MY TIIDELAB EXPERIENCE 4.0 (MONTH 4)
Introduction.
It has been a fascinating journey so far and the end of my month 4 at TiideLab. I am excited to share my stories, my growth and how well I have been shaped by this great body, TiideLab.
A lot happened last month, especially with the transition I made and how bits-by-bits of positive change finally manifested as a gigantic one while I reminisced events of the last four months that has made a difference in my life.
Incase you missed gists from the last three months, here they are:
Stay with me, glued to your phone, as I unleash chunks of information on how my growth has significantly improved at TiideLab, since the last month.
Technical Experience.
We kick-started the last month with learning about Modules and Packages in NodeJs (a run time environment in JavaScript). This was like laying a foundation for transitioning into our various tracks — Front-end, Backend and Mobile app development. Everything before now, has been like laying a foundation too but this was a brief period before we transition.
We look at Named and Default exports; the process of making JavaScript expressions available for use within one file or another. We also looked at Object-Oriented programming starting with differentiating data types — primitives and non-primitives — noting that the former is stored directly on the variable (variable object) and the latter is stored as a pointer (to a place in the memory) in the variable object. This was a really interesting concept for me as I got a clearer picture of what I’ve read about it.
Introduction to NodeJs for us made things more interesting. We got to know that Nodejs is like a programming environment where JavaScript file can also be interpreted apart from the browser and how it uses modules, libraries, packages (called dependencies) to carry out its operations, especially in creating servers for web applications.
And finally, the highlight for me was wrapping up with Vanilla JavaScript and moving to my chosen track — Frontend Web development — where I got introduced to the Concepts of React. How React is a JavaScript library that uses a single html page to create websites. How it’s faster and easier to maintain because of its virtual DOM (Document object model) and syntax of JSX (JavaScript XML). How components, states management and props are the basic important concepts to note to grasp React JS faster.
The transition into various tracks fostered moments of nostalgia; moments where we no longer learned with some of our teammates during our usual Peer learning; moments where we no longer learned with our partners during our usual coding sessions; moments where we were paired with new partners. Well, it was all for the better, at least we made friends within those times we shared.
Professional Softskills Development.
A lot of interesting topics were featured during the professional development classes of last month. As you know, our very own Big Brother; Aderoju Shamsudeen Adelapo; always dished out values during the classes and this month’s was nothing short.
We looked at Product sales and pitch Strategy; a concept that look at why we pitch, the types of sales pitch and sales pitch audience. This was really and interesting concept for me because before then, I was trying to understand the components of a pitch and how I can ace a pitch presentation assuming I have a business idea. My key takeoffs were a good pitch should comprise who you’re (skills), where you are headed (goals) and why you stand out, among others.
We also looked at two interesting concepts on Negotiation Skills and Mediation, which is pertinent to our daily living. Few of my key takeaways are move in small steps, don’t use round numbers, make sure to trade properly, don’t be sentimental. Your daily successes in life, business, academics, etc, are product of effective communication. While for mediation, as a mediatior: be sure to hear from two parties, suggest some solutions and make them an offer to chose from the options of your negotiation.
To cap it up, we treated Appreciative Communication, Active Listening, and Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Communication is a concept that denotes that people feel good when their opinions are heard. Active listening which is literary it’s meaning, that, we out to listen to people when they speak by paraphrasing their words to show understanding, asking questions and listening for their feelings, among others. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) then involves engaging people in conversations to help them discover their collective strengths, hopes, growth and dreams for the future.
The highlights of each class for me, were the practical aspects, where our creativity was put to test based on the topics for that day and to access our level of understanding, cementing further the knowledge gained for that day.
Career Mentorship Session.
It was just if the universe answered my prayers last month on certain concepts I hoped to gain clarity on. The topics were just exactly what I hoped to learn. On this month of our mentorship session, we treated two fascinating concepts; Pitch and Presentation strategies and then Job Preparedness Tips (CV + Cover letter).
I still say it, it’s a privilege to have a mentor and a higher privilege to have one who know his onions too well. My group’s career mentor, Mr. Arome Ibrahim dished value on Pitching. One of the key takeaways I took were the key elements of an effective pitch which are:
- Clarity of purpose.
- Target Audience Understanding.
- Storytelling.
- Visual Aids.
- Persuasion technique and
- Keeping to time.
We looked different pitch samples and how each of them connected to the above key elements.
On the area of job readiness, we looked at how important job readiness is especially for we software developers, which is that the market for software developers is competitive, and thus we need to be job ready at every point, including properly crafting our CVs and Cover letter especially in a way that makes us stand out. We were giving tips like using percentages and figures to quantify your impact in your job experiences, tailor your CV to your job description, attach a cover letter to your CV even though not demanded, among others. In addition, he reviewed our CVs and cover letters with insightful feedbacks as step forward.
Key Highlights of Other Events.
Among other things that took place last month were our usual Guest Leaders Series and Alumni Fireside Chat.
On the month’s episode of Guest Leaders Series, Mr. Lanre Yusuf poured out his mastery on the process of Thriving in Business Technology. He further explained in depth, the differences between an intrapreneur and an employee. He advised us to be latter in any organisation we find ourselves. Furthermore he unlocked the processes of business stages like existence, survival, the success, take off and resource maturity stage.
For me, the last month’s Fireside chat was the most exciting I have ever attended. I really enjoyed it. It featured Mr. Bongshim, a backend web developer. and Mr. Onyedikachi, a Software developer. They shared from their wealth of experience on how we, the fellows, can be better software developers. They talked about work-life balance, applying for jobs which involved applying anyways, even though we feel unqualified. They went further to reiterate their experiences when they were at TiideLab and how the processes at TiideLab has better moulded them into who they currently are. It has so far been the most exciting for me.
Conclusion.
Concluding, collectively making an inference on the past 4 months, I can see how my growth curve in all aspects has progressively heightened to where I currently am. Tiidelab and it’s entities have been a source of constant strength, feeding me the day to day energy I need to take confident strides towards my professional and personal growth.
Looking ahead, I hope to finish well and strong, making sure I meet all my designated goals.
Special thanks to the organizing board of TiideLab, ITF, NECA, and Techspecialist.
Thanks for reading till the end.
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