holladayian/Mod 2 Week 4 Career Journal

## Mod 2 Week 4 Career Journal
In week 4, you'll have a job experience activity with employers. The next two prompts are designed to help you both prepare and reflect on that experience:

*I had this file almost completed, but I lost it before I could save, so some of the questions/answers might not be as accurate.

Prepare for Job Experience: AEIOU
Activities: what questions do you have about the activities that a software developer does on a daily basis?

What percentage of your time do you spend "writing actual code", and what time is spent talking about ideas, pseudocoding, project directions, etc.?


Environment: what questions do you have about the overall environment and culture of this workplace?

How does your company train employees? Was/is it enjoyable? What are the places you think your company might improve?


Interactions: what questions do you have about the team at this company? What do you hope to learn during this experience?

How has being remote impacted team synergy? Is your company working to mitigate problems easily? Or does it take longer to get "up the chain"?

Objects: what questions do you have about the code or the product?

What percent of new code do you produce compared to the amount of refactoring?


Users: what questions do you have about how the company interacts with their users?

Are backend devs involved with making UX/UI descisions? As far as I understand, an app would be built by taking in user needs/recomendations => frontend building out a plan => sending data to backend. This makes it seem like backend doesn't really have a lot to do with the direction of the app. Is this true?


After the Job Experience, reflect on the same questions; what are your takeaways from the activity?

While covid has impacted this job field, it's ability to grow and adapt has kept it afloat. The best way to getinto, and stay in this field is to be adaptable as well.


Activities: what was engaging to the person/people you met with?

We got a good insight to what some of the more conceptual pieces to programming were -i.e. how important it is to have people with a varied set of backgrounds. and current levels computer competency compared to what we want then to be at.


Environment: what did you notice about how they talked about the culture and environment of this company?

One of the take aways I got from our presenter was about the differences with "time-off". Their company offered unlimited PTO, which in turn seemed to feel like "too much power". Without wanting to let the company down, they felt they were usually taking less time off than they would if they were scheduled a set amount. I found this interesting, as I would really like to work for a company that has a great work-life balance. I don't want to feel like I'm "taking too much time off". I really want to have a job that is just a job. Something that during my off hours, I'm disconnected from. I think these small concepts will shape my future job searches.


Interactions: what did you notice about your interactions with this person/people?

One thing I appreciated hearing was our presenter still enjoyed coding even when not on the job. I'm glad that people still find this field engaging even outside of work, and that this is not (usually) a field that burns people out.


Objects: what did you learn about their approach to code and/or product development?

I learned that backend usually does not have much say in terms of final functionality. This makes sense, as the flow-chart for development was handy to understand. I would have thought it would be nice to have input from all sides of the data.


Users: what did you learn about their approach to their users?

Accessability is huge and becoming more important everywhere. It seems the best thing to keep in mind is how we connect our languages. The more precise we can connect, the more people will have access to the information they desire. And that's programming in a nutshell.


What are your main takeaways from the shadow? How will you use this information to help you with your job search strategy?

One if the most valuable takeaways I recieved was that "getting the job" is about 40% code-knowledge, and 60% how well you can interact with you team. It makes me realize that I want to put more effort into my PD, and really work to be a candidate companies would like to hire.


Assess your habits from week 3: how did you spend your time this past week? What was effective in your habits? What could be more effective? What steps will you take to make that happen?

This week was awesome in terms of my goal to utilize more "divide & conquer" in our project. This project has seemed "dauntingly easy", as in, every turn felt like there was something new and massive to learn, but we've been able to tackle them at a surprising rate, in part, thanks to d&c.
Next I would like to work on PD routinely..


Implement a reiforcement strategy: to make one of your habits more satisfying, what is a reward you can give yourself immediately after completing the habit? How will this reward encourage you to continue completing that habit?
Personally, I really try to focus on the reward being the habbit. This has helped me previously with understanding that I enjoy habits like working-out, and they become their own rewards. I already find enjoyment in working on PD. I think that it's hard shifting gears from "code" to PD, and if I understand how focusing more on PD can be enjoyable, then I think this will be easier.

"Don't Break the Chain": Use a habit tracker

What is a habit that you want to make sure to do every day? How could you visually cue yourself to complete it (i.e., moving a paper clip)? How can you visually track it each time you've completed it? Could you automate the tracking? How will you do that?

I don't really know how to answer the following questions, as I don't completely agree with the habit of chaining. This seems a bit too capitalistic for me, as it is very output driven. I would much more prefer to be enjoyment driven. Instead of counting every day that I do them, I would rather track when I enjoy them, and help myself understand that these tasks do make me happy. If it's something that I want to do, then I shouldn't need a planner to do them, and instead, maybe only a reminder that I will get some kind of enjoyment (benifit) out of them.

How to get back on track when missing a habit: if you miss a day or two of completing your habit, how will you get yourself going again?

Pick an accountability partner (your cohort accountabilibuddy, your mentor, a close friend, etc.) and create a habit contract with them. How often will you check in with each other? How will they hold you accountable?
	In week 4, you'll have a job experience activity with employers. The next two prompts are designed to help you both prepare and reflect on that experience:

	*I had this file almost completed, but I lost it before I could save, so some of the questions/answers might not be as accurate.

	Prepare for Job Experience: AEIOU
	Activities: what questions do you have about the activities that a software developer does on a daily basis?

	What percentage of your time do you spend "writing actual code", and what time is spent talking about ideas, pseudocoding, project directions, etc.?


	Environment: what questions do you have about the overall environment and culture of this workplace?

	How does your company train employees? Was/is it enjoyable? What are the places you think your company might improve?


	Interactions: what questions do you have about the team at this company? What do you hope to learn during this experience?

	How has being remote impacted team synergy? Is your company working to mitigate problems easily? Or does it take longer to get "up the chain"?

	Objects: what questions do you have about the code or the product?

	What percent of new code do you produce compared to the amount of refactoring?


	Users: what questions do you have about how the company interacts with their users?

	Are backend devs involved with making UX/UI descisions? As far as I understand, an app would be built by taking in user needs/recomendations => frontend building out a plan => sending data to backend. This makes it seem like backend doesn't really have a lot to do with the direction of the app. Is this true?


	After the Job Experience, reflect on the same questions; what are your takeaways from the activity?

	While covid has impacted this job field, it's ability to grow and adapt has kept it afloat. The best way to getinto, and stay in this field is to be adaptable as well.


	Activities: what was engaging to the person/people you met with?

	We got a good insight to what some of the more conceptual pieces to programming were -i.e. how important it is to have people with a varied set of backgrounds. and current levels computer competency compared to what we want then to be at.


	Environment: what did you notice about how they talked about the culture and environment of this company?

	One of the take aways I got from our presenter was about the differences with "time-off". Their company offered unlimited PTO, which in turn seemed to feel like "too much power". Without wanting to let the company down, they felt they were usually taking less time off than they would if they were scheduled a set amount. I found this interesting, as I would really like to work for a company that has a great work-life balance. I don't want to feel like I'm "taking too much time off". I really want to have a job that is just a job. Something that during my off hours, I'm disconnected from. I think these small concepts will shape my future job searches.


	Interactions: what did you notice about your interactions with this person/people?

	One thing I appreciated hearing was our presenter still enjoyed coding even when not on the job. I'm glad that people still find this field engaging even outside of work, and that this is not (usually) a field that burns people out.


	Objects: what did you learn about their approach to code and/or product development?

	I learned that backend usually does not have much say in terms of final functionality. This makes sense, as the flow-chart for development was handy to understand. I would have thought it would be nice to have input from all sides of the data.


	Users: what did you learn about their approach to their users?

	Accessability is huge and becoming more important everywhere. It seems the best thing to keep in mind is how we connect our languages. The more precise we can connect, the more people will have access to the information they desire. And that's programming in a nutshell.


	What are your main takeaways from the shadow? How will you use this information to help you with your job search strategy?

	One if the most valuable takeaways I recieved was that "getting the job" is about 40% code-knowledge, and 60% how well you can interact with you team. It makes me realize that I want to put more effort into my PD, and really work to be a candidate companies would like to hire.


	Assess your habits from week 3: how did you spend your time this past week? What was effective in your habits? What could be more effective? What steps will you take to make that happen?

	This week was awesome in terms of my goal to utilize more "divide & conquer" in our project. This project has seemed "dauntingly easy", as in, every turn felt like there was something new and massive to learn, but we've been able to tackle them at a surprising rate, in part, thanks to d&c.
	Next I would like to work on PD routinely..



	Implement a reiforcement strategy: to make one of your habits more satisfying, what is a reward you can give yourself immediately after completing the habit? How will this reward encourage you to continue completing that habit?
	Personally, I really try to focus on the reward being the habbit. This has helped me previously with understanding that I enjoy habits like working-out, and they become their own rewards. I already find enjoyment in working on PD. I think that it's hard shifting gears from "code" to PD, and if I understand how focusing more on PD can be enjoyable, then I think this will be easier.

	"Don't Break the Chain": Use a habit tracker

	What is a habit that you want to make sure to do every day? How could you visually cue yourself to complete it (i.e., moving a paper clip)? How can you visually track it each time you've completed it? Could you automate the tracking? How will you do that?

	I don't really know how to answer the following questions, as I don't completely agree with the habit of chaining. This seems a bit too capitalistic for me, as it is very output driven. I would much more prefer to be enjoyment driven. Instead of counting every day that I do them, I would rather track when I enjoy them, and help myself understand that these tasks do make me happy. If it's something that I want to do, then I shouldn't need a planner to do them, and instead, maybe only a reminder that I will get some kind of enjoyment (benifit) out of them.

	How to get back on track when missing a habit: if you miss a day or two of completing your habit, how will you get yourself going again?

	Pick an accountability partner (your cohort accountabilibuddy, your mentor, a close friend, etc.) and create a habit contract with them. How often will you check in with each other? How will they hold you accountable?