Treehouse Festival 2020: "Beer, Bylines & Booleans: Exploring the Secret Superpowers of Non-CS Techies"

Hilary Stohs-Krause
“Exploring the secret superpowers of non-CS techies”
”

Hilary Stohs-Krause - Exploring the secret superpowers of non-CS techies
Co-owner and full-stack
developer at Ten Forward
Consulting in Madison, WI
I tweet at @hilarysk: intersectional
feminism, puns and tech
Fun fact: I’m an identical twin, and
my twin and I dream-ﬁght with
each other in our sleep.
Hello!

As you might have guessed, I
don’t have a CS degree.

Bartender
Radio reporter
Kite repairer
Movie theater popcorn
connoisseur
And I’ve had a lot
of non-tech jobs.

Why tech?
Better wages
Flexibility
In-demand industry

918,000
Unﬁlled tech jobs in 2019 in the U.S. alone1,2

3

7%
Level of optimism for ﬁnding skilled tech workers4

Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t hire
only computer science grads anyway.

Bootcamp grads and self-taught coders!

23,000
Bootcamp grads in U.S. and Canada in 20195

958%
Bootcamp graduate growth in U.S. and Canada from 2012 to 20195

49%
Bootcamp graduate growth in U.S. and Canada from 2018 to 20195

But are they qualiﬁed?

84%
Employers who say bootcampers are as or more prepared6

The average bootcamp grad
31 years old
6 years’ work experience (none in coding)
Bachelor of arts (or no degree at all)

Bootcamp != C.S. degree

LESSON 1
The value of perspective

WEB APPLICATION DEVELOPER
Former journalist; studied political science,
gender studies & religion
Something that I strongly
believe, and I think lots of
companies are coming around
to, is that there is value in the
person who is programming.
Alexandra M.
“

Our experience matters
Journalism
● Identify problems and solutions
● Access to diﬀerent resources
● Understand needs of distinct communities

Liberal arts
● Exposed to wide variety of cultures and viewpoints
● Critical-thinking skills
● Creative approaches to problem-solving

Tech
● “We are not our users”
● Build solutions that work for all
● Fresh perspective on options

LESSON 2
Everything is a draft

TECH STAFF
Studied Chinese Language & Literature
My experience learning
Chinese taught me to … not
give up when the code or the
character doesn't quite ﬁt.
Charielle M.
“

The art of refactoring
Liberal arts
● Papers
● More papers
● Even more papers

Service sector
● Table of seven
● Out of special
● Overcooked
● Kid spills soda
● Restaurant on ﬁre

Tech

LESSON 3
Delegating to meet deadlines

SOFTWARE CONSULTANCY FOUNDER
Former English teacher and nonproﬁt
administrator
Being a teacher makes it much
easier for me to talk with other
people, particularly
non-technical folks. I try to do it
in a way that leaves everyone
feeling competent, conﬁdent,
and cared for.
Andrew E.
“

Delegation
Educator
● Administrators
● Unruly pupils
● Student teachers
● Parents

Delegation
Service sector
● Host
● Bartender
● Chef
● Patrons

Delegation
Tech
● Project manager
● Designer
● QA
● Client

Juniors can’t do all
that much technically by themselves.

LESSON 4
Feedback is a feature (not a bug)

LEAD SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
Ph.D in philosophy
Most of the [philosophy] courses
that I took and taught focused
heavily on group discussion.
These communication skills
have been essential to my work
as a developer.
Jacob K.
“

Feedback loops
Liberal arts
● Papers
● Seriously, all the papers
● Group discussion

Feedback loops
Service sector
● Pretty much everyone
● Pretty much all the time

Feedback loops
Tech
● Code review
● Demo process
● QA analysis
● User response

LESSON 5
Empathy is everything

We != our users.
Bootcamp grads are more likely to already
grasp this concept.

30%
People of color7

37%
Women and nonbinary7

41%
Don’t have a college degree7

How to help bootcamp grads be
successful at your company

Some best practices
Mentorship
Structure
Hire in pairs

Set clear expectations.
(See tinyurl.com/ten-forward-ranks for how we did this at Ten Forward.)

Be patient.
Foster an environment where questions are encouraged.

And, because it bears
frequent repeating ...

Empathy is
everything.
Help the folks you work with (or hire!) to help you.

Thanks!
@hilarysk
hilarysk@tenforward.consulting

Citations
1. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/how-switching-careers-to-tech-could-solve-the-us-tal
ent-shortage.html
2. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm
3. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cta.asp
4. https://www.cta.tech/News/Press-Releases/2018/October/U-S-Demand-for-Skilled-Tec
h-Workers-Rises-While-O.aspx
5. https://www.coursereport.com/reports/coding-bootcamp-market-size-research-2019
6. http://blog.indeed.com/2017/05/02/what-employers-think-about-coding-bootcamp/
7. https://www.coursereport.com/reports/coding-bootcamp-job-placement-report-2019

Treehouse Festival 2020: "Beer, Bylines & Booleans: Exploring the Secret Superpowers of Non-CS Techies"

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Treehouse Festival 2020: "Beer, Bylines & Booleans: Exploring the Secret Superpowers of Non-CS Techies"