The document discusses IT, goals for self-improvement, and best practices for achieving goals. It defines IT as managing and processing information within organizations. It describes goals as having clear targets and directing effort. It recommends documenting goals and gaps, following SMART principles, and seeking feedback. It provides examples of online courses and certifications for improving algorithms and data structures knowledge. It also lists best practices like code challenges, reading books, and sharing goals.

1. What is IT?
How and where to learn it?

3. Agenda
 What is IT?
 What is a goal?
 How to find an improvements areas
 Documenting
 How to get to your goal
 Best practice
 Q&A

4. What is IT?
 The broad subject concerned with all aspects of
managing and processing information, especially within
a large organization or company

5. Fundamental knowledge for IT engineer
Scripting languages (bash, python,…)
Frameworks (MVC, Angular, …)
Core technologies(Java, C#, C++, JS?),
Principles Paradigms Algorithms
Operation systems
fundamentals
Data
Structures
Math

6. What is a goal (Self improvement as a
goal)
 What is a goal? (dictionary descriptions)
 The terminal point of a race
 The end toward which effort is directed

7. The terminal point of a race
 Build a list with all goals you have collected
 Find priorities, no equal priorities allowed
 Estimate each one
 Estimate available time for grow
 Build plan
 Follow

8. The end toward which effort is directed
 Build a list with all goals you have collected
 Find priorities, no equal priorities allowed
 One by one find a small activity you should do each day to get to
your goal
 Stop on a reasonable amount of items
 Do each day

9. How to find an appropriate goal
 Feedback. Ask a friend/teacher for the feedback
 Develop own projects and relay on a project needs. Historical
data and data analysis
 Code review – gold bullet 
 Personal gaps in a fundamental knowledge.
 Career path. Each #positionname has some specific knowledge.
Career paths are shared by companies sometimes
 Personal wishes

10. A bit of bureaucracy.
Should you document your goals?

11. Gap
 Where are we right now (X)
 Where should we be reaching a goal (Y)
 Gap is (Y)-(X)

12. A bit of bureaucracy.
Should you document your gaps?

13. SMART/SMARTER principles
 Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
 Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of
progress.
 Assignable – specify who will do it.
 Achievable - I like it more.
 Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given
available resources.
 Time-bound – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.
 SMARTER - Evaluated and Reviewed

14. Specific
 Five 'W' questions
– What: What do I want to accomplish?
– Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
– Who: Who is involved?
– Where: Identify a location.
– Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

15.  How will I know when it is accomplished?
 Indicators should be quantifiable
 How: How can the goal be accomplished?
 When?
Measurable + Assignable + Time-bound

16.  Does this seem worthwhile?
 Is this the right time?
 Does this match our other efforts/needs?
 Are you the right person?
 Is it applicable?
Realistic

17. Gap description
 Gap – Want to get knowledge of algorithms and data structures
 Comment - Getting experience in a Algorithms (search (binary and graph),
sorting (merge, quick), basic analysis). Data structures (list, queue, stack,
trees, graphs)
 Actions:
Me:
 Go through the (https://www.coursera.org/course/algo)
 Go through the (https://www.coursera.org/course/algo2)
 Go through the (Introduction to Algorithms, 3rd Edition, by Thomas H.
Cormen)
Mentor:
 Check all lab exercises done for both courser courses to have correct,
clean, readable code. For all labs usage of data strictures should be correct
and optimal.
Evaluation criteria:
 All lab tasks for both coursera courses done and appropriate certificate
acquired. Verbal test with mentor passed.

18.  Experts opinion and user groups
 Certification paths and prerequisites
 Stanford (introduction to computer science | programming
methodology from Mehran Sahami)
 MIT (http://ocw.mit.edu/)
 Coursera specializations and separate courses
(https://www.coursera.org)
– https://www.coursera.org/course/algo
– https://www.coursera.org/course/algo2
– https://ru.coursera.org/course/linalg
 ItunesU
 Udemy
 Pluralsite
Best practice – finding a gap/goal/plan

19. Best practice – code challenge
 Topcoder.com
 HackerEarth.com
 Codebyte.com
 Projecteuler.net
 http://www.reddit.com/r/dailyprogrammer
 https://codility.com/train/
 Spoj.com
 CodeChef.com
 CodeEval.com
 HackerRank.com

20.  Reading as a base but not the only one activity
 Read
– Стив Макконнел. Совершенный код
– Гради Буч, Объектно-ориентированный анализ и проектирование с
примерами приложений, 3-е издание, 2007 (rus translation is shit)
– Бертран Мейер, Объектно-ориентированное конструированию программных
систем, 1995, 2-е издание (Лучшая книга по ОО-технологиям ever!)
– Эрих Гамма и др., Приемы объектно-ориентированного проектирования,
1994
– Фриман и Фриман. Паттерны проектирования, 2003
– Мартин Фаулер, Рефакторинг. Улучшение существующего кода, 1999
 Create reading lists
Best practice – READ

21. Best practice – part 3
 Exit criteria is “must have”
 Practice as “mast have” condition
 Review as “must have”
 Ask for a help from a SME
 Specific in every point.
 Do not mess with goals
 Do not overkill - do not try to put everything (for example for a
junior to senior in Sigma Software). It's better to have 3-4 well
defined goals than 20 not defined.
 Do it once for a half an year
 Share
 Try to find background projects to play with.

22. Eugene Yakovlev
PM, Head of Odessa Office
Sigma Software