laura harvey + leveraging twitter for networking

full transcript

auto-generated from the audio, so expect a few typos. the audio is the source of truth.

What's going on podcast listeners? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening to guidance counselor 2.0 I really hope that you enjoy this episode I wanted to of course remind you to please rate review and subscribe to this podcast It would mean the absolute world to me so take some time out right now Put this thing on pause go rate and review it and come back to listen If you need to reach me shoot me an email tailor d at vaco.com If you want to join my texting community, I am doing a ton ton of sharing of general career advice job tips etc. Shoot me a text 615 235 5 6 5 0 as always if you want to follow me on social media.

I'm doing a ton on Twitter at td sntd esse yn connects me on like bin and again I hope you enjoy this podcast episode and thank you again for listening. It means the absolute world to me Cool. All right. Awesome. So Laura. Yes. Tell me about yourself Okay, so I'm Laura from the UK. I started learning web development in May 2020 and Since then I've just like I feel like I found my passion and after years of like doing jobs I didn't really care about and So I've jumped from job to job. I feel like I finally found my thing So last Friday I quit my job And I'm starting boot camp to become a software engineer and that's amazing That's amazing.

So I want to go ahead and obviously like just dive right in and ask you the first question because even just saying that at this question is popped on my head like People are terrified to make a jump, right? People are scared to like Make a change what I guess what is in your where where did that come from? The confidence to to make a change so drastic is to leave one job and start just a boot camp Where yeah, where does that motivation and that confidence come from? Um, I didn't I guess um I've been through a lot in my life a lot of sort of hard times um, and I just I Don't know if it's just because I found coding and I feel like it's my thing I've just found this like inner strength and I'm like more confident than I've ever been in my life and I just Be sure of it So yeah, it was just Inside me I guess and that's so cool.

That's so cool. And so and so how did you find coding like like was it up? Was it a TV show like what like what kind of got you into to the coding side of things? Um, yeah, so as I was saying before like I've always done jobs which like just didn't Didn't do it for me and again. I started a new job this year and I was feeling a bit um, wood And so I started to look around online for like courses. I could boost my knowledge and um, you know Look together better job in the future and I had no idea what I was really looking for I just wanted something that would keep my brain going Um and an ad popped up on Facebook or code institute which uh, I think they're based in Dublin and Ireland Okay Yeah, and it was just like a five day challenge and it takes you through H.M.N.C.S.S And you build like a little website to make a you know a recipe for tea Um, it's like a really fun little thing You get like one email to your inbox every morning of the challenge and then you have like this Challenge for the day Um, and then you build the website by the end of the week and after that I was like oh, I could actually do this like, you know, I thought I was quite capable of that So maybe I'll do something a bit more Serious um, and it wasn't ready to like take on anything like paid for the time Um, so I found free code camp Um, and that that was just awesome Uh, because obviously there's more in-depth learning of H.M.N.C.S.N.

Yeah That's so cool. So and we'll go ahead and kind of dive into Uh, you know the the main thing I want to talk about is that you know I started following you on Twitter or I think you followed me and I followed you I don't know how it works, but or how it was but you know one one thing I was I was I was really drawn to your profile I think I think the auditing transparency. I definitely want to get to that right Um, you know before we went live recording you said you're an overshare and I'm an overshare too Which is why I think we get along so well already, but But you know I'm I'm curious Like when did the Twitter thing kind of come about because I'm really big on talking about leveraging social media To help you find a dream job.

I gave a presentation two weeks ago at a code conference virtually here in the states Um, on leveraging LinkedIn I think Twitter is kind of a different animal and one of the reasons why I was so excited to talk to you is because You've built a pretty good following. You know 5,000 followers. It's not. I mean, that's pretty solid Yeah, more than me. So, you know my my thing is it's like Like when did you really get in on Twitter and and how have you really used it? Um, so I got in on Twitter in May as well So um, it was like the last couple of days of May when I you've scaled a 5,000 followers in four months Yeah, the Lord Um, yeah, so it was part of free code camp.

What you know you Um You learn in public to keep your countable and keep you up with your learning and share them with other people that are doing a hundred days of code So that's really why I started Twitter and to be honest before I did I had this like social media phobia I never used social media. So um My first couple of posts were just about her mask to be honest Um, and it sort of encourages you on the hundred days of code challenge to reach out to I think it's like five people a day Who are also doing hundred days of code? Okay, I started doing that and I started following people like Danny Thompson You know, yeah, all these people are just doing amazing things and influencing people and I thought that's what I can do that, you know Um Yeah, and I didn't really know how it happened Um, I think I just shared good content that people can and I I'm always really helpful and kind I think there's a moment things.

Well, I've we've I've literally known you now for like seven minutes I can already tell you you're incredibly kind and thoughtful So you definitely have something going for you. Um, also I love the dogs in the background by the way like super cute So uh, so I'm interested right so you said you reached out So the challenge to reach out to five people in tech a day or follow or actually reach out and engage in some sort of Yeah, yeah, yeah engage like um if you see that they're sharing about a hundred days of code as well like um encourage them Sorry about my dog.

No, you're fine. I love it So so what so what is a hundred days of code? Because I don't even know. I mean, honestly I have no idea so like what is it? Because people who are listening this obviously are going to be a little bit more junior development side of things still software development like What is it and how how can people leverage a hundred hundred days of code hashtag? Yeah, um, so it's basically um Learning well, I think you can be at any level. It's just Consistently coding for a hundred days at least one hour a day Okay, and sharing about it publicly to keep you sort of on track with that goal um, I think the best thing to do is actually stick to the challenge if you're going to use the hashtag Really annoyed about you know if you're using the hashtag and you're not sharing content That's for new people or that's going to help other people And I think yeah, just sorry.

I'm going to have to No, you're fine. You're fine. I love it. I love it. So so my thing is like I mean I think what you're saying is great in regards to just documenting um Your journey and I think you know, I'm super excited that we've obviously been able to connect So I'm going to be so much more and and intrigued on following your journey now But but I think like like have you already been able to make really good connections from a job search perspective? Over Twitter? Um, yeah, I mean I did a giveaway the other day. I saw that So so so so so so tell about the giveaway like how did that come up?

Yeah So My boot camp that I signed up for they said you know Ideally you need to get yourself a Mac because it's more used in the industry And we were ending like with past candidates like they were going for jobs and because they hadn't gone through the course in a Mac Employers were less likely to employ them because I have that skill So I was like oh yeah, that's fine. I'm going to get my stuff a Mac and The when I was in there he was like oh, maybe you qualify for the education program Yeah, I don't know. I've not heard about it And he said well basically you get a discount and free free set of F-ups um, yeah, and I was like, you know, I'll take them because they're free sure Why not yeah, but But you know then I got home and I started thinking you know, I've already got a pair and I didn't want to um You know because I'm part of a group and I chat to love girls on And we always say developers and you know, I didn't want to reach out to anybody and choose someone You know, I didn't want to have Once the ability to like single someone out and favor them.

I guess I just thought you know I do a giveaway and then that way it's fair and I can just pick someone at random I love that and and so But and I think too it's been it's so interesting Because you're coming from a place for helping people Right and I think I think even yourself right so you know many people are in your shoes Like well, I'm a I'm a junior developer like how can I help somebody right and so it's it's so cool Even talking you now and admiring you from afar of This kind of ability to help others even when you're you know, you're obviously You know, you're more junior in your career So I know we talked about this offline just briefly but like yeah I mean you said that kind of comes from your background some things that you've obviously You know had had to work through Um, I mean is this is this kind of this helping people in the last few years of your life or has this been ingrained in you since like childhood?

Um, yeah, I think it has always been my way like I just I want to see other people do well and I think that's from my struggles as well and um Having pushy parents who pushed me in the wrong direction and I just want to be a wrong model that says you know Like you don't have to follow follow that if it's not for you like please just don't because That got me to a really miserable place You know by following what other people thought I should be doing instead of what I wanted to do Wow, and so if I can like help someone not go down that path and that's what I really want to do Well, and so I'm interested so what advice would you have?

So let's say like I'm trying like Like laws that law is doing crazy things like she's got you know She's doing a giveaway like I like I that feels uncomfortable to me like you do things that A lot of people think are uncomfortable right? Yeah, putting yourself out there like what's like what's in a piece of advice? You can give to somebody listening to this who's uncomfortable sharing content on Twitter on LinkedIn whatever What does one or two pieces of advice that that you can give for that? I think that's a really hard one because it is such a personal thing But I think for me you just do it, you know Just what's the worst that can happen?

You know if you get a few negative people just ignore them and I think that takes You know being you know able to ignore people who are negative A couple of years ago I probably would have focused on all the negative comments instead of the good ones so Yeah, I just think you've just got to make the first one and then it gets easier from there And one thing that I really found Really good was saying happy birthday or wishing people like congrats if they got a new job Or I think that's how I sort of interacted with a lot of people to start off with because I was like yeah I can share in that that's something good and it's easy, you know I think people on Twitter And again, I'm so cuz I've talked about LinkedIn a ton and I really haven't had anybody to really talk about with Twitter Because I think Twitter is kind of this animal that You know not many people know how to use right?

It's like well like I don't have anything to funny to say Don't top of that like it's all volume like let's be honest like I mean I play in my tweets every day like you kind of have to constantly be putting out content And so like would you recommend and you can tell me no But would you recommend a junior developer to leverage Twitter? I mean or like on their job search Yeah, definitely I mean Like I was saying about the giveaway and I just literally put a You know a flippant comment in there saying you know if if you win you're gonna have to pay for the postage because I And the amount of people that wrote to me and said I see you're looking for a job And I say oh, I'm not quite looking for a job to share because of weekend But yeah, I had You know five people maybe what we reach out to me and say I if you're looking for a job I can help you um So and and for the people who are listening to this episode of my podcast To put it in perspective so so I have Laura's post in front of me.

It got 1,000 comments 75 retweets and 769 hearts Laura that is crazy Yeah, that is that is wild Um and and and so you're even saying you've had people reach out to you now You're probably not recommending that people go out and give away air pods Right. I'm sure you're probably But but you you did just say there is validity right there is the idea of using Twitter Yeah, I mean so explain the hashtags right people don't know how to use hashtags so explain Explain what hundred days so what if I click on the hashtag a hundred days a code. What do I see? Um well see I don't really know that much about it either but I think just everybody who's who's sharing on that hashtag And I think the thing with hashtags is um people get in there like you know Like thinking it's like Instagram, you know where you like flood it with hashtags and it works But actually I think on Twitter has the opposite effect Um so less is more with the hashtags over that And just like try and keep them relevant Because people are going to be searching for those hashtags for content, you know and people to follow so Essentially hashtag is like a google search.

I mean, like kind of like a google search like I want to I don't know find things about the job search process So I'm gonna type in job search and kind of see what pops up so people are kind of like They don't really use hashtags correctly And I think you've leveraged it right? I mean you've your growth has been incredible on Twitter And so obviously I think you've hacked that and and I just learned something maybe I need to do less is more because I kind of over I do a lot of hashtags Maybe I need to to comment down a little bit. So I I appreciate that tip Laura.

Thank you so much. They worries So what what are some what are some other things like? What are some challenges Or some tips From a junior dev perspective That you would give others that that are getting started kind of in their journey Yeah I think just don't Look at my Twitter and think I'm I mean, do be doing that because um, you know, I put a lot of Working and there have been weeks. I've pushed myself just a little bit too much So Yeah, don't don't look at other people's Twitter and think oh, they're better than me It's because everybody's on their sharing their best So you know everyone's gonna be supportive of you no matter what you're sharing and I'd say try To take criticism in the form that it's meant and you know people are just trying to help you And it can be really hard to hear and you know you've posted some you're so proud of it And someone's like oh, it's not mobile responsive Great.

Thanks. Appreciate it. That's what it was Yeah, so um things like that and um Yeah, just keep going and reach out if you need help so when I first started on JavaScript I was so Stuck yeah, and it was totally overwhelming and I lost faith for like a week really I yeah, I really thought I was incapable And then I sort of wake up when we're in and pulled myself together I thought how much fun. I've had so far with page two mounts. Yes as I was like no, I can do it. I can do it And I sort of pushed on and I made my first project and then And I couldn't get it to work So I was still not I didn't have much of a following back then So I just reached out to to have a once following me at the time and asked for some help and I think I got like three different responses and I tried and and it worked so So how many so this is kind of just some practical kind of tips and things on Twitter So how many hours Or minutes do you spend on Twitter a day on average?

I think it's been a lot last the last couple of weeks because I've been really busy In a good week. It was probably like eight hours a day Really you would spend eight hours a day on Twitter I mean that might be a big stream, but yeah, you know my screen time said I did I Yeah, I just sort of I'll take some time for a thing in the morning and lasting at night to interact Outside of my own posts and then I probably do about one post a day Sometimes just just one post a day Yeah, I do Unless I've got something useful to say And I then I don't you know, I don't want to go with with stuff that's not useful I love it Say yeah, and that's and that's where yeah, and that's where because I mean because I I mean I'm like eight or nine times a day, right?

Like oh Yeah, I mean tweeting eight or nine times a day, and it's like but you know that's why I wanted to talk to you and talk strategy on Twitter because Because you can use it differently right? I think people are like I need to be funny and I need to make memes and I need to do whatever and it's like Twitter can just be a happy birthday Congratulations thing like that could be what Twitter is or Twitter can be a live journal and document right? I've been really big speaking at our code school boot camps in Nashville Yeah, I think junior developers have such a platform On LinkedIn and Twitter to just document.

Hey, I've something's burning right now in my code base, and I don't know what's going on Yeah, please help me Yeah, and I think those struggles they help other juniors because they're like, oh, I'm not alone other people find it hard to But it also You know, let's people see that you're human that you know right? But that everything just goes really well for you And I think I was guilty of that for a bit of like just flooding my feed with really positive staff and say that's when I Sort of took a step back and made that video about about mental health and you know how I did a good about you know toxic positivity and Yeah, just just making sure that you're you're being genuine.

I guess yeah, no, I think Authenticity right now from a job search perspective can really catapult yourself You know, I think having a good GitHub or having a good resume or whatever I think that's all and and great you need to have it right? I mean Danny and I I think I think maybe that's where the follow came from like I was on with Danny Thompson about talking about like LinkedIn's and evaluating that and Like it's important But I think too in today's market Is that companies have the pick of candidates now Right because of obviously cobas and everything that's going on and so It's it's it's one of these things where if you get rejected you can say hey listen I get it.

Thank you so much for taking time to speak with me and have a smile on your face What what I've talked about from a recruiting perspective is typically companies first choice right now get snatched up somewhere else Right sometimes even the second choice does so if you're number three And you were kind and gracious That's it right and I think one you know one thing talking to you the entire time is like you've been smiling the entire time right? It's like but it's like and and I but I do with so many developers that are miserable Right and that are just grumpy And it's like listen like I think I think if you flip the attitude I don't think it's your resume.

I don't think it's your review and style. I think it's your attitude Yeah, I think that's really really important and I think even in my in my career I've only ever been to like one interview I think when I haven't walked out with the job so I think attitude is is massive and huge Last year 2019 I went for a job and it was like double my my salary But I just went for it because I was like I can totally do that job And I just got in there and me and the hiring manager started chatting And and yeah, we just got on and and that was it.

She said I'm sure around you can take the job today. So That's so cool Yeah Well Laura. Thanks for hanging that is that is all that's all I want to talk to you about is just What you've been doing and and from a Twitter perspective and so Again, I appreciate you hanging out with me