What are the values that will drive your job search?
Junior Software Developer - Learning the ropes and building a really solid foundation. Learning how to work on a team and produce at a high level. Implementing complex formulas into a craft that can communicate with the world.
Mid-Level Software Developer - Fostering a team to create digital works of art. Focusing on team synergy, collaboration and culture amongst team members. Bringing a unity to the team that will allow productions with results that are higher than expected.
Senior Software Developer - The leader of an entire project and a company. Being able to contribute to other people and the society that have helped me become the person I am today. A large focus on developer and consumer empathy to set new standards in the world of programming and software development.
What are your goals for your job search?
- As a software developer, a company with empathsis on customer empathy, a solid experience while using the safeware, and a focus on growth for their developers is a large part of where I would thrive.
- What do the specifics look like? Right now, it feels like everything is very general and that has always been how my job searches how been before. Really take the time to dive into what I want, how I will benefit the company and how they benefit me are perfectly legitimate questions to have and ask in a job search.
- Diving more into the company mission, culture and norms as opposed to accepting the general "This is who our company is" speech that is normally given during an interview process.
- Showing genuine interest in the industry and the company will only help both of us in the long run. The power of research, asking the right questions, and confidence in myself as a developer is incredibly important in the coming months.
What kind of role do you see yourself pursuing in your job search?
My first role is to be in a position where I can get a better vision in the software industry. Aside from Turing, my initial introduction to a software related job was very narrow. I want to be able to get into a position where I can work on a team and focus on building my foundation as a strong software developer. My foundation will include both front end and back end development, tranforming into a full-stack software engineer. While building my foundation, focusing on the leadership of the company, how they interact with and lead their development teams, how to keep a development team excited and focus on extended projects, etc. A lot of observations and refining myself to prepare for becoming a mid-level software developer or a team lead within the first 1 - 3 years.
Based on your latest version of your career vision, list the top 3-5 industries and companies you’ll pursue in your job search as of right now.
- Apple
- Shopify
- Steam
Why did you pick these industries/companies? How do they relate to the values and goals you have for yourself in your job search?
- I think Google would be a great company to start out at with the size of the company as well as the potential growth and expansion you can experience there. Growth and moving further up in a company is really important for me as well as a company that treats employees as well and clients well.
- While Apple has a mix reputation, there is no denying that it's products are some of the best. My vision for being in software engineering and development isn't limited to just a junior level. I feel like I could experience immense growth and great business sense working at Apple and that's why they are on my list.
- Shopify has been on my list for a while as I know many people that use the platform and enjoy success with it. I have recently worked with a client where they wanted me to build their website through a Shopify store and I was impressed with how far they have come. I've always wanted to develop my own software and technology and I feel that Shopify, with it being more of a newer company to rise to success, would be able to show it's insight to attaining such knowledge on a day to day business in their workflow.
- I have always been a game enthusiast and Steam is the biggest platform for computer games. It would be amazing to work in a company that I have a double passion for.
Reflection questions:
- What do you want this portfolio to say about you?
I really want this resume to portray my value to a company. Since I am a person that is able to hyper focus and produce my best works while developing with others in mind, I really want it to showcase my skills on how I can develop for anyone. Attention to detail and my thorough knowledge of the technologies that I work with. For this reason, I specifically removed any reference that I had with knowing back end knowledge for now (c# and MySQL) since I have not worked with them in several months and have not been keeping up with them during my time at Turing. Everything on my resume I can speak with confidence and in depth to my expertise with them.
- How will you continue to add to this to portray your story and showcase the kind of work that demonstrates your brand?
Reaching out to family, friends and other members of the cohort to check for readability and that is accurately portraying who I am as a person and as a developer. As I continue to increase my tech stack, instead of waiting to update it, I plan to update my resume consistently this time. This will enforce me to continue my learning process so I can add newer technologies into my tech stack that are desired by companies.
Nathan, very nice job on your resume! I really like the profile statement and open source section. I couldn't access a LinkedIn page from the alumni page. Keep up the good work as you add to your portfolio page. The project descriptions and areas of focus are good and just need the actual projects set up. Good job! Please update the cover letter as you continue to solidify your career documents. Thanks