Dev Bootcamp's Engineering Empathy curriculum teaches soft skills that are important for developers to have, like communication, teamwork, and self-care. The program's mental health counselor Sarah Birdsong discusses what Engineering Empathy involves, how it helps students, and why these soft skills are valuable for tech careers. Engineering Empathy sessions cover topics like empathy, communication, allyship, and dealing with challenges like imposter syndrome. Both students and employers see value in the soft skills training, which distinguishes Dev Bootcamp graduates from other coding bootcamp programs.
1. The document is a portfolio submitted by Amit Prajapati (student ID: st20149936) for the course BABM7 (Level 4) on the topic of self-concept and interpersonal communication. It discusses self-concept, the importance of self-management, building self-image, definitions of interpersonal communication, characteristics and types of interpersonal communication, and the importance of interpersonal communication.
2. The document covers several aspects of self-concept including how it is influenced by others' views and changes over time due to environmental factors. It also discusses steps to building self-image such as believing in oneself and having confidence.
3. Regarding interpersonal communication,
The document outlines a proposal from Media Insights to create an online ethics training program for Health Care Cooperative. It proposes using surveys, pre-tests and post-tests to evaluate participants' understanding before and after the training. The training would use scenarios and case studies for participants to discuss ethical issues and solutions. It would allow for peer collaboration online. The goal is to provide an effective and cost-efficient alternative to face-to-face ethics training.
The document summarizes a communication skills course that aims to help students overcome stage fright and communicate effectively. The 15-session course engages students in building presentation skills from the start and focuses on speech delivery and presentation capabilities. Students learn from books on effective presentations and work individually and in groups on topics to develop and self-assess their presentations. The course is considered successful if students feel comfortable using their new speech and presentation skills to convey their ideas in a simplified yet fluent manner.
1) The document discusses John Toland's reflections on his technical communication class at Texas Tech University. It covers various topics like what technical communication is, cultural considerations, ethics, collaboration, and rhetoric.
2) The class involved assignments like resumes, presentations, proposals, and instruction sets to develop technical writing skills. Students were placed into groups and collaborated on projects like an instruction set for applying to graduate school.
3) The document emphasizes the importance of cultural awareness, ethics, and collaboration in technical communication. It discusses considering different cultures in workplace communication and not misrepresenting skills and information. Students worked well together by delegating roles and utilizing tools like Google Docs.
This document discusses effective communication techniques for managers. It covers what managers and employees do, the shift to a more collaborative mindset, interpersonal communication skills, contemporary organizational structures, and principles of constructive communication. Examples from Egyptian organizations are provided where unclear roles, distractions, and politics sometimes hinder effectiveness but many young managers are open to learning better communication. The document emphasizes that communication is the most important skill and managers should focus on building relationships through trust, common ground, and bringing out the best in employees.
Bettye Mitchell has over 20 years of experience in accounting, especially in accounts payable and receivable. She is currently a Senior Accounts Payables Lead at Unilin/Mohawk where she processes invoices, runs reports, trains staff, and communicates with vendors. Previously she held various accounts payable and receivable roles at several companies where she processed payments, reconciled accounts, and ensured timely resolution of issues.
1. The document is a portfolio submitted by Amit Prajapati (student ID: st20149936) for the course BABM7 (Level 4) on the topic of self-concept and interpersonal communication. It discusses self-concept, the importance of self-management, building self-image, definitions of interpersonal communication, characteristics and types of interpersonal communication, and the importance of interpersonal communication.
2. The document covers several aspects of self-concept including how it is influenced by others' views and changes over time due to environmental factors. It also discusses steps to building self-image such as believing in oneself and having confidence.
3. Regarding interpersonal communication,
The document outlines a proposal from Media Insights to create an online ethics training program for Health Care Cooperative. It proposes using surveys, pre-tests and post-tests to evaluate participants' understanding before and after the training. The training would use scenarios and case studies for participants to discuss ethical issues and solutions. It would allow for peer collaboration online. The goal is to provide an effective and cost-efficient alternative to face-to-face ethics training.
The document summarizes a communication skills course that aims to help students overcome stage fright and communicate effectively. The 15-session course engages students in building presentation skills from the start and focuses on speech delivery and presentation capabilities. Students learn from books on effective presentations and work individually and in groups on topics to develop and self-assess their presentations. The course is considered successful if students feel comfortable using their new speech and presentation skills to convey their ideas in a simplified yet fluent manner.
1) The document discusses John Toland's reflections on his technical communication class at Texas Tech University. It covers various topics like what technical communication is, cultural considerations, ethics, collaboration, and rhetoric.
2) The class involved assignments like resumes, presentations, proposals, and instruction sets to develop technical writing skills. Students were placed into groups and collaborated on projects like an instruction set for applying to graduate school.
3) The document emphasizes the importance of cultural awareness, ethics, and collaboration in technical communication. It discusses considering different cultures in workplace communication and not misrepresenting skills and information. Students worked well together by delegating roles and utilizing tools like Google Docs.
This document discusses effective communication techniques for managers. It covers what managers and employees do, the shift to a more collaborative mindset, interpersonal communication skills, contemporary organizational structures, and principles of constructive communication. Examples from Egyptian organizations are provided where unclear roles, distractions, and politics sometimes hinder effectiveness but many young managers are open to learning better communication. The document emphasizes that communication is the most important skill and managers should focus on building relationships through trust, common ground, and bringing out the best in employees.
Bettye Mitchell has over 20 years of experience in accounting, especially in accounts payable and receivable. She is currently a Senior Accounts Payables Lead at Unilin/Mohawk where she processes invoices, runs reports, trains staff, and communicates with vendors. Previously she held various accounts payable and receivable roles at several companies where she processed payments, reconciled accounts, and ensured timely resolution of issues.
El documento habla sobre los orígenes del Sena en Colombia en 1957 durante la renuncia del General Rojas Pinilla. El Sena fue creado mediante decreto para brindar formación profesional y técnica a trabajadores, jóvenes y adultos con el fin de vincularlos laboralmente y establecer un sistema nacional de aprendizaje. El Sena actual sigue ofreciendo una excelente educación y enseñando el cuidado del medio ambiente para mejorarlo.
This document contains a summary of Nazrul Islam's professional experience and qualifications. He has 4 years of experience in financial organizations and hospitality. Currently he works as a Sales Consultant at Travelex W.L.L in Bahrain where his responsibilities include managing sales, operations, and client services. Previously he worked as a Cashier at Crown Hotel in Bahrain. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Studies from the National University of Bangladesh. His areas of strength include effective communication, teamwork, problem solving, and customer service.
El documento describe la estructura y función del sistema nervioso. Se divide en sistema nervioso central y periférico. El central está formado por el encéfalo y médula espinal y contiene millones de neuronas unidas por sinapsis. El periférico incluye el tejido nervioso fuera del encéfalo y médula espinal como ganglios y plexos. Las neuronas son las células del sistema nervioso y varían en su morfología.
This document is divided into multiple parts that discuss different topics related to legislation, adjudication, and law. While the specific contents of each part are not provided, the overall structure presents separate sections to examine legal concepts and their application.
A Escola Flora de Queiroz Teles foi fundada em 1979 e reconhecida como escola estadual em 1999. Originalmente localizada em um prédio do Círculo dos Trabalhadores Rurais, a escola fechou em 1997, mas reabriu em 1998 após auditoria judicial. Em 2000, foram abertas duas extensões para educação de jovens e adultos. Atualmente, a escola oferece educação inclusiva e tem obtido bons resultados em olimpíadas e avaliações externas.
This book review summarizes the plot of the novel "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. It describes how Bella gets a small paper cut that attracts six hungry vampires due to the scent of her blood. Edward tries to fight them off but Bella is left severely injured. The book is a romantic supernatural thriller that follows Bella's deep love for Edward Cullen, even though being with a vampire puts her life at great risk, with more danger than she ever imagined.
O documento descreve a origem e evolução do conceito de etiqueta, desde sua origem na corte francesa no século XVII até os dias atuais. Apresenta também a consultora Silvia Seabra, especialista em etiqueta, e lista os cursos e eventos que ela oferece sobre etiqueta social, profissional e à mesa.
Informational Interview Research PaperAngela Weber
This document summarizes an informational interview conducted with Dilpreet Singh, a Site Reliability Engineer at Proofpoint Inc. in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the interview was to learn about Singh's career field, day-to-day responsibilities, important skills for success, and personal experiences. Singh described technical skills like knowledge of security and load-balancing systems as well as soft skills like communication, documentation, problem solving, and attention to detail as being important for the role. He shared a challenging situation of recovering 400GB of data from a server crash. Overall, the interview provided insights into the realities of working as a site reliability engineer.
Applied Improvisation is the non-theatrically use of improvisation skills and is being taught in blue-chip companies and in more than half of the top business schools around the world.
We help companies stay sharp and agile by developing the right set of skills of their people.
Contact us at corina@improvizatie.ro for more info.
Mark Edwards, Leadership and Strategy Programme Director at London Business School, considers ways of improving the stickiness of learning by examining a range of aspects, from the desire to learn to the ways the learned lessons can be applied.
Mark will be hosting a webinar, on 7 October, in which he will explain how you can embed effective learning and understand employees’ motivations. Sign-up: http://www.changeboard.com/events/exclusive-changeboard-webinar-the-stickiness-of-learning-how-to-ensure-your-learning-strategy-makes-an-impact
Chapter 11 Participating in Group Projects Online Ca.docxbartholomeocoombs
Chapter 11
Participating in
Group Projects Online
Carole Richardson
IN THIS CHAPTER WE DESCRIBE the challenges of online
group work and prescribe an approach that can help you success,
fully meet those challenges. Instructors use group projects because
they recognize that group work encourages the leamer,to, learner
interaction that is essential for community building, and they know
that in the workplace people are often required to function in self,
directed work teams.
The complexities of today's technologically supported, infor,
mation,based global workplace present challenges to collaboration
in business, industry, and government. It is not unusual for deals to
be made or lost based on a person's ability to work across cultural
and geographic boundaries. It is not always feasible for such deal,
making to be conducted in a face,to,face setting. Travel budgets
have been severely curtailed for many reasons, among them a de,
dining global economy and a desire for personal safety. Techno,
logical tools are increasingly relied on to support the work of
widely dispersed business partners. To prepare learners for the
world of work, it is essential that our educational microcosms not
only analyze the challenges to group collaboration, but also pro,
vide experiential environments in which the skills to overcome
those challenges can be groomed. Online group projects are very
effective tools to help learners become comfortable working with
people they never see.
145
146 GETTING THE MOST FROM ONLINE LEARNING
The goal of this chapter is to provide you with some techniques
that will help you successfully collaborate with fellow learners in
the virtual environment.
GETTING TO KNOW GROUP MEMBERS
One of the most important steps to being a successful online group
member is to get to know the other group members as soon as pos,
sible. Once your instructor has made it clear that group work will
be required, and once your group assignment has been made, waste
no time communicating with your group. Even though at this point
you may not have a clear idea of the details of the project you will
eventually be working on, you need to establish a relationship with
the people in your group well before you begin to work toward a
common goal.
Why is this? When communicating online, the absence of ver,
bal inflection and body language to help you understand a person's
meaning can create a minefield of misunderstandings and misinter,
pretations. The sooner you become comfortable with an individ,
ual's online communication style the better. For example, a person
may consistently post one,word or two,word responses to questions
posed online. "What's the weather like where you are?" results in
the answer, "Fine." Reading this posted to the discussion board,
members of the group may think she is rude for not being more con,
versational, or perhaps she is hypersensitive and offended by the
question itself. After a.
The document summarizes discussions from the 2007 VET Pedagogy leadership team about expanding e-learning opportunities in vocational education. The team explored topics like emerging e-learning practices, assessing skills through e-portfolios, generational differences, and supporting remote communities through technology. Members found that the discussions challenged their ideas, contributed new understandings, and strengthened their philosophies around lifelong learning and the links between recognition of prior learning and teaching.
Day 7 - Pre-work - Introduction to skills and values (1).pdfvinodkumarchinthalav
This document introduces 21st century skills and values that are important for career success. It discusses critical thinking, collaboration, creative thinking, continuous learning, communication, ownership, growth mindset, and empathy. For each skill or value, it provides a definition, examples of how it can be practiced, and why it is important. The overall message is that developing these skills through practice is essential for thriving in today's competitive work environment and finding opportunities for growth in one's career.
There are several essential skills for the workplace. Communication skills, including both verbal and written communication, are considered the most important skills by employers. Other important skills include problem solving, teamwork, adaptability, and strategic thinking. Leadership skills such as vision, effective communication, political savvy, and resilience are also key for many roles.
Mentoring is always a two-way street, whether it is reverse mentorship or the traditional kind. While you’re Mentoring a senior colleague, use the opportunity to learn more about how things get done on their team, gain new perspectives on how decisions are made, & build your credibility as a young professional. Place them in your shoes by asking how they might handle the various challenges you face. Know that this isn’t about showing off but a genuine intent on both ends to share what you have learned & benefit the other person.
This document contains a personal reflection from the student on their experience working with classmates on the "Digital Enterprise" course. It discusses adapting to working with people from different backgrounds and cultures, learning about New Zealand's working sphere and corporate norms, and completing weekly case studies on time by trying to meet the lecturer's expectations. It also summarizes key lessons learned from analyzing various case studies, including about customer experience, business models, social media, and technology. The student expresses gratitude to God, their family, lecturer, and classmates for supporting their learning.
Primo Michele Levi turns 24 years old and records it in his diary, noting that he was born in Turin, Italy and has one sibling named Anne Maria Levi. Levi excelled academically from a young age and had a passion for chemistry, though he was small, shy, and frequently bullied as a child for being Jewish.
El documento habla sobre los orígenes del Sena en Colombia en 1957 durante la renuncia del General Rojas Pinilla. El Sena fue creado mediante decreto para brindar formación profesional y técnica a trabajadores, jóvenes y adultos con el fin de vincularlos laboralmente y establecer un sistema nacional de aprendizaje. El Sena actual sigue ofreciendo una excelente educación y enseñando el cuidado del medio ambiente para mejorarlo.
This document contains a summary of Nazrul Islam's professional experience and qualifications. He has 4 years of experience in financial organizations and hospitality. Currently he works as a Sales Consultant at Travelex W.L.L in Bahrain where his responsibilities include managing sales, operations, and client services. Previously he worked as a Cashier at Crown Hotel in Bahrain. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Studies from the National University of Bangladesh. His areas of strength include effective communication, teamwork, problem solving, and customer service.
El documento describe la estructura y función del sistema nervioso. Se divide en sistema nervioso central y periférico. El central está formado por el encéfalo y médula espinal y contiene millones de neuronas unidas por sinapsis. El periférico incluye el tejido nervioso fuera del encéfalo y médula espinal como ganglios y plexos. Las neuronas son las células del sistema nervioso y varían en su morfología.
This document is divided into multiple parts that discuss different topics related to legislation, adjudication, and law. While the specific contents of each part are not provided, the overall structure presents separate sections to examine legal concepts and their application.
A Escola Flora de Queiroz Teles foi fundada em 1979 e reconhecida como escola estadual em 1999. Originalmente localizada em um prédio do Círculo dos Trabalhadores Rurais, a escola fechou em 1997, mas reabriu em 1998 após auditoria judicial. Em 2000, foram abertas duas extensões para educação de jovens e adultos. Atualmente, a escola oferece educação inclusiva e tem obtido bons resultados em olimpíadas e avaliações externas.
This book review summarizes the plot of the novel "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. It describes how Bella gets a small paper cut that attracts six hungry vampires due to the scent of her blood. Edward tries to fight them off but Bella is left severely injured. The book is a romantic supernatural thriller that follows Bella's deep love for Edward Cullen, even though being with a vampire puts her life at great risk, with more danger than she ever imagined.
O documento descreve a origem e evolução do conceito de etiqueta, desde sua origem na corte francesa no século XVII até os dias atuais. Apresenta também a consultora Silvia Seabra, especialista em etiqueta, e lista os cursos e eventos que ela oferece sobre etiqueta social, profissional e à mesa.
Informational Interview Research PaperAngela Weber
This document summarizes an informational interview conducted with Dilpreet Singh, a Site Reliability Engineer at Proofpoint Inc. in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the interview was to learn about Singh's career field, day-to-day responsibilities, important skills for success, and personal experiences. Singh described technical skills like knowledge of security and load-balancing systems as well as soft skills like communication, documentation, problem solving, and attention to detail as being important for the role. He shared a challenging situation of recovering 400GB of data from a server crash. Overall, the interview provided insights into the realities of working as a site reliability engineer.
Applied Improvisation is the non-theatrically use of improvisation skills and is being taught in blue-chip companies and in more than half of the top business schools around the world.
We help companies stay sharp and agile by developing the right set of skills of their people.
Contact us at corina@improvizatie.ro for more info.
Mark Edwards, Leadership and Strategy Programme Director at London Business School, considers ways of improving the stickiness of learning by examining a range of aspects, from the desire to learn to the ways the learned lessons can be applied.
Mark will be hosting a webinar, on 7 October, in which he will explain how you can embed effective learning and understand employees’ motivations. Sign-up: http://www.changeboard.com/events/exclusive-changeboard-webinar-the-stickiness-of-learning-how-to-ensure-your-learning-strategy-makes-an-impact
Chapter 11 Participating in Group Projects Online Ca.docxbartholomeocoombs
Chapter 11
Participating in
Group Projects Online
Carole Richardson
IN THIS CHAPTER WE DESCRIBE the challenges of online
group work and prescribe an approach that can help you success,
fully meet those challenges. Instructors use group projects because
they recognize that group work encourages the leamer,to, learner
interaction that is essential for community building, and they know
that in the workplace people are often required to function in self,
directed work teams.
The complexities of today's technologically supported, infor,
mation,based global workplace present challenges to collaboration
in business, industry, and government. It is not unusual for deals to
be made or lost based on a person's ability to work across cultural
and geographic boundaries. It is not always feasible for such deal,
making to be conducted in a face,to,face setting. Travel budgets
have been severely curtailed for many reasons, among them a de,
dining global economy and a desire for personal safety. Techno,
logical tools are increasingly relied on to support the work of
widely dispersed business partners. To prepare learners for the
world of work, it is essential that our educational microcosms not
only analyze the challenges to group collaboration, but also pro,
vide experiential environments in which the skills to overcome
those challenges can be groomed. Online group projects are very
effective tools to help learners become comfortable working with
people they never see.
145
146 GETTING THE MOST FROM ONLINE LEARNING
The goal of this chapter is to provide you with some techniques
that will help you successfully collaborate with fellow learners in
the virtual environment.
GETTING TO KNOW GROUP MEMBERS
One of the most important steps to being a successful online group
member is to get to know the other group members as soon as pos,
sible. Once your instructor has made it clear that group work will
be required, and once your group assignment has been made, waste
no time communicating with your group. Even though at this point
you may not have a clear idea of the details of the project you will
eventually be working on, you need to establish a relationship with
the people in your group well before you begin to work toward a
common goal.
Why is this? When communicating online, the absence of ver,
bal inflection and body language to help you understand a person's
meaning can create a minefield of misunderstandings and misinter,
pretations. The sooner you become comfortable with an individ,
ual's online communication style the better. For example, a person
may consistently post one,word or two,word responses to questions
posed online. "What's the weather like where you are?" results in
the answer, "Fine." Reading this posted to the discussion board,
members of the group may think she is rude for not being more con,
versational, or perhaps she is hypersensitive and offended by the
question itself. After a.
The document summarizes discussions from the 2007 VET Pedagogy leadership team about expanding e-learning opportunities in vocational education. The team explored topics like emerging e-learning practices, assessing skills through e-portfolios, generational differences, and supporting remote communities through technology. Members found that the discussions challenged their ideas, contributed new understandings, and strengthened their philosophies around lifelong learning and the links between recognition of prior learning and teaching.
Day 7 - Pre-work - Introduction to skills and values (1).pdfvinodkumarchinthalav
This document introduces 21st century skills and values that are important for career success. It discusses critical thinking, collaboration, creative thinking, continuous learning, communication, ownership, growth mindset, and empathy. For each skill or value, it provides a definition, examples of how it can be practiced, and why it is important. The overall message is that developing these skills through practice is essential for thriving in today's competitive work environment and finding opportunities for growth in one's career.
There are several essential skills for the workplace. Communication skills, including both verbal and written communication, are considered the most important skills by employers. Other important skills include problem solving, teamwork, adaptability, and strategic thinking. Leadership skills such as vision, effective communication, political savvy, and resilience are also key for many roles.
Mentoring is always a two-way street, whether it is reverse mentorship or the traditional kind. While you’re Mentoring a senior colleague, use the opportunity to learn more about how things get done on their team, gain new perspectives on how decisions are made, & build your credibility as a young professional. Place them in your shoes by asking how they might handle the various challenges you face. Know that this isn’t about showing off but a genuine intent on both ends to share what you have learned & benefit the other person.
This document contains a personal reflection from the student on their experience working with classmates on the "Digital Enterprise" course. It discusses adapting to working with people from different backgrounds and cultures, learning about New Zealand's working sphere and corporate norms, and completing weekly case studies on time by trying to meet the lecturer's expectations. It also summarizes key lessons learned from analyzing various case studies, including about customer experience, business models, social media, and technology. The student expresses gratitude to God, their family, lecturer, and classmates for supporting their learning.
Primo Michele Levi turns 24 years old and records it in his diary, noting that he was born in Turin, Italy and has one sibling named Anne Maria Levi. Levi excelled academically from a young age and had a passion for chemistry, though he was small, shy, and frequently bullied as a child for being Jewish.
8 tips for successful online course facilitationMolly Valdez
The document provides tips for successful online course facilitation based on experiences as students and facilitators. It recommends making students feel welcome, establishing clear goals and expectations, participating actively in discussions, being responsive to students, using group work and collaboration, and getting feedback from students. The tips are meant to engage students socially and address challenges of online learning.
This workshop focuses on brain development, emotional intelligence, and effective communication. It will examine how the brain develops from fetal stages through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Participants will learn how to support brain growth at each stage and understand how conditions like ADD are determined. The workshop also explores the connection between brain development and emotional intelligence, and how to develop emotional intelligence capabilities that are important for workplace success. The 4-hour workshop provides practical tools and strategies to improve communication skills.
Brain Development and Emotional Intelligence Workshop
SarahDBCEngineeringEmpathyQA
1. Dev Bootcamp is known for its unique Engineering Empathy curriculum, which focuses
on the human side of software development. Dev Bootcamp aims to produce job-ready
graduates, with both technical and interpersonal skills. But what exactly is Engineering
Empathy? And why do coding bootcamp students need it? We spoke to Dev Bootcamp
NYC mental health counselor and Engineering Empathy facilitator, Sarah Birdsong,
about imposter syndrome, stereotype threat, allyship, and why soft skills are key to
being a successful developer, technical employee and manager.
What’s your background and experience as a therapist?
I’m a licensed mental health counsellor. I specialized in multicultural counselling at Columbia
University. The term “multicultural counselling” is a little outdated, but the idea is that if we can
understand ourselves as biased identity beings – as racial beings and gendered beings – and
understand the assumptions and biases we hold as a result of our cultural experiences and
identity experiences, we’re better able to work with people from a wide range of backgrounds. If
we come into a situation with no biases or assumptions, we’re left with this pure curiosity, and
are able to work with people from a lot of different experiences.
How did you get involved with Dev Bootcamp?
I’m drawn to Dev Bootcamp for the same reason I’m drawn to therapy: the workspace is a
missed opportunity for self-processing, self-development, and self-actualization. We spend all
this time at work, and if we’re having interpersonal conflicts, battling difficult team dynamics, or
2. struggling with regulating our own emotions in the workplace, we often try to ignore the effect it
is having on us internally. That’s devastating to creativity, productivity, retention, and burnout,
but from a personal stance it’s such an opportunity for self growth. I wanted to work as a
therapist and soft skills educator in a workplace, or in a startup setting, so I get both at Dev
Bootcamp.
Why do coding bootcamp students need a counselor on site?
A coding bootcamp is such an intense experience. It brings a lot to the surface, which is a great
opportunity for students to better understand how to regulate emotions, and communicate
effectively. There is a lot of confusion when you’re looking for the solutions to each coding
problem, and that can be a petrie dish for self doubt, insecurity and intrapersonal conflict, all of
which can distract from the goal of learning.
Also, a lot of students are used to being very good at what they do. They are either career
changers coming out of a career they have mastered, or they are used to being at the top of
their class. At Dev Bootcamp, they’re novices again as adults, which is very, very difficult
because it’s hard on the ego.
Dev Bootcamp looks and feels a lot like a tech startup, and if you can learn how to regulate your
emotions, work on a team, and communicate effectively while you're learning something very
complicated, then you are equipped to practice that in the workplace.
Is there a stereotype of developers today as being unempathetic or hard to work with?
The stereotype of the past was a developer who was so engrossed in code that it was hard to
communicate with them. So to be a developer who can regulate their emotions, work well on
teams, work well in pairs, and also communicate to non technical partners, is a huge asset.
They’re not becoming inundated with frustration or intrapersonal problems, and they’re able to
hear all the ideas in the room, even if they’re coming from non-technical staff.
But there are also studies that find developers are disproportionately introverted, which makes
sense because technology is their opportunity to be creative without having to be as social. But
as more and more companies have open layouts, emphasize pairing, and rely on collaboration,
soft skills and self care for introverts are becoming more and more important.
In your experience with tons of Dev Bootcamp students, have you found that there is one
specific type of person who is successful in a coding bootcamp?
I’ve come to understand that anyone can learn how to code. The challenge is the fight with the
ego, with expectations of yourself. People have thoughts like “maybe I can’t learn this, maybe I
shouldn’t be here,” which are really devastating and exhausting. I’m starting to lose any belief in
“learning styles;” it’s more about self care, focus, practice, patience, communication, and asking
for help. If you can do those things, coding is a skill you can master with persistence, community
support, and mentorship.
What is Engineering Empathy?
3. Dev Bootcamp’s founder, Shereef Bishay, started the company by developing a technical
curriculum. Then he went to a bunch of Silicon Valley hiring managers, and asked them what
they look for when hiring junior devs. Across the board they said soft skills. They said “we can
continue to teach the tech when we hire them, that’s not a problem – it’s the soft skills.”
Developing your soft skills can improve your metacognitive learning and it also improves your
marketability as an employee, your creativity, productivity, and communication in the workplace.
Realizing the benefits of soft skills training in tandem with the technical training, Shereef tapped
his brother, who had a background in this, and they put together the original Engineering
Empathy curriculum.
We now have this really brilliant curriculum, that each facilitator in each Dev Bootcamp campus
can hone to their campus culture. I was given the freedom to make it what the New York
campus needed, which I really appreciated, because I think San Francisco has a fundamentally
different culture, compared with New York, Chicago, Seattle, Austin, and San Diego. The aim is
for Dev Bootcamp graduates to go into their next job as skilled, confident, empathetic
employees and influence those companies to become more accessible and inclusive of
developers from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
What soft skills can students expect to learn through Engineering Empathy and how are
those skills useful for developers?
Number one is communication, which is a multi-faceted soft skill. It has to do with understanding
your own identity, your own assumptions, biases and boundaries, because the person you’re
communicating with also has a different set of assumptions, biases, and boundaries. It also
means understanding how the language you use can have a different impact than you intend for
it to have, and to be open to that. That’s incredibly helpful for coders who pair or work on teams.
It can increase creativity, productivity, and decreases burnout; it makes people more resilient
and more cohesive.
We also teach team dynamics – understanding your strengths and needs in a team and
understanding what other people’s strengths and needs might be and how to interact, and
communicate around that. And, we teach leadership skills and resilience. It all speaks directly to
productivity and creativity, as far as anything that's in the way of the goal because you’re able to
iron everything out and hear each other.
How do you teach Engineering Empathy at Dev Bootcamp?
The foundation of EE is the experience of empathy, as a way to understand yourself,
understand other people, and connect in that authenticity through cultural differences,
communication style differences, and professional experience differences. EE is taught through
a combination of clinical lecture and experience. First, I share research, data, and psychological
theory around the topics to give context. Then, I will facilitate an experiential component to
increase participants’ empathy.
How often do you have EE sessions and how long are they?
4. There is an EE session every week for the first 5 weeks on site, then one more in Phase 3 in
anticipation of the students’ final project. That last one is an EE session about team dynamics.
What do you discuss in Engineering Empathy sessions?
We discuss experiencing empathy, communicating needs, style, objectives in a pair situation,
how to give and receive feedback, the best way to have difficult conversations, how to express
your feelings when it could be a conflict, how to communicate non violently, and team dynamics.
We also talk about leadership, workplace boundaries, and personal boundaries and resilience in
the context of the power of vulnerability. And we have a very important session about allyship
and inclusion.
What is “allyship” all about and why is it important?
One of the goals of the allyship part of EE is to get students to understand that their experience
isn’t necessarily a shared experience. Each individual’s experience is very much informed by
their unique identity, and we all have a responsibility to work a little bit harder to have our
spaces be more inclusive so diverse voices are heard and supported. Students have graduated
with that lens, and have gone on to their places of work, where their managers notice them as
being an ally, and now we’re teaching EE at those companies.
In general, how do students respond to Engineering Empathy sessions? Are they
resistant to it or open to it?
It really depends. A lot students come to Dev Bootcamp for the Engineering Empathy. They say
“I don’t think I could have got through this program without it,” or “I knew I needed this, I knew I
wanted to develop these skills,” or “I wanted to be in a community that valued a holistic self care
approach.” The students who are hungry for it take advantage of counselling sessions with me;
they’re reading all the material and really gain an enormous amount from it.
But some folks are only here for the technical training – for them EE is just another thing that
happens at Dev Bootcamp. I’ll invite them to counselling to have those conversations, to
process their hesitation, which can often be fruitful. Many times, the students who had the most
hesitation about it coming in leave fully committed to the idea; I’ve seen so many students leave
Dev Bootcamp having grown enormously because of EE. Overall, at any coding bootcamp
you’re really asking students to challenge themselves to be courageous and vulnerable, which
is very new for some folks, but I think subsequently can be incredibly healing and productive for
them.
The bootcamp metaphor extends beyond the name of the company. We call this type of
educational model a bootcamp because of the rigorous, immersive learning approach that
requires complete commitment from the students, and they rely on each other for emotional and
technical support. I see them come into the program with a competitive mentality, but they’re
able to bond with classmates so that it doesn’t feel competitive at all anymore.
Imposter Syndrome is such a buzzword right now- what is Imposter Syndrome?
5. Imposter syndrome was coined following a study of phD students at Harvard, which found that
once you get to a very high level of expertise, you realize how much more there is to learn. It’s
an insecurity that sneaks up on you and can be really overwhelming. It happens in tech all the
time because there is so much more to learn. For example, you’ll have to inevitably learn a new
language for your job. You’re constantly learning, and never really feel like a master.
How do you see Imposter Syndrome manifest at Dev Bootcamp?
For Dev Bootcamp students, I can see them feeling like a fraud for calling themselves junior
developers because they have never been paid to be one; they haven’t been validated doing
that work, and so it feels very unfamiliar. For folks who don’t feel like they fit the stereotype of a
developer, it’s hard to say “I’m a web developer,” especially if you aren’t a cisgendered white or
Asian male.
Imposter Syndrome may be more common in a bootcamp setting because it’s a new model of
education. The traditional college education model prescribes so many years and so much
money to call yourself a professional in your chosen field of study. During the 19 weeks at Dev
Bootcamp (a fraction of the time of a traditional four-year university), it is our job to combat any
feelings of inadequacy and instill the confidence in our students to take their rightful places as
developers out in the workforce..
How do you help students navigate through Imposter Syndrome?
A number of ways. First, I remind them that it’s not their job to hire them; it’s an employer’s job
to decide if they’re a developer or not. We get them to practice telling each other they are
developers, and encourage students go to meetups and introduce themselves not as Dev
Bootcamp students but as developers.
We also do some reality checking, on the viability of the idea they are a fraud. What’s the
evidence that you're not a developer? You haven’t had a job yet, but you have built a portfolio
full of products, and you’ve gotten through this very rigorous program, which is absolutely more
rigorous than almost anything you’ll do in the workplace.
Students need the ability to hold that self doubt, to acknowledge the fact that that self doubt is
really preventing you from doing work in a field where a lot of people are used to being masters.
You have developed things. You’ve built things, on your own and in teams. You are a
developer.
Tell me about the Corporate Engineering Empathy programs you are running?
Dev Bootcamp students graduate with that allyship lens, and go on to their next workplace
where managers notice them as being an ally. So those companies who hired our grads contact
us to ask “what did that person learn, because all of our staff could really benefit from learning
that too.” So we designed a corporate allyship EE program. Lateesha Thomas, Dev Bootcamp’s
Director of Diversity, and I teach it. So far we’ve taught it at tech companies in NYC and SF. It
includes education around precise language, and concepts like oppression, privilege, stereotype
6. threat, microaggressions, small group activities, and really contextualizing it to each
organization. And we’ve been getting great feedback.
How do you think learning about Engineering Empathy distinguishes Dev Bootcamp
grads from people who go to other coding bootcamps which don’t have that focus?
We know that hiring managers are looking for strong technical and interpersonal skills and the
ability to learn quickly. We’ve also found that the second two skills are marketable, effective,
and traditionally lacking. People are becoming more interested in them and valuing them
because they are seeing what it does for the bottom line.
Students can demonstrate those skills in job interviews. You can talk about the EE curriculum
and give examples of how you reacted when faced with a challenge and became overwhelmed
with frustration. Realizing that these skills are necessary for every challenge that a developer
has, and seeing the ways in which students grow by practicing those challenges here, is pretty
easy to communicate to hiring managers. And the benefits are productivity and creativity.
We teach to the whole person. You’re going through this really intense thing and we want you to
come out in the end completely whole – greater, bigger, stronger, and with an ability to learn
quickly. I think hiring managers can see these qualities.
Find out more and read Dev Bootcamp reviews on Course Report. Check out the Dev
Bootcamp website.