As the first thing you do in this program, I’d like you to write a short essay about what you want to get out of this program and what you intend to put in to it. This will help you decide whether the program is right for you and how you’re going to approach it. It will also help me tailor the program to your particular needs.
Consider these questions:
Do you like computers?
Job stuff
Are you willing to work a 9-to-5 office job, reporting to Business people and doing what they ask of you?
Do you want or need to work from home, part time or full time?
Are you willing to work on projects that you do not personally find very interesting? For a company whose main line of business is something you don’t personally find interesting?
Are you willing to work in an industry that has problems with sexism, racism, and ageism?
If not, what industries do you know of that have less problems with these things? (This is not just rhetorical; I am genuinely curious.)
What are your salary goals? What are your salary requirements?
Do you want to make a lot of money?
Do you need to get personal or artistic fulfillment out of your day job, or can you just cash a paycheck and do that through other means?
Are there certain industries (e.g. defense, intelligence, finance) that you are unwilling to work in?
Are there certain industries you would especially like to work in?
Does it matter to you what kind of software products you’re building at work?
Career-change stuff
If this program works out for you, you will end up with an entry-level programming job. If you’re an adult career-switcher, this means that you may well be working with and reporting to people much younger than you, like 25-year-old dudes and freshly-minted MBAs. Are you okay with that?
Do you have political or philosophical issues with proprietary software or intellectual property rights in general?
Program participation stuff
Are you wanting to dive in whole hog on this, or are you just trying it out to see if coding is right for you?
(There is not a wrong answer to this question.)
How much time a week are you able to spend on this? How much time do you want to spend on it?
How quickly do you need to “see results” from this…
…to make it worthwhile? to make it interesting?
…to meet your financial needs?
Do you have other big commitments, like an active job, children or other dependents, etc?
What’s your budget? How willing are you to throw a few hundred bucks at a risky and untested venture?
Are you going to be pissed off at me if you spend $500 on this and it doesn’t do much for you?
Are you okay taking directions and advice from a person of significant privilege – a straight white cis dude who’s had it pretty easy and who’s had a smooth path to success?
How good are you with self-discipline and sticking to a program of work that you’ve decided to do?
Learning style
Do you like watching lectures?
Are you a read-and-listen-a-lot, then-work-exercises person? Or do you like to be thrown a problem up front, and figure things out as you go?
Are you interested in learning the theory and philosophy behind programming? Or do you just want to know how to get it done?
Do you like to do a lot of discussions with other students?
For tutoring, do you prefer frequent, short contacts or less-frequent, longer discussions?
What are your preferred communication modes: text, voice, video/in-person? Do you prefer frequent short contacts or occasional long contacts?
OpSec
Do you have any sensitive information or data that you need to make sure is not exposed to the public or to nefarious elements?
Do you have any other special security needs?
Is it going to be a problem if your current employer or other people find out that you are Learning To Code?
Think about this stuff, write something up, and then send it to Andrew.