Episode 9 - You're Hired! Now What?? With Josh Kilgore

In this episode we explore what it’s like to walk in to a new role as a junior dev and start on the right foot. We’ll touch on making impressions, staying thirsty to learn, navigating the onboarding process, and meeting the team.

We’re excited to introduce our first guest on the show, Josh Kilgore! Josh is a career transitioner, having earned a law degree and working as an attorney for several years, before enrolling in Nashville Software School and diving into a new career in web development.

He recently started his first role as a junior software developer since completing the NSS program.

You can find Josh on LinkedIn and his personal portfolio site is joshkilgore.com.

2:30 – Sharpening the Tools

Erin has been learning technologies and processes at her new job, so self-learning has taken a bit of a back seat. She’s hoping to get back into the iOS Development Track she’s been working through on Treehouse within the next week or so.

Dave attended a unit testing/test driven development training through work.

https://jrsinclair.com/articles/2016/gentle-introduction-to-javascript-tdd-intro/

Josh is sharpening all the tools, learning the technologies and processes at his new job, including test driven development.

8:58 – Opening the Toolbox

So you’ve landed and nailed the interview, and received and accepted the job offer! Congratulations! You’re stepping through the door on your first day….now what do you do?

9:52 – Josh talks a bit about his background on starting his career in law and how he found Nashville Software School and decided to make the transition to software development.

11:27 – “I’m part of the future, writing all these exciting things that are going to help shape the future of our world, and that’s the big draw to it, for me.”

12:50 – “I know everyone says this, but it really does come down to networking and perfect timing, and just putting yourself out there and making all the connections you can.”

13:33 – Josh’s day 1 thoughts on the new job: Awe. Why am I here? Where am I? Being hungry to learn.

15:22 – Erin’s first couple of days on the new job. She got to jump right in and observe the process that happens when a high priority production issue needs to be addressed. Requesting access, training on the application and various processes.

20:54 – “The reason that you or me or anyone is hired anywhere, especially as a junior or a newbie, is because they see potential. They understand that learning is going to take time, and as long as you continue to want to learn, you’ll be okay.”

33:53 – “It’s nice to have that connection. And if not a familiar face, at least a shared experience.”

37:07 – “Being able to communicate effectively is a huge part of this job. It’s not just the technical skills, but being able to ask questions and be able to express where any barriers are and that kind of thing.”

Takeaways From This Episode

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Starting a new job can be daunting, especially at the entry or junior level.

Be patient. Learning the business and processes will take time.

Stay hungry to learn, ask questions, make supportive connections at work.

Make sure to set clear goals and expectations from the start with your team and manager.

Thanks for listening, see you next time!

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