5 weeks hired… wtf have I done?

Firstly apologies for the clickbait-style title. This isn’t an essay of regret at becoming a software engineer, (though most people who know me, know I’ve some regrets about how I got here), it’s more of a literal, “what have I done”kinda thing. But you’re here right? So my ploy worked!

Why?

I know, I know, “oh christ, not another junior dev with blog”… I hear you. I thought the same and I’ve fucking written it. If you want to know the why, read this bit, otherwise skip. Since finishing bootcamp, I’ve had a number of current students reach out to me asking about my experience, how I landed the job I have, how things work post-course and even just asking to see my CV. I was a bit surprised because I’d be the last person you’d recommend speaking to if you need to remain positive about doing a bootcamp, but the world’s a funny place and I’m a people-pleaser. I’ve since popped to a few alumni meetups, to see if there’s any help or advice I can offer to those in the same trenches I found myself just a few short months ago, and thought maybe a little blog post here and there might be a great way to share the mental wealth. (Not financial, because Coopdog needs new Kong balls and I don’t think Pets at Home accept payment in kidneys.)

What have I learnt?

Short answer, a fuck ton.

Long answer… that a bootcamp will give you some great fundementals but my god, a To-Do list CRUD application does not compare in anyway shape or form, to full-scale marketing applications for some of the world’s leading automotive brands.

You don’t have to worry about that though — if you’ve just finished a bootcamp and are stepping into your first role as engineer or developer, it is highly unlikely you’re going to be expected to start independently knocking out features, for brands your Mum buys in her three hour trips to John Lewis. Instead you’re going to be expected to learn, learn and learn.

For five weeks now, that’s been my main focus. I’m incredibly fortunate to be working with such a supportive, encouraging group of people, in a relaxed and communicative environment. Perfect conditions for absorbing the vast amount of knowledge I need, to give 100% to each and every ticket I take on.

“That’s very nice for you Hayley, but where’s the bit to help me?”

So what tools and technologies have I been learning, and knowing what I do today, how would I apply that to my studying post-bootcamp, pre-job?

Most bootcamp students have some exposure to JavaScript, wether that’s the main focus of the course, or just a topic that’s briefly covered. The main code I’m now writing is in TypeScript and React. So in hindsight the first thing I’d do is expand on my JavaScript fundementals and then move on to those two, as they essentially build upon existing knowledge and don’t require me to start from scratch. TypeScript is used across both back and frontend too, so it’s a double-whammy.

“But wait, that’s for your role. I’m not necessarily going to get a job using those.”

Couldn’t agree with you more, and deciding what to learn, research and cry over was another thing that caused me a lot of stress and worry once my course was over. However, there’s an equally strong argument that by not committing to learning one or two things well enough, you only learn breadcrumbs of everything. I’d feel way better going confidently into one interview, than struggling through four!

What you choose to learn will ultimately depend on where your interest and focus lies, but if like me you aren’t feeling headstrong on committing to either back or frontend solely, then I think learning these two is a great way to cover full-stack.

“Alright, it can’t be that simple. What else could I be learning?”

When creating projects in bootcamp, we don’t necessarily consider the huge commercial scale of things like data storage, and how we access that data, security, design, (and a bunch of stuff I can’t remember right now ), because our projects are minute in comparison. So I’d recommend looking into some of the following:

(Note: I’m sure there’s a variety of options for these things, but these are what I’ve been looking at)

• DynamoDB — Databases
• GraphQL — Data fetching
• ElasticSearch — Search and analytics
• OWASP — Understanding security considerations
• AWS — As a whole, there’s so much here it’s unreal
• Tailwind / GSAP / Ant / Figma— Frontend design and animation

“Where the hell do I start with all this?”

Again, all these approaches and tools are specific to me, but in terms of study I’ve found that time blocking helps. Set a schedule / timetable for each thing you want to tackle and try to stick to it. If you get frustrated or lost, don’t bin it off, just switch your schedule around and keep your mind fresh.

In my situation, and subsequently the context of the above tools and code, I would start with tackling TypeScript and React, and break it up with bits of the other stuff. Even if you’re just reading and understanding how they work as opposed to competently using them yet (spoiler: I am definitlely not doing that!), then it’s another thing you bring to the table when interviewing.

“I haven’t yet had project experience working with GraphQL, but I’ve spent some time reading through the docs and I understand that it’s a query language and server-side runtime, that’s efficient in its fetching of data for APIs because it returns only the specific data required by the client. I’m keen to learn more and see its benefits in a commercial environment.”

sounds a hell of a lot better than “No, I’ve heard of it though.”

Where do I learn this stuff?

I’ve been using Udemy and Codecademy for TypeScript and React and going through the individual software’s learning materials and docs for the rest, which can be found on their respective websites. Some of them have some great ‘Getting Started’ sections, with sandboxes and mini-projects.

You’ll know how to access courses on Codecademy, but here’s some links to some of the Udemy courses I’ve been doing which have been super helpful. (Tip: All three of these are available on the Udemy subscription, so you can do a 7 day free trial and then subscribe for £26 a month if you want to carry on without buying the courses individually)

React — https://www.udemy.com/course/the-ultimate-react-course/

TypeScript — https://www.udemy.com/course/nestjs-the-complete-developers-guide/

TailwindCSS — https://www.udemy.com/course/tailwind-from-scratch/

The rest you can just google and head to their websites! A concept you’re no doubt familiar with thanks to the endless console error logs you’ve encountered on your coding journey so far!

“So, what am I actually doing?”

For those of you interested in what I’m actually doing, the first ticket I’ve been given is to redesign the company website….

Nope, I’m not joking.

But I’ll tell you this — it’s hard, it’s dead exciting and I’m learning a bunch of technical and soft skills every single day because of it. I know not everyone will have the same supportive and patience-filled experience that I am having, but I’m immensely grateful for it and it would be wrong not to acknowledge that. So Pete and Graham, if you’re reading this — 👋🏻 the website will be done in 18 months.

That’s it for my inaugral blog post, lunch is over and I better get a move on if this website is ever going to see the light of day. If you‘ve read this and think it’s a pile of shit… soz-not-soz, but if you’re a bootcamper or entering the world of tech and think I can help you in anyway, drop me a line! Will gladly take suggestions on what to write about next time too 😊