #2:(NOT APPLICABLE) With the person(s) you identified above, describe one area of the job search that you feel particularly skilled in and will commit to helping them with on a regular basis during the first 30 days. Examples include: review outreach emails, review blog posts, practice storytelling, attend meetups or other events with them, etc. Why do you feel that you can help in this area? What will your help look like?
Action Step #3:(NOT APPLICABLE) Utilize your networking experience in the job search to recommend 1-2 people whom you've met that others in your cohort would benefit from meeting as well. Describe how you will make the introductions for at least 1 person in your cohort and when you will execute this by.
In this section, you'll find action steps that you should aim to complete during your first 30 days post-grad, but these are not steps that you need to have completed for your portfolio review. Instead, you should begin thinking about how you will achieve these steps, and your post-grad job search support coach will ask about progress on these during that first 30 days.
Scheduling Post-Grad Action Step: At the end of each week during your first 30 days, assess what worked with the schedule and what didn't so that you can make adjustments as needed and manage your time even more effectively for the following week. This will also help you keep a record of what you've done in your job search.
Outreach Post-Grad Action Step: During the first 30 days, you should aim to reach out to at least 10 individuals. Even if you don't have a list of all 10 for the draft of this plan for portfolio review, be prepared to meet this target during your first 30 days of the job search.
Job/Company Research & Tracking Post-Grad Action Step: Reach out to and apply to at least 10 companies/jobs.
Housekeeping Post-Grad Action Step #1: During this timeframe, you should establish a “master” resume that you’ll customize per employer. You should already have a working version that you submitted in Module 3.
Housekeeping Post-Grad Action Step #2: Establish a “master” cover letter with your key talking points that you'll customize per employer.
Use this checklist here to make sure you have everything needed in your plan for your portfolio review. Your instructors will also use this checklist during the portfolio review.
- Establish shareable calendar and show to your instructor(s)
- List your cut-off date for having a full-time position
- List monthly, weekly, and daily goals
- Create "daily_practice" repo and describe to instructor(s) what you plan to practice
- List 3 people you will reach out to. Describe to instructor(s) why you'll reach out, when you'll email them by, what you hope to talk about, and what follow-up will look like
- List 3 meetups you'll attend and describe to instructor(s) why you'll attend them
- List the job search tracking system you're using and describe to instructor(s) why you're using it/how it will help you
- List 2-3 areas you'd like to continue to improve on for interviewing and outline concrete action steps on how you will improve those skills to describe to instructor(s)
- Turing portfolio is updated with 3 projects
- Summary of how you've updated your LinkedIn profile
- List additional area you'll focus on in your job search and describe why to instructor(s)
- List 1-2 people you'll check in with during job search
- List 1-2 "barriers" and describe how you will overcome them to your instructor(s)
- List 1-2 people from PD Peer Group who you will continue to check in with during the first 30 days post-graduation. Describe your plans for these check-ins to your instructor(s)
- Describe one area of the job search that you feel particularly skilled in to help your cohortmates with and how you will do that with your instructor(s)
- List 1-2 people whom you will recommend your cohortmates to, how you will make that introduction, and when you'll do that by to share with instructor(s)