add Lauras blog post issue 73

Author: sareg0

blog/_posts/2014-10-24-laura-wadden-post-rgsoc

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+---
+title: Post-RGSoC Stories: Laura Wadden, Thoughtworks (2013 Grad)
+layout: post
+created_at: Fri Oct 24 2014
+permalink: blog/laura-wadden-thoughtworks
+current: blog
+author: Laura Wadden
+twitter: laurawadden
+---
+
+My name is Laura Wadden and I’m a Graduate Developer for ThoughtWorks, a world-wide software consulting firm.
+I started my journey with coding when I moved to Berlin from San Francisco in September 2012.
+
+I first stumbled upon the Rails Girls community last May and attended my first beginners workshop.
+The energy was electric and I immediately found a supportive community. There I heard about Rails Girls
+Summer of Code -- a 3-month, paid program for beginners to work on open source projects and learn to code.
+
+The next few months changed my life. I met Duana Stanley, a former ThoughtWorks employee,
+who became my mentor for everything from TDD to working as a software developer. The summer was
+difficult, rewarding and quick. I asked myself, “What comes next?”
+
+I participated in Open Tech School’s Hackerhsip, another community program in Berlin.
+By the end of Hackership, I was ready for a junior developer position or internship, but I never imagined
+I was ready for a firm like ThoughtWorks.
+
+I gave a presentation at a meetup in Berlin about my Hackerhsip project in d3.js, and
+a ThoughtWorks employee was in the audience. She heard my repeated plug, “I’m looking for a job!”
+and she sent my name to the ThoughtWorks recruiting team. The next day I had a message in my inbox.
+
+“You really want me?”
+
+“Yes,” the recruiter said. She explained about ThoughtWorks’ Graduate Developer program.
+
+Her explanation can mostly be found on the website here: [link]. The following is
+my experience as a Rails Girls Summer of Code alumnus, native English speaker and US-American.
+It might come as no surprise, but even with all of the support and help along the way this is a ton of work.
+
+The Graduate Program has two main aspects - training and on-the-job support.
+
+
+## Training
+Graduates attend a 5-week training program in Pune, India. It has classroom sessions,
+project work and individual performance coaching and review. The goal is to help new
+employees understand ThoughtWorks as a company and help develop core skills to effectively perform your role.
+For me personally, this meant intensive training in test driven development (TDD), pair programming, and
+experience working on a real client project. Not to mention, I met people from around the world because each
+office of 17 sends participants.
+
+Before I left for the program I completed a (long and difficult) programming assignment
+to prepare me for the coursework to come. ThoughtWorks provided mentors and was open to
+questions. During that time I leaned heavily on my mentor Duana and the Rails Girls community.
+I couldn’t do it alone and many people helped me along the way.
+
+In India it was an intensive experience. There were sessions during the day, client
+project work, and I studied programming concepts at night via various homework assignments.
+
+
+## On-the-job support
+When I came back from ThoughtWorks University, I wasn’t sure how I would be supported next.
+These two aspects helped me succeed in my first six months:
+
+
+
+## The Beach & Shadowing
+Employees who aren’t working on client projects are “On the Beach”. During this time
+they can shadow ongoing projects, work on pro-bono projects, or simply learn. For a
+new developer this is especially helpful because I had space and opportunities to develop new skills.
+I shadowed on a project for my first 2 months and now am assigned to that project.
+
+
+
+## Culture of Continuous Learning & Sharing
+ThoughtWorks loves learning and teaching. There is a personal development budget
+for books, workshops, conferences or online courses. During my project I’ve held one-off
+sessions on CSS or other technical concepts and participated in a Design Patterns book club.
+Since these opportunities are usually included in work time, I’m not overwhelmed with studying at night.
+
+These are just a few notes on my experience and of course there’s more to say.
+Luckily I’m a real person and I would love to learn more about your experience.
+Please reach out to me and I’d be happy to help or connect you with someone who can.
+
+Are you interested in ThoughtWorks? That’s great! Feel free to reach out to me our
+Verena Traub, a recruiter for ThoughtWorks. She can connect you to the appropriate
+office around the world or answer any of your questions.