Working in the tech industry can sometimes make us feel inferior. It is easy to start believing that everyone knows more, or finds the work easier. When we’re surrounded by so many clever people, how can we not start to judge ourselves against them and our work against theirs?
Impostor syndrome - the belief that you don’t deserve to be where you are, and perfectionism - a need to work to impossibly high standards, are exhausting.
Learn how to spot these destructive thought patterns in yourself, how to manage anxiety and procrastination and how to start being kinder to yourself, because you’re awesome and you deserve to be here.
Jo is a Web Developer Advocate for Samsung Internet who is passionate about VR, Web Bluetooth, PWAs and great CSS. She’s got 6 years experience as a front end developer and has worked in various parts of the tech industry from startups, agencies, charities to large organisations. She is also mentor and organiser at codebar.io where she is able to action her passion not only for teaching good use of the web but also for improving the diversity and inclusivity of the tech industry.
Each and every day we encounter the knowledge of thousands of people. We read articles, blog posts, documentation and smart answers on StackOverflow. How can we compete against this well of wisdom?
You might think that you have nothing to add. You'll be surprised how much you actually know.
Sascha is a 28-year-old Software Developer from Cologne, Germany. He used to do full-stack iOS and web development but today focusses on building scalable, resilient, distributed backend systems at grandcentrix. Communication, compassion, and knowledge-sharing are all important topics for him, and he likes to think about how we can use them to build a better and more productive place to work.
In his free-time he is a loving husband, father and avid roleplayer. He reads a lot, loves a good science fiction movie and likes to engage in thought-provoking conversations from game design to system architecture or the meaning of life.
Six months after starting my first developer job I looked at my bank account and wondered, "Where did all my money go?"
From a book by a Buddhist financial planner to swapping budgeting app recommendations with my best friend, this is my story of building a healthy relationship with money.
Paula Muldoon learned to code at Makers after an international career as a violinist and is now a JavaScript Developer at Cambridge Cognition. She has performed in over 20 countries, including recording at Abbey Road and Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and now enjoys leading the Cambridge Philharmonic and doing cryptic crosswords in her spare time. Originally from the USA, she holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She loves software development because you never stop learning!
Life as a "junior" developer can be intense, overwhelming, but rewarding. How can juniors move on to the next level? And, what can employers, mentors, and communities do to support the next generation of developers?
Tara is a software engineer at FutureLearn, a social learning company, enabling online learning through conversation. Prior to this, Tara spent 2 years at Marks & Spencer including 12 months on their software engineering graduate scheme. Since then Tara has become a STEM ambassador and is passionate about encouraging and inspiring young people from diverse backgrounds to consider a career in tech.
#Selfcare has over 7.5 million Instagram posts, but we have more questions than ever about what self-care actually is. In this talk, we'll take self-care beyond the hashtags and into your daily life. We'll define it and walk through the process of creating meaningful self-care rituals.
Taylor Morrison is the founder of Jubilant, a brand experience firm, but her favorite title is ritual builder. She writes, speaks, and consults on seemingly unrelated topics like branding, self-care, and business operations. She explores purpose and process to help people and organizations build meaningful rituals for work and for life.
"In software development, caring is everything - and as the senior developers of tomorrow, we are should start the revolution.
Are we the fix in the fight against guns-for-hire developers? How do we prevent unethical technology spreading (and being made)?
Sam is a recent graduate of the University of Warwick. Currently, he helps make cool things happen with Black Pepper Software in his role as a software developer. When he's not working, he maintains a couple of open-source GitHub repositories for a learning-to-program platform, attend as many hackathons as he can cram into his life, plays and watches sports, and solves Rubik's cubes as fast as he can.
Sam lives and breathes software, and is a huge believer in coding for social good!
Independence is the key to professional growth. It doesn’t mean working alone; it means being able to problem-solve and seek help. Attendees will leave with a new definition of independence, as well as a framework for developing and maintaining independence in their professional life.
Violet is a Senior Developer at Instrument in Portland, OR. When she’s not heading up “quite nice” NGO website rebuilds, she’s making emotion-detecting photo booths and turning hike databases into custom Google Maps. She loves documentation, knowledge-sharing, and empowering others to create and be creative. If Violet isn’t in front of a computer, she’s probably in her garden, the climbing gym, or deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
How do you help junior developers succeed? How do you maintain your team’s productivity while building a culture of learning?
Borrowing from interactions with hundreds of companies successfully integrating their first junior team members – companies like the FT, Telegraph, Deloitte, Tesco, and Santander – this 30-minute talk will give an overview of what works, and what doesn’t. We’ll focus on practical, easy-to-implement insights which will not only help you support your new developers’ success and growth, but enhance your team’s progress as a whole, making it a more fun and productive place to work.
Sam is Head of Education at Makers. He’s trained and placed over 1,500 software engineers in London and around the world.
Scary is a comedian and MC with 11 years experience in science and engineering within academia. They specialise in surreal comedy about when people meet science, which they have taken to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Cheltenham Science Festival (in drag, causing much confusion among the audience), Electromagnetic Field, and more. Scary is just finishing a PhD in the science of 3D printing shape changing jelly.