my road so far

[Transcription of Video File]

So my name is Song. I've been in the tech industry for under a year. I'm working as a software developer for a small startup that does, legal software for corporate law firms.

 I have a degree in mechanical engineering and I worked, a few years after school as a mechanical engineer.

And then I, moved into a role that was like looking at. The sustainability projects for oil sands companies. And then, I made a pivot, a major pivot then into, the arts world. I was working as a producer in a sound studio, working on advertising, film and television. and then after that I made another pivot back into sort of the engineering world, but more into like business development, in commercial type roles. more recently I made the change into tech. So, I mean, I'd say all of my previous pivots before this one were more like on a whim, like it was more, I wandered into these things.

Like I, I knew I was unhappy and I wanted to do something different and,in this more recent pivot, I decided to kind of approach it in a more methodical way, figuring out what I wanted to do and, kind of using that like product mindset, which is something that's pretty common in the tech world, but essentially just doing this iterative learning.

Low cost as possible. Like just trying as many things as I could to answer the questions for myself, whether it could be something that, that gives me energy that I could be good at. And then, whether or not it could be like sustainable for my lifestyle. Like, so yeah, going through that process, I landed on wanting to do software development because I really enjoy like building things.

Like I'm really excited about learning things like all the time and developing that superpower that you're like, I can make things and put them out in the world. And in terms of getting prepped to actually make that pivot, once I made that decision, I feel like that was the most challenging part for me. 

Making the decision of what do I want to do if I'm not doing this, what else could I possibly be doing? I, I felt like I'd done everything. What else is there to do? And so. Um, going through that process was really helpful. And then I guess, getting ready to become a software developer, it was like learning to code, taking some courses, building projects, talking to people in the, in the, in that industry to really understand what the job is about and where I could focus my time and my energy.

So I did some coding in university and I really liked it. Like, it was like one of my favorite classes. I really enjoyed it.

And, but I didn't consider it as a career at all because, I was imagining a software developer being someone who. Like works in a basement and doesn't talk to people and you know, is the person that you call when your printer doesn't work. you know, I just didn't have, I guess Sightline to people who were doing cool things and [00:03:00] you know, this is before Facebook, before social media, like before all of those things.

And so it was hard to see what the career could be.

So the day in the life of a software developer and say it changes depending on where we're at in the project. So like, if we're in the planning phase product managers are figuring out what features we need to work on next and prioritizing that stuff.

And so when something's ready to go, they have tickets and, have the requirements for what needs to be done. as a software developer, it's reviewing those requirements, trying to understand what we're trying to build, talking with the product manager to make sure we understand what we're building and why we're building it that way.

And then, it's going through and, putting together the documentation that describes what we're actually going to build. So this is before we start coding, the user experience is meant to look like this, and this is how I'm going to build it. And so you're thinking through like your data structures, how information is going to be transferred from the front end to the backend, how, what tools you might use, those kinds of things, like what pieces you need to build.

and then you're writing that all out in a document so that you understand it. So other people understand it. And then, yeah, so like that phase, it's a lot of. Talking with people, doing a lot of like collaborating and then, then you get into the coding part of it. And so those days are a little bit more like focused on like there's a little less discussion, but it's more like the on a maker's schedule, I guess that's what it's called.

But it's like long periods of time where you're, you're sitting and focusing on the coding problems. And so every day we have a standard. so that's like a 15 minute meeting that we have with the whole team where everyone talks about, what they worked on yesterday, what they're planning on working on today and like any troubles that they're having so that you can work through those.

Like, if you're stuck on something, somebody else can help you with, it can help you move past those things. And it's also helpful to know what other people are working on because as you run into something you're like, oh, that person worked on something just like that. I can go to them and talk to them about that.

I feel like I get a lot of Agency like with my organization, they're definitely like all about that. And so, I know when I get a ticket, it doesn't quite make sense or it's not like, I think that it might work out better a different way.

Then I just call our product manager and we have a discussion about it. It's like, okay, is this what you were thinking? Cause this is how I'm interpreting this information. And I'm wondering about this situation. you know, we have a discussion about it (how have you levelled up) so moving into tech, I think there's a lot of that imposter syndrome. Like you feel like you're like, why would anyone pay me to do something like this? Right. Like, I feel like I know nothing. but, working through like talking to people in the industry and just understanding, I guess what, what people are looking for and like, it's interesting talking with my, my boss. he talks about my strengths being like my ability to ask questions and understand the business and those kinds of things. And so like as a junior, I'm going to be like my coding skills.

Aren't going to be the strongest, right? Like it takes me longer than a more senior person. What I bring to the table is, you know, my ability to like ask questions, collaborate, you know, work with other people.

CG: (What is it like being a junior developer, and there not being a "right" solution) 

It's interesting. Cause I feel like we get a lot of freedom to kind of think through how we're going to do it. And then, you know, obviously. And review processes and whatnot, like senior developers will have suggestions for how you can improve things. Like, oh, if you do it this way, it could be more efficient.

Or, you know, you can avoid this issue that you're having here. Right. So, but I'm kind of responsible for my own work, my own features. And so, I mean, that process is a lot of like, oh yeah, I know what I'm doing. This feels good. Like, yeah, I made this thing. It's great. And then you run it to probably like, Hmm, how am I going to do this?

Then you're like, I have no idea I'm going to do this. You spend a lot of time Googling, looking at things. And then you're like, okay, I'm struggling with it. Now's the time to ask someone like I've worked through it. I'm like, okay, I understand these are the things I've tried. And then you can ask your senior developers like, okay, well, this is what I'm stuck on.

This is what I'm trying to accomplish. Like, how would you approach this? So a lot of times they can provide suggestions and then you can work through it and then, you know, and then you feel really good. You're like, I can't believe I did this. This is so good. And that up and down is pretty much daily. And I really liked that. Like, I liked that aspect of, like being a developer, that constant feedback that we do code reviews and that essentially I'm getting feedback every few days on, on my work and I can improve it like quickly.

Yeah. 

CG: How do you find a company with good values?

So that's interesting. I think it's hard. It's really hard to know, you know, one hour interview, all of the things and so I think a good approach really is to like talk to other people maybe before the interview.

So if you're going through the process of understanding, like what kinds of companies I want to work for? It's like, okay, well, what companies are out there? Maybe I can just start talking to people that work there. Like, I don't have an interview with these people, but maybe I can find somebody who has this job and I can talk to them about what their work environment is like. In that type of situation, people can be more candid, whereas an interview, it's almost like a date. Like people aren't going to be saying airing their dirty laundry. Whereas like, you're more likely to hear that if you're having like a casual coffee with somebody at a no pressure, you know, like, what's it like to work here? Like, you know, I think that's probably going to be more indicative of what's going on You know, like actions, I think speak louder than words. So you see that they already have women that work there. and they do have good work life balance, you know, that they're not working every minute of every day.

It's like a longterm process getting to know companies before they even have openings. It's like, so this company sounds interesting. They don't have openings right now, but it doesn't mean you can't talk to people about it because someday there's going to be openings and it might only be a couple months from now.

Right? And that'll be perfect, but you know, who knows? It's important to get to know what's out there. The types of people and companies that exists. 

CG: Any advice for women in tech?

So I think like wanting to break into the tech industry, like I could see how people could be uncomfortable, like, see how, you know, it's male dominated. Is there a place for me? I mean, finding, seeking out other women, like seeing other women as role models, and then that's helpful.

Like just being able to see that,people exist in all forms, right? Like maybe if you can't see it, then maybe it's like looking for it and finding the right companies that have that support, you know, diversity and inclusion, all of those kinds of things. Right?

And then I think the other part is sometimes you just have to do things like, and be afraid or be uncomfortable and be the change that you want to see. And so, like, we can't have more women in tech if there aren't people willing to go in there before there's already women in tech.

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