Hi everyone! I will try to explain all the possibilities here. I will stick to free and community led options.
Let's start with the mentorship programs! We'll dive into the Berlin learning meetups and groups right after. I will also share some other recourses that can get you free conference tickets etc. at the end.
Links: https://www.learnitgirl.com/, https://www.facebook.com/learnitgirl
A global free program where you sign up and you get a personal mentor
that will guide you and work with you for 3 months.
You can pick a project and a programming language if you have an idea for it,
or if you don't know where to start, they will
help you out! Just reach out.
I have coached a person that I met trough this programm that after got her first job as a
programmer.
So proud of her and you can do it too!
Link: https://ampair.io/
Another program where you can sign up and get a free guidance from a mentor
for 3 months.
Open to all levels, begginer and up.
Here instead of having a mentor assigned, you pick your mentor.
You can also spend a couple of months learning and being mentored and get paid for it! The following programs are aimed at women, but all of them require a bit of knowledge. It is good to have them in mind as a next step after you get a bit (or a bit more) grip on all the techy stuff you will be learning:
Link: https://railsgirlssummerofcode.org/
You apply as an individual or a team and you get paid to learn
and make for 3 months.
You need to have finished a workshop (like the ones I will list soon!)
or have been learning for yourself for about a year.
It is run by the Berlin based Travis foundation: https://foundation.travis-ci.org/.
Link: https://www.outreachy.org/
A paid learning and making program.
You will be contributing to world renoun projects through it.
It is a bit more competitive and this one requires a little bit
more knowledge.
Great to keep an eye on for later and have it as a goal as this is job
landing material.
I was part of the program 10 years ago and was a big door opener for me.
There are many Berlin meetups and learning groups that are safe spaces, created for and run by women, where you can learn and socialise in an comfortable environment. A big drawback is that many of the regular meetups are starting at 19:00, or as we mothers know it - bedtime.
Link: http://railsgirlsberlin.de/
Free workshops for women with no prior experience in programming.
The workshops focus on the Ruby on Rails framework and you
can learn how to make a full website from the ground up on the day.
They help you get organised in project groups to continue
learning after. Really awesome people <3
Link: https://djangogirls.org/berlin/
Same as the previous group, but they focus on the Django
framework and the Python language.
Link: https://clojurebridge-berlin.org/
Same as the previous two, but focusing on the Clojure language.
I've mentored in this workshop and oh boy is this fun!
Look what you can do after(ok or close to it ^^): http://quil.info/examples
Link: https://codebar.io/berlin
Same as the previous workshops, focuses on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Ruby.
You can look at their tutorials here: http://tutorials.codebar.io/
Link: http://berlin.pyladies.com/
In their own words: "PyLadies aims to provide a friendly support network
for women and a bridge to the larger Python world."
They organise montly meetups consisting of a short talk and a workshop.
There are many experienced people there that will help
you out and answer all of your questions.
Don't be afraid to show up!
I am a serious fan of this crowd and I hope to speak
there again sometime.
Links: https://www.womenwhogo.org/, https://www.meetup.com/Women-Who-Go-Berlin/
A study group for women that want to learn the Go language.
It is enough to have some interest (and absolutely no experience)
to join in.
There will be other women to support you there!
Link: https://www.womenwhocode.com/berlin
You can find all kinds of talks and workshops during their meetups.
Only women are speaking so it's super inspiring!
It is a friendly atmosphere where you could meet many likeminded
women on the same journey as you, and get acquainted with new
and exciting things happening in the world of code.
Hack nights are organised regularly where you can dive in into something
and ask questions.
Link: http://wtmberlin.com/
Same as the meetup above!
They organised a special "Parents in Tech" meetup a while ago,
and I took my littly guy there <3
Link: http://www.opentechschool.org/berlin/
Now this is a serious gem.
There are so many learning groups you can join!
Check out the events list on the website.
I have coached in the Python group when I moved to Berlin.
The format is so: there are learners and experienced coaches.
There are already tutorials you can pick to work on and the coaches
will support you through it day-by-day as you return, or you can
pick a project of your on, as long as it fits the learning group.
You can also show up and say: Hey! I know nothing about this
cool thing you are doing, but I really want to learn please!
You will be helped.
These groups are so awesome as you can grow endlessly there - from
the basic tutorials, to your first real big project and beyond.
Step by step, supported.
Link: http://heartofcode.org/
A hackerspace for women. They offer different workshops,
events and a warm community.
Upcoming events:
http://heartofcode.org/kalender
Link: http://www.geekettes.io/
A warm community for all kinds of women in tech.
You won't necessarily find a lot of programming themed workshops,
but it's a great meeting point for looking beyond the specifics
of a job and scouting for new opportunities, getting contacts in the
enterpreneurship scene in Berlin, landing a job, etc.
If you request membership you get added to a very vibrat Facebook group
that's worth filling the form.
Geekettes was my first organisation I joined when I moved to Berlin
and they helped me find a job by publishing this:
http://www.geekettes.io/blog/2014/3/11/spotlight-tamara-atanasoska.
Absolutely grateful forever!
I am sure all of this looks a bit daunting. I really recommend signing up to a RailsGirls or DjangoGirls or any similar workshop and start from there. Learning alone is tough. Join facebook groups, meet people in real life if you are lucky, show up at some of the meetups if the time and circumstances permit that.
Go places you deserve it! You can apply for free conference tickets here: https://diversitytickets.org/
Some unconventional learning resourses:
- These are some very nicely explained computer concepts. Also very very pretty. You won't regret clicking or reading: https://shop.bubblesort.io/
- I love Julia Evan's learning zines: https://wizardzines.com/. This one about the joy of learning is so on spot and you want to read it: https://jvns.ca/wizard-zine.pdf
I will stop here because there is a endless list of these. Just wanted to show you how beautiful and approachable learning computers is when made by other women! It doesn't have to be dry and scary. You can do this.