My long-term career goal/pathway:
Get a job as a junior web developer in a Wellington based company so as I can continue to develop my programming skills and move into a new career. I have no specific web-development career pathway in mind, rather I’ll be looking for the workplace from where I think can continue to learn and devolop the most.
My biggest strengths & limitations:
My biggest strengths will be my ability to collaborate with others and work through problems together, but at the same time be able to work independently. I’m good at sitting down and working through a problem solidly and consistently until completion.
My biggest weaknesses will be with relation to coding and understanding the concepts we’re working on and being able to contribute meaningfully to the tasks at hand.
Have my strengths/weaknesses changed & have I discovered new ones?:
I think my relative strengths and weaknesses have been relatively long-standing. I've done a lot of work on myself over the years to become a better collaborator with others, be more assertive with getting what I need in given situations however, I'm still not overly adept at being assertive when working with groups of people. I tend to hang back and let others take the lead. This is something I'll look to work on in bootcamp.
My biggest non-technical challenge at bootcamp:
While I’m good at collaborating with others I’m not particularly good at being assertive and speaking up. I’m far better at being a worker than a leader.
Non-technical skills I would like to develop: being more assertive when working with others.
Expectations from bootcamp team: my expectations are largely the same as what I expected from the foundations team. Help/advice when I need it. I tend to only ask for help when I’m truly stuck on a problem. I’ll also tend to still try and work through a problem myself with facilitators. I'll have a bit more of a think on this question.
Expectations of myself:
How I will seek help in a timely manner: while I’m not overly assertive in working with others I am generally assertive in asking for help/dealing with my own needs.
Commitment to how I will manage my workload in bootcamp:
Similar to how I've managed the workload in foundations. I've taken a four month break from work to attend this course, in order to make certain I can commit fully to it. In essence, I've cleared my schedule for Dev Academy. This enables me to be very well organised, eat and drink well, get enough sleep, exercise and make certain I am looking after myself so as I can give my best self to the task at hand.
In relation to working with others, as a nurse I am well practiced ar working in team environments. I'll attempt to encourage an environment where learners, facilitators, industry and community members feel physically and emotionally safe, one which encourages everyone's well-being.
Long-term goal/career pathway:
Goals:
Career change: a move away from nursing, more mentally, emotionally and physically sustainable work over the long-term
Strengths & limitations:
Strengths:
Consistent, (doggedly)Determined, Organised, on-time, punctual, good communication, considerate, logical, flexible, reliable, good at creating a plan.
Limitations:
Relatively slow learner, always have been, takes me ages to understand a concept, working through and completing a plan in a timely manner.
Core/human skills to develop:
Time-management, being assertive.
Workload: how will I manage?:
Work productively, safely with learners, facilitators, industry, community:
As a nurse I’m well practiced at working with sensitive information, the legal and ethical considerations involved.
How do I cope with stress?:
I’m good at taking short breaks, going for walks/getting outside, sleeping a bit longer if I need to, staying in touch with friends/family, I have many interests.
How will I seek help in a timely fashion?:
I tend to work on something, trying all ideas I can think of before seeking help. I write things down when I think of them and try them later etc. I like to try and work through a problem logically myself before seeking help. I think it’s a good way to learn.
What do I expect from the facilitators?:
Help/advice when I need it. I tend to only ask for help when I’m truly stuck on a problem. I’ll also tend to still try and work through an issue myself with the facilitators.
Scheduling:
Apart from a brief/surprise trip to Australia in mid-September I have cleared my schedule for Dev Academy. That’s how much I want to succeed at this course