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[MUSIC]

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Good morning, everyone,
I'm Toni Josato, chief learning and

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operations officer here at Treehouse.

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And that was wonderful,
wonderful information, thank you, Tomi.

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Our next speaker, Jorge Salas,
is a senior engineering manager and

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leader in technology and currently works
at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.

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Jorge is devoted to building, growing,
and retaining engineering talent.

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He has hired passionate people
that are self-taught and

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that have come from tech
bootcamps onto his teams.

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He has his Bachelors of Science
in Computer Science degree from

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the University of Illinois in
Chicago College of Engineering.

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Please welcome Jorge.

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>> Hello, everyone, good morning.

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Sorry about the technical difficulties,
I think we're good to go now.

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Again, my name is Jorge Salas,
thank you again for Treehouse.

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And today's session's called So
You Wanna Be In Tech?

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So most of you are here embarking on
your new tech career journey, and

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that's where most of
the content will focus.

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However, there are some
tidbits in there for

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folks that are not entry level as well,
so settle in.

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The outline is as follows,

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I'll start with a little bit of my
intro and my journey into tech.

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Then spend most of my time on the next few
slides talking about people's stories,

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people that I've hired, met, and

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worked with that have come from bootcamps
or other non-traditional routes.

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I'll share their common success points,
and hopefully they can work for you.

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Then I'll get into some of a real
topic that kinda creeps up a lot for

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most people, self-doubts and, aka,
imposter syndrome and how to manage it.

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Then we'll start to close it out
with sharing my experience of how to

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take your career to the next level.

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You're in tech, now what,
how do you navigate that trajectory.

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Then I'll share what reasons why I'm
doing this and doing my part, and

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then I'll open it up for questions.

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All right, my journey, and it begins
with my folks immigrating from Mexico.

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And so I was born and
raised in Chicago on the northwest side.

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So at the time,
there weren't many people of color.

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I was usually the only one or one of
a couple in my neighborhoods or school.

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So from a very early age,
that was very ingrained in my mind.

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And I can remember my dad saying,
you can't speak Spanish to me, and

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I was like, okay.

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So I was very early on just trying to
navigate that acclimation journey,

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as you could call it.

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Then when it came down to figuring, okay,
what do I want to do with my career,

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they said, well,
computers are gonna be the next thing?

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Well, it sounds a little cliche,
but in retrospect they were right.

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So I was very lucky to
graduate at the right time and

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hit the industry at the right peak with
a computer science degree from from UIC.

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So I started doing Java Web development
on the front end, then made my way back.

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I learned a lot from a lot of talented
software engineers and developers and

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architects.

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Then I went on to start my own company,

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where I co-founded a software consultancy
that allowed me to deepen my skills, and

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not just in one area but multiple sectors,
finance, health care, retail.

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So I was very, very fortunate to have
that consultant mindset early on and

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self-sufficiency and
marketing myself in the best light.

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Then I took a full-time role at a Fortune
500 company, the Northern Trust, and

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that's where I first
started managing people.

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Since then, I've been managing people
in a senior manager-director capacity,

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full stack developers,
architects, Scrum masters, etc.

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And in the last year or two,
I've also dabbled with some [INAUDIBLE].

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People's stories, we'll start with Jen.

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I hired Jen at my last company, at NORC,
and she came from the CWR Coding Bootcamp.

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When she came on,
she specialized in JavaScript front end.

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And she later learned the back end and

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helped other developers
support our applications.

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Chris, who I also met at NORC,
my previous company,

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came to us from DataCamp and
from a different part of the company.

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And he expressed interest in helping
us with some Python development.

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Lupe I met at a networking event,
and she came from Springboard,

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where she transitioned her
traditional design in architecture,

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building homes, not software,
into a UI/UX role.

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Where she now works for a medical company
designing really cool interfaces to help

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patients connect to service providers
that are remote because of COVID.

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And then finally Colie and David
are in my current team at my company.

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And they came from a company rotational
program where individuals spend about six

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months or so at different parts of
the company and realize if they like it,

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they want to stay, and they can.

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So Colie and David decided to stay
in tech and application development.

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So as you can see,
there are a lot of bootcamps.

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In addition to Treehouse,
there's three right here in the slide.

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How do you figure out which one?

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Course Report is a really cool website
where it lists all the bootcamps,

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ranks them, pros and cons,
and gives you little tidbit

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information on what they do out
of post-bootcamp experience.

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And I pulled this data, they have a lot
of data on their website, and it's really

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filtered by data science, full stack,
UI/UX, whatever discipline or specialty.

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This is from the full stack section, and
the average bootcamp cost is about 14k for

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between three to six months and
average starting salary is 65k.

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So it's pretty good, it's pretty
compelling if you look at that data point.

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Now, there are common success points.

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Keep being you, just because you're
going into a new career doesn't

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mean that you forget everything,
[INAUDIBLE] a little common sense.

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But problem solving skills, if you
have an eye for detail or interfaces,

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that's going to apply here.

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And most people can fit a job description,
but you get hired for who you are and

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how you're most able to match
with the team and the culture.

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And realize if you have that expectation
that your the first opportunity is going

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to be tough,
you're gonna have a better experience.

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And hopefully some of these tips
will help you navigate your journey.

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At this time, I do recommend a mentor.

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It doesn't have to be super formal, it
could be a friend, a sibling, someone that

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has gone through a similar journey, or
someone whose advice that you trust.

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I found that very helpful for
me personally when I was

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in my mid-level career, and
even now mentors are very important.

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Holistic bootcamps, back to the bootcamps,

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we spoke about portfolio
actually in the session before.

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Portfolios are so important,
it shows and demonstrates and

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tells the story of
the skills that you learned.

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And it's a very powerful statement when
it's in front of the potential employer.

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Next, a lot of the bootcamps
also help you with your resume.

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If you're an entry-level, it's your
first time, no more than one page, and

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you have to make that information pop.

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Once it gets past the automation, your
resume gets past the automation steps,

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it takes a human bot seven
seconds on average to look at it.

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So one page, make the really good
information pop in front and center.

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And interview tips,
if you haven't been in tech,

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a tech interview can be very daunting.

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However, with enough practice and
awareness of what questions to expect,

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you tend to get pretty good at it,
and the more practice the better.

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And network, network more and
with everyone.

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I heard it earlier, I think most jobs,

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I think 80% of jobs are gotten
through your networking experience.

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But two tips, number one, ask if
someone is available for networking.

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And number two, do not ask for
a job or a job lead.

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Instead, ask how you can help them,
tell them what you're doing,

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tell them what you're working on and
how you can help them.

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That's a much more
open-ended conversation and

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more likely to lead to
something else down the road.

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And now I'll share a little short
story kinda tying all this together.

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So if you remember Chris
from the previous slide,

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he shared how he got his job at NORC.

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He was an Uber driver before that, and

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an Uber passenger happened
to be an NORC executive.

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So he was talking to him,
networking, about his interests,

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his educational background,
his passion for tech.

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That lead to information exchanged and
he was later contacted for an interview.

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So Chris had enough time
to learn R in DataCamp and

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other tasks that was in
the job description.

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And even did a little PLC that he took
to the interview based on what he

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surmised what's going on with the project.

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So sure, obviously he got the job,
and if I were the hiring manager,

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I'd be hard pressed not
to hire him as well.

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So that kinda ties in the networking,
the portfolio,

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the powerful story that your work,
if you can show your work,

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it's very, very positive in
a potential employment situation.

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Having said that, I think a lot
of us have had these thoughts,

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whether we're in an interview or
in a big meeting, and it's real.

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And up to 70% of the population
experiences this.

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And to be honest, I think it's
heightened for people of color and

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people changing careers.

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Because if you're going into tech and not
many people look like you, there's that.

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And then when you're changing careers and
you don't necessarily come from that

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university that specializes
in engineering or whatnot,

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there could be a little
bit of doubt going in.

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So it's very real, and my experience,
it never really goes away, but

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you can manage it.

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And this sub-webinar
that I have right here,

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if you google overcoming imposter
syndrome by Indeed, you'll find it.

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And I'll share some really good
pieces of information that worked for

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the presenter and also for myself.

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So number one, validate that feeling,
validate that imposter syndrome feeling.

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And realize that it's there for
the moment, but

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it's not gonna be there forever.

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Track it, if you don't already do so,
start a journal,

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track who was there,
what was going on, when did it happen.

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Then you start to see a pattern
of when these things happen.

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Therefore, if you do have that pattern,
you can plan and

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do some coping actions to help
you manage the imposter syndrome.

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I'll share three things related to coping,
number one, I have a comfort object.

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I have a little squeezy bottle that I
squeeze when I'm getting these feelings or

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just when I'm fidgeting.

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Other people have mantras that
they recite to themselves, or

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they have Post-it Notes
with positive affirmations.

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And the last thing I'll share is
a group of people that you trust,

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you can text or email and tell them.

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Just the act of sharing that you're
feeling like you're going down the rabbit

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hole, super helpful to
unload that off you.

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And then sometimes you get this really
good experience of what they've gone

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through and maybe help you.

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And then when you do this, this is a lot
of work, there's no kidding with that.

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So reward yourself, treat yourself
to that special dessert or drink or

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favorite meal when you do this,
this is a lot of work.

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And as you'll see, I would also recommend
that you start creating a brag book or

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a list of accomplishments.

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And in general, I think this is
a good practice, on the daily and

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weekly we do some really good things.

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Jot them down so that when it comes
to performance reviews or you wanna

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make that job switch, you have all this
information here at your fingertips.

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Now I'll go into some thinking and
speaking changing.

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So instead of thinking,
I should not let anyone down, say,

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I'd like to help out as much as I can.

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And instead of saying, I actually have
a question, say, I have a question.

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Less is more, and
it comes off more confident.

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And instead of thinking or saying, I'm
no expert, but I think we should do X so

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that Y, there's no need to caveat
yourself as an expert or not.

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You're only making a comment or
asking a question.

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Just say, we should do X so
that Y, period.

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And then start shifting from,
I am not good at this, and

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start saying more I feel statements,
I feel like I'm not good at this.

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So keeping with the mindset
that it's only temporary,

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it's not going to be there forever.

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So you're in tech,
now what, well, congrats.

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To me, I like to think there is no finish
line, so you keep learning, keep growing.

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Number one, I recommend that you
specialize in your strength.

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So we talk about the T shape,
getting a specialty, whether it's UI/UX,

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architecture, whatever you
decide is your specialty or

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what you graduated from bootcamp in.

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Company-wide opportunities are important,
don't just do that in your team or

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in your department.

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Go outside your team, network with
other departments, volunteer for

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presentations or lunch-and-learn sessions.

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If your name is out there tied with
your accomplishments, that's gonna

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bode well come performance review time or
if you wanna make that job switch.

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Just keep that in mind, get your name out
there, it's gonna be very valuable later.

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Two, become proficient in other areas, so

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now we're talking about this part
of the T where you go in there,

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for example,
Jen started in JavaScript and front end.

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And where you want to move on and
make sure that you're specializing

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in your strength but
also be proficient across other ones.

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She's now taking a course in data
structures and algorithms where she's

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going to learn some of the stuff that
she didn't pick up in her bootcamp.

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And then keep learning.

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In my experience, every company that I've
been at has had training budgets of 1 to

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$2,000 per person per year.

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So whether it's books, conferences,
summits, take advantage of them.

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And at this time,
get a formal mentor in your company.

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It doesn't necessarily have to be
in your work hierarchy, but someone

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that knows the landscape and knows how to
navigate it, and/or a board of advisors.

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This came in really handy to me earlier
this year in terms of how to navigate that

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job change, salary, options, and
things like that, it's very helpful.

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I hope that helps you, so
I highly recommend that.

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Lastly, doing my part, so I think I look
like most of you, I did it, you can do it.

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Today the population in Chicago
is 60% people of color,

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30% black, 30% Latinx.

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But that's not represented in tech, and
less so in management and leadership.

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If we look ahead 20 years,
in this country, in the year 2040,

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people of color will be the majority.

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So that's why I'd like to align
with initiatives like Code 2040,

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whose vision and
purpose resonates with me.

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And it's creating an innovation
economy where black and

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Latinx people are contributing at all
levels, in all roles at a proportional

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rate to their demographics in the US,
so it helped me.

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You're already part of this journey,
it helped me diversify tech and

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[INAUDIBLE] it up.

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Thank you, and right now I guess
we'll open it up for questions.

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I'll look here at my other device for
questions.

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Okay, the first one,
I'm undertaking bootcamps,

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I'm hoping to get a junior Web
developer role in the UK next year.

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The idea of finding a junior role
seems daunting, any tips or advice?

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I will be building a portfolio soon,
I have a great support system, I journal,

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and the rest.

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Is there anything else
I can do to prepare me?

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How does one find a mentor, And

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how many items should I
have in my portfolio?

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How do you recommend
networking in COVID times?

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All awesome questions.

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Well, I think, starting from the back,

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how do you recommend
networking in COVID times?

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Everything is online now, even this
presentation right now, Treehouse.

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Treehouse probably has the chat sessions,
there's networking sessions on the left,

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I believe.

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And also, I'm also reading, coordinating
with Liz from Treehouse on Slack.

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I found Slack to be very rich in
terms of channels and expertise?

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I'm currently on the Techqueria,
Slack, and that's where I met Liz,

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that's how I connected
to this presentation.

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So I think that's one, that's where I
would recommend to start networking.

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In terms of the mentor,
I believe Jen shared with me that it was

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her older brother that kinda
recognized that knack detail.

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So really, especially in the beginning,
it could be anyone,

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it could be a family member,
a trusted friend.

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Also, on the Slack channels themselves,
there are people that

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join a specific channel to be a mentor or
are looking for mentors.

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So you can ask questions there, and

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hopefully someone will
pick you up on that.

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I found LinkedIn to be
also a very good resource.

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Medium.com is the website that
I get daily digests from.

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There's very good sections on there
in terms of not just tech but

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a little bit on the networking as well.

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Let's see, the other ones,

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do you think post-COVID the UI/UX industry
will change to more remote roles?

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I think so, I think so,
and that's interesting.

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Who knows what's going to happen
next year with the vaccine,

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etc., and then hopefully after
spring how things will look?

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I think, to be honest, I think somethings
are here to stay in regards to COVID.

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I think remote is going to be more
the norm rather than one day a week.

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It might be most of
the time someone's remote.

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And maybe there is a coordinated
schedule where people,

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we all need to do all staff or
company meetings, things like that.

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I think it'll be hybrid going forward,
those are my thoughts and

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what I'm seeing and
percolating in my company.

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As we begin to think how do we get
people back, first self-select and

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then people eventually,
maybe it might be some hybrid model.

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How well are your teams working
together in the remote world,

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what softwares are you using?

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Wow, yeah, I on-boarded,
this is new for me as well,

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I on-boarded at the Federal Home Loan Bank
of Chicago during COVID.

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So I haven't met my manager or
my teammates or peers yet.

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So we use Teams, and
we use Teams to communicate.

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And it's very good, it understands
how to do audio/visual well,

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so I use the phone a lot to communicate.

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I also use a screen if I need
to look at a presentation or

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a spreadsheet being shared.

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Teams, and, Yeah,
basically it's all Teams right now,

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I mean, we wouldn't be communicating,
we wouldn't be doing well without Teams.

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Outside, it would be Slack, but
I think most things are Zoom,

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Teams, Slack, and it's pretty much online.

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So you get proficient with that,
I think that's gonna be helpful,

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even next year when we're out
of this post-COVID phase.