At Makers we encourage students to blog. This helps them reflect on their journey, take a break from coding and build their brand.
1 — It’s cathartic
Eat. Sleep. Code. Repeat. As a newbie coder this rhythm is tempting but it isn’t sustainable. A clear mind makes clean code and one way to release the valve is to get words on paper. Storing the days learnings in your head mixes up with a host of emotions and creates a noisy environment. Start with a few words of the main thoughts jumping to the front of your mind. This will help you reflect, relax and refresh for the next day.
Example: Angela’s Wolff: A Crisis of Coding Confidence
2 — Progress and interview prep
“Tell me about a time you’ve resolved a conflict in the workplace.” We’ve all had this interview question and probably experienced blundering over an answer, waiting for the ground to swallow you up. We don’t naturally address our struggles, they’re painful — let’s lock them away in a tiny draw. Blogging allows you to addresses and accept issues, giving you an artillery of answers to face these questions head on and explained how you failed but also, moved forward.
Examples: Dania’s 50 episode blog and Puyan’s Ultimate Job Hunting Guide for Makers Graduates
3 — You can become a thought leader/ speaker
Do you see yourself headlining a Ted Talk or joining the panel at London Tech Week? If you’re dreaming big for the future of your career start putting in the ground work now. Find your voice and blog on a topic that you care about and comment on similar posts on that topic. This will boost your profile and help pave the way to speak on that stage.
Example: Charlotte Fereday’s blog
4 — It makes you stand out
Differentiating applications can be difficult. After vetoing the applications with hotmail.com email addresses or any other arbitrary factor, recruiters are often left with a stack of good all round applicants, but with one position up for grabs, who makes the cut? At Makers our careers team will speak to our hiring partners and students and try to pair good matches. A great way so make yourself stand out is by blogging. The employer will already know your journey, see your struggles and how you overcame them — a big difference from the faceless CV.
Example: Viola’s Illogicode blog
5 — You’ll help fellow Makers
You’ve been there. Done that. And got the t-shirt — literally. Why not share the love? Reflecting on how your day, week or month has gone is insider knowledge that will help the next cohort of newbie Makers. The tech industry is becoming more open-source in every way. Sharing your code can help someone fix a bug, sharing that on week 4 you just didn’t understand, can help overcome challenges you might not have expected.
Example: Rob Faldo’s Accompanying videos for your first 2 weeks of Makers Academy.
