This is the weblog of Brian Gilham.

“Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

I had the pleasure of speaking to second-year web development students at Durham College about life after graduation, yesterday. Armed with only my wits and a Keynote deck, I hoped to impart some of the wisdom I’ve gained in the last two years. I tried to answer the question, “What do I wish someone had told me?”

I left a few things out of the presentation in an effort to cultivate some Q&A. We covered the obvious stuff right away: salary expectations, dress code, and internship opportunities. But there were two questions from the students that stood out in my mind.

“Do I need to go to university to be successful?”

In a word: No. Most developers I’ve worked with have never been anywhere near a computer science degree. In fact a large number of them don’t have college diplomas, either. Bring the skills to pay the bills and you will succeed, no matter your education.

That said, you might want to reconsider if your career path includes certain positions at Google.

“Is there a glass ceiling? How hard is it for women in the industry?”

I tried my best but, for obvious reasons, this one was hard for me to answer. I began by pointing out how encouraging it was that there were, from what I could see, at least three girls in the class. The year I graduated, there were zero. Much to my delight, everyone seemed genuinely surprised at that fact.

If sexism is a problem in the Toronto tech industry, I’ve never seen it. That doesn’t mean it never happens, or that a new graduate won’t encounter it. But I’ll venture an educated guess and say that it isn’t a widespread problem. The female geeks I know are treated with just as much respect and admiration as the dudes. But in a field seemingly dominated by men, I can see how a young female developer might feel apprehensive. And I’m glad she asked the question.

A+

All told, I had a great time. Despite having been through the experience myself, I learned a lot about the mindset of a student preparing to enter the working world. Hopefully they learned a little bit from me, too.

As best I can recall.

JAN: Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Nathan Phillips Square with Erin. TTCupdates hits 300 followers on Twitter and is featured on Torontoist and Spacing.

FEB: Moved into the new apartment. CityNews writes an extremely nice article about TTCupdates. Attended Twestival and made a ton of new friends.

MAR: TTCu desktop widget completed and made available. Metro does a story on @ttcu_community. I go curling for the first time and love it.

APR: Attended MeshU, thanks to the team at Sprouter.

MAY: Spoke about TTCupdates at Refresh Events. Was nervous, but loved the experience.

JUN: Met Amber and Tavis’ new dog, Murphy, for the first time. Started working at Espresso. Loved it immediately. Went camping.

JUL: Took part in Relay for Life. Visited Niagara Falls with Whitney. Went camping.

AUG: Went camping.

SEP: First Infiltrator portrait taken. Went whitewater rafting for the first time. Gained confidence in my ability to not drown. Went camping.

OCT: Built the site for, and participated in, Walk a Mile. Hurt my feet. Helped a great cause. Dressed up as Balloon Boy for Halloween.

NOV: Created a Google Map of Toronto’s wards using newly-available city data. Created a similar map of every single TTC stop.

DEC: Bought an iPhone. Put up the apartment’s first Christmas tree. Relaxed and enjoyed the company of loved ones. Contemplated getting back into blogging.

Two months later: Finally wrote something. Welcome to the new blog.