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mejarc/gist:3383139

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Created August 17, 2012 22:05
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Crowdsourced career mentorship for female developers
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I was inspired by Selena Deckelmann's list of Career Resources for Women (http://www.chesnok.com/daily/career-resources-for-women/), but couldn't think of much to contribute. So I thought maybe those of us already in the field and in a position to mentor could work on creating more. Please fork or comment and add your own!

Also: there is a wealth of info online and elsewhere dating back to the first time it occurred to our species to exchange labor for currency on these topics in general. What I hope we can provide here is our take as individuals. What we would say to someone if we were sitting across from her acting as a mentor. I don't think we should worry about being objectively "right", or about duplicating topics. I add this bit of anti-editorializing in hopes that women will contribute without feeling pressured to be experts, which I worry might prevent them from doing so. TY. :)

Applying for jobs

Interviewing

  • How to answer puzzle questions
  • How to answer trick questions
  • Passing the whiteboard test

Professional behavior

Negotiation

Conflict resolution

Money

Long-term goals

Warning signs when you interview with a company

@anar:

  • The interviewer is looking you up and down while smacking his lips - this actually happened to me - just walk away from this workplace.
  • There is not a single interviewer that's a woman - not a PM, not a Tester, nothing - again happened with a small company. Even in a small company, this implies a frat-boy culture.
  • No women are in any sort of responsible role. They are low-level techs. Most of my career... women propelled it forward. If there aren't any women in a position to guide you, your career probably won't be going anywhere in this place.
  • They are offering you pay that is less than the market. They already don't respect you. It isn't going to change after you join. If you have to take the job, then focus on learning and growing yourself.
  • There is a woman interviewer, but, when you ask her what she does, it is the legacy maintenance work. Women are often the ones left holding the bag, when men move on to new and exciting projects. It is the worst thing for your career at an early stage.

@mejarc:

  • None of the developers you talk to has much of an online presence--no blogs, no personal Web sites, not even active GitHub accounts. Yes, we all have other interests outside work, but people with so little passion about development it's exhausted by their day jobs are uninspiring to work with.
  • Hideous, noisy workspaces. If this company stuffs its developers into drab cubicles with harsh overhead lighting, next to the sales department or call center, it's an indication developers aren't held in much regard and their work process poorly understood. At your onsite interview, insist on getting out of that conference room to see where the developers sit. If they won't show you, that's another warning sign.
  • They phone-screen you on a speaker phone, but don't reveal who is listening until the conversation is well underway. Phone screens are a great way for you and this company to determine if you're compatible. Speaker phones are a good way to conduct a phone screen with multiple people. However, some companies misinterpret the phone screen as an occasion for a power trip. If they treat you this poorly as a candidate, they'll be twice as arrogant when you're their employee.
  • The developers you talk with have obvious contempt for the people who use their application. Always ask your interviewers about the customer for their product. If the response includes a smirk about how the users are "so ghetto," or an eye-roll and sigh about the product is heavily used by "bored housewives," it's a sign that appealing to the customer is considered demeaning and uncool in this company. Trying to create a usable, attractive, profitable application in such an atmosphere is nearly impossible, as nobody will consider a user interface as anything but "eye candy."

Recruiters

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