How to kick-ass at Makers Academy

I recently finished the course at Makers Academy. Going there was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The course is a mad rollercoaster, throughout which you’ll be bombarded with a whole range of Stuff To Do at the same time as trying to figure out how computers and the internet work (turns out there’s a lot of stuff going on there, wild). I’m a firm believer in shouting to the heavens about it if you find something you love, and over the last few months I’ve come to love being at Makers. I want other people to experience that too, so here are some of the most valuable things I learned about how to make the most out of the course here.

Just some kick-ass devs, doing some kick-ass dev shit

Get comfortable with knowing jack all

Starting off at Makers, you’ll probably know next to nothing about software engineering. Coming out of Makers, you’ll know some stuff about software engineering, enough to get you a job, but still not very much. That’s okay — this is an industry that is constantly evolving, and what you learn today can be out of date tomorrow. What’s more, the more you learn, the more you’ll realise you don’t know. This is a huge field, in which knowing everything is impossible. So don’t try to — be humble, keep learning, and focus on the important stuff, the principles and fundamentals that Makers preaches. Nail these, and you can learn anything you like. Just not everything. Bearing this in mind, at some point you may well experience…

You, trying to work out why your code doesn’t work. For the 86th time today.

Imposter syndrome

You are at Makers because you are exceptional

That ol’ chestnut. Super fun. Great fun. Terrific. The best feeling! (If you don’t know, Imposter Syndrome is feeling like you don’t deserve to be where you are and that you have somehow tricked people into letting you in). The course is deliberately tough and fast-paced. That’s part of what makes it so good. What else is really good is the Makers gatekeeping team. They’ve been doing this for years now, and they know the sorts of people who will make fire devs. They reject 9 out of every 10 people who apply. But not you, because they know you’re great. You’re at Makers because you are exceptional. And to be honest, if you have managed to trick the gatekeeping team, then you’ve properly got a decent career as a spy or something ahead of you, so chill. But that’s not to say that it’s not a bit crap when you’re feeling it, which takes us to…

The E.I. curriculum

On your first day at Makers, you’ll meet Dana. Dana’s great. She’s the Chief Joy Officer here at Makers, and part of that entails leading the daily emotional intelligence curriculum and meditation sessions. These are totally optional, but you should go to it. It might feel hard at times, as the differences that this will make is not always tangible from one day to the next. In hindsight though, this is one of the most valuable, most high-impact things you can do whilst at Makers — both in terms of your qualities as a developer, and your qualities as a you. One of the things that Makers emphasises is that coding is a team sport, and that you can be the best programmer in the world and that be meaningless if you can’t work with others in a team. Meditation and the E.I. curriculum will help develop your ‘softer’ (for want of a better word) skills that are vital for this. You’ll develop your abilities to listen, cultivate a deeper sense of empathy, and learn to really, actually, listen. This will help you as you come to apply for jobs as you become more confident, enhance your own resilience, and practise knowing how great you really are. Over the course of your 12 weeks here, things can get intense and you’ll feel like you don’t have enough time to do everything — especially towards the final six weeks. It can be tempting to skip out on meditation to give yourself a bit more time, but no project is going to live or die on half an hour of development time a day, and the end of the course is when continued meditation will provide the most value. Stick with it, and I promise you’ll thank me. Speaking of having lots to do…

This is not the most relevant gif ever but I just really like Star Wars

There’s tons of shit going on

So make the most of it. There’s usually at least one talk a week. There’s table tennis (which is a whole other course unto itself). Yoga takes place twice a week (led by the aforementioned Dana). There’s an opportunity to grab a few beers here every Friday. Some people play 5-a-side on Wednesday lunchtimes. There’s blog posts to write. You’ll inevitably end up socialising with your cohort outside of Makers. And that’s just the stuff in Makers. The tech community in London is diverse and thriving: there’s a ton of events happening out there on places like Eventbrite and Meetup, on just about every tech topic under the sun. If you’ve got a passion for something, or want to pursue something in a bit more depth, the world really is your oyster. There’ll be a bunch of new stuff that you’ve never experienced before. Try stuff out, play about with things, and move on if it’s not for you. This is the start of the rest of your life, so dive head-first into it, do stuff you love, and have the best time. But…

Again, this gif is included more because I like it than because it is perfectly accurate

Don’t burn yourself out

You only have a finite amount of energy, so spend it wisely

Yes throw yourself into things that interest you and things you love, but remember: you can’t do everything, and that is okay. If you signed up for that talk last week but aren’t feeling it, don’t feel compelled to go. Skip football if you need to. Even the weekend challenges, if you feel like you’re low on energy, don’t worry about not completing them (hell, don’t worry about completing anything at Makers — worry about what’s going to help you learn the most). There’s no point in staring mindlessly at a screen to feel like your ‘working’ if you’re not actually learning anything. The course is intense by design, and you only have a finite amount of energy, so spend it wisely. And remember to take that time out to completely switch off and recharge, so that when you do switch back into learning mode, you can do so effectively. Learning how to manage yourself effectively is a vital skill, and will help you especially when it comes to…

Getting a job

This can be one of the most daunting parts of Makers — you’ve never been taught how to do this, you’re coming into a new industry right from the very bottom, you’ll have a million and one questions about everything, there’s no fixed timetable or schedule any more, and how on earth are you going to keep up your coding alongside all the applications? The good news is that a lot of the other skills you pick up during the coding part of the course will help you here: resilience and confidence from the E.I. curriculum, learning to be uncomfortable with uncomfortability, and picking up new things quickly. Moreover, Makers exists for a reason: that there are not enough junior developers out there. That makes you in demand. And on top of that, they have a fabulous careers team, who will be alongside you throughout the process, helping you and cheering for you, answering any questions you might have — not to mention putting on a fabulous careers fair with every cohort that comes through. They’re there not to just help you get a job, but to help you get the right one. And they’re damned good at it. As much as you can, try to relax about this process, know that many people have gone through it before you, and that many people will go through it. Also, don’t start competing with your cohort, even when you’re going for the same job. On a practical level the stress isn’t worth it, but also they are (hopefully) your friends. Cheer them on, they’ll cheer you on, and you’ll find a job that is right for you.

Makers exists for a reason — and that makes YOU in demand

Through all of this, though, remember above all that there is rarely just one way to do anything. That is just as true of Makers as it is of coding (if you are under the impression that there is a right answer just because software it technical and sciencey and mathsy, disabuse yourself of that notion right now). If something in this list doesn’t work for you, then that’s chill. Do Makers your own way, and you’ll have an amazing time.

A few final things:

• If you ask a coach a question, don’t expect to get an answer
• If your code isn’t working, read the fucking error messages
• If you can’t work out how to use something, read the fucking documentation
• Yoga is absolutely mint and you should go to it
• Table tennis is absolutely mint and you should play it and also remember if you are every playing Mark, don’t serve to his forehand
• If there’s an event on one night, get in early the next morning and there might be some leftover pizza in the fridge

I’m jealous of you — it’s over for me and you’re getting to go through this amazing experience from the start. (That said, I’ll still be hanging around at graduations and community events, like a bad smell that just won’t go away.) Make the most of it, enjoy the ride, and shine. You’re going to be great.

If you are thinking about applying to Makers Academy, or have done and are awaiting an interview or about to start, feel free to shoot me any questions you might have. Leave a comment here, or hit me up on Twitter [at]peterwdj, where I’ll probably be mouthing off on a bunch of subjects I am not at all qualified to talk about.