Christian Shadis
In the apprenticeship pattern Concrete Skills, Hoover and Oshineye explore the importance of developing discrete, demonstrable skills with specific technologies. This is an important pattern to implement as a young programmer because often in the hiring process, your skills are often more surface-level, and your value lies in your potential. Developing concrete skills makes you a more valuable candidate and thus more likely to receive an offer.
This pattern makes a lot of intuitive sense. My skills (outside of specific languages) are top-level, and I do not have a lot of projects to demonstrate specific skills and value that I can immediately provide to the company/team I am joining. Currently, my appeal as a candidate lies primarily in my successful academic career and ability to quickly learn, and secondarily in the skills I already possess. In order to successfully find a job, supplementing my portfolio is necessary.
This pattern coincides well with the Breakable Toys pattern in that building those personal, low-stakes projects will allow the developer to demonstrate their skills in a discrete, specific, and demonstrable environment. The toy can then be used in the hiring process, or to develop a demonstration for the hiring process. Having that project available to demonstrate during the interview process will reassure employers that not only does the candidate have potential to contribute greatly as time passes but can also contribute immediately.
I hope to use this pattern throughout the next several months while trying to secure my first career position. I have identified the biggest weakness in my resume to be my lack of full projects to display my skills. I have worked on multiple programming projects that I can use, but they all seem too simple to truly impress a hiring manager. I have a great academic record, but little to concretely prove my development skills. In conjunction with the Breakable Toys pattern, I will look to develop a full-stack project over the coming months that I can add to my portfolio and increase my chances of being hired.
Reference:
Hoover, D. H., & Oshineye, A. (2010). Emptying the Cup. In Apprenticeship patterns: Guidance for the aspiring software craftsman. O’Reilly.
From the blog CS@Worcester – Christian Shadis' Blog by ctshadis and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.