How would you rate your overall health on a scale of 1-5?
- 2-3?
How do you currently make time for activities associated with your health?
- I don't really, I tend to only respond to my body's needs when I notice them. I will suddenly realize I haven't had anything to eat, or done any exercise.
What is a small change you could make here to readjust your health ratings?
- I could try plan for my health needs better. I could be more proactive about doing healthy things and less reactive to feeling poorly.
Work: what you do
- I work with others and by myself to build projects for my Turing classes.
Make a short list of all the ways you work right now
- Solo
- Collaboratively
- Logically
- Creatively
How much value do each of those things bring to your life? How are those activities purposeful for you?
- These activities bring value to me because I am learning important skills that I can apply later in my career. They are purposeful becuase it is important to me to truly learn the material.
Play: what brings you joy? Think about joy just for the pure sake of doing it; everyone benefits from this kind of play
What activities do you do that bring you joy throughout an average week?*
- Watching Jeopardy while having a cocktail.
- Playing video games with my brother.
- Cooking meals for my wife and myself.
In what ways could you make a small change to bring more joy into your life?
- I could make a better effort to make time for these things. I often feel like any time not spent on work is time wasted, when it is important for my mental health that I take time to be happy.
Love: sense of connection; who are the people who matter in your life and how is love flowing to and from you and them?
How does love currently show up in your life?
- My wife loves me and shows it in many ways. My family loves me and provides me with a lot of support. My cats seem to think I'm pretty great.
How do you show love to others right now?
- Being patient in isolation with my wife and trying to do things to make her life easier. Cooking meals for her and reminding her to take breaks and get outside.
What adjustments would you like to make in this area?
- I could be more present when we are doing things together, instead of looking at my phone.
Looking back at the 4 areas, do any problems emerge that you want to begin designing solutions for?
- I see a pattern of a lack of self-awareness. I need to make an effort to be more mindful of my own health and my behavior towards myself and others.
Based on what you wrote about above and your group conversation, what problems have you identified that you'd like to design solutions for?
- I'd like to design solutions to help me be better aware of my own needs and actions. I'd like to design a solution to help me make plans and execute them to improve my overall health
What do you already about what you want for your career? What do you still need to find out?
- I know that I want to have a career where I am doing something of real value to people. I want a career built on a foundation of giving something to people, as opposed to a foundation of taking as much as I can from people. I still need to know what this means in the real world and how to best align my ideals with my careerpath.
Who or what do you want to grow into by the end of the Turing program?
- I want to become someone with the skills to provide value to a company or organization. I want to be able to provide for myself and my family financially and have a better idea of what I want to do with my skills going forward.
When you discussed software developers with your small group on Monday, what assumptions came up about what software developers actually do?
- We talked about how software developers do so many different things in the field. Not just in software development itself, but also in adjacent jobs and more specialized fields. To us it seems like mostly what software engineers do is learn more about software engineering.
What steps could you take to challenge those assumptions and find more facts to answer the question of what developers do?
- Talking to people in the field or job-shadowing to see real world experience.
In addition to what a typical software developer life could look like, what do you want yours to include?
- I want mine to include a group of people who are excited about building something as a team. I want to work on something where I can not only be proud of the work, but also proud of what the end product is delivering to the user.
What is the basic threshold that your new career must meet after Turing?
- It needs to pay me enough that I feel I am being valued for my work correctly. My input and ideas need to be respected, even if they are not always adopted. I need to feel like the project I am a part of is not doing harm to its users or encouraging users to take actions that are harmful.
What would you hope WILL NOT happen in your future after Turing?
- I hope I don't end up in a position where I feel like the work I am doing is contributing to project that is pointless or actively harmful. I hope I will not end up in a working environment where I am expected to be cut-throat and suspicious of others.
What is your absolute, no-holds-barred, ideal dream for your future after Turing?
- My dream would be to get a good-paying job working for a project that is doing something really positive for society. If I could help build something that makes it easier for people to vote, get legal help, get access to food, or just make it so that poor people could have one less unexpected expense that makes life hell, that would be my absolute no-holds-barred ideal dream career.
Based on this week of reflections, write out your vision statement for your career:
- I will become a compentent and successful software engineer. I will seek out opportunities to better myself and continue to grow in my field so that I can provide more even more value. I will seek out positions that allow me to contribute to projects that are ethical and which I feel provides real benefit the lives of its users.
How can beginner's mind be helpful when it comes to thinking about your career and job search? -I think that having a beginners mind can allow you to open yourself up to opportunities that you may not usually consider. If you have a lot of preconceptions about what a role entails or what kind of role you would be successful in, you may not take the time to ask the questions necessary to really understand the role, and you may be limiting yourself based on a lack of information.
What are some habits you could put into place to cultivate beginner's mind regularly? -Focusing on self-awareness, so that I can notice when I am making an assumption or not asking a fundamental question, can help me cultivate a beginners mindset. Assumptions become automatic, so making an effort to catch myself in these automatic moments and taking them as a signal to reframe how I am approaching the situation can be helpful in getting into that beginner's mindset.
Summarize what good, worthwhile work means to you (Tip: this is NOT about what work you want to do but about why work matters to you):
-I have never believed that work for the sake of work has any value. I believe that the value of your work is derived from the value your work provides to others. Good, worthwhile work is about making sure that you are always giving value that is equal to or greater to the cost to the consumer. Good, worthwhile work means thinking through the work you are doing, how you are doing it, and how it impacts the people who see the end product of that work, and evaluating for yourself whether it is doing unintentional (or intentional) harm to anyone and making changes as necessary.
Where do your views on work and life complement each other? -I think that life is better when you care about the lives of those around you being better as well. I think that companies that care about the wellbeing of their employees and customers have a better chance of longterm success.
Where do they clash? -I believe I have a moral obligation to make money and provide financial security for my family. Many of the paths to financial success require being involved in work that provides little to no good to society.
Does one drive the other? How? -As I grow in my career, I think my desire to do work I am proud of will inform the jobs that I apply for. My desire for financial security will most likely inform my early job search, as I hope to build the working skills necessary to seek out work I care about.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UEiKKkAV6mN-bYw0AdZEG8cmVZWGgjDa7YlGBViag5g/edit
Write a refined vision statement here (what new things have you discovered this week to incorporate into your vision statement?):
*I will become a compentent and successful software engineer. I will seek out opportunities to better myself and continue to grow in my field so that I can provide more even more value. I will seek out positions that allow me to contribute to projects that are ethical and which I feel provide real benefit the lives of its users. I will pursue a career that gives other people the tools to effect change in their communities to educate, assist or mobilize people. *
-I am most engaged in my work when I can see the practical application of what I am doing. If what I am doing doesn't appear to be useful, I find myself disengaging. When I can connect something I am using in a project to a problem I was previously stuck on, or an example problem to a real-world interaction I have had with an application, I find myself internalizing the information better and having more excitement about putting it to work.
-I most often feel bored when I am in a very high-level lesson that doesn't have obvious immediate application to the work I am doing. I know that this is important to learn the basics of ideas before diving in to explore them deeper, but I find my mind wandering when I have decided I understand the point. I feel restless when I am being told to take a break but also being told there is an unending list of things to work on. I feel unhappy when I struggle to answer a leading question when I don't know what the asker is actually looking for.
-Whenever I get into a groove where one function leads to another and I can just walk through my logic of what needs to happen and see it play out. I feel energized when my teammates are positive, even if we're stuck on something. I love the brainstorming phase of a project when we're figuring out how to get starts. I also really enjoy (this is quite specific) when I am writing a .js file that manipulates the DOM and I can see my JS, CSS, and HTML all working in concert. I also feel energized when I realize I have commited the syntax of something to memory and can write it without looking at an example, because it is clear evidence that I am learning even if I often feel like I am no longer absorbing information.
-My energy is most often drained from being in long Zoom calls all day. The social aspect of the program is the most exhausting for me, but translating that to being remote has made those interactions seem less meaningful and more tiring.
-This week I am going to block out time to research different areas of the tech industry to try to find things that I can get excited about. I am going to use the resources provided to me to try to find companies that work to advance political involvment or provide something of real value to their users. I think I will spend the majority of my time researching what resources exist to find jobs in the Civic Tech field. I also will spend time researching which industries are best positioned to respond to the economic situation. By the end of this week I hope to have a better idea of what communities I should be looking in, and what companies have the best economic outlook.
Go through the resources listed here and explore 2-3 tools. List what you looked at here: -BuiltIn -Owler -Google (searched for Civic Tech job boards and for companies that provide services to non-profits)
Apply wayfinding: of what you looked at, what did you discover that aligns with your vision? If it didn't align with your vision, what will you try next?
-While I was able to find many companies that pride themselves on their civic commitment, it was challenging to find companies that have that motivation as a fundamental part of their business model. I could find civic tech companies in Denver, but there doesn't appear to be an up-to-date job board for companies hiring in this field. I will use what I have found to reach out to people at these companies to gain more information about how they work and what resources I should explore to network in this area of the industry.
Find a job posting that aligns with your vision. What's the posting? How does it align with what you're looking for? Add it to your Huntr.
-I have deeply struggled with finding a job posting that matches my vision and this has been very discouraging. Many of the jobs that I see posted that are in any way involved in public service are companies that seem to be involved with developing systems for the military. I have not yet found a current job posting that aligns the with my vision.
What next steps will you take to explore that opportunity and find contacts? Add that information to your Huntr card.
-While I haven't found a job posting, by doing this research I found a company that I think I would absolutely love to work for called CiviCore, which provides tech resources to non-profits. I have explored their linkedIn page and will find the highest level person to reach out to gain more information about the company, and gather any information I can about what communities or resources I should explore to find more companies doing this kind of work.
Engagement. What did you reflect on last week in regards to when you're engaged in your work at Turing? (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?).
-*I felt like I am most engaged when I am seeing something from my own experience in whatever we are doing. -I see something in a lesson that I connect to either something that I have been stuck on in the past. -Or I connect it with a real-world experience I've had where this sort of functionality was used on an application. -This helps me connect to the lesson and get excited about how I will use the information. I can use my logical thought process to connect these ideas and have fun seeing the puzzle peices come into focus to be eventually put together.
Energy. What did you reflect on last week in regards to when you feel most energized in your work at Turing? Pull out an idea that resonates with you most and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?).
-Rereading what I wrote last week, it's clear that I get the most energy from the forward momentum of learning. -I have a problem to solve -I think out the steps to solve the problem -I write out those steps and see the solution I expected -I realize that I have internalized a new peice of informtion that I just used to solve the problem -I become energized to move on to the next problem, or to approach new content.
Flow. When have you had an experience recently in which you were in a state of flow? You can also think about this as "joy" or "play." Pull out an idea that resonates with you most and break that idea down into parts and make a list (what are all the steps that go into that moment? When do you get to use your strengths? What is fun about this?).
-All of the things in my life that give me a sense of flow have similar steps, and I find a similar sort of flow in my work at Turing -There is a clear outline or set of instructions to follow -Finishing one thing easily leads into the next -Once all steps are completed we have something interesting or useful -I find the creation process to be very meditative and fun. Getting into the groove of completing goals is an addictive sensation.
Prototype your mind maps: what do these mind maps tell you about what's important to you as a software developer? What questions do they bring up about what you still want to learn about this career?
-To me these things show me that I appreciate a well organized and structured working environment, where clear small goals lead to a completing large goals. The questions this raises are about how applicable this is to a real workplace, and if companies rapidly adapt and change goals, how do I adapt to that?
Who comes to mind as a person you can reach out to? Why that person? What questions would you ask them? Come up with 2-3 people here to serve as prototypes
-Mark Forward at CiviCore. He is an executive at a company I want to know more about, and has been working in civic tech for a long time. I would ask him if he would be willing to talk with me about CiviCore and about tech companies that intersect with non-profits more generally. I would ask him if there is anyone else at the company he suggests I speak to, or if there are any resources he suggests I explore to learn more about the kind of work his company does. -My mentor Kevin Simpson. Kevin is a very smart guy but we really only talk about technical and personal things, and we haven't talked much about jobs. I would ask Kevin about his job search and how he narrowed down which jobs to pursue and how long the job search took for him. I would also like to learn more about the pros and cons of working with a small team like Kevin does.
-Reaching out to Mark Forward will give me more specified information about the part of the tech industry I am most interested in learning more about. -Talking to Kevin will give me more practical real-world advice about the job search from a person who has been in nearly my identical circumstance.
Outreach & Networking Plan: Based on your reflections above, create a concrete plan for your outreach:
-Mark Forward at CiviCore
-I will find them through LinkedIn, and reach out through there, or use an email finding service to attempt to send him an email.
-I will ask him about the work CiviCore does, and what work is like on a daily basis. I will also ask about any potential communities of like-minded businesses in the Denver area. I will ask about his background and how he got into this position, and if he has any advice about specific engineers I could reach out to on his team to talk about how they connected with a company like this.
-I will use this information to learn more about whether this particular company and companies like it line up with my vision or if I need to pursue other sectors of the industry. I will also use it to gather as many networking resources as possible.
-I will send a thank you message and follow through on any advice I am given. I will also reach out once I complete the program, informing them that I have and thanking them for their advice as I begin my hunt for a job.
Write a draft of your professional story here as 1-2 paragraphs. Focus on answering the questions who are you, why are you here, and what's next? Consider how to talk about your motives and values, the turning points that led to your career change, and what you envision for yourself going forward.
- I am a software engineer with a background as a writer and a passion for doing good. My love of problem-solving, collaboration, and creating interesting things has always driven the work I have pursued, and those interests are what led me to pursue to a career in front end web development. I want to use my skills to contribute to teams that are working to provide a public good, or are working to make life easier for ordinary working people. I have an intense fascination with politics and the way public policy effects the lives of the people, and I would like to bring this focus into my future career.
-I've spent my career working many different types of jobs to pay the bills, and pursued any creative opportunity I could find to fulfil those intellectual needs. I made the decision to become a software engineer when I realized it would allow me to combine my love of creative problem solving, my desire to work collaboratively, and give me a better platform to effect meaningful change. One of the reasons I decided to make this change was to better ensure my families stability in the future, and I hope to use that position to help others reach the same place.
Update your LinkedIn profile with the following: updated photo/headshot, headline, summary statement using your story, and Turing added to your experience and education sections. Include a link to your profile here in the journal. Remember the guidelines and tips from the lesson here.
What other steps will you take this week to update your branding or practice your story?
-I am going to focus on rewriting my professional story to try and refine it. I am also going to attempt to reach out to connect with more people on linkedIn and try to get a feel for how other people tell their own stories.
Please list the top 3-5 industries and companies you'll pursue in your job search as of right now.
- Civic Tech - I think I would enjoy working to build applications for non-profits or political action groups) _ Renewable Energy - It could be rewarding to build applications to help clean energy compainies like NREL _ Game Development - I have been seeing several games built using React, with dev teams based in Denver. It's a very difficult industry to succeed in, but I imagine it could be fun to work on building games. _ Education - If I could find a postition working for a company that has teaching people to do things, or giving people access to information, I believe I would find that fulfilling.
Why did you pick the industries/companies that you listed above? How do they relate to the values and goals you have for yourself in your job search?
- While working on the Career Journal prompts these last few weeks, my desire to have a job that aligns with my values has become much stronger. For years I have either worked for businesses that I felt didn't provide anything positive to their customers, or where my position was one that could have been filled by nearly anyone. After completing this program will be the first time in my life where I'll have the skills and resources to actually do something meaningful. To me it seems like I have an obligation to myself and to others make the most out of this and find a place where I can be proud of the work I am doing and be valued and respected for my contributions.
How does your LinkedIn currently reflect your goals and industry interests? What changes will you need to make to your LinkedIn to better reflect these?
- My bio and my previous work experience highlight my affiliation with non-profits and my focus on education. To further illustrate my career goals, I could make my desired industries more explicit in my biography. I could also widen my network and reach out to more professionals in the industries where I am looking for a job.