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How To Ace The Technical Interview with Rhia Dixon
61:12 with Ryan CarsonWelcome to Tips and Tricks to Ace the Technical Interview. In this free event, software engineer Rhia Dixon will take attendees through different interview scenarios and demonstrate best practices for technical interviewing. Rhia regularly volunteers, mentors, and speaks about technology and remains passionate about helping the next generation of tech workers prepare for the workforce.
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[MUSIC]
0:00
Hello, everybody welcome to tips and
tricks to ace the technical interview.
0:04
I'm Dr. Toni Josato and I'm Chief Learning
& Operations Officer here at Treehouse.
0:10
Today I'm very excited to
welcome a phenomenal speaker all
0:16
the way from really my backyard
in Kansas City, Rhia Dixon.
0:21
Rhia is a software engineer at
a global brand experience agency,
0:27
where she creates
software applications for
0:32
clients using React, Python, AWS,
and a variety of other tech.
0:36
While she's always been a stem girl and
holds a BS in physics,
0:42
her journey to the world of tech
kicked off in the summer of 2017
0:46
during a full stack Web development
boot camp, interesting.
0:51
Rhia has immersed herself in the KC tech
community by volunteering as a mentor,
0:56
ambassador, and former diversity and
inclusion director for
1:02
Kansas City Women in Technology.
1:06
A nonprofit organization dedicated to
bring new women into technology together
1:08
and encouraging more women and
girls to pursue careers in technology.
1:14
Well, when she's not writing code,
or volunteering,
1:20
or speaking, Rhia is chasing the toddler,
snuggling the infant, and
1:23
Binge watching Marvel and
Harry Potter movies.
1:28
Or spending time making memories
with family and friends.
1:32
Please welcome Rhia.
1:36
>> Hi, Hey.
1:39
Hi, it is so glad to be back.
1:42
Thank you very much for the intro, Dr.
Toni, I really appreciate it.
1:45
I am thankful to Treehouse for
bringing me back one more time.
1:49
As Dr.
Toni let me know my name is Rhia Dixon.
1:55
I am a software engineer and
currently tech specialist at BMLY&R.
1:58
And I'm currently working on trying
to get some new websites developed
2:04
using some front-end tech and
new content management systems.
2:10
I am particularly passionate about getting
more people into the tech community,
2:15
into the tech space and
introducing under-represented and
2:21
under-served communities
to tech as a career.
2:26
Whether it's through coding, or
as an analyst, or any other of the vast,
2:29
vast numbers of career options
that are available in tech.
2:34
So coming to Treehouse is my kind
of thing to do because I really
2:38
enjoy the type of audience
that I have here today.
2:43
Today what you came here to see and
hear about are some tips and
2:47
tricks to ace the technical interview.
2:50
I want to start with a brief disclaimer.
2:52
There are some aspects that I'm gonna talk
to you about that I have not personally
2:55
had to experience because I have
left up and haven't had to do them.
2:59
But I have coached other people,
3:03
my mentees through going through
certain types of technical interviews,
3:05
like involving whiteboarding and
pair programming, and live coding.
3:10
So we'll jump into that in just a moment.
3:15
I'm gonna start off with talking a little
bit about a technical interview.
3:19
And if you have questions, please feel
free to throw your questions into the Q&A.
3:25
That's over on the side and I'll take
a look at it to get my questions so
3:33
I can interact with you
a little bit better.
3:38
So first, your technical interview.
3:41
A technical interview is a lot
like any other interview as far as
3:44
how it starts and things.
3:48
But what's happening during your technical
interview, typically this is happening
3:50
after your phone screening, and it could
be your first or your second interview.
3:56
The technical interview, what your
company is gonna be trying to figure out,
4:01
they're gonna be looking at your
knowledge, skills, and abilities, KSAs.
4:06
And trying to figure
out how much you know,
4:11
how comfortable you
are with what you know.
4:14
Are you able to adapt to
a particular type of environment?
4:17
And they wanna try to gauge how
you'll fit in with whichever team it
4:22
is that you're interviewing for.
4:27
The technical interview,
it typically has about
4:30
four different types of questions
that you might interact with.
4:34
One is behavioral type,
behavioral interview questions.
4:39
And those are more so asking personal.
4:43
What do you do?
4:47
What do you like about your role?
4:49
What are you looking for in a new role?
4:51
They're gonna also ask,
what were your duties before?
4:54
And if you prefer working in a team or
if you work better solo,
4:59
those are the types of behavioral
questions that you'll be asked.
5:02
And there's probably a whole lot more,
mind you,
5:06
I will mention Google so often because
Google is definitely your friend as
5:10
far as finding out particular types
of questions and how to solve them.
5:15
Another type of interview will
be your situational questions.
5:21
Your situational questions
are the hypotheticals.
5:25
That's where they'll say,
5:29
how would you go about doing this or
5:33
tell me about a time when you did x,
y, or z?
5:37
Another question that might pop
up in your situation they'll ask
5:43
you about how do you deal with things
that have been a challenge for you?
5:48
Such as having to overcome
a particular type of challenge, or
5:54
dealing with a particularly
challenging co-worker.
5:58
Those questions will come up
in a technical interview.
6:04
Another type of question that will
come up in your technical interview is
6:06
an education question.
6:10
So they're gonna to ask you,
how did you get to where you are?
6:11
They'll ask, what did you learn in school
or what did you learn in your program?
6:16
What was your favorite part of that, why?
6:21
Another thing that they
may ask you would be,
6:24
how do you keep up with
the latest trends in tech?
6:27
Because one thing that we know about tech
is that it's going to always be changing,
6:30
always evolving.
6:34
So they'll try to figure out how do
you keep up with the current trends?
6:35
They'll also ask you if you happen to
have any particular certifications.
6:39
That stuff that may be on your resume, but
6:42
you can always dive a little
bit deeper into it.
6:44
And the last type of questions,
I call those the show improve questions.
6:47
The show improve questions are where
you'll be able to think out loud and
6:52
showcase how you applied
the things that you've learned.
6:58
This may include things like programming
with a person, like pair programming.
7:03
You're at a computer with
another developer, and
7:08
you're working through an actual
problem that the company is facing,
7:11
or it may be evolve what's
called whiteboarding.
7:16
White boarding is another form of live
coding, sometimes it's on a computer but
7:19
most of the time it's on a whiteboard.
7:24
Where you'll be given a problem and
you have to go from beginning of problem,
7:26
getting all of your requirements,
all the way through as far as you can get,
7:31
I'm going to say.
7:36
Sometimes you don't necessarily
come to a solution, but
7:37
you work all the way through
the problem as far as you can get.
7:40
And another type of show improve
would be a take home test.
7:43
Some companies do give
you a take home test,
7:47
you have a certain number of days
to accomplish, to finish that test.
7:51
And then you give it back and
they review that and
7:57
then they may have another
interview after that.
7:59
Another thing about technical interviews,
they can be any number of rounds.
8:03
For smaller companies, when I say
smaller companies, I mean say for
8:07
instance, I'm here in Kansas City.
8:11
The interviews that I've attended
usually are about one to two rounds.
8:14
Once you get to the team, like if
you've passed the phone screening that
8:19
you may have a couple of interviews
before they've made their decisions.
8:24
Sometimes you might have an extra
interview if it's between you and
8:29
another person.
8:32
But for the big companies like
the Fang company like Facebook,
8:33
Google, Netflix I am going to
also throw out Twilio because I
8:38
was able to recently help a friend and
coach through that process.
8:44
A lot of those companies they have
very rigorous technical interviews,
8:50
very rigorous interviews period.
8:54
Those can go multiple rounds, I've heard
as high as nine, which is actually kind
8:57
of, I think that's kind of scary
personally, kind of intimidating.
9:01
And I've heard five, I've heard four.
9:05
So the number fluctuates
depending on the company and
9:08
what it is they're going through.
9:11
I will say that for some of those
companies like say for instance, Google.
9:14
Google recruiters may provide
you with learning resources so
9:18
that you can brush up for
9:23
what your technical interview is going
to involve and it is pretty in depth.
9:25
There were several separate links,
a lot of documents to look at so
9:30
that you can be familiar with
some of the jargon that is used.
9:34
And then their technical interview process
involves going out there to Google,
9:37
you go and talk with personal help
with like, maybe the hiring manager.
9:42
And then you may go through rounds of
interviews with a few of the teams that
9:46
are looking to place a developer.
9:51
So you might have several
interviews in one day.
9:53
I have also heard that someone has
had five different interviews at
9:57
the same company.
10:00
Kinda like round robin going around.
10:01
That's kinda a breakdown of what might
happen at a technical interview,
10:05
and how to go about it.
10:11
I do have a few tips.
10:13
That's what we're here for, right?
10:16
First, what I want you to know
that everything that's on
10:18
your resume is fair game.
10:23
Everything, everything
on there is fair game.
10:25
If you do not want to talk about it,
don't put it on your resume.
10:27
Please don't, that's what they
have to go by when they're sitting
10:32
in front of you is your resume.
10:36
Some folks do a little bit of pre-work,
they go check out your LinkedIn.
10:37
LinkedIn is also fair game because
it's in the public domain.
10:41
And if you list your GitHub repository,
some people will go out and
10:44
check your GitHub repository.
10:48
I'm kinda like that person that wants
to see what kind of cool projects
10:50
you've done.
10:53
So, moving on,
I also believe in storytelling as a means
10:54
to keep you calm through
your technical interview.
10:59
When you're asked a question,
if you're able to tell a story,
11:03
some people call this the STAR method.
11:07
I never knew it had a name, but it's STAR,
11:09
situation, task, action, result.
11:14
That kind of keeps you focused
on how you answer your question.
11:18
But I say to tell a story with it.
11:23
And what I mean by that is,
start off with the beginning.
11:25
This is what was happening,
this is what we were supposed to do
11:30
with what was happening, and
this is what we actually did, and
11:35
then this is how it was resolved or
what the final outcome was.
11:40
I do have like a particular scenario for
that too, and
11:45
I'm gonna get to it in the situational
hypotheticals when I go back to that.
11:48
Another tip that I would have, is to
keep track of your challenges and your
11:52
challenging moments just as much as you
keep track of your triumphs and your wins.
11:56
Your challenges are just as important
as your triumphs because every
12:02
experience should be
a learning experience.
12:06
Say for instance, when you go through and
you look at your favorite
12:09
project that you did,
you know why it was your favorite project.
12:13
You got to work with this new tech thing.
12:18
You got to implement this new skill here,
and it came out beautifully.
12:20
But what about that project
that didn't ever build?
12:24
You should be just as aware of what
went wrong in that problem and
12:27
able to speak to what went wrong in that
problem, because it talks about your
12:31
ability to think through a problem,
figure out, and troubleshoot a problem.
12:36
And also, you might end up knowing exactly
what you need in order to solve it.
12:41
So being able to look back in hindsight
on something that didn't work for
12:46
you early on during your boot camp or
early on during your education.
12:50
But now that you've learned some more
things, now that you're at the end,
12:54
you're like, yeah, if I had some more
time I would go back and tweak this and
12:57
this and this, or
I would re-implement it this way.
13:00
Those things always kind of stand out.
13:02
Okay, so we talked about telling a story.
13:06
We talked about everything is fair game.
13:12
The other thing that I would say that's
important is to ask for clarification.
13:15
It's okay to not know the answer,
very okay to not know the answer.
13:20
But if there's something that you can do
as far as getting a clarifying question
13:25
like, maybe I need a little
bit more information, or
13:30
this is what I think you mean by this, but
if that's not it, is this what you mean?
13:33
That way you can know that you're
answering the correct question or
13:38
answering the question in a way
that both parties understand.
13:42
You don't want it to be, you having
one understanding of the question and
13:46
the interviewer having
a different understanding.
13:49
And the last little tip that
I have is to talk it out.
13:54
Talk out loud, talk through your problems.
13:57
Talk through the questions.
14:00
When you get to the point where they're
asking you to show and prove, talk it out,
14:03
talk your thought process out.
14:07
One thing that I am looking for
when I'm interviewing developers,
14:08
I wanna know how you think.
14:12
I want to know,
how did you get from point A to point B?
14:13
And I might ask you why you
made a particular choice, or
14:17
why you didn't make a particular choice.
14:20
And it's okay.
14:22
For those questions when I'm
asking you why you did a thing,
14:24
I don't mean that you did it wrong.
14:27
I just mean, I thought that was
interesting, I wanna know more.
14:29
You should be able to speak to
the decisions that you make.
14:33
You should be able to defend your code.
14:35
Also you should be able to be open for
suggestions to your code.
14:40
But you're able to defend what you did.
14:45
Any choice that you make,
you did it for a particular reason.
14:46
And it is good for you to be able
to communicate those reasons,
14:49
communicate the logic behind it.
14:52
Maybe you think a little bit differently
than this person who's been doing complex
14:54
things for years had been thinking.
14:58
And sometimes,
all we need is a simple solution.
14:59
I like hearing those.
15:02
I like hearing that thought
process coming out.
15:04
I'm gonna get to a couple of
these questions that are in
15:08
the Q & A when I get
back to those sections.
15:13
So what I'm going to do right now, is I'm
gonna go through a couple of questions for
15:17
each of the different types that I
told you about, the behavioral type,
15:22
situational, educational,
and the show and prove.
15:27
For behavioral questions,
15:30
one question that everyone gets
in every single interview,
15:32
it's like the behavioral question of
the year, is, tell me about yourself.
15:37
Have you heard that?
15:43
You get that in your non-technical life.
15:44
You will also get it at every single
interview that you ever go to,
15:46
is tell me about yourself.
15:50
When you're doing, tell me about yourself
for a technical role, what I would
15:51
suggest is, one, that you have reviewed
the job description thoroughly so
15:56
you know what it is that
they're looking for.
16:00
And pull some things from your life that
actually align with that particular role.
16:03
So when I was asked at my current role for
me to tell them a little bit about myself,
16:11
I knew that what they were looking for
was a full stack developer.
16:17
And I knew that they did different
things with different clients,
16:21
worked on client work.
16:24
And I was coming from a position
where I worked on an in-house app and
16:25
I was working on an in-house product.
16:31
So when I did that the tell
me about yourself question,
16:34
I always start with, I'm from Kansas City.
16:38
No I attended this boot camp, and
these are my favorite things about it.
16:41
And when I talk about my current role or
my previous role,
16:45
I went something along the lines of,
okay, hey, I'm from Kansas City.
16:49
I've been here all my life,
born and raised.
16:54
I jumped into the tech
industry a few years ago.
16:56
I went through a boot camp and
fell in love with the back-end.
16:59
I fell in love with JavaScript.
17:02
There was something about not just
making my websites pretty but
17:04
making them functional
that really spoke to me.
17:07
So I have been leaning towards roles
that are either full stack that allow
17:09
me to get that back-end work in and be
able to dive in through the whole process.
17:14
Or I've gone through back-end
roles where I am helping
17:20
the people in my company or
helping to do the thing.
17:25
I'm gathering the data, I am doing all of
the functions, making it do cool stuff.
17:29
Another thing about me
is that I love puzzles.
17:35
Puzzles are my whole jam.
17:38
Something about being able to
turn a piece so it clicks.
17:41
Being able to have that different
perspective really speaks to me.
17:46
That's kind of how I would go
about answering the tell me about
17:49
yourself question.
17:51
And I also will speak to my passion for
teaching others.
17:52
I love coaching people,
I love mentoring people.
17:58
I especially love mentoring children.
18:01
There's something about that ah-ha
moment that just gets me every time.
18:04
And I try to convey that same excitement,
that level of excitement, in my interview.
18:08
That is a really good question.
18:14
I've got a question about,
how about the career gap?
18:15
How can you justify your
career gap in your interview?
18:18
In this year COVID times,
a lot of people have gaps.
18:23
But then, there's people that
had gaps prior to COVID.
18:28
The way that I explain gaps,
if it was a gap for education,
18:31
I would mention it was a gap for
education.
18:34
And if it was a gap because I was
traveling the world, it was for
18:36
cultural enrichment purposes.
18:40
It's not a question that I ask,
18:42
because I personally don't care.
18:46
It was your time to do whatever
you were doing, I don't care.
18:51
But some people do care.
18:55
And I would speak to it in a way that
if it's something that is terrible or
18:57
something where you were able to do
something you were passionate about,
19:01
I would definitely say, explain that.
19:05
Or, there was also a time
where there were no jobs.
19:07
When I came out of actual college
around 2009/10, there weren't any jobs,
19:12
and there definitely weren't any
jobs in physics outside of academia.
19:19
And I didn't wanna go into academia
because I like to help and
19:24
coach people, but
I am not a curriculum person.
19:29
That was not my ministry,
not my blessing [LAUGH].
19:32
But that's how I would justify those gaps.
19:37
I would tell the truth,
unless the truth is a secret.
19:39
You don't have to divulge
information about your health.
19:44
Do not divulge it.
19:47
Do not divulge personal private
information in your interviews because
19:49
that's none of their business.
19:53
Don't do that.
19:55
The next type of question
that That you might get for
19:57
our behavioral interview would be what
is a project that you're most proud of?
20:03
You should definitely know which project
that is and why you are proud and
20:08
how you contributed, be able to
explain how did you contribute that?
20:13
For me, when they asked most recently what
was my favorite project that I worked on,
20:18
it was a dashboard, an internal
dashboard for our internal stakeholders.
20:24
And what that dashboard did was it got
all of the information, all the disparate
20:31
information that our product owners and
marketers and analysts had to go and get,
20:35
but they had to get all of this
information from five different places.
20:39
And I created a dashboard using Python and
Django to pull all of that data in and
20:43
get it displayed nicely and neatly in
a table format that was searchable.
20:48
And it was searching all these different
databases so that it was a one stop shop,
20:54
I loved it.
20:59
What I liked about it is
that it was concise data.
21:00
What I really enjoyed was the challenge of
trying to figure out how to get the data
21:02
formatted properly using a framework
that I had no idea how to use before.
21:07
So being able to speak
those types of things for
21:14
that particular type of question.
21:16
Talk about the tech that you used for
the project,
21:18
which part of it excited you the most?
21:20
Were there any challenges with that
that you were able to overcome and
21:23
what was the result?
21:27
And for me the result of that,
like when I talk about the results, for
21:29
starters, situations have action results.
21:32
The result was that our product owners,
marketers, and
21:35
analysts were able to just
come to this one place,
21:38
find what they need after they search
whichever customer they're looking for.
21:41
And instead of it taking them 30 or
45 minutes to collect everything,
21:45
they could do it all in 5 minutes or less.
21:49
That's savings of at least a half an hour.
21:53
When you think about how many people
that that half an hour multiplies by,
21:57
say there's ten people for half an hour.
22:00
That's a lot, that's five whole
hours worth of work right there.
22:02
And they were doing that daily,
they were doing it hourly.
22:06
So being able to find it all there and
not have to go back and forth greatly
22:11
improved their quality of life and
improved what they were able to do.
22:15
Now they had more time to
focus on the customer or
22:20
focus on other important task at hand.
22:22
Another question that you may get for
behavioral is whether or
22:26
not you work better in teams or
if you work better solo.
22:30
I say that everyone pretty much
can do team work I would talk to.
22:35
If you like doing work solo, you can
mention that you like to work solo.
22:40
But they're probably looking for
team players most likely, but
22:44
also people who are self-directing and
you can prioritize on your own.
22:49
Once you get all of the requirements for
the task ,you can do it,
22:54
you don't need a whole lot of do this
thing, do this thing, do this thing.
22:58
So I think that that team or
solo question definitely depends upon you.
23:04
The next part that I will talk about
is how to answer situational questions.
23:12
So those are those hypotheticals
that we mentioned.
23:17
And in the hypothetical questions
you will get a tell me about a time
23:19
when you had to deal with a challenging
co-worker, what did you do?
23:25
Or you'll get a question, tell me about
a time when you were given a task but
23:32
you didn't know how to do it, what did
you do in order to get through that?
23:37
And one of my favorite stories to tell
is how Google is one of my best friends.
23:42
And if I don't know the answer,
I've gotten to this task and
23:47
I don't know how to do this,
I've never seen this before.
23:51
I would talk about what kind of resources
that I used in order to learn more.
23:55
Perhaps I went to my
best friend Google and
24:03
looked up the newest CSS trends and
looked up how to do a thing.
24:06
I like to use Stack Overflow,
Stack Overflow is a great place to go for
24:11
getting your questions
answered in various ways.
24:15
And what I like about
Stack Overflow is that
24:18
usually somebody has
already asked the question.
24:22
I have never, I was gonna say never,
24:26
maybe one time had to add a question
to Stack Overflow to get help.
24:30
And most of the time though I'm
able to go to Stack Overflow and
24:34
Google my question, and
somebody has asked it.
24:38
And they probably have asked it
in several different ways, so
24:41
it's been answered several different ways.
24:44
Then I can try the different things and
piece them together.
24:46
Google's a good resource.
24:49
I like W3C, I like Mozilla,
excuse me, Mozilla,
24:50
MDN, as far as getting good documentation
about things like accessibility.
24:56
That's definitely been
one of my challenges,
25:04
is trying to find how to
make things more accessible.
25:07
And that would definitely be probably
my current talking point for
25:09
tell me about a challenge.
25:13
I built a mega menu that was
not accessible, [LAUGH] and
25:15
had to figure out why
it wasn't accessible.
25:18
And I learned a whole lot about ARIA tags,
ARIA labels, ARIA roles.
25:21
If you have time to do a deep
dive in within, ARIA labels and
25:25
ARIA roles are very, very interesting
when it comes to accessibility.
25:30
There really is, it's not a sit down and
learn it in one day thing.
25:37
It's definitely a pick it up,
take piece, run with it,
25:40
come back, learn a thing,
pick it up, and run with that too.
25:44
That's how I would go
about my situational ones.
25:49
I would talk about the things I would
want to go and do, and like I said,
25:51
talk it out, talk out loud.
25:55
If I'm doing this, if I'm going
through my hypothetical challenge,
25:57
I would talk about, okay, this is what
I'm thinking, I don't know what this is.
26:02
So first I would go look this up,
26:07
hopefully I would find a solution and
be able to apply that solution.
26:09
Then the next part,
26:12
and keep walking through it until
you're done with the question.
26:13
When it comes to your
educational questions,
26:16
like as far as what do you know,
how do you know it?
26:19
Your technical certifications,
26:23
that's literally just rattling off
the things that you've learned how to do.
26:25
I want to take a moment and
dive into one of the questions
26:31
that was over here in the Q&A,
it was about pivoting.
26:37
So hold on just a second,
I'm gonna read the question.
26:45
It said, what would you like to hear from
someone pivoting from a non-technical
26:47
background, who is also
self-learning like on Treehouse?
26:52
So what would I want to hear,
26:56
From this person in an interview
to prove themselves?
26:59
Okay, so what I would want to hear, and
27:02
I've had the opportunity to interview
people from various learning backgrounds,
27:05
folks that have degrees
in computer science.
27:11
People that went through boot camps,
people that were self-taught,
27:15
people that went through launch code.
27:18
And what I would want to hear
from someone pivoting from
27:21
a non-technical role is how your skills or
how does your previous life
27:26
prepare you for
what it is that you're trying to do now?
27:32
What can you bring?
27:37
What kind of perspective do you bring?
27:39
What about your previous skills and
27:41
ability combined with what you've
been learning on your own?
27:43
What would that bring to the table?
27:47
As far as being self-taught or
boot camp or
27:50
whatever other non-traditional role,
I want to know,
27:54
I wanna see your whole self
in your interview process.
27:58
So I would expect if I asked you
to tell me about yourself, say for
28:04
instance you're coming from a background
as, say, we're gonna go with CNA.
28:09
I don't know why CNA is on my mind, but
a health professional or something, and
28:14
now you are jumping into tech.
28:19
What about tech, Brought you this way?
28:22
What was it that enticed
you in the first place?
28:26
I wanna know what about it
that sparked your interest.
28:28
I wanna know what kept you interested,
what kept you hungry about it.
28:31
And what do you think that you'll be able
to do with it now that you've got it?
28:35
So one person that I was able to speak to,
musicians,
28:38
I love talking to musicians too.
28:43
They're very, very interesting people.
28:45
I spoke to a musician that was
coming from the world of gig work,
28:50
wanting to get into coding.
28:54
And one of his projects he was
able to kind of blend music and
28:56
code together, and it was so beautiful.
29:00
He ended up making a teach yourself
how to play the guitar kind of app.
29:03
And he spoke to us about
how he uses JavaScript in
29:09
order to do some of the note programming.
29:14
And he talked about how he really enjoyed
using Flexbox with CSS in order to get
29:18
things to all fit together on the screen.
29:22
And he talked about the new
libraries that he found.
29:25
I think that it's important to be
able to speak to your projects.
29:27
And if you are self-taught,
if you are in a boot camp,
29:34
your current projects,
that is your experience.
29:38
If you're going for your first role,
your projects on your portfolio or
29:41
your projects on your GitHub,
that is your current experience.
29:45
And that experience is just as valid and
29:49
valuable as if you were working
at a tech job last year.
29:52
Talk about it.
29:56
Be able to speak in depth about it.
29:58
If you say that you're good at JavaScript
or that you learned JavaScript,
30:00
then if I asked you, what's the difference
between a for loop and a while loop, and
30:04
why would you use one or the other?
30:09
Than I expect you to be able to answer
that kind of question if you've been
30:11
exploring JavaScript,
because loops are definitely needed.
30:15
If you are a front end developer and
30:18
a question that I would
ask would be about CSS.
30:22
I would ask you the difference
between Flexbox and grid.
30:27
I have also asked about the difference
between measurements for CSS.
30:31
So, things can be in Pixels, PX, they can
be in E-M, EMs or they can be R-E-M, REMs.
30:38
And I would want to know that you
know the difference between those.
30:45
But if you don't know the difference,
30:49
I want you to tell me that you
don't know the difference.
30:50
And not only that I wanna know that
you don't know the difference,
30:53
I wanna know that you're
gonna go look it up.
30:56
And say, hey, I'm gonna go look that up
cuz I don't have the answer right now.
30:58
That's what I want to hear from you.
31:03
If you're a new developer,
I wanna hear that you applied
31:06
yourself as hard as you could
while you were learning.
31:11
I want to hear that you're so
excited about it that you wanna
31:15
learn everything that you can,
but you don't have enough time.
31:19
I also want to hear that you
know that you don't know it all.
31:24
Almost nothing is worse than
being BSed in an interview,
31:30
because I guarantee we
know when you don't know.
31:35
[LAUGH] Your face changes,
you might break out in a bead of sweat, or
31:39
you just give me a completely BS answer.
31:44
And so I might hold it in.
31:47
Or if you're very open about the fact
that you don't know, a lot of the times
31:50
we'll give you an answer and let you
know how to figure out where to get it.
31:54
But that's what I would be asking.
31:59
Let me see here.
32:03
I'm gonna ask Just a moment.
32:04
[LAUGH] That's one of my favorites,
the catch 22.
32:10
How do you get out of a situation
where you're trying to land a job so
32:15
you can get experience, but you need
experience in order to get experience?
32:19
That's where I would say, if somebody
has told you that, then number one,
32:23
that's probably not where you wanna work.
32:28
Even though you think you do, you don't
wanna work for that person, I guarantee.
32:31
But as far as getting
the experience that you need,
32:35
coming to Treehouse,
you're getting quite a bit of experience.
32:39
There is so much out here to learn.
32:43
There are other resources
that are available online.
32:46
One of my favorite things is,
what is it, 30 days of JavaScript.
32:49
You can Google 30 days of JavaScript.
32:55
And 30 days of JavaScript or
30 days of Python, 30 days of CSS.
32:57
They'll give you different
problems to work on.
33:02
And If somebody has told you that
you don't have enough experience or
33:06
you're finding that you're not getting
the bites that you need right now, another
33:10
great thing to do would be to, one,
keep coding, keep building your projects.
33:16
Find your local Code For.
33:21
So, here there's a Code For KC.
33:26
In Atlanta,
I know that there's a Code For Atlanta.
33:28
And they call themselves Ethical Hackers,
and so
33:32
what they're doing is
they're working in teams to
33:36
develop solutions for
people that need to be built.
33:40
Usually, it's pro bono work for
nonprofits, or
33:45
it's a problem that somebody has seen and
they just really wanna work on it.
33:49
And so being able to connect with
those kinds of developers and
33:54
work on projects like that, one, that
gives you a bigger project to work on.
33:57
Two, it helps you build your network.
34:01
That's the other part that I
think is very, very important.
34:03
If you don't have enough experience yet,
start networking,
34:06
start going to your local meetups,
whether it's virtual or in-person.
34:09
I'm in Kansas City Women in Tech because
I found them when I was going through my
34:15
bootcamp.
34:19
And I went to an event called Coding and
Cocktails for
34:20
women teaching women how to code and
fell in love with the organization because
34:23
the women were super friendly, and I was
learning a lot and they were awesome.
34:27
They were like kicking butt left and
right, we're talking everybody
34:32
from CTO down to software engineer one or
a business analyst.
34:37
And they're all doing these awesome
things in their own respective ways.
34:42
But these were the women,
34:46
the people that were working at
the places that I wanted to work at.
34:47
And having somebody that's there to
vouch for you is very, very important.
34:51
Your resume is only gonna get you so far,
because your resume is telling somebody
34:56
about your skills, your education,
kind of the project that you worked on.
35:01
But if you have a person
that's right there inside,
35:05
that can hand your resume off, that person
is able to speak to your personality,
35:08
your passions, and your potential.
35:13
To me that weighs so much more.
35:17
It makes your resume weigh so
much more if you can get your network up.
35:19
I have a whole,
whole talk on professional networking,
35:24
because I feel like developers, and
people in tech space in general don't
35:27
take the networking as
seriously as they should.
35:32
And your job search will be so
35:36
much easier if you can also
get your network developed.
35:39
Let me jump back into questions
real quick, the type of questions,
35:45
because I have not yet talked about how
to attack a show improved question.
35:49
So, for some of the technical interviews,
they'll provide you with a take home test.
35:55
Take home test, it could be something
that they have on a particular website to
36:03
where they won't let you click off, and
you kinda have to sit there through it.
36:07
This is where my disclaimer came in.
36:13
I have never had to take a take home test.
36:16
Mainly because I think that I did
a pretty good job during the in-person
36:19
technical interview and
it just wasn't a part of the process.
36:24
My first job that I ever got in tech,
the CTO doesn't like whiteboards, and so
36:29
he doesn't do whiteboarding at all
down through the organization.
36:34
But the take home test I've heard can
range, like I said, from anywhere
36:40
from something where they've given you
a packet to go through problems and
36:45
you can actually use Google
in a real world situation.
36:50
And sometimes it's timed and
on the computer.
36:54
The best way I'm gonna say,
36:59
the take home tests that are on
the computer I don't really have a way for
37:05
you to ace those unless you've
been given study materials.
37:08
Like you have been given from Google or
somewhere,
37:11
if they provided something along
the lines of what you could look for.
37:14
As far as whiteboarding,
whiteboarding, to me,
37:17
is kind of being able to teach somebody
else how to do what you're doing.
37:21
So if they give you the problem,
say that the problem is to,
37:27
you're tasked with creating an app
where if somebody presses a button,
37:33
it sends a message to alert
somebody of something else.
37:40
So, the idea behind that
question is to start with,
37:46
where would you start with that?
37:50
When I was asked a similar question,
37:52
I think that I started on
the back end of things.
37:55
I started thinking about integrating the
API with the company's infrastructure so
37:58
that my app can talk to their
network to be able to call somebody.
38:06
The next thing that I started talking
through was about what kind of
38:12
messages do I get back?
38:16
Because I need to know that my
message was delivered, right?
38:19
I would want to know that.
38:22
And then as I keep talking through it,
[LAUGH] different come up in those.
38:24
So, you literally are going from step one,
trying to write on the board your
38:29
requirements, cuz that's
something that you need to know.
38:33
What are the requirements?
38:36
And then what do you
not know that you might
38:37
need a little bit more clarification on,
and then start coding.
38:40
And by coding,
I mean talking through the code.
38:45
You might not necessarily have to write
out every for loop, but you would maybe
38:47
say, okay, so for every one of these,
I would need to do this thing.
38:51
Called pseudo coding,
38:55
where you're writing it out instead of
actually writing the syntax with the code.
38:57
Yes, as I say something about syntax,
39:02
I also want you to know that the language
that you know is not necessarily
39:05
the language that your job is
going to be in, and that is okay.
39:10
Say that the job is for Angular
developers, and you're a React developer.
39:15
I would say apply anyway, even though
you're not an Angular developer.
39:22
Because the thing is that you can learn,
39:25
and if you wow them enough in
the interview, they will teach you.
39:27
A lot of the times most of these companies
are going to teach you what it is that you
39:31
need to know.
39:35
Because I guarantee you that the code base
you've been comfortable with is not gonna
39:36
be anything at all in comparison
to what you'll be working on.
39:40
So, being able to talk through
how you do a thing versus
39:43
the exact syntax of how you do the thing.
39:48
But how you do the syntax is not nearly as
important as how you actually do it and
39:51
how you think through it.
39:55
So I would use my for-loop here.
39:57
Then I would need to make
a call to this API to do this.
39:59
And then I need to return this
information back to my customer so
40:02
that they know that their message
went through successfully.
40:06
Those are the kinds of things
that I would say focus on during
40:09
a Whiteboard interview.
40:12
And if you're doing a pair programming
interview, pair programming is fantastic.
40:13
I highly recommend pair programming
if you have not done it yet.
40:18
But essentially what it involves is,
two or more developers looking at the same
40:23
screen, sometimes it's one keyboard,
sometimes it's two keyboard interaction.
40:27
But usually, one person is the driver and
one person is the navigator.
40:32
The driver is the one
doing all of the typing.
40:36
And the navigator is the one saying,
okay, well,
40:39
this is the problem, so
we should do this thing.
40:43
And so being able to show that you can
maneuver around in code, like when
40:46
you think about structure of code,
as far as, what do functions look like,
40:50
what meant functions or methods,
what do they look like?
40:55
What do your variables look like?
40:58
Where would you put those?
41:00
Being able to look at somebody's code and
41:04
be able to read through and
figure out what it does.
41:06
Those things are important, and
41:09
the best way to practice that is
to look at somebody else's code.
41:10
Best way to look at somebody
else's code is to go on GitHub and
41:14
look at the open source code information.
41:17
If you look for the tag, Hacktoberfest,
there are a bunch of different issues,
41:19
and you can find out who is really
open to open source, because they'll
41:25
have different issues that are available
and open for people to work on.
41:30
But you can go in and
go look at the code base and
41:35
see if you can figure out how a thing
works, see if it's to your understanding.
41:38
That would be my best way to practice for
pair programming interviews.
41:42
So just to run back down real quick,
my tips, tell the story,
41:46
tell it as a story, ask for
clarification if you need it.
41:52
Talk out and through your problems.
41:58
When you get to the problem solving part,
talk through those problems.
42:01
And it is okay to not know the answer.
42:04
It's okay to not know,
just say that you don't know.
42:07
It's worse to BS than it is to not know.
42:11
So those are my main tips.
42:15
Also, take a breath.
42:17
A lot of times,
I've run into my interviewees.
42:21
Nobody likes silence.
42:25
But sometimes the interviewer is being
silent because they're taking notes or
42:28
they're looking for the next question,
figuring out the next way to go.
42:32
It's okay for you to give the answer
you intended to give and stop.
42:35
And just breath.
42:40
I'm gonna go look again at these Q & As.
42:43
Give me just a moment,
it looks like we've got some more time.
42:45
Let me run through,
42:49
I'm gonna go back to the beginning.
42:57
What is the best resource to use
to keep up with tech trends?
42:59
Honestly, my tech trends and
the way that I keep up with them,
43:04
I look at things on Twitter.
43:07
I follow certain groups on Twitter.
43:09
I like Tech Twitter.
43:13
And I follow conference speakers because
a lot of times they have interesting
43:16
things out there.
43:19
If you're a Twitch person,
there's also good tech to watch on Twitch,
43:20
because a lot of times they're
testing out something new.
43:26
What is my girl's name?
43:32
Fiora, she does live coding on Twitch.
43:33
Somebody else does live coding on
Twitter that I cannot remember.
43:40
But there's Will Johnson.
43:43
Will Johnson works for egghead.io.
43:45
And they do different Twitter spaces with
different people in the tech industry.
43:48
And then sometimes there's
the learn with me.
43:55
What's his name?
43:57
Jason does the learn with me, and
so they'll be coding together,
43:57
live coding, and
you can go through and watch.
44:02
That's how I learned about
a lot of different new things.
44:05
Also, look at the things that
I'm particularly using at work.
44:09
So I do a lot of Adobe, they have
this ATM content management system.
44:17
So I try to go and find stuff about
that when they have their conferences.
44:23
Tech conferences is a way to
find out new information.
44:27
Some of them are free,
some of them are not free.
44:30
Some of them are virtual.
44:32
And I will say, if you can go, definitely
go to conferences and learn something new.
44:34
I usually pick one thing that will
help me in my current role, and
44:40
then I pick something that
is really intriguing to me.
44:44
So right now, I'm still learning AI,
its very, very intriguing to me,
44:48
especially the work that's being done to
mitigate bias that has been built in.
44:53
So I just google it and go follow it.
44:59
My LinkedIn feed is tuned
in to certain keywords, so
45:04
that those are the news
stories that I see.
45:08
I would say that would be great
ways to keep up with tech trends.
45:11
And then the best way to handle a
Whiteboarding problem that you're not sure
45:17
how to solve.
45:21
I would hope that kind of you got
the answer to that as far as,
45:21
start off with the requirements.
45:26
And then if you're not sure what the end
result should be, or what the intended
45:29
functionality should be, start asking
those clarifying questions, like, well,
45:34
when I press this thing, when I press this
button, what are you expecting to happen?
45:39
Or after they opened this app,
is it going to be like this?
45:44
I would start asking clarifying
questions to get through that.
45:49
And then once you get to a part where
you're stuck, tell them, okay, I'm here.
45:52
And if you have an idea, voice the idea.
45:58
But, if you're not sure
how to implement it, or
46:02
some part has got you stumped, that's
another place to start asking questions,
46:04
because sometimes they will
help you out a little bit.
46:08
Or you've gone far enough,
and that's plenty.
46:10
But they weren't plenty
about your thought process.
46:13
Next, give me just a second.
46:17
If my degree is unrelated to
front-end web development,
46:25
how should I list my education?
46:28
Should I list courses in sites like
Team Treehouse in place of my degree?
46:30
I will tell you on my resume,
I have listed my physics degree,
46:34
which has nothing to do with
front-end development at all.
46:39
But then I did list that I got my
certification via my coding boot camp.
46:43
And I listed the third and
the time that I graduated from it.
46:49
This was so they know that I did
go get some coding practice.
46:54
For Team Treehouse, it depends,
I guess, on how the learning is done.
46:57
If you're provided certifications,
then yes.
47:04
Or if you're going through a program
that lasts a certain amount of time,
47:06
then yes, I would list it on there.
47:10
And say I did this during
this particular time period,
47:12
just like you would say for
your regular degree.
47:16
If you have a degree in journalism,
and you got that degree in 1999,
47:19
or you attended from 2004 to 2008,
I would list that,
47:25
and then list the same timeframe
that you did for Treehouse.
47:29
Was it six months?
47:34
Was it a year?
47:35
However long you were doing that,
list in on there.
47:36
But then, be able to speak to that
experience as well, because once I look at
47:40
it and I say, hey, you went to Treehouse,
tell me about your experience.
47:44
What did you learn?
47:47
What was your favorite thing?
47:48
You should be able to tell me about that,
and tell me about how the program works.
47:50
It's more common than you think for
people to have degrees
47:56
that are completely unrelated
to their current life.
48:01
I work with people who have had degrees in
journalism, have degrees in music theory.
48:05
I worked with a mechanical engineer who
instead of wanting to do things like
48:11
data science, he definitely wanted to
go and do front-end web development,
48:16
because it provided more creativity than
what she had with mechanical engineering.
48:22
I've also seen teachers come through,
or people with education degrees,
48:27
people with literally degrees and
everything.
48:34
And just being able to talk about how that
particular education also impacts you,
48:37
because your education and
48:42
your previous life definitely impacts
the person that you are today.
48:44
And being able to blend that in
with your new coding skills.
48:48
Tell us about that
perspective that you bring.
48:54
Tell me,
what about underwater basket weaving and
48:55
the degree in underwater basket weaving?
48:59
How does that experience translate?
49:01
Tell me about it.
49:05
I'm sure there's something
that you can tell me about it,
49:05
cuz weaving baskets, whether it's
underwater or on top of water,
49:08
weaving baskets is a lot like trying
to get things to fit together, right?
49:12
You have to design it in a way
that it's a sound structure.
49:15
And it's got to meet the requirements,
because it's a basket,
49:19
it still has to be able to
be built to hold stuff.
49:23
So I feel like there's
literally learning in every
49:25
single experience, and
it helps you throughout life.
49:30
I'm scrolling back through questions,
give me just a second.
49:36
[LAUGH] Okay, so
49:38
it's a question about how to prepare for
technical interviews.
49:43
So, you start with reviewing coding
in different languages, or how do
49:46
you deal with the anxiety when you're
thinking about a technical interview?
49:50
Okay, so the first part of the question,
I'm gonna say the first part.
49:55
So we've kind of talked about how to
prepare for the technical interview.
49:58
But as far as starting, we start to
review with different coding languages.
50:01
I would say honestly, no, do not start
reviewing more languages to prepare for
50:06
your technical interview.
50:11
Unless you happen to know that
the company is looking for
50:13
a particular type of engineer.
50:17
This is where I tell you that they're
gonna teach you the type of tech.
50:20
I would not advise learning react
just because this job is doing react.
50:23
Because then when you come up and
this other job is using nest and
50:29
now you're like, okay,
I gotta go learn nest.
50:32
And then this other job over here is using
go and so you're like, I should learn go.
50:34
At this point,
what you've done is you have
50:39
stretched your knowledge wide,
but not deep.
50:43
And it would be better to do more
problems in the language that you know,
50:48
than it is to do one problem
that you know in more languages.
50:54
Because yes, you can write a for
loop, I'm sure you can.
51:02
I can write a for
loop in several languages.
51:05
But what else can I do on all of
those languages before loop it.
51:08
I've talked about for loops because that
was like literally the first thing I
51:13
learned how to do when I first heard touch
code ever when I was in like 10th grade.
51:17
And it was a for loop in a very,
51:21
very old language called Fortran for
a government agency.
51:23
So that's why it was Fortran.
51:28
But the loop, knowing how to do
it in several languages is cool.
51:31
But essentially I wanna know
what else do you know how to do.
51:36
I want you to be able to do for loops,
can you build me a whole function
51:38
that does a whole thing and
returns back in this language?
51:43
Or all you can do is these two top
level things in all of these languages?
51:48
In the interest of getting better at
a thing I say it's better to go deep.
51:54
And if you're interested in a language
that is similar, so like if you're a React
51:59
developer, but the job is in Angular,
I'd say go for it anyway.
52:03
Go for it anyway because while
the syntax may be different,
52:06
the fundamentals of doing
the thing are the same.
52:11
Learn how to do more of
the things in your language so
52:15
that you can talk about
how to do the thing.
52:17
Cuz if you're stretched out,
52:20
then you won't be able to
speak to how to do the things.
52:22
The next part of that question
was how do you deal with anxiety?
52:26
For me, I play my hype song.
52:32
If you were with us for Treehouse festival
in December, I might have mentioned it.
52:36
My hype song is Electric Lady
by Janelle Monae.
52:40
You can go Google it.
52:44
It's a fun time,
it's safe for work I promise.
52:45
But I kind of hype myself up and take a
few deep breaths, I stop trying to study.
52:49
And by the time that I walk through
the door, I say, they've seen my resume,
52:54
they've had time to Google me.
52:59
And it is what is going
to be at this point.
53:01
Take a few deep breaths,
take some water and have at it.
53:05
There's no real way to shake the nerves,
like I was nervous just getting up here to
53:09
talk to y'all, but I'm nervous all
the time when I get up to speak.
53:13
But by the time I get talking,
I've settled in a bit.
53:15
And it's kind of the same for
your interviews.
53:19
Sometimes you are going to feel
like you've completely aced them.
53:21
Sometimes you're gonna feel like
you've completely botched them.
53:24
The deal, I would say, for
sure is take those deep breaths,
53:27
think about the things that you know, and
run back through the things that you've
53:31
learned how to do over
the course of the past year.
53:35
What did you a year ago look like in terms
of your knowledge and your skills and
53:38
your abilities versus you today?
53:43
Think about that.
53:45
And be able to talk to how you're
adaptable, you're able to grow.
53:46
You're gonna get through this.
53:51
You're gonna win these technical
interviews, I promise you, you will.
53:52
Moving on to the next question in here.
53:56
One moment.
54:00
So how do I get my resume picked up by,
I'm gonna say a hiring manager?
54:06
If your previous job is data analyst and
you're a self-learning developer,
54:12
the easiest way to start getting bites,
54:18
is to start changing your
LinkedIn a little bit honestly.
54:20
Change your LinkedIn.
54:25
Move the skills up.
54:28
So if you're a self-taught developer,
if you've learned how to do Ruby on Rails,
54:29
put that on there,
you're now a Ruby on Rails developer.
54:33
As soon as you start changing your
LinkedIn and tweaking your LinkedIn,
54:36
recruiters are gonna start getting all
up in your inbox asking you questions.
54:40
That's one way to do it.
54:45
Also, like I said, go to the meetups,
54:46
build out that professional network
because somebody is going to be able to
54:48
help you get your resume
to the right person.
54:52
And maybe your resume might need a little
bit of tweaking in order to talk about
54:55
what you're looking for
versus what you did previously.
54:59
I wanna try to run through, let me see
if I can get a couple more questions.
55:05
I'm gonna shout you out Leslie for
your question about coming from
55:15
a different career field,
I hope I've answered most of that.
55:19
But yes, being able to talk to those
things like your time management skills,
55:24
your leadership, your teamwork.
55:27
I say that that needs to come across when
you're giving your work experience it
55:29
needs to come across in
your work experience.
55:33
And when you're answering questions,
55:35
it needs to also come
across in your questions.
55:37
Another behavioral question that usually
comes up is, what are your strengths?
55:41
Or what do you think three
of your strengths are,
55:45
what do you think three of your
weaknesses are, three of your challenges?
55:47
And being able to talk about why those
particular skills, why are they so strong,
55:50
how does that translate into what
you're able to bring to the company?
55:55
Where do you see yourself
in five years here?
55:59
Do you see yourself
moving up to lead role,
56:03
is this the type of role that would
are you good at fast paced environments
56:07
where the requirements may be
changing as fast as hourly?
56:14
Being able to talk about the fact that,
yeah, I'm great at time management,
56:20
I use this, this, and
this to keep myself organized and
56:24
I prioritize my tasks by level of x,
y, and z.
56:27
I think that that would
be highly beneficial and
56:29
being able to just talk to it, talk to it.
56:32
Next question,
some of these questions are old,
56:38
y'all might have to send me I
am on Twitter @thefakeriri,
56:43
T-H-E-F-A-K-E-R-I-R-I, thefakeriri.
56:48
Because therealriri was taken when
I was looking for Twitter handles.
56:53
But send me messages there.
56:57
I'm also Ria Dixon on LinkedIn,
I answer questions.
56:59
Just let me know you
came from Treehouse so
57:02
that I can make a connection
to what we talked about.
57:05
The major difference between computer
science and software engineering.
57:11
Computer science is a whole degree where
57:17
they start you from algorithms and
was it the big O notation?
57:22
It gets a lot more into theory and
mathematics and
57:30
how to apply those things like
there's a whole four year program for
57:33
computer science and software engineering.
57:38
I think that computer science and software
engineering are pretty much the same.
57:42
Honestly and truly,
I think that software engineering and
57:46
software development are different.
57:49
I think that development is more so,
manipulating like the front-end of code.
57:51
So I will say that right now what
I'm doing in my current job is I'm
57:58
a developer, I'm a web developer,
web and application developer.
58:02
At a previous job, I was definitely
a software engineer because I
58:05
was heavily into the back-end of things.
58:09
And I was doing C Sharp and .NET and
58:12
a bunch of API calls going behind
the scenes to gather data type things.
58:14
That's what I think is the difference
between computer science,
58:20
software engineering and
development, but that's an opinion.
58:24
That's definitely an opinion,
don't quote me.
58:29
Let me see if I can get
one more of these in,
58:35
What is it better to focus on,
your own coding projects, or
58:41
practicing coding questions so
you're ready for the interview?
58:44
I think that building your own projects
will prepare you for answering questions.
58:48
And if you've got a list of questions that
you don't know the answer to then you can
58:54
always try to go and
figure out those particular questions.
58:57
Like if I asked you, what's the difference
between flexbox and grid and
59:00
you don't know that would be a place for
59:04
you to start because people
are gonna ask you that often.
59:06
If you're a front-end developer, I would
try to try out something interesting.
59:10
Go learn a new thing and apply it in
one of your projects that you've got.
59:14
That's how I built my portfolio
when I was going through boot camp,
59:18
the more that we learned,
the more I went back to tweak things.
59:21
I had like this cute Harry Potter Hangman
that I did with JavaScript.
59:24
And then I learned jQuery and
59:28
I was like, wait,
what I can use jQuery to do this thing?
59:29
So I went back and rebuilt it.
59:33
And then I learned how to use Python and
I was like, hang on,
59:34
I can use Python to do this?
59:37
And I went back and rebuilt it.
59:38
So building your projects and applying
your new knowledge to something that
59:41
you've already done to make it better.
59:45
I think that that's kind of better
than practicing particular types
59:47
of coding questions.
59:52
Unless they provided you questions,
59:56
if they provided you questions like
test questions, like Google does, or
59:57
like Facebook does,
then by all means learn the questions.
1:00:01
Go and learn to the questions.
1:00:04
I'm hoping that you all have
enjoyed me talking to you.
1:00:07
And you've been able to learn something or
get to the point where
1:00:10
it's not nearly as intimidating as
it was prior to you talking to me.
1:00:16
I promise that the main thing that
your new company is looking for
1:00:22
is, what do you know,
how have you applied it before?
1:00:28
Are you willing to adapt to change and
learn what it is that we can throw at you?
1:00:33
One thing I like about boot camp grads and
self-learners,
1:00:38
is that I know that they are capable of
learning anything that I throw at them.
1:00:41
The question is how
much have they learned?
1:00:45
That is all, honestly and truly.
1:00:49
And like I said,
I'm available when you need me,
1:00:51
shout me out on LinkedIn or
on Twitter and I will respond.
1:00:56
It might take me a few days because
sometimes I get inundated with requests
1:01:00
and things for work, but
I do always come back and try to respond.
1:01:05
Thank you so much for having me.
1:01:09
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