Hello friends to blog #4. This is the 4th article in the #2Articles1WeekChallenge. Thank you for stopping for the read, and hopefully you find something useful from the 100Devs cohort that you can apply in your tech journey.

Introduction

Applying to jobs will not get you a job ~ Leon

This is the class everyone from #100Devs has been waiting for. The moment of truth, elephant in the room, the scariest topic to talk about, NETWORKING! Below is a brief story about the probability of you landing a job by clicking apply vs connecting with individuals in tech.

TLDR: The police officer knows somebody who needs a web developer to create a website for them.

The funniest story Leon opens with is an eagle fly by and picks up the resume that was littered. The eagle drops the resume in the officer's laps. The officer thanks the trained eagle for the resume. The officer makes the effort to visit your house, attempt to arrest you, but sees HTML on your computer screen. He offers you a second chance by connecting you with their cousin to create their website.

Moving forward, going into week 5, we as the 100Devs community will embark our journey of networking with 3 individuals already in tech, and 2 coffee chats already in tech. In addition, we will be utilizing our skills of the past 4 weeks to re-create three webpages using floats and media queries.

source: Leon Noel Class 07

Making Friends & Networking

How to make friends

Read How to win friends and influence people to start making friends ~ Leon

This is the book recommended to the cohort to begin the friendship making stage. If you are a noob like myself at making friends, there are key details in the book that will teach you. The hard part is applying the knowledge to the real world.

To find people, the best place to start are meetups. Going to a meetup, you don't initially have to talk to anyone, but the pure essence of seeing an individual more than three times automatically establishes the two of you as an acquaintance.

Where to meet friends

The pure intention of saying hello and their name, creates the connection. ~ Leon

Since we are in a global pandemic, networking now is easier than before because of virtual meetups. No matter how far you are from a city, you can start networking. The process is overwhelming, but becomes easier over time.

Conferences

Conferences are the #1 place I made friends in tech. ~ Leon

Find a conference, input your favorite topic, and there something may pop up. The best ones are free, and you shouldn't need to pay for a conference. Now, there is a free way Leon recommends:

• Be honest, tell them you cannot afford the conference. You will possibly get a free ride.
• Volunteer. You will miss a talk, but be there for the rest of the time.

Once at a conference, do these tips to help you be successful:

• Check out any discord channel they have
• Go out to lunch with others
• Don't go alone and go with a buddy

Community Groups, Family, & Friends

Find a community group thats good for you

If you aren't able to visit a meetup, joining a slack group or community channel on discord to network with others. There are also chapters in a local group where folks gather every week, code together, and connect.

Once you tell your friends and family you are a software engineer, you never know.

One of the easiest ways to connect and get your name out there is through your friends and family. They may stumble upon other folks who need a website built. You then will be the go-to developer to connect with.

Using the Sheet

Leon has provided 100Devs with a simple networking sheet to follow up with individuals in tech we are networking with. The networking sheet assists us in not trying to remember everyone, but a way to follow up with others.

The Pro Move

Today I learned that you can create an alert on an individual you encounter. You type in that person's name or email, and when they post some information, you can use that as an opener to talk to them. Whether it be about Pokémon or their company, invest your time researching on their posts, and talk about it with them.

Conclusion

Week 4 so far is my favorite week because it touched on a big topic that will be crucial to our success after 100Devs. The best part is, we are starting this process early in the boot camp. By the end of the boot camp, we should have had 50 coffee chats and 75 individuals emailed by week 30.

Thank you for reading and stay safe!