The Post-Bootcamp Job Hunt: Memoirs of Rejection, Mentorship and Leveling Up Coding Skills — Part 2
More job applications, more rejections, and more skills — job hunt week 3.
Updates
First, I’d like to say I appreciate those of you who took the time to read my first article in this series — especially those who took time to connect and share your experiences. It means a lot to get feedback and know that I’m not alone in this quest — so thank you.
Jobs.
Last week I mentioned completing an at-home coding assessment as the first step in pursuit of a full-stack position for which I applied. At the time of writing I had completed the assessment, but hadn’t received a response.
Well, I didn’t get the job, nor was I called back for an interview.
What I did receive, however, was some decent feedback on what I did well, as well as what I could have done to perform better. Essentially, they liked my approach to the hypothetical back-end problem, but because I didn’t get far in the second section they were unable to continue with the process. The details aren’t very important here — the lesson is that every opportunity to challenge oneself is a learning experience. I’ve found that even when I don’t get the exact result I want, I’m provided with some valuable information with which to grow as a developer and candidate.
I also completed eight more applications, and received two more rejections. While the rejections are never fun, it’s just part of it. The thing I’m trying to focus on is making them tell me “no”— and that includes sometimes applying to positions for which the qualifications seem outside my ability. But regardless of the outcome, I know I will learn from the process.
Networking
Taking proactive steps to reach out to company contacts has led to me creating relationships with some awesome people, with great advice and a willingness to provide additional resources for the job hunt. The contact that I mentioned in my previous article has continued to keep in touch and offer more helpful resources, all unsolicited. Over the past week I’ve heard from two other contacts who were willing to provide valuable insight from their own experience, as well as point me to others who share my interests.
I was also given the opportunity by one of my GA instructors to share my experiences with his current cohort. This was a great chance to look back and see how far I’ve come in such a short amount of time. I went from knowing nothing about coding to being able to articulate to others how I’m approaching more advanced concepts and using my free time to get better as a developer. It also felt good to be able to encourage others and offer helpful advice on making it through the bootcamp process — because it isn’t easy.
Leveling Up
But perhaps the most important thing other than actually applying to jobs that I’ve been doing is continuing to gain new skills as a developer. I completed part one of the React Native course I was working on, and I’m really eager to complete part two.
Part one focused on utilizing React Native’s built-in components, creating custom, re-useable components, as well as implementing third-party APIs such as Formik, Yup and Expo to create cleaner code that truly is DRY within the context of mobile development.
What’s really fun about mobile development is getting to implement elements of the UI that you personally use on a daily basis into your own projects. I really can’t wait to refactor my React.js projects into mobile — and with this course, I really feel prepared to do it, and do it well.
Check out some screen shots below of the components I built as part of Code with Mosh’s React Native course. Next week, I hope to complete the advanced concepts section and will post a video demo of the completed app.
The code-along for the course is great because the project UI that you end up building is really beautiful and intuitive. The primary focus throughout part one of the course is making each component as modular and re-useable as possible.
There really are so many concepts covered such as:
- Setting up the mobile workflow with Expo, simulators for iOS and Android, as well as accessing the application on your personal mobile device
- Installing all the relevant dependencies
- React Native components
- Creating Custom components
- Using React Native Stylesheets
- Implementing Permissions for Camera, Camera Roll and Location
- Pull/Swipe Refresh
- Swiping Delete
- Creating a style index file to minimize repeating code and store color palette
- Organizing the file structure to separate Screens from Components
- Using Formik to handle form state and minimize TextInput components
- Using Yup for form validation
- Using Platform for consistency across iOS and Android devices
- Using Expo libraries to access vector icons
The Edit Listing screen below was the most interesting part of the build so far, as it has comparatively dynamic functionality. The form utilizes validation for all the input fields, camera roll permissions to add photos, alerts to confirm deleting photos, and a picker component with sleek UI elements used to select the item category.
Below is the messages screen where users can communicate about listing information and price negotiations. It uses Swipeable components to handle deleting messages.
Organizing components and implementing naming systems is a key emphasis. Note that there are several components with “App” as a prefix. This denotes that this is the customized version of the component — usually with default styles added and specific props.
Below is the screens list. This is a common practice in mobile development — creating screens with customized components, and keeping them separated in the file structure.
Moving Forward
This coming week I will try to get another ten applications done, as well as follow up on the company contacts that I’ve made and applications that were submitted early in the process with no feedback.
In addition to completing the second part of the React Native course, I’ll begin Mosh’s data structures and algorithms course to sharpen those skills for interviews. For fun, I want to build some small projects using the p5.js library. I’ve been watching some videos from the YouTube Channel “The Coding Train” that implement p5, and the animated effects you can achieve with that library seem like a really interesting way to blend my art, music and coding skills in some creative ways.
Thank you again for joining me on this journey toward employment in the tech industry. While it is a grind, it’s also been rewarding. Like I said last week, please keep in touch via LinkedIn. I’d love to hear about what you’re working on, your job hunting strategies, how you’re staying motivated, and any pointers you can offer about mobile development or development in general. As always, if there is anything I can do to offer help in any capacity, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Until next week…
Happy Hacking.
PS — Here’s a link to the Github repo for my build for the React Native course. If you want to check out the code and offer tips, I’d love feedback.
