Episode 045 – Alex Riviere – is a self-taught developer that never went to college. After high school he worked many different jobs in art including production assistant, production coordinator, lighting designer and technician. During that time he taught himself how to code. Today he does frontend development using Vue.js. Alex is very active in the community where he is the co-organizer of the Atlanta VueJS meetup and the PyAtl Meetup.

Alex talks about how he transitioned from working in theatre arts to becoming a self taught developer. He also talks about diversity and inclusion and tech and what can be done to improve in this area.

Mentioned in this episode

Stack Overflow – Stack Overflow is an open community for anyone that codes. We help you get answers to your toughest coding questions, share knowledge with your coworkers in private, and find your next dream job.

Cold Brew Coffee – Stone Street Coffee Cold Brew Reserve Colombian Single Origin Coarsely Ground Coffee – 1 lb. Bag – Dark Roast

Cold Brew Coffee Maker – Takeya 10310 Patented Deluxe Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker with Airtight Lid & Silicone Handle, 1 Quart

Alex Riviere

Alex Riviere is a self-taught developer. He is active in the community and runs the Atlanta VueJS and Python meetup groups.

Episode 044 – Sarrah Vesselov – has a degree in Computer Animation. Several years ago she graduated from a coding bootcamp at The Iron Yard. Sarrah is very active in the community – she founded the Women Who Code Tampa chapter and was a chapter leader for Girl Develop It. Today she specializes in UX design and UI Development. Sarrah talks about her experiences as a UX/UI Designer in tech.

Sarrah is a frequent speaker at tech conferences worldwide. She is also an author of the book “Building Design Systems.”

Mentioned in this episode

Building Design Systems – Sarrah’s book which will show you how to build a design system framed within the context of your specific business needs.

Sketch – With an intuitive vector editor, lightning fast prototyping and powerful collaboration tools, Sketch has everything you need to turn your ideas into incredible products.

Invision – The digital product design platform powering the world’s best user experiences.

Figma – Design, prototype, and collaborate all in the browser—with Figma.

Sarrah Vesselov

A UX professional, speaker, and author with over 10 years of experience in design, development, and management. Sarrah speaks at conferences around the world on the topics of user experience and front-end development. Author.

Episode 043 – Getting Your Second Job in Tech. – In our previous episodes we talked about how to get your first job in tech. Then in two episodes we talked about what you can expect in your first year in tech. Today we are talking about how to get your second job in tech. Your first job in tech is an opportunity to apply your new tech skills and to broaden your knowledge. There are many companies looking for employees that have that level of experience you have garnered in your first job. So how do you go about getting the attention of those companies? Today we show you how to get your second job in tech.

Mentioned in this episode

How to get your first job in tech – previous podcast episode that shows you how to get your first job in tech .

Months 1-6 on your first job – previous episode that talks about what it will be like in your first 6 months on your first job in tech.

Months 6-12 on your first job – previous episode that talks about what it will be like for the latter part of your first year in your first job in tech.

Episode 042 – Jana Hart – is a graduate of Georgia Tech with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. Since graduating she has worked for various companies doing computer development. Today she specializes in mobile development primarily iOS development. I have had the privilege of working with Janna and excited for her to join us today and talk about the world of mobile development.

Jana talks about being a mobile developer and why that is a great area for anyone to learn about tech. More importantly she shares how to get started and talks about the different programming languages available for mobile development and why you should use each one.

Mentioned in this episode

Swift: The Complete Guide for Beginners – Have you ever wanted to learn how to build IOS apps but don’t know where to start? This book will help you get started.

Mastering Xamarin Forms – Discover how to extend and build upon the components of the Xamarin.Forms toolkit to develop effective, robust mobile app architecture.

React Native Cookbook – Explore ways to use iOS and Android for React Native development to maximize code reuse and cohesion.

Jana Hart

Jana has been writing software for over 25 years, where recently she has been focusing on mobile applications, including connected devices and IoT.

Episode 041 – Adrianna Valadivia – graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College with a BS degree in Information Technology Software Development. While a student she did a software engineering internship at MailChimp. After graduation she spent a year in the Apprenticeship program at Polar Notion. This program allowed her to work on a dozen different projects where she specialized in frontend development using React, React Native and Ruby on Rails. She recently left that position to work at the company voted the #1 place to work in Atlanta where she works as a UI Engineer. Adrianna is a member of Women Who Code Atlanta’s leadership team as an Evangelist. She was responsible for all the social media for Women Who Code Atlanta which is an amazing feat since Women Who Code Atlanta is one of the top 10 chapters in the world. She is a speaker at tech conferences.

Adrianna talks about being a mother and what impact that has had on her career. Hint: it is possible to be a mother and be very successful in tech. She talks a bout her internship as her first job in tech. From there she talks about how she found her second position in tech.

Adrianna Valadivia

Adrianna is a UI Engineer at SalesLoft, Atlanta’s #1 Best Place to Work, has previously worked at at an agency building various web and mobile apps in React, React Native, and Ruby on Rails and has interned at MailChimp. She is also part of the Women Who Code Atlanta Leadership team as an Evangelist. She is a public speaker that shares her knowledge on leadership, career, and different React related technologies. Outside of her professional and volunteer work in the Atlanta tech community, Adrianna spends her time keeping up with her 5 yr old son.

Episode 040 – Months 6-12 On The Job – Now that you have survived your first six months in your first job in tech, we talk about what the final half of your first year will be like. You will start to feel comfortable with your newly learned skills. We share some great ways to improve your skills and how you can start taking ownership and control of areas.

We talk about the transition from not just learning to being an active contributor to your team at work. The biggest challenge is not speaking up when you think you have an opinion on how something can be done or how to fix an issue. It is not unusual for a Senior Developer to have spent so much time on a code base that she does not realize how simple a solution can be and we as junior developers can bring that perspective.

Mentioned in this episode

Months 1-6 on your first job – previous episode that talks about what it will be like in your first 6 months on your first job in tech.

How to get your first job in tech – previous podcast episode that shows you how to get your first job in tech .

Episode 039 – Jennifer Gionfriddo – graduated from Kennesaw State University with a degree in biochemistry. After graduating Jennifer found herself in a position developing and implementing direct marketing campaigns at BMW. Thus the beginning of her journey into tech. From there Jennifer learned about search engine optimization (SEO), Search engine marketing (SEM) and pay per click (PPC) advertising. She improved her skills by obtaining many certifications like Google AdWords and Google Analytics She is now a leader in digital medial. She recently worked for Stanley Black & Decker where she was responsible for managing millions of dollars in digital media promotions. She is now a senior marketing manager at CBS interactive in California.

Mentioned in this episode

Google Adwords Certification App – s a professional accreditation that Google offers to individuals who demonstrate proficiency in basic and advanced aspects of Google Ads.

Google Academy for Ads – provides fast and easy training from Google to help you succeed with Google ads

Google Analytics Academy – helps you learn about Google’s measurement tools so that you can grow your business through intelligent data collection and analysis.

Facebook Blueprint – recognizes advanced-level proficiency with Facebook’s family of products and services.

Jennifer Gionfriddo

Jennifer Gionfriddo is an expert in digital marketing. She does digital media promotion using various channels like Adwords, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email and direct marketing. She has worked for major companies like Stanley Black & Decker and CBS where she was responsible for managing millions of dollars in digital media promotion.

Episode 038 – Ronique Young – is a graduate of Spelman College with a BS degree in Computer Science. After graduating she got a job working for AT&T as a Jr. Developer. After working for a year or two with AT&T she was promoted. Unfortunately she had to drop out of the workforce because her brother was in the military and she needed to help our her sister in law and niece. She spent two years helping out. Recently she re-entered the workforce through a returnship program and is working at NBC Universal.

Mentioned in this episode

The Organized Mind – Ronique’s teacher told her the students who get PHds at times are not necessarily the smartest but they are always the most organized. This book will help you get organized in your life.

How to Talk to Anyone – Ronique recommends that you are organized in our life.

Cracking the Coding Interview – this book will help you prepare for the coding interview.

Ronique Young

Ronique Young is currently a software engineer at NBCUniversal where her primary focus is on backend development. When she’s not punching the clock Ronique enjoys spending time with her loving family, listening to music, or helping others who are new to the tech field. Currently, she’s a new resident to the NJ/NY area. Feel free to reach out to her about anything at any time!

Episode 037 – First Six Months On The Job – this is part 2 of our four-part series on getting your first job in tech and what to expect on that job. Want to know what to expect on your first day on your first job in tech? We share our first hand experiences with you. We also share what your first month and even your first six months will be like on your first job in tech. Let us help you prepare for your first job in tech.

Mentioned in this episode

Get Your First Job in Tech – Part 1 of our series that shows you how to get your first job in tech.

Episode 036 – Mehul Patel – was studying chemistry in college when he decided to drop out. He had always tinkered with computers and decided to attend a coding bootcamp. He moved to California to attend Hack Reactor’s coding bootcamp. After graduating, he and two of his classmates went to work in SF for a startup that had graduated Y Combinator. These friends became very active in Angular frontend framework and eventually they created server side rendering for Angular. This became known as Angular Universal and eventually Google folded this product in the Angular source code. Not too long ago Mehul moved back to Georgia and currently works as a Senior Software Engineer at Stanley Black & Decker.

Mentioned in this episode

ZocDoc App – allows you to find doctors and dentists in your area and be able to search by your insurance. Makes it easy to book an appointment.

Algorithms Illuminated – When interviewing you need to know algorithms and data structures.

Mehul Patel

Mehul Patel went from unemployed and homeless to attending a coding bootcamp. He helped write the Angular Universal code to provide server-side rendering in Angular. Today he is a Senior Software Engineer.