JC Smiley

Front End Developer, Blogger: @CodeConnector_
Meetup Organizer, Portfolio:

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

Tips for learning how to code:

My advice is to start with small projects that you estimate will take days or a single week. Then do another and another. Over time you will have the experience and knowledge to build bigger and more visionary projects.

[Kanika Tolver @KanikaTolver]

4 Ways to Stand Out in this Difficult Job Market

1. Start a Substack and consistently write about what you know. Share your insights, lessons learned, industry perspectives, and project breakdowns. Showcase your work publicly and share your Substack articles on LinkedIn, include them on your resume, and send the links to recruiters as part of your professional portfolio.

[LawrenceDCodes @LawrenceDCodes]

https://t.co/b7iScfjn8a

[LawrenceDCodes @LawrenceDCodes]

Plenty of chatter around SF culture these days but honestly whatever city you’re in, just make nerd friends and hang out IRL.

Infinite ROI

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

@LawrenceDCodes Awesome question. It led me to an honest self accessment.

Im investing now in a regular exercise regimen pair with healthy eating habits.

Im working on cloud platform certs for focus learning.

Building two startups for future income.

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

@LawrenceDCodes Wise words

[LawrenceDCodes @LawrenceDCodes]

Open forum space tomorrow - bring your Q’s and your A’s !
https://t.co/REgxhdsdn8

[Joseph Raynovic @JRaynovic]

One of the saddest things is realizing how many good ideas, or dreams fade out. Its actually a big reason I built the heart tree in my bus. Shared dreams(if supported) have higher odds of survival.

Still, theres this nervousness to say "Im doing something". That little voice starts whispering "What if I fail, what if I look stupid, what if, what if, what if". Its a threshold that must be overcome.

Even now I'm doubting what I want to do. I still need to spend more capital and I have a ton in it already, not to mention I'm building a skoolie concurrently.

But now is the time. I have the momentum, I have a near infinite runway, and I need a workshop no matter what.

I refuse to let this fade, and I hope others do the same for themselves. There are more good supportive people here than I can count. I never thought I would say I can open ANY of my socials and close them feeling inspired to do something.

After all if you are doing something, its not doing nothing. We should be more nervous to admit to the latter.

[Joseph Raynovic @JRaynovic]

Got the first one working last night.

[Malcolm Adams @_malcolmadams]

I got started with this practice a few years ago. Here are the core concepts of the 12 Week Year:

[LawrenceDCodes @LawrenceDCodes]

chatbots are fine but if you want to grasp tech careers: r/cscareerquestions + levelsfyi + teamblind
is still undefeated

[LawrenceDCodes @LawrenceDCodes]

After watching an amazing resume review sesh by my man @Dthompsondev, I had some thoughts around personal branding. We keep throwing that phrase around and in many cases I think it’s not working for people because they're putting the cart before the horse.

This won’t be a long essay, you can grasp and implement this right now. Think this way: 2 elements to personal brand: a. What you’ve done and can be trusted to do b. How you let people know. Too much focus has been on the b and not the a. You can write whatever bio you wish, get the most professional headshot, banner, have AI post 5 times a day on LinkedIn and Twitter and sell the course too. If you’re not doing anything and can’t be trusted to do anything, you don’t have brand management. You have a billboard with no legs.

Focus on the a: What is it that you’re known for. I’m not going to lie and say every interview I have is 10/10 perfect but the majority of the time, the things I want to be known for are so readily accessible and have been catalogued over long enough period of time, the resume itself (or LInkedIn or Github) is almost secondary. The proof is in the pudding.

If you suspect personal branding is a problem, I’m willing to bet 80% chance it's not how you're presenting but what you have to present. There’s a gospel song from back in the day “May The Work I’ve Done Speak for Me’. That’s what you want. Do more work. Spending hundreds to reformat a resume of bullet points representing no accomplishments is pure folly.

[Nikki Siapno @NikkiSiapno]

15 blogs that will help you become a better engineer:

1. Uber Engineering: https://t.co/KClBA7duej

2. Airbnb Tech Blog: https://t.co/3cxlcGh2Vk

3. OpenAI Engineering: https://t.co/Oo0NcvWKb4

4. AWS Architecture: https://t.co/kvBAMbpyvr

5. Netflix TechBlog: https://t.co/T3StVaZlCB

6. Discord Engineering: https://t.co/ne9lNeUeMX

7. Anthropic Engineering: https://t.co/xnorMy9ISZ

8. NVIDIA Developer: https://t.co/i9y3zNuNyC

9. Slack Engineering: https://t.co/qT1O4xxSoc

10. Cloudflare Blog: https://t.co/oSp5ALRFPT

11. Figma Tech Blog: https://t.co/MQxyVO84Ms

12. Shopify Engineering: https://t.co/U4sptY2tB2

13. Stripe Engineering: https://t.co/w8c7fcJKgj

14. Microsoft Engineering: https://t.co/zgLHpGKBRa

15. GitHub Engineering: https://t.co/83WGnNkagK

Bonus (system design deep dives) Level Up Coding: https://t.co/r3l7NXrMQv

Bonus two: Get our 𝟭𝟰𝟮-𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 covering 𝟱𝟭 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘀 for 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 when you join our newsletter. Join 30,001+ engineers: https://t.co/8uVCeyVa1w

What other blogs should be on this list?

🔖 Save for later.
♻️ Repost to help other engineers learn and grow.

[LawrenceDCodes @LawrenceDCodes]

So, pricing AI architecture by the token is a trap. Who knew?

This Sitepoint article gives a much accurate means of comparison - honestly surprised me in a few areas. Link below 👇🏾👇🏾

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

@JRaynovic Darn those kids. Always tricking us dads into cooking cookies against our will.

[LawrenceDCodes @LawrenceDCodes]

Periodic reminder to not be gaslit regarding the value of computer science education. It is only increasing, you just have to be strategic.

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

“Transparency isn’t trust. Clarity is.”

Coriano Harris learned this building SpeciNate. Why simplicity beats dashboards →

Part 2 of our Q&A digs into the mistake most founders make.

https://t.co/nhSyHZXsZc

#Memphis #memTech #StartupLife

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

Most people think zoos lose donors because “fundraising is hard.” A Memphis founder saw the real issue: impact no one can see.
So he built SpeciNate — a platform that makes conservation work visible in real time. And the tech goes way beyond zoos.

🔗 https://t.co/slIQjre1ZL

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

@toboreeee Same. Its like I cant recall simple resume items, work experiences, and stories that show I've done what they are asking for. My mind just goes blank.

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

Projects don't have to be perfect to be useful. They just have to exist." @codeconnector_'s February session put that principle to work. Recap → https://t.co/XlDbUo5kB5

#memtech #Memphis #DigitalDelta

[JC Smiley @JCSmiley4]

@JRaynovic Dude, you are on your hustle. Loving the progress.