Life Advice

Interview Tips for New Software Developers

by crisanzai · Feb 19, 2019

Cover Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

I’ve been doing more interviewing in my role lately, trying to narrow down software development candidates to add to the team. These quick tips are less technical in nature and more practical for those that are fresh out of school, or looking for their first job. They come from observations I’ve had in interviews and talking with prospective software development hires.

First things first – really understand your problem solving and crtitical thinking skills. Learn how to explain to others how you solve problems. You’ll probably be asked to explain not only how you solved a problem in an interview, but your problem solving process as well. Practice this with your friends or colleagues, make sure your process makes sense and get feedback.

Have a solid portfolio and have the projects you want to share with prospective employers on a public repo such as GitHub, Bitbucket, SourceForge, etc…

Don’t rely on projects or assignments that you’ve solely done for school to be your primary works for your portfolio. Companies are looking for developers who can build software that can add value, not school assignments. When you finish a project make sure you can effectively explain how your programs work to a “non-technical” user.

Use a resource like Fiverr to get some graphic design and UI/UX help. I list Fiverr, because it’s typically inexpensive. Your programs may function efficiently and effectively, but if they look like something from a 1998 GeoCities website, you’re probably not going to get the job. It’s the same concept as not taking a shower and showing up in dirty clothes for an interview… you just don’t want that as your first impression.

Great teams, needless to say, get stuff done exponentially faster. You’re probably going to end up working on a team of some sort and you don’t want to be the weakest link. Develop some communications, team building, and conflict resolution soft skills. If you’re at a loss on where to start. I recommend reading Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends & Influence People”.

Last but not least ask questions. Ask about who you’ll be working with, ask about what projects you’ll be working on, and ask about the management structure. A company may think your the perfect fit for them, but make sure that the company you want to join is a perfect fit for you.

Efficiency vs Effectiveness: Why It Matters

by crisanzai · Dec 4, 2017

I’ll keep this post short. You can be highly efficient at something (your job, a task, an effort, etc…), but that doesn’t necessarily mean that thing is effective.

If you’re great at selling a single pencil for 25 cents every day, and you do it every day in the most efficient manner, you still only sold a single pencil. You’re super efficient, but are you super effective? Rather than thinking only in terms of efficiency, think about how to maximize your effectiveness. Instead of a single pencil, strive to sell a pallet of pencils everyday. Be both efficient AND effective.

Tim Ferris says it best in his book The 4-Hour Work Week – “Doing something unimportant well does not make it important… What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it. Efficiency is still important, but it is useless unless applied to the right things.”

Find the “right things” – things that are effective, then do those things well.

Thanks for reading!

4 Things I Learned From Raising Ducks

by crisanzai · Nov 27, 2017

My wife and I purchased four ducks earlier this year in the spring at our local Tractor Supply store. We had no experience in raising ducks or farm animals of any kind, but decided to move forward anyways. Luckily we live in an area that is zoned for owning poultry and livestock (for personal use) and we wanted to dip our toes in a longer term goal/dream of having a fully off-grid property. There were several reasons we decided to go with ducks instead of chickens, primarily we went the duck route, because they are not as noisy and not as smelly (chicken feces has a distinct pungent odor). They also lay eggs (although not as many as chickens) and we thought that they were unique. How many people do you know that own ducks? Anyways since we bought 4 ducks, here are 4 things I learned from raising them!

1. Ducks are Messy!

Pictured above are the four adorable ducks we purchased. Don’t let their cute looks fool you! These are the messiest animals we have ever had the pleasure of raising and we’ve raised quite a few animals including rats (fancy and dumbo), rabbits, cockatiels, cats, dogs, and various fish. So what they don’t tell you (whoever “they” are) is that ducks require water to eat their food. Lots of water…

We kept our ducks in a bin and later when they got older a kiddie swimming pool. We filled their enclosure with pine chips and had to constantly give them water and change their pine chips out daily as they would splash water all over the place creating a huge soggy mess. We alleviated some of the mess by using a paint tray and a metal paint liner – and put the water at the end to filter out some of the debris they were tracking in their water.

2. Ducks Eat Plants

After a few months our ducks survived adolescence and reached adulthood. We could no longer keep them in the small makeshift enclosure we made for them, so we made them a larger one outside. As you can see in the photo above, there is not a spot of green inside of their enclosure aside from the bush next to their hutch. Ducks will devour just about any plant you put near them. Believe it or not the entire pen was filled with lush green grass and other plantlife (mostly weeds), now it’s like a barren desert. The ducks literally ate all of the grass. We now use straw and grass clippings to fill their enclosure with.

3. Ducks are Vulnerable

One of our ducks somehow injured their leg and was in quite a bit of pain. She was shivering and we had to quarantine her so she wouldn’t get hurt even more. My wife picked the duck up and wrapped her in a towel to warm our duck up, but noticed something unusual. The duck was crying, not wailing type crying, but tears were streaming down it’s face. It was quite the site. You may get really attached to your ducks, so be mindful of that if you want to raise them for meat.

On another note, ducks are easy prey. Once they are captured they do not struggle or make much noise, and unfortunately this vulnerability became the reason for two of our ducks demises. Unfortunately what we thought was a secure enclosure was not and a raccoon managed to sneak in and kill a few of our birds (on different nights). Raccoons are the duck’s nemesis and they will kill a duck by tearing it’s head off and eating it’s innards. It’s quite a gruesome site. We now have proper defenses against raccoons and other bandits, with a double enclosure system and we will be putting up an electric fence in the near future. Lesson learned, albeit at the cost of two our favored fowls lives.

4. Ducks take Time

If you think ducks are a set it and forget it poultry, you are sorely mistaken. Ducks require a lot of upkeep, especially if you don’t have a pond or small lake. Ducks require a lot of water, as mentioned earlier that’s how they digest and eat their food. You have to constantly change their water – at least once or twice daily as their water gets really disgusting. They defecate in their water as well as track dirt and do their general cleaning in it. Unlike chickens, you can’t just leave them for weeks at a time, you more than likely will have to have someone check in on them if you are on vacation or on an extended trip away.

Raising ducks has been a great learning experience and our little experiment of raising our four ducks will lead to our next adventure. Raising an additional 4 ducks next Spring. 3 duck egg producers and one for show (a crested duck) as well a goose to for additional poultry protection. Below is a photo of a crested duck!

Thanks for reading!

The Tale of Two Crock-pots

by crisanzai · Nov 20, 2017

I asked my team today about a policy and it just so happened the CEO of my company overheard my question. This lead to a conversation about why we had the policy in the first place. The simple answer to the question was “I was always told that this was the policy”. So instead of letting the issue go, the CEO answered “but why? Why is this the Policy” and that lead to the story of the two crock-pots.

I’m paraphrasing from memory here, but here’s the basic story- A woman had a recipe for roast and her recipe included cooking the roast in two crock-pots. When asked about why she used two crock-pots, the woman replied “That’s the way my mother always did it”. One day she was curious and asked her mother why she used two crock-pots for the recipe. “well”, the mother replied “the crock-pots I had were too small and I couldn’t fit the roast into just one of them”. The woman’s crock-pots were larger than her mother’s and she could fit the roast into one crock-pot.

After this story was told, which basically causes one to think and ask “why” or “what is the root cause”, our team ended up finding out what the root cause was, took action, and ultimately changed the policy.

It’s always important to ask “why” whenever approaching a policy or even a system. Why is this policy in place? Why are you using this system? Once you find out why, you may be surprised. The reason may be something arbitrary or out-dated. Maybe someone long ago decided on a whim that what they thought was important is something that everyone should do. You may also find the opposite, where a policy or system is in place, because of an important reason you didn’t realize. Either way it’s good to know the root of these things.

More important than asking “why” is taking action if action is needed once you find out “why”. In our case we found out the “why” was because of a system issue and a process issue. We found that by talking through the process we could make changes to improve the policy. However we needed to fix an issue with our system – which we accomplished by creating a work around. Sometimes you have to be creative in order to make a change.

Once you find a problem work at it until it gets resolved. This is how great companies and great systems are created.

Thanks for reading!

Losers Will Compromise – Winners Won’t

by crisanzai · Nov 15, 2017

While dialing through radio stations after work. I came across a radio program (podcast) called On Being. The guest was Ellen Langer a notable Harvard Social Psychologist who describes Mindfullness as “the simple act of actively noticing things”. I didn’t catch the whole podcast, but something Ms. Langer said really struck me. She said

…here’s another one that will sound strange, but I’m against compromise… Well, the reason for that is, because it’s an agreement for everybody to lose. It’s just reducing your losses, rather than finding the win/win solution, which is often out there.”

And you know what… I’m not social psychologist, but she is ABSOLUTELY right. When you compromise it’s as if both parties are willing to lose in order to make an agreement. Think about how many times you’ve compromised in business and both you and your client were let down, or heck think about compromises in life. You short change yourself all the time with compromise, you’re left unsatisfied, and sometimes left hurt, because of compromise. Why do we put ourselves through such suffering? Probably, because it’s easier than the alternative!

What’s The Alternative?

The alternative to compromise (which MANY think is just not getting involved or getting out of the agreement) is actually creating a win-win scenario. You MUST find a better way, where both you and the other party will benefit. No one loses in a Win-Win situation. Now it may be a little tricky figuring out what a Win-Win scenario is, but know that many times a “Win” for you may not mean the same as a “Win” for the other parties involved. It’s like that saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” What you find value in may not exactly be the same as what your client, family member, or whoever you are interact with values.

A classic example of a Win-Win would be seen in nature would be symbiosis such as an oxpecker bird cleaning a zebra – the bird gets the parasites and bugs for food, while the zebra is free from the parasites and bugs (other examples include bees and flowers, anemones and clown fish, etc…) , The same principle applies to life in general and in business. To counteract compromise you need to find a way to create a Win-Win situation. It’s not always easy, but find the common ground where you and your client will both win, instead of compromise and both lose.

To throw in another metaphor that my old Sales Manager always said to me all the time – “a rising tide lifts all boats”. The Win-Win is the rising tide and the boats are everyone involved. Find the rising tide!

Thanks for reading!

How to Get a World Class Education Without Setting Foot in a Classroom

by crisanzai · Nov 13, 2017

Formal Education is overrated. Unless you are planning to join a career in a very specialized field such as becoming a medical specialist – Doctor, Radiologist, Nurse, etc… or plan on becoming an Attorney, Physicist, Electrician, or Plumber(all by the way noble professions that I highly respect), your need for going to College or trade school for the sake of just furthering your career is pointless.

This is not to say having a certain degree or certification that may raise your salary cap is inherently bad or overrated, but rather that having a degree or certification for the sake of having one in “hopes” of getting a raise (see my gambling vs investing post) is pointless.

The cost of higher education continues to skyrocket. I personally know someone who’s $20,000 college loan eventually became a $40,000 loan thanks to compounding interest. That is one expensive education! Granted it was a good education, but it does make one pause and think “Is it worth it?”. This is why I’m going to encourage you to take at least a year off after highschool to figure out what your interests are. Watch the video below. I don’t agree with Alan Watts’s full philosophy, but I’m not here to make an ad hominem (look this up, as well as other logical fallacies) attack on him. His point is great and I wish I knew about it when I was younger.

I made the mistake – as a first generation college student – going right into college and pursuing a degree in accounting. I absolutely hated it. I didn’t like accounting, but I struggled through it, and eventually I quit. I had zero passion for it. Instead, I thought to myself “I’m really only really going to have one opportunity at this college thing, what do I want to do”. I ended up getting a degree in Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry (double concentration in Poetry – as I took 2 senior seminar workshops in it and extra courses from different professors). I’ll save the details on why I chose that degree later. Long story short I wanted the degree, because I had a passion for it.

Nowadays with the internet (we are so lucky to have access to the internet), a world class education is just a click away. Free education is on YouTube, everything from business, mathematics, mechanics, cooking, to geology. Experts and Professionals practically are dying to share their knowledge about the subjects they are passionate for. Now you can’t believe everything that you see or read on the internet, but the YouTube community and the internet community as whole has a way of weeding out the BS (Banana Stems – no one likes eating those). Do your diligence before using your academic energies while studying under a self proclaimed internet expert – you definitely want to vet the people you watch.

Another way to get a great education is by joining curated learning websites such as Udemy.com and Lynda.com. If you want to take your education to a whole another level you can also take a look at EdX.org. The EdX program was started by Harvard University and MIT to – as their mission statement states –

Increase access to high-quality education for everyone, everywhere
Enhance teaching and learning on campus and online
Advance teaching and learning through research

The best part is that this education is free. The only downside is that it will take a ton of discipline to complete these courses. One of the advantages of going to a traditional college is that there are consequences if you don’t attend class or take exams. With self-paced learning the only consequence is a waste of time or a loss of opportunity. I used to think that the only thing in common every single human being had on this earth was death. Sounds morbid, but we are all going to eventually die or so we think (take a look at google’s calico project). Well the President of my current company told me of another “equalizer” which is that “we all have twenty-four hours a day, it’s what we do with those twenty-four hours that will make a difference”. What will you be doing with your twenty-four hours? Playing games, goofing off, or making a difference?

Thanks for reading!

Google Keep: A Powerful Idea Management Tool

by crisanzai · Nov 9, 2017

I’ve been using google keep daily for the past 4 weeks and I’ve come to use it as an idea management, to do list, and organization tool. It’s particularly helpful for capturing blog ideas and setting up checklists. The cloud based software is very simple to use and it syncs seamlessly with the phone app.

I currently use Keep in 3 different ways. First as a catch all for all of my thoughts and ideas – basically a bank of my thoughts that I know I’ll eventually forget if not captured. Second I use Keep as a goal tracker where I’ll chunk my goals and break them down into checklists so they are more manageable. Third I use Keep as a general checklist and activity tracker.

The Pros

One of the great things about Keep is that you can categorize notes and then reference all of the notes on one page within the category. This includes even notes you have archived.

Another great feature is the ability to color code notes and set reminders for them. For me this is a definite advantage over other apps like one note. I’m a visual person so custom color coding my notes actually helps me organize them better. You can also pin important notes to the very top of Keep and have a selection of notes live in the pinned section.

There’s also a reminders pane to see all of your upcoming reminders on one page. (Basically alarms for your cards for due dates). These reminders can be set to repeat as well if needed (monthly, weekly, yearly, etc…) and sync with your google calendar.

The collaboration feature allows you to share your lists with others and allow you to collaborate with others and is really simple to use.

Also the search feature is killer (I mean of course it is, it’s made by google) and it’s fast. This also links up with google docs and you can send notes directly to google docs.

The Cons

While the collaboration tool is simple to use, it isn’t as robust as other collaboration tools such as Trello or Airtable. There’s not a way to notify individual collaborators on changes of the note. Basically you are just sharing the note, and it’s not a “live” note where it’s editable by any one in the collaboration group.
The notes that you create are difficult to organize aside from tags or colors. You can move card positions, but the mobile friendly dynamic of the tool always changes the look of your notes based on screen size. (this can get a little annoying – as you may come to expect a note to live somewhere, only to realize you have to scroll further down the page). I may be a little biased as I use Trello on a daily basis for work.
If you are looking for gamification, this app is lacking. Not saying that everything should be gamified, but gamification would be a very nice feature if added. Habitica is a good example of an activity tracker with gamification.
If you want to track a more complex project, you can’t embed a checklist within a note without the entire note becoming a checklist. And you can’t add multiple checklists to one note – they have to be separate.

Other Features

If you are so inclined, you can even draw or doodle in keep. I don’t usually use this feature, but it’s nice to have in case I want to jot down a diagram or something.

You can also add photos to your notes and there’s even a built in feature that will allow you to grab text from photos to put into the note. There’s also an audio record function so you can record audio notes.

Overall this is a great and simple tool. What’s great about it is it’s simplicity and ease of use. What’s also terrible about it is it’s simplicity. I call it my idea warehouse. This is where all of my crazy ideas, plans, goals and random commentary live. What’s also great is I can access it virtually anywhere where I have internet access. Everything’s stored in the cloud and can be accessed from my phone or the google chrome browser on a computer.

You can try out google keep here https://www.google.com/keep/

Thanks for reading!