2. About Me
Jeff Newburn
Been a software developer for over 10 years
Love Programming
No normal pictures of me
3. About Me + Zappos
Jeff Newburn
Joined 4.5 years ago
Helped build the search engineering team
Developed classes for our corporate training team
Became “The Professor” a year ago
5. HIRING IN LAS VEGAS
Most people think of this -----------
6. HIRING IN LAS VEGAS
Small but growing tech community
Lower cost of living = Lower Salary
Highly competitive talent market
Results in difficult position fulfillment
7. THE IDEA
Another company faced with same challenge
Wanted to see if there was non-traditional talent
8. THE IDEA – WHAT IF?
What if passion can make up for experience?
What if computer programming is as much of an art as science?
9. THE PLAN
15-18 people with basic programming skills
Screen with a programming challenge
We pay them
6 weeks total
2 weeks of broad learning
1 week of specialization
3 weeks of mentor lead project work
Find a couple to hire
10. LET’S DO THIS
Mid April Decision made for July class
Application process opens May 1st
Deadline May 31st
11. PANIC NOW
May 31st 9am
Application Count: 1
May 31st 12pm
Application Count: 3
May 31st 9pm:
Application Count: 13
June 1st 12am:
Application Count: 33
12. PEOPLE ARE COMING
1 Month Left
Interview
Hire
Curriculum
Equipment
Organize mentors
14. DAY1
The Plan
• Morning Meet and Greet
• Paperwork
• Expectations
• Lunch
• Afternoon coding challenge and skills assessment
What actually happened
• Students got lost
• Paperwork session was 45 minutes late
• Every laptop had issues due to an imaging mishap
19. WEEK 3
• 2 Groups: Javascript and Java
• Intensive work in the areas
• Group programming
• Making curriculum as we went
20. LESSON 4
Have more than 1 teacher if at all possible
Instructors are human too
21. WEEK 4-6
Groups of 3-4 students
1 Front End Mentor
Real projects for Zappos
Mentors dedicated 1 hour per day and 4 hours on Friday
1 Back End Mentor
22. LESSON 5
Nothing tops intentional, dedicated mentorship
No amount of teaching accelerates learning as much as a mentor
23. LAST WEEK
Let them know they would be presenting to business owners
Great source of amusement for instructors
Allowed for overtime
Created a sense of ownership and purpose
25. LAST DAY
Planned 4 hour outing for celebration
Went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay
Shark Reef only takes 45 minutes to go through
Were stranded for 3 hours and 15 minutes
27. OUR RESULTS
We hired 6 of the 13 people
2 got internships in local startups
1 returned to their job and received a larger role in the organization
Program did so well results were presented to the board
28. I AM A SMALL COMPANY
SHOULD I DO THIS?
Of Course!
Good source of talent
Great way to get known
Simply scale down if needed
29. I AM A BIG COMPANY
WHY DO THIS?
Excellent opportunity for existing employees
Gives back to the community
Creates loyalty for those hired
