3. About us
We train developers and data scientists
through 1-on-1 mentorship and career
prep programs
4. What is “tech”?
Tech isn’t just one industry anymore — it’s the new
business model. Every company is now a tech
company.
5. “Software is eating the world”
“More and more major businesses and
industries are being run on software and
delivered as online services — from movies to
agriculture to national defense. Many of the
winners are Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurial
technology companies that are invading and
overturning established industry structures.
Over the next 10 years, I expect many more
industries to be disrupted by software, with new
world-beating Silicon Valley companies doing
the disruption in more cases than not.”
- Marc Andreeson, WSJ, 2011
6. Some examples
• Largest retailer => Amazon
• Best movie production => Pixar
• Biggest media => Facebook & Google
• Most popular entertainment => Netflix
7. Goldman Sachs
• Lloyd Blankfein, CEO
• “Goldman Sachs is a
Technology Firm”
• 9,000 out of 33,000
employees are on tech
team
8. The good news
By 2020, there will be 1.4M computer science jobs and only
400,000 C.S. grads with the skills to apply for those jobs
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
9. The implications for jobs
• Increased demand in for technical skills
• Creation of new “software plus” jobs
• Diffusion of tech organizational culture, roles,
and processes
10. One such process — career trajectory
Junior sales
Account
executive
Sales Manager
VP Sales!
11. In “tech” career trajectories are varied
Full stack developer
Front-end developer
Back-end developer
QA developer
12. In “tech” career trajectory are varied
Full stack developer
Front-end developer
Back-end developer
QA developer
DevOps
Product developer
Growth hacker
Reliability engineer
Architect
Manager / team lead
13. Goals for tonight
• Define common first jobs
• Career trajectories after the first job
• Tips for breaking in
14. First jobs
• Frontend developer
• Backend developer
• Full-stack developer
• QA developer
19. Next step: Senior Developer
Everything that came before with the ability to estimate
your work accurately, handle challenging problems with
less support, and add support for junior colleagues
21. Product Manager (Coding + Product)
Turn business goals into product requirements. Work
with designers & developers to deliver — measure
success
Skills & Tools
• Customer research
• Customer development
• User stories
• Wireframes
• Project management
• Analytics
22. Growth Hacker (Coding + Marketing)
Design & implement experiments to drive customer
acquisition and engagement
Skills & Tools
• Rapid prototyping
• Analytics
• Communication
23. Sales Engineer (Coding + Sales)
Sell complex technical product by helping customer
understand how it works and how they’ll use it
Skills & Tools
• Communication
• Customer support
24. Data Scientist (Coding + Data)
Use statistics and programming to find valuable insights
from extremely large datasets
Skills & Tools
• Curiosity
• Statistics
• Analytics
• Machine Learning
25. The Good News
• Massive shortages in tech industry
• Hiring is based on skills, not credentials
• Anyone can learn with a growth mindset
26. 1M unfilled tech jobs by 2020
By 2020, there will be 1.4M computer science jobs available
and only 400,000 computer science grads with the skills to
apply for those jobs
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
29. Anyone can learn how to code
Students with a growth mindset - the belief that intelligence is
not just something that you are born with - have higher levels of
success. Neural connections grow and become stronger the
more you struggle with learning and correct your mistakes.
Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University
30. How to get in the door?
• Learn the skills
• Build a portfolio of high quality work
• Develop a relevant network
• Prep for technical interviews
32. Building your portfolio
• Find a niche (based on your background)
• Build a personal website
• Get your portfolio on GitHub
• Try and find contract work
• Have professionals guide & review your work
33. Networking the right way
• 80% of job openings are never advertised
• 120 average applicants per job posted
• 20% get an interview
*https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/26/why-every-job-seeker-should-have-a-personal-
website-and-what-it-should-include/#578fbf6f119e
34. Networking the right way
• Cold applications suck!
• Figure out what you want (size, industry, role, etc)
• Reach out to someone that works at company
• Ask them about their work, genuine interest, build
a relationship
• Eventually (1-2 months in), ask for referral
35. Tech recruiters
• Tech recruiters serve as your agent
• Can leverage their relationships to arrange
interviews
• They are incentivized to find you a job
• You might get less say in where, but are helpful
• Can be great in getting you feedback
43. Try us out!
• Initial 2-week trial
includes six mentor
sessions for $50
• Learn HTML/CSS and
JavaScript
• Option to continue
onto web
development
bootcamp
• Talk to me (or email
jasjit@thinkful.com) if
you’re interested