git hired -f “Women and Non-Binary People in Tech” — 3/7/2019
On March 7th 2019, I attended the git hired -f “Women and Non-Binary People in Tech” event in San Francisco at Google Community Space. The git hired -f event consisted of about an hour of lightning talks from industry professionals covering topics including negotiating, personal branding, tips on learning from bad interview and job search frustration, as well as getting the most out of mentorship for personal development. These talks were followed by resume reviews and interview practice sessions.
Lightning Talks
The following are some highlights from the lightning talks from the evening. I hope to share my takeaways with those who were unable to attend in person but find these topics relevant for your personal development.
Mentors won’t tell you what to do or hold your hand every step of the way. The mentor mentee relationship needs to be maintained. Share experiences. Position yourself to be open to criticism and ask questions.
“Learn, learn, learn, and learn some more” — Andrea Weaver
How do you find mentors? You can find mentors literally anywhere! Tap into resources around you. Get ideas and guidance and give back too!
Personal brand is like a feeling you give off to those around you.
Discover your personal brand by :
- exploring where you are now. Think about what communities you’re a part of and how you’re showing up within those communities.
- think about where you want to be.
3. Set intention for the skills you want and what you want to build!
There is no such thing as a bad interview! You can always gain experience and you may have just dodged a bullet
Know yourself and what you value. What’s important for you? You can all do it!
For most of us, job hunting is a tiring and daunting experience.
Motivate — Understand why you’re looking for a new job. What’s your motivation? Find it and use it to drive your job search.
Support — Make sure your support is there (i.e. friends and family) when things get rough because of rejections.
Process — Maximize your resources and ask for help. Look at alternatives other than LinkedIn when looking for hiring opportunities.
Tracking — Keep track of your interactions so you stay abreast of all the applications.
The end game — you will get the job that’s for you!! If you didn’t get it, you dodged a bullet!
Knowledge is power… and money! — Krystal Flores
Do your research so you know your worth! Learn how to negotiate using online resources. If the salary data online is old, add 15% to the number from your research.
Find your community around you. Define your community however you like. Your community could be your school, organizations that focus on serving women or underrepresented groups, professional groups that serve working individuals in a particular industry. You name it!
Why get involved? Because this isn’t just the tech community…it’s YOUR tech community!
Moreover, getting involved is easier than ever! There are plenty of platforms to get involved with your tech community online where you can contribute to discussions, attend events, donate your time as a volunteer, or even participate as a speaker at tech events!
BELIEVE that you belong in the tech community! — Bianca M. Curutan
Last But Not Least
This was my first git hired -f event and I highly recommend anyone who’s hoping to break into tech to RSVP to future git hired -f events. All of the lightning talks cover topics that were relatable to working professionals and the resume reviews and interview practice sessions were highly interactive.
You can check out the original Meetup event here to see more pictures from the event.
Interested in the lighting talks? You can also watch the livestream of the event here.
Join the Women Who Code SF Meetup group so you don’t miss out on future events!
Work In Progress is a platform where two women discuss transitions in life and career. Founded by twin sisters ✨and 💫. The Tech series contain our recap and learnings from attending tech and community events, as well as our take on building technical passion projects from our keyboard.
