Honey

I’m a long way from home this week, hanging out with a bunch of CF nerds (ok, I’m one too) in Washington, D.C. We’re in a ginormous convention center, impossible to describe. My coworkers, Barney and Joshua, are here too. We had a great time today playing a modified version of disc golf outside the curtained bounds of the common conference area.

I’ve had the most fun talking with other developers from all over the country (and beyond). I enjoy talking about technology and the web, what’s possible and what’s awesome. The primary topic of discussion, ColdFusion, is especially close to my heart.

I’m one of a few women in attendance. I’d estimate approximately 5% of the folks here at the conference are women. I even saw a big butch lezzie, identifiable by the familiar wide hips and spiky hair. Unfortunately, I think there is an unspoken law about speaking to each other, because she refused to even make eye contact. What’s up with that? Here we are, a couple of techie dykes in a sea of bald / long haired white man weirdos, and we can’t talk to each other? I guess it could be presumptuous of me to assume that we would actually have anything in common.

Although attendance is 95% men, and proudly logical men at that, there is a good sized helping of good old fashioned drama in almost every session and key note address. ColdFusion has a bastard step child, an elite set of name-droppers, and a throng of masses who seem to bend and sway with the community’s latest “cutting-edge” ideas.

I want to remain objective. Even though I’ve used (and loved) ColdFusion and other web technology for years, I struggle to feel like I belong here. As my queer friends dedicate their lives to a grueling life of social service, I spend most of my time with a mainstream population that may sometimes briefly reflect me in human and occupational mind only, but mainly makes me feel like an outsider. It’s confusing for me, especially when I long to grow exponentially as a programmer, but have limited resources to do so.

There’s something mysteriously cool about the quintessential woman who is a programmer (especially a hacker) but usually only when that woman meets our current social standards for what is deemed sexy. She’s straight, visually female, young, skinny, and hard to get. She reminds me of the typical straight man’s fantasy lesbian, someone who appears out of reach but will ultimately cave for a man’s attention.

Does it make any difference that I am not the gender or sexuality of the typical person in attendance at this conference? It seems it would matter less if I only proved my enthusiasm for any relevant discussion, and these outward, distracting expressions of my identity would just fade away. I would be perceived and treated like just another CF geek. The flaw in this idea is that I became tired of proving myself a long time ago.

As Barney explained on his blog, these conferences are made up of at least 2 dimensions: the sessions where I might learn a thing or 2, but more importantly, the chance to converse with like minds about technology we all use and usually admire. I enjoy seeing and talking with the people whose names are behind the blogs I read and the frameworks I use. Deep down, I know that I fit in as much as I think I do. As long as I separate myself through the eyes / perception of the unique aspects of my identity, I will continue to feel out of place and alone. As soon as I open my mind to these nerdy white guys (and realize that I am one of them), I will accept myself entirely and allow myself to recognize my place in this sometimes dysfunctional but mostly friendly ColdFusion community.

It’s hard enough to figure out what kind of career might be worth pursuing, let alone how to actually go about landing a job in the field of interest. Agent just finished the Oregon Tradeswomen program here in Portland. Her positive, propelling experience has reminded me of how few resources exist for folks who have a vague idea of a possible opportunity in computers and technology, but don’t know how to take the next step toward reaching their ultimate goal.

I was a really lucky kid. I had a supportive family who guided me toward my interest in technology. I wasn’t quite sure if working with computers was the right thing for me, especially since I had no idea what that would be like in real life. I had the opportunity to go to school and pursue a degree in computer science, and so I did. I told my boss, the director of human resources at Providence St. Peter Hospital, that I wanted a project that was in line with my academic pursuits. She offered that I undertake the development of a human resources intranet web site. It wasn’t long before I was working on other web sites throughout the hospital, and I was hired as a web application developer immediately after graduation. I started programming in ColdFusion in 1999 and I’ve been evolving as a programmer ever since.

I have met a number of people who absolutely have the capacity and the potential to have a successful computer-related career. Usually, they just don’t know how to go about breaking into the industry. A lot of people are unable to start from scratch, shifting their entire life to pursue a degree in computer science, perhaps because they can’t afford it, they already have a degree in something else, or because their busy schedule does not allow time for such an endeavor.

The computer industry is just like any other industry, really. The best way to land a job in technology is to know people who have already established themselves. So many of the opportunities in our lives are possible because of our connections to other people. Let people know about your interests and make an effort to establish new relationships. Look for industry related events, forums, and activities to join. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of those who have the career you want to pursue. I love to talk about my job and would gladly tell you everything you’d want to know.

Be on the lookout for opportunities that would provide a smooth transition into a new career. In my short time in the workforce, I’ve seen many possibilities of transition from having a business role into an IT liaison, for example. Your expertise in your current line of work is invaluable and can absolutely be applied to a new career in technology. Most companies these days seem to have an IT department of some kind. You may be able to work out a transition plan between the two departments.

Build an excellent resume that highlights and emphasizes the skills that would be in demand by hiring managers seeking IT professionals. The best thing I ever did for my career (besides having my own Agent) was to have my resume professionally written. I don’t know about you, but I struggle, even slightly, with saying wonderfully positive things about myself. It’s hard to come up with other words besides “implemented” and “designed”. I relieved a ton of pressure and landed so many interviews just by shelling out 150 bucks to have somebody else do the work.

Deciding to pursue a new career is one of the scariest and most exciting things I can imagine someone can do. There are so many awesome opportunities in the computer industry, and for anyone who likes this kind of stuff, years of endless satisfaction awaits. Good luck in whatever you do and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help!

A common question I haven’t been able to answer lately is “How do I begin a career in computers?” I never really know what to say, so I thought I’d do some research and share my thoughts here.

The computer industry is extremely broad and offers a vast array of drastically variant opportunities. There are careers to be had in customer service and user support, in network administration and system administration, software engineering, user interface design, and project management, to name a few.

There are a number of ways to narrow your focus in order to seek the specialized training and opportunities where you may have the greatest success.

1. The first step is to understand what kind of position will bring you the most satisfaction. I’ve included short job descriptions below for you to peruse but this may take significantly more research to find the right path for your interests and talents. You might consider taking a career assessment evaluation such as the MAPP test for more information.
2. Determine what’s possible for you. Once you have a general idea of the path you’d like to pursue, use a tool such as careerbuilder.com to determine how many job opportunities there are with that focus in your area. If you need training, is it available in your area and is it affordable?
3. Talk to people who have the career you want. This might be the single best thing you can do to ensure that you’re headed down the right road. Find out what their daily work entails and deeply consider if this is the kind of thing you could do every single day.

As promised, here are general descriptions of a select few jobs in the computer industry to get you started:

• Computer Software Engineer: Develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team.
• Computer System Analyst: Analyze science, engineering, business, and all other data processing problems for application to electronic data processing systems. Analyze user requirements, procedures, and problems to automate or improve existing systems and review computer system capabilities, workflow, and scheduling limitations. May analyze or recommend commercially available software.
• Database Administrator: Coordinate changes to computer databases, test and implement the database applying knowledge of database management systems. May plan, coordinate, and implement security measures to safeguard computer databases.
• Network Systems Analyst: Analyze, design, test, and evaluate network systems, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), Internet, intranet, and other data communications systems. Perform network modeling, analysis, and planning. Research and recommend network and data communications hardware and software. Includes telecommunications specialists who deal with the interfacing of computer and communications equipment. May supervise computer programmers.
• Computer Programmer: Convert project specifications and statements of problems and procedures to detailed logical flow charts for coding into computer language. Develop and write computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information. May program web sites.
• Computer Hardware Engineer: Research, design, develop, and test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use. May supervise the manufacturing and installation of computer or computer-related equipment and components.
• Computer Support Specialist: Provide technical assistance to computer system users. Answer questions or resolve computer problems for clients in person, via telephone or from remote location. May provide assistance concerning the use of computer hardware and software, including printing, installation, word processing, electronic mail, and operating systems.
• Network and Computer Systems Administrators: Install, configure, and support an organization’s local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and Internet system or a segment of a network system. Maintain network hardware and software. Monitor network to ensure network availability to all system users and perform necessary maintenance to support network availability. May supervise other network support and client server specialists and plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures.

Agent and I started a teach-yourself-Algebra-in-20-minutes-a-day book last night and it’s bringing back memories of my love affair with mathematics. I think that math is one of the funnest things that exists and I so totally scored a career where all I do springs from the fountain of math and logic. Oh, I love programming.

I enjoyed math growing up, but I didn’t fall in love until I took Logic in college. The teacher was hard-core, famous among students for never giving an A in his class. Yes, it was hard. Yes, I got an A. Every question on every test was a little bit of heaven to me.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make the connection between logic and programming for 3 more years, attempting to follow several other life paths: stock broker, pizza maker, lawyer, police officer, alarm dispatcher, and human resources admin. None of those other ideas worked out (thank goodness) and so now I get to solve logic problems all day long. That makes me very happy.

Side note: I actually couldn’t remember my grade in my college Logic class so I pinged one of my oldest friends in the whole world, who took an ethics class from the same teacher. She says I got an A, that our teacher’s name was Mr. Wolf, and that his favorite thing to say was “…and that’s the long and the short of it.” I am so glad I have such awesome friends that remember things for me. Thanks, N!

IwM (Interview with Myself)

Why did you decide to be a programmer?

I didn’t really ever make a conscious decision to become a programmer. When I was ready to finish college, I didn’t know what else to do, so I went into the Computer Science program at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. I was working for St. Peter’s Hospital and was seamlessly integrated into their IT department as a ColdFusion developer when I graduated. I discovered immediately how much I love programming.

What’s your favorite part of being a programmer?

I love so many things about programming. I love digging into a difficult problem with my headphones on, letting my brain light up in a thousand different colors and directions. I love when I have to really stretch my understanding into a new realm. It’s like a whole new set of doors pop open and I realize I can keep going, keep learning, keep discovering new and better ways to present and process information. I also love giving people tools to help them do what they need to do with more ease and enjoyment.

How has being a woman affected your career as a programmer?

I think I prepared myself well as a young person for the experience. I played tackle football and little league baseball when I was a kid and was always the only girl on the team. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to prove myself to my teammates and learned the hard way that no matter how good I was, the only person who was going to give me any props was myself. And so I realized how to recognize and appreciate the strengths that I offer, as a woman, to a field dominated by men. I have paid more attention to my interpersonal skills and used these to my advantage. I will never be “one of the guys”, but instead will have a unique set of characteristics that goes beyond my gender.

Do you have any advice for aspiring female programmers?

Hang in there. No matter what, there will always be men in the world who are threatened by your intelligence. You must recognize that these reactions to your ability have nothing to do with you. Find supportive people who can help you feel good about your work. Focus on being the best programmer you can be, rather than how you compare to other developers. Spread the love - whenever you have the chance, teach other people what you know. There’s no better way to learn and to become a better programmer!