The Virtual Coffee Podcast

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Shelley McHardy, a former chemistry teacher turned front end developer at Rightpoint, and talked about the early career developer's journey. She gave insight into what her seven-month interview process looked like, forcing interviewers to interview you, the importance of finding "your people", and being picky in your job search.

Links:

• edX
• Collab Lab
• PLCs- Professional learning communities

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About Shelley

Shelley is a former chemistry teacher turned front end developer at Rightpoint. A native San Franciscan, she is currently doing her best to stay cool in Atlanta, Georgia. When not crocheting, she and her wife love hiking the Georgia State Parks, geocaching, cooking, baking, and video games.

• GitHub: @shelleymcq
• Twitter @shelleymcqDev
• LinkedIn shelleymchardy

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Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

In today's episode, Bekah and Dan talk to Ryan Kahn, a developer experience and productivity consultant from New York City, about his work as a consultant helping companies to build better software teams. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing that teams are made up of individuals who have different needs and approaches. He also breaks down the difference between quality, technical, knowledge, and innovation debt and the need to identify which most impacts teams as they seek better communication to build a stronger team.

Links:

• ADR GitHub organization
• Oblique Strategies

About Ryan

Ryan loves solving the human and technical problems of software development, and works on both as a developer experience and productivity consultant. He lives in New York City with his partner, daughter, and dog. Outside of his work he loves Astronomy and Amateur Radio.

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Julia Seidman, a technical marketing consultant and developer in the Seattle area, and talked about her work writing about different technologies, learning by teaching, and embracing the careen over the career. She talks about her career journey from studying anthropology to financial analysis to teaching high school English, ESL and Debate, before landing her current role as a technical writer.

Links

• Krugerrand
• Gold Doubloons
• Rhodium
• Flutter
• Developer Marketing Does Not Exist

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About Julia

Julia Seidman is a technical marketing consultant and developer in the Seattle area. She has 2 terrific kids and a wonderful partner, and her family cos-plays as a “normal” family.

Julia is a believer in the careen, rather than the career.

After studying anthropology and writing a senior thesis on the ethics of museum collections of human skeletal remains, she took the job she could get, which was fundraising for a hospital.

From there, she became a financial analyst and employee educator for 401(k) and pension plans. After that, she got a Master’s in Teaching, and taught high school English, ESL and Debate for most of a decade.

Now, she works as a freelance technical writer and software developer, specializing in technical content marketing.

Along the way, she has learned a lot about a lot of things, including the Python ecosystem.

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Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

In today's episode, Bekah and Dan talk to Chad Stewart, a Software Engineer from Kingston, Jamaica, about his journey into contributing to Open Source projects like Open Sauced and how to find your way to your first contribution. He shares the inspiration behind his #TechIsHiring project, which helps to identify tech jobs and resources, but more importantly, to connect people in the wider tech community.

Links

• My Side of the Mountain
• Brian Douglas, aka Bdougie
• Open Sauced
• Tech Interview Handbook
• The Algorithms
• Ayu
• Tech is Hiring
• Virtual Coffee Contributors Guide

About Chad

Software Engineer from Kingston, Jamaica. Founder of TechIsHiring.

• @Chad_R_Stewart on Twitter

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Sadie a frontend developer for a federal agency, to chat about her experience navigating the interview process and how she found success after giving tech a second shot. She shares tips on how to avoid burnout both during the interview process and while you're working in tech.

Links:

• 18f
• Skill Crush
• Leet Code Challenge
• Jennifer's List of Interview Questions
• Technical Test Preparation Advice post by Sadie
• Words of Mouth job email
• US Web Design Standards
• Jekyll

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About Sadie

Sadie is a Front-end Developer and bootcamp alum. In 2016, Sadie started her journey into tech with web design courses. Along the way, she graduated with a Masters specializing in Web Design and Online Communication, taught yoga, searched for cheap flights at a travel startup, volunteered as a writer and proofreader for various non-profits, and contributed to a number of open source projects. Outside of coding and writing, Sadie can be found petting her cat Maxie, hanging out with her mom, or looking up the next vegan restaurant to check out.

• Sadie's Portfolio Site
• @sadiejay on GitHub
• @sadiej on LinkedIn

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Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

For the 50th episode of the podcast, Dan and Bekah are live at the Kansas City Developer Conference 2022 answering listener questions and practicing their accents.

Check out the video version on YouTube!

Listener questions:

• What time do you go to sleep? (2:19)
• How does a computer get drunk? (12:42)
• What's the hardest part of community? (22:20)
• Ayu would like to hear the history of how Virtual Coffee was founded. (31:57)
• What does community mean to you? (38:01)
• At in-person events, what are some techniques or tactics you used for starting a conversation with a stranger? (41:00)

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

The Virtual Coffee Podcast is produced by Dan Ott and Bekah Hawrot Weigel and edited by Dan Ott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

In today's episode, Dan and Bekah talk with Seth Hall about the importance of intimate collaboration, advocating for yourself, and transferable skills as part of his job as a Technical Product Owner at Uniform. He shares how his background as a creative producer informs how he guides demo initiatives, creates roadmaps, and collaborates with other departments.

About Seth

Seth is a Technical Product Owner at Uniform

• Website: sethhall.dev
• Dev.to: dev.to/sethburtonhall
• Polywork: polywork.com/sethhall
• Twitter: @sethburtonhall
• GitHub: @sethburtonhall

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Bogdan Covrig, a Software Engineer in the Netherlands who's into Typescript, React and Node, about navigating different learning and career paths in tech before landing a job that fulfills his interests to see the changes he's making and provides a dynamic work environment. He also drops his tips on the most important things you can do if you're starting your journey into tech.

Links

• p5.js
• Arduino
• Twitch TypeScript Tuesdays
• Nick and Bekah's Lunch & Learn Coding questions: Problem-solving and working through challenges

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with David Alpert, Director of Engineering at Northfield IT, about taking a personalized approach to helping others as they ask coding questions and navigate career paths. David shares the importance of bringing empathy to every situation and gives tips on how to handle challenging situations.

Links:

• Logo (the programming turtle)
• Virtual Coffee Co-Working Room
• The Agile Manifesto
• Typescript Tuesdays

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About David

David Alpert is a collaborative leader and agile coach striving to reduce friction between people and software. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, David has over 20 years of professional IT experience in software development, system design, and project and people management spanning the finance, manufacturing, and sports entertainment industries. David is passionate about test-driven development, refactoring, pair programming, and helping people become better developers.

• Website: Spin the Moose
• Twitter: @davidalpert
• GitHub: davidalpert

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Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

In this episode of the podcast, Bekah, Kirk, and Dan discuss the decision to pause new membership and what the maintainers are doing to progress towards opening the community up again. We share what we think makes our community special, how we're working to preserve that, and some of the challenges we're figuring out as we take steps towards reopening membership. What goes into the long-term strategy of making Virtual Coffee an intimate group of devs, optimized for you? You'll find out in this episode.

Links:

• DX Ball
• Omega Virus
• Othello
• virtualcoffee.io/members
• Virtual Coffee Paths to Leadership
• Suze Shardlow
• Dunbar's Number

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About Kirk Shillingford

Software Developer, and Community Maintainer at Virtual Coffee.

• @KirkCodes on Twitter
• @tkshill on GitHub

About Bekah Hawrot Weigel

Front-end developer, and Org Maintainer at Virtual Coffee.

• dev.to/bekahhw
• @bekahhw on Twitter
• bekahhw on Instagram

About Dan Ott

Front-end developer, and Org Maintainer at Virtual Coffee.

• dtott.com
• @danieltott on Twitter

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Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott