Technology: September 2017 Archives
Dear Tulsa - Beth Knight - Medium
"The Tulsa tech community has created this unique magic and it's something that needs to be noticed and fostered.
"I left Tulsa because I had exhausted the online resources, such as Team Treehouse and Bloc, and I did not want to pursue another four year degree. Wassim Metallaoui told me that a program in Denver called Turing could take me from a dabbler to a real software developer. It was an exhausting seven month program, but I did it. I found a job in Boulder that I will be starting this week and it's all roses. But I believe there should have been an option like this for me in Tulsa. Tulsa has a lower cost of living and a much more actively engaged programming community. Right now, the most difficult part of hiring a junior programmer is finding a company with a mentorship program in place. There is a rough 3 month on boarding process, but after that you have a fairly decent programmer. After a year of working they're considered mid level. The ramp up time is rough but it is brief. Maybe it needs to be subsidized by someone, I don't know. But it's not long to turn someone from a dabbler into a developer....
"Right now bootcamps all over the nation are shutting down because there is a glut of junior developers in the market. But not in Tulsa. Tulsa is a place where people are committed to their community and will do whatever it takes to see it thrive. This is my plea to companies to set up these junior positions and the city to bring in the bootcamps to retrain people. It's doable. I am doing it. I was not able to pursue this dream in Tulsa because the opportunity was not there, but it can be. I don't know how to fix the educational or transportation system, but I do know how to bring in more skilled labor. And when you have skilled labor, the companies follow."
My comment: Tulsa Technology Center and Tulsa Community College are rolling in taxpayer dollars, thanks to their dedicated slices of our property taxes. This is exactly the sort of program they ought to offer. Skills-focused training is why they exist.
