Some advice and things!

[Najaf Ali]

Hello Rails Girls!

Very quickly, some pointers for those of you who want to continue your spicy careers as builders of software:

Come to LRUG and say hi! Pretty much all of the coaches hang out there from time to time, and I've met beginners there too. There's nothing like peer-pressure to keep you motivated. Sometimes the talks are great and informative, other times not so much, but it's really the pub afterwards that everyone goes for. If you're afraid of being billy no-mates on your first time (I was, ended up staring at my phone for a lot of it) then get together with a couple of other rails girls or just bug one of the coaches when you arrive.

Go build something. Best way to learn is by creating actual software. You can either continue with the ideas app in the guides or mix it up with one of your own ideas. If you don't have your own personal website you could be boring and install wordpress like everyone else, or you could go nuts and roll your own rails application for it. You could build something fruity like Imeldas positwivity app. Above all have fun with it, and ask someone if you get stuck.

Open invitation: you have permission to bother me (and probably the other coaches) about things. I'm useful for things of a technical nature and/or giving you questionable advice about finding your first job as a developer. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you like no matter how silly you think they are, either to this list or to my company email: a...@happybearsoftware.com

Best of luck!

-Ali