layout	title
page	Career Journal

Career Journal

Overview

What is a career journal? The journal will help guide you through the process of discovering who you are as a new developer and how that translates into your career goals. It’s a way to check in with yourself through self-reflection, prompts, and questions, organize your targeted job search, and remember who you met as you build a professional network.
Make it your own. Add questions and areas to reflect on each week. Just don’t forget to share all of your successes and achievements along the way!
Ongoing progress checks. Throughout each module, you'll respond to the other prompts and update your progress in your document during professional development workshops and set aside work time.
Module Expectations. A completed career journal is required for successfully passing each module. The career development team will be assessing your progress throughout the module, and you will submit it for final review in week 6. You will also include highlights from your progress in your end of module portfolio presentation.

Directions

Copy the following prompts into your own private gist or Google Doc. Note: when creating a gist, please make sure to add .md at the end of the title to turn it into markdown format. If you're using a Google doc, please provide comment access.
Respond to the Mod 0 prompts.
Submit the link to your document in this survey for the career development component of your Mod 1 Prework.

Mod 0

When you've worked towards a goal in the past, what systems or tools have been helpful for you in accomplishing that goal? How could you adapt those same systems/tools to use while at Turing?

A goal I had in the past was to have a wedding without hiring a wedding/event planner or getting into debt. Tools that were useful included YouTube videos, countless online articles and blogs, and my family when they were able to help while living 3 hours away. All those tools needed to be organized, so I used a type of binder where I could add references, lists, deadlines, important documents, and more. Time management was also important because I had a friend help out and she lived 3 hours away. At Turing, I will be doing a lot of research and I will need to organize the resources I decide to keep in order to reference them when needed. Time management will be very important because I will be dedicating 90% of my time to Turing, and I need to remember to make time for myself in order to stay sane and avoid burnout.

As you start this new career, what is one of your strengths and how do you know?

Problem-solving. I know because I have encountered problems and while I have had the opportunity to walk away, I decide to take it head on and if I cannot think of possible solutions to try out, I dive into researching for solutions or similar problems that can help me think of possible solutions. I also know how to remain calm while facing a problem so that I can think of ways to solve it.

Describe how you work best (conditions, environment, preferences, etc.):

While I pride myself in being able to get the job done under any circumstance, I do have an ideal setup. A comfortable chair, with a pillow/blanket available for comfort, a lot of desk space, a plant or two near me, access to look out a window, background music that is not elevator music but also not distracting, and access to hydration and snacks/meals. If I have that, I don't mind having a lot of people around me, though I would prefer a speck of private space. That's probably why I much prefer working from home.

As you start this new career, what is your greatest area of improvement when it comes to your professional skills?

I want to be able to be part of the work culture by forming strong relationships with my colleagues. I often find this difficult because I prefer to keep to myself unless I have to work in groups. In which case I do fine, but only for the sake of the team.

How will developing a deeper understanding of your strengths and working preferences benefit you as a software developer?

If I know my strengths, I can use them to work on my weaknesses to become a better software developer. Similarly, if I know my working preferences, I know what I can do to help me be the most productive and efficient software developer.

Describe the vision you currently have for your career after Turing: I will be working at a company that shares my values. My skills and hard work will work with, and not just for, the rest of company towards a mission that somehow helps humanity. This will lead to a very rewarding and challenging career that allows me to easily maintain a fair work/life balance.

Set Up Your Career Journal for Mods 1-4:

It's recommended that you use the following template to set up the rest of your career journal.

Mod 1

Week 1: Week 1 Prompts and Link to completed gist

If you will not be able to complete your journal this week, please provide an update for the Career Dev team on when you'll have it completed here: I am not sure of the due date for Week1, but I will have it completed by the start of Week 2.

Week 2: Week 2 Prompts and Link to completed gist

Week 3: Week 3 Prompts and Link to completed gist

Week 4: Week 4 Prompts and Link to completed gist

Week 5: Week 5 Prompts and Link to completed gist

If you will not be able to complete your journal this week, please provide an update for the Career Dev team on when you'll have it completed here: I will have this completed by the end of week 6 at the latest. The final project has been consuming my time and any positive energy I can muster.