Coursework content

Suppose you’ve applied for a job with a great CV and cover letter, landed the interview, and now have completed the interview, thinking it went well. At the end of the interview, you asked and were told what the next steps are. Now what?

The situation is now largely out of your control. It is better to turn your energy to more productive activities like building your portfolio, networking or searching and applying for other opportunities.

However, there are a few times when it is beneficial to email the hiring manager:

• A brief Thank You note
• A follow-up check if the promised next steps are very overdue,
• Alerting them of changes to your circumstances (such as another job offer)
• Asking for feedback in the event you don’t get an offer

Read this Harvard Review Article to see when and how you might follow up in these circumstances.

Estimated time in hours

0.5

What is the purpose of this assignment?

Understand when and how to follow up after an interview

How to submit

Write a short paragraph for each of the following scenarios:

• A brief Thank You note
• A follow-up check if the promised next steps are very overdue,
• Alerting them of changes to your circumstances (such as another job offer)
• Asking for feedback in the event you don’t get an offer

Share the doc on this issue, ensuring it is available for comments.
Don’t forget to review it so you don’t have any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Coursework content

When you read and analyse Job Descriptions, you will inevitably find some core or extra requirements you don’t meet perfectly. These missing requirements are good triggers for you to consider adding to your Development Plan.

• Are there some technologies employers keep asking about that you want to learn?
• Are there some skills or experiences that they are looking for that you could plan to develop?
• Might there be opportunities for future projects or portfolio work to incorporate the learning and use of these technologies or skills?

Review your analysis of the Job Descriptions and make changes to the short or long-term goals in your Development Plan accordingly.

Estimated time in hours

0.5

What is the purpose of this assignment?

See missing requirements as learning opportunities.

How to submit

Share your updated Development Plan with your PD Coach or a trusted colleague and ask for their feedback on your changes.

Coursework content

Use an AI to help you prepare for a potential job interview for the position you identified in the previous coursework.

Possible prompts for the AI might be:

• Given my CV and the following Job Description, play the role of an interviewer in a job interview for this position.
• Given my CV and this Job Description, what concerns might the employer have about how good an applicant I am?

Estimated time in hours

0.5

What is the purpose of this assignment?

Prepare for a possible job interview. Use AI to help you determine how well your CV matches an employer’s job description.
Remember not to post personal information on any AI.

How to submit

Copy and paste the discussion with the AI on a doc and share it here.
Make sure it can be commented on by anyone.

Coursework content

Repeat the prep work to find and analyse another job description that interests you. Use a job search engine to find a position that appeals to you, and then copy this template to perform your analysis on how well you fit the position.

Consider the following factors:

1. How well do you meet the Core and extra requirements?
2. How do your personal values match the Company values and culture?
3. Keywords in the Job Description that might indicate critical factors for the employer
4. Red flag warning phrases that might indicate the company or position is not ideal for you.
5. Questions you can ask before and during the interview
6. A summary of whether you should apply for this position

Estimated time in hours

1

What is the purpose of this assignment?

Exercise the art of identifying the right job you want to apply for before spending time tailoring your CV.

How to submit

• Post your completed analysis to this coursework ticket.
• Make sure it is available for people to comment.
• Don’t forget it should have no grammar or spelling errors.

Anything else

This article provides a useful description of Job Descriptions and how to analyse them.

completed big spender week-2

Learners, PR Template

Self checklist

• I have committed my files one by one, on purpose, and for a reason
• I have titled my PR with COHORT_NAME | FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME | REPO_NAME | WEEK
• I have tested my changes
• My changes follow the style guide
• My changes meet the requirements of this task

Changelist

Briefly explain your PR.

Questions

Ask any questions you have for your reviewer.

Coursework content

Think about up to 5 negative thoughts you have/used to have about your skills and experience. Give them a positive spin, and write them down.

Estimated time in hours

1

What is the purpose of this assignment?

This assignment will help you to practice thinking in positive terms.

How to submit

Share the link to your coursework on ticket on your board.

Link to the coursework

https://sqlbolt.com/

Why are we doing this?

You can try out SQL right in your browser with this interactive tutorial. This means you can do it away from your development environment.

Maximum time in hours

0

Link to the coursework

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLozA7cloMbPg96ZfHa2CqZg-aH5PhU5Wx

Why are we doing this?

It is essential to start learning new concepts and ideas before Saturday’s session. During the week, we expect you to get stuck and form questions about the new content so you can address misconceptions during Saturday’s session. The prep work here will introduce you to the new concepts for the week.

Maximum time in hours (Tech has max 16 per week total)

3

How to get help

Share your blockers in your class channel
https://syllabus.codeyourfuture.io/guides/asking-questions

Link to the coursework

https://www.codewars.com/users/CodeYourFuture/authored_collections

Why are we doing this?

Every week you need to complete at least three kata. Spend at least 20 minutes, three times a week, on your kata workout. To apply for the Launch you need a 5kyu. How will you achieve this? If you are already at 5kyu, you will soon need to reach 4kyu, so don’t slack off.

You may be asked to pair programme at any time and re-do your logged solutions on your Codewars account, so make sure you understand your solutions and can explain them.

Maximum time in hours

1

How to get help

Collaborate with your peers in the #cyf-codewars channel.

How to submit

Your Codewars progress is tracked automatically.

Link to the coursework

https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/Full-Stack-Project-Assessment

Why are we doing this?

Continue building your full stack project. You must reach level 250 by the end of this week and seek code review.

Make sure you complete each level before moving on to the next stage. Your project can only be assessed as reaching a level when all the requirements for that level are met. Read the requirements carefully. When you get stuck, open a draft PR and explain your blocker. Get help from colleagues and mentors.

As a professional developer, you will often encounter blockers in your daily work. It can feel frustrating. Learning to share your blockers productively and resolve them collaboratively is an important step in becoming a good developer.

Maximum time in hours

8

How to get help

Share your blockers in your class channel. Use the opportunity to refine your skill in Asking Questions like a developer.

How to submit

1. Fork to your Github account.
2. Make regular small commits with clear messages.
3. When you are ready, open a PR to the CYF repo, following the instructions in the PR template.

How to review

1. Complete your PR template
2. Ask for review from a classmate or mentor
3. Make changes based on their feedback
4. Review and refactor again next week

Link to the coursework

https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/Module-Databases/tree/main/Big-Spender

Why are we doing this?

Often at work, people are going to ask you things. It’s a good skill to be able to take natural/human language questions and express them as database queries.

Maximum time in hours

5

How to get help

Share your blockers in your class channel. Use the opportunity to refine your skill in Asking Questions like a developer.

How to submit

1. Fork to your Github account.
2. Make a branch for this project.
3. Make regular small commits in this branch with clear messages.
4. When you are ready, open a PR to the CYF repo, following the instructions in the PR template.

gitGraph
    commit id: "start"
    branch feature/big-spender
    commit id: "transaction range"
    commit id: "handle variations"
    commit id: "expense area"
    commit id: "list of names"
    commit id: "etc"
    checkout main
    merge feature/big-spender

There are several projects in this repo. Make a new branch for each project.

How to review

Swap with a colleague and review each other’s answers.