After completing my apprenticeship introduction blog post and two different patter reviews, I am excited to keep reviewing more. For the next pattern from the textbook that I have chosen to review, I chose the “concrete skills” pattern. The book describes a situation in which you are trying to work with a group or at a job in which you do not have a very strong background in yet. This is ofter one of the most inconvenient thing when looking for starter jobs. Most jobs want individuals who have a good background so they know you will be a good fit for the job. The book also supplies us with a great solution to this problem however. Basically, it states that you will have a better chance getting the job if you can prove that what you lack in background work, you make up for in your ability to learn quickly and work hard to learn new things on your free time as well. The more jobs and projects you can accomplish/work on, the better your portfolio and background becomes overtime. Eventually you will find it easier and easier to get where you want to get, and it all starts with your first several projects/jobs. This specific apprenticeship pattern resonated with me primarily because I personally do not have a great background yet and am trying to create a good one. The advice from this section was super powerful, and to be honest, this might be one of the most important concepts discussed in the entire textbook!
From the blog CS@Worcester – Tim Drevitch CS Blog by timdrevitch and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.