![Cover image for [Keynote] A Fireside Chat with Kelsey Hightower](https://community.codenewbie.org/images/wm7c-94f8ucWwjMla3Yld3suuBbkgA2MKoWHbTteh_I/s:1000:420/mb:500000/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb21t/dW5pdHkuY29kZW5l/d2JpZS5vcmcvcmVt/b3RlaW1hZ2VzL3Vw/bG9hZHMvYXJ0aWNs/ZXMvZGk3bWZrbWg0/N2t1eTAzZHdyb28u/cG5n)
About This Fireside Chat
This year at CodeLand 2022, @saron — Founder of CodeNewbie and Disco — will be joined by Kelsey Hightower (Principal Software Engineer at Google Cloud and a respected voice in cloud computing and open source) for an informal but enlightening fireside chat aimed at benefitting early-career software developers. You can find Kelsey on Twitter here.
Talk Recording
🌈 After experiencing this fireside chat, please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below! We also encourage you to leave questions for Kelsey in this thread — he might address them live during his panel!
This fireside chat will be presented as part of CodeLand 2022 (June 16 & 17, 2022). It will be streamed as part of the conference, and added to this post as a recorded video.
Discussion (98)
can you share some advice to overcome imposter syndrome when you are starting out?
Yeah seriously, I also suffer from this. I joined tech industry in mid 2019, its been 3 years doing job as developer but still I sometimes feels I don't know anything. 😅
Yes, I agree, I'm in the middle of a career transition from mechanical engineering to software development and I'm having a hard time ignoring my imposter syndrome and just apply for jobs. I feel I still need to master the Fundamentals before applying.
Keep moving forward mate!, I feel like we learn by doing only, with time we'll be masters.
So the thing is we cant be 100% ready for anything, so just get whatever we have or we know to start the job and just jump in. Try- if fail then prepare and try again.
Recursive leap of faith 😄
And I saw your github profile and i have to tell you that's a great github profile page.
And your tech stack is awesome.
I have this issue. I have been battling this for over 3 months. I can't seem to get out of that mental space that i am not good enough and it sure does impede productivity and the temerity to find entry level jobs. I know i should be talking to a professional but i also know itʻs common so any suggestions like books or articles would be welcomed
yes, I feel the same way but what helped me was just talking to a professional and decussing ways to overcome them. In addition, I think reading this book called "Feeling Great" by Dr. David D. Burns,M.D. has helped me feel better and gave me solutions on dealing with my issues.
Thank you. Checking it out.
Yes same ques from my side too.
Like i love open source,But i have a feeling that i might not be so good to start it ri8 now.
Plz guide some tips.
Do you feel that the programming employers are beginning to put an importance on "formal" university papers or is it more focused on demonstrable skill set and portfolio? Where do you think networking factors into a newbie breaking into this type of employment?
What advice do you have to people from underdeveloped countries who are passionate about tech but faced with challenges, lots of them? For instance power outage is enough problem to discourage someone, then, most people do not really understand what you are driving at.
What advice do you have for newly coding bootcamp grads?
What do you feel is most important for a junior's first role that helps them grow the most, such as having a mentor or being pushed into new scenarios that happen while employed as a few examples.
Thanks for sharing your experience! What advice do you have for people trying to get their first job in tech who come from a non-tech background?
Hi Kelsey! Thank you for your time! What's the most exciting thing you've learned and how has it changed or impacted you in some way?
Do you sometimes think back to your beginnings? How difficult it was to get started? Does that still affect you in any way?
How do you apply minimal lifestyle on your job and on your personal life?
"I want to feel but I am tapped out". I feel this so much.
“Make me respect me tomorrow morning”
Definitely a quote to live by.
How do you know when it is time to switch to a new job?
What do you think - which is more important - experience or knowledge (or both equally)?
do you think chasing a degree in cs is important
Hi Kelsey! Great to hear your talk and background! I had a friend who went the same certification route in ATL around 2001 or so. Small world! His career took off as well. I actually knew several high school class mates who went the certificate route and started their own companies to great success. Definitely the way to go at the time. My path was different, but c'est la vie. All it means, is there are many ways to make it. Like you said in your talk, find a thing and community you like and that will be your cohort during your near-career to lean on be leaned on. Thanks for your insights!
What would you tell someone who's in tech, but feels pigeon-holed in an older area for 15+ years and wants to change into something fresh and new? Thank you!
How do you network with people? the right people? I have googled this question many a times, but haven't found a satisfied answer. I guide from the expert himself will be really appreciated. Thanks for the awesome session team!
Thank you so much for speaking with us! I'm wondering if you have any insight into the (often dreaded) tech interview process, including how you've seen it change since you started out, and maybe any ways you'd like to see it evolve in the future to better create a more diverse tech workforce.
Your story is so inspiring. This talks seems like the perfect start for the CodeLand Conference, great choice.
You said about not giving up till it finally clicks . As a student I need to explore different technology domains so that I can finally figure out what my interests are and what I want to continue with . But so far , doing this I am not able to entirely focus on one particular thing and always wander around elsewhere if , I get stuck. You must have a similar kind of experience during your early-career days , what did you do to find the right thing which worked out for you . Please guide me so that I can do the same .
Hi Kelsey, it is great to hear about your experience. I have a question.
One can do many thing, from setting up Kubernetes, to create a website, or deploying network system. It's great to combine different technologies to form up a solution. However, it may feel hard to fully focus on one thing if you are not completely interested in (e.g., become a cloud expert). Being a jack of all trade may not be enough to survive in this industry (or even start out).
With that said, how should people with "generalist" mindset define a pratical goal / pathway so they can start out and further advance in career?
Can you talk a little more about Developer Advocacy?? This is a role I haven't heard much about.
Thank you Kelsey!
I appreciate what you had to say about "deep learning" when it comes to learning a new trade.
I feel you apply this deep reflection to everything you do!
whenever friends approached you with difficult community issues, asked questions about your stance, etc.
You looked at the context, did research, and self-reflected.
Tying in the chat about "celebrating your misteaks," it's never about doing it "right" and how people expect, it's about being authentic about where you're coming from, and conscientious as you navigate
It was mentioned that you surround yourself with people that want to see you succeed. As someone who is starting out my career in tech, how would one actually achieve this at a deeper level? I think the tech community is already a great support environment, but we are all respectively limited to our bandwidth of attention and resources-we can only pay attention to so much and so many at a given point. What do we do to make ourselves worthy of this deep attention? Inversely, how and when do we choose to start to personally invest in others on the same level?
My major problem as a tech newbie is not knowing where to start and no proper direction, I love everything about tech but not knowing where to start at all.
Good ideas and all sometimes it affects me negatively,
Do you think there is a way to fight this?
Kelsey, I'm loving this conversation. Very great advice for us new developer.
I agree!
It was mentioned that you surround yourself with people that want to see you succeed. As someone who is starting out my career in tech, how would one actually achieve this at a deeper level? I think the tech community is already a great support environment, but we are all respectively limited to our bandwidth of attention and resources---we can only pay attention to so much and so many at a given point. What do we do to make ourselves worthy of this deep attention? Inversely, how and when do we choose to start to personally invest in others on the same level?
Just wrote a post on the keynote and shared a sketchnote that summarizes it if useful. The post has a link to a high-resolution version of the image that is easier to read, print or view on a 4K display.
Post:
dev.to/nitya/kelsey-hightowers-cod...
Sketchnote
Woahh..!! Awesome!!😍😍😍
Hi! I was watching the interview with this great guy yesterday but today when i come finish watching i could't find it. Can anyone point me to the interview between sara and the Kelsey Hightower please?
I recently started coding and I've been at it for almost 6 months and it still feels like I know nothing. I've also not been able to reach out to people with similar interest and it's been a downer for me