Final Thoughts - Personal Brand

This post marks the end of the Personal Brand phase of Encora’s Apprentice Program. So far I’ve loved the program because I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot, learning something new each day has been fun, refreshing and I’d like to say pretty useful for my future career as a Software Developer. (To find out what I’ve been doing, please check my previous blog posts.)

This week, like the previous one, was mainly about solving Hackerrank problems to polish my problem-solving and algorithmic-design skills. I did it alone and as pair programming sessions along with my mentors, which turned out to be quite productive; initially I struggled with explaining my thought process aloud, I think it was probably messy or simply I didn’t know how to communicate it well, but after a couple of weeks of work I am constantly able to communicate my thoughts clearly while solving a DSA problem.

Also, I attended a mock interview, but this time around as an interviewee (last time I was the interviewer). It was a different experience from before, even though I have been solving exercises in pair programming sessions, this time around I got a little bit more nervous. It was probably the environment change, because I had to code in a simple editor (no syntax highlighting) and my documentation options were limited. Regardless of the limitations, I was able to come up with a correct solution, explaining my thought process along the way and I think I just need more practice to get better at it. Being on both sides of the equation (the interview!) helped me grasp a better idea of what is expected both from the interviewer and the interviewee, as well as being calmer and focused each time.

Aside from the interview preparation, I took some time to polish my resume, adding the various things I’ve learned throughout the last few months. The objective of the Apprentice Program is to provide relevant work experience equivalent to two years of dev work, and I am proud to showcase what I’ve learned and hopefully manifest my hunger to learn more.

Furthermore, I am happy to announce that my Cracking the Coding Interview review is now ready. This book helped me with the processes that took place the last couple of weeks, and it has proven to be a valuable resource now and as a future guide/reference book. I wrote about why I recommend this book and what you can learn from it in the review, so if you want to know more please go take a look!

Additionally, I also learned about Jocko’s 10 rules for success, the differences between the conscious teller (self 1) and the naturally capable (self 2), from The Inner Game of Tennis and the wide range of benefits that controlled breathing can provide you.

The interviews with real clients should be starting soon, and I am as nervous as I am thrilled! I am confident in the abilities I’ve gained throughout the Apprentice Program, both soft skills, and technical abilities, as well as the skills I already had (4 years of CS are hard to ignore), so I am sure that the right opportunity will come soon enough. I am patiently waiting for the best opportunity for me, and I don’t want to rush the process, because all great things take time.

Keep on learning!