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Measuring What Matters: General Assembly’s First Student Outcomes Report

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Since founding General Assembly in 2011, I’ve heard some incredible stories from our students and graduates. One of my favorites is about Jerome Hardaway. Jerome came to GA after five years in the United States Air Force. He dreamed of tackling persistent diversity gaps in the technology sector by breaking down barriers for other veterans and people of color.

In 2014, with the help of General Assembly’s Opportunity Fund scholarship, Jerome began one of our full-time Web Development Immersive courses. After graduation, he had the opportunity to pitch President Obama at the first-ever White House Demo Day and has launched a nonprofit in Nashville, Vets Who Code, which helps veterans navigate the transition to civilian life through technology skills training.

Exceptional stories like Jerome’s embody GA’s mission of “empowering people to pursue the work they love.” It’s a mission that motivates our instructional designers, faculty, mentors, and career coaches. It also inspired the development of an open source reporting framework which defined GA’s approach to measuring student outcomes and now, our first report with verified student outcomes metrics.

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Build Your First Watson Application in 4 Steps with this API

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For as long as I can remember, technology has had a major influence on my life. Growing up as a child, my parents recall stories of me sitting down at our large clunky PC with floppy disk storage and learning new words on Encyclopedia Encarta. I received my first laptop at in the 4th grade. Since then, my daily life has been “connected.”

My journey learning to code began with my first course on an online education platform. Starting with JavaScript, a scripting language for web-based programming, I traversed through the modules starting first with the basics of defining a variable (e.g. var x = “Hello World”), moving on to primitive data structures such as arrays (e.g. var y = [1,2,3]), and eventually Object Oriented Programming.

Shortly after, I enrolled in my first computer science course at Emory University as part of my mathematics curriculum. Although this course focused heavily on Java, a coding language full of new-to-me syntax and functions, the fundamentals of programming translated seamlessly and I quickly picked up the language. By understanding the fundamental basics of coding, I wielded the power to work to create a cognitive application.

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What UX Designers and Web Developers Make in Major U.S. Markets

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UX designers and web developers salaries

You did it! You nailed your interview and you’re feeling great. But then, right when you least expect it, the recruiter finishes up the conversation with the dreaded questions, “So how much are you looking for?”

This question is awkward and even worrisome for a job seeker, particularly if you haven’t done your homework. However, here’s the good news! When you do take the time to do the research and know your worth, it can help you answer this question with ease.

In this article, we’ll take a look at average UX designers’ and web developers’ salaries in major job markets and at varying career levels. Please use this article to further your own research and help you better understand the market but know that this by no means a definitive or all-encompassing list.

The ranges and averages throughout the article were determined based on a compilation of information from Payscale.com, Glassdoor.com, Salary.com, Simplyhired.com and information from current practitioners.

Now, let’s take a comprehensive look at average salaries and the varying salary ranges of UX practitioners and web developers in some of the hottest tech markets in the United States. We’ll take a look at each tech hub and then break down the numbers from there.

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An Artist’s Journey with Code

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Matthew Epler is a creative technologist based in Brooklyn, NY.

Matthew Epler is a creative technologist specializing in creating one-of-a-kind interactive projects with an emphasis on the Internet of Things. 

His work, which blends digital and physical design practices with computer programming, has been featured in museums and a variety of media outlets around the world including The Milan Triennale Museum of Design, mudac Lausanne, and on Wired, Huffington Post, Newsweek, Reuters, Vice, and Creative Applications.

Some of his most well-known pieces include the Netflix Switch, Levi’s Station to Station, Grand Old Party, and Big Bats

Matthew describes himself as a designer who can code, and a coder who can work with his hands. Read on to see how learning to code transformed his passion for art and film into a thriving career in creative technology. Continue reading

4 Ways to Prepare for Negotiating Your First Offer As a Developer

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Many of our graduates from the Web Development Immersive program take our course to find work in the tech field as junior developers. As I support them with negotiating their first offers for those roles, there are certain steps that I cover with them, as a Career Coach, to make sure they set themselves up for success. Half of the negotiation process is the prep work you put in prior to negotiation. If you, too, are  interviewing for your first role as a developer, here are 3 steps you can take to position yourself for a well-negotiated offer.

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Which Text Editor Should I Use While I’m Learning To Code?

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When you start learning how to code, it can make a difference which editor you use. Your editor will help shape your path as a developer, so trying out different methods is vital. Front-end developer and writer for Smashing Magazine, Anselm Hannemann, gives you his tips for selecting and getting started with your first editor.

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Your Ulitmate Checklist for Planning a Successful Hackathon

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DeathtoStock_Wired6Companies across the globe have added hackathons to their roster of annual events to strengthen their corporate community and foster innovation in an engaging and cost-effective way. For employees, participation not only affords them unlimited snacks and beverages throughout the event, but it also bridges the gap between departments, sparks creativity and allows them to work on projects outside of their daily workflow.

Tech companies have begun hosting annual global hackathons and have reaped the benefits of the innovations created—Facebook’s chat feature and OneTravel’s latest groundbreaking mobile feature, Opal, to name a few.

If your company has been toying with the idea of an internal team hackathon, but has no clue where to start, begin with this list of the top five hackathon planning items that every organizer should have on their to-do list. Continue reading

All of Your Web Development Immersive Questions Answered

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There’s never been a better time to start a career as a web developer. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, there’s consistent demand for web developers who can creatively solve problems and implement robust, sustainable solutions.

Whether you’re a career-changer serious about becoming a full-stack web developer, an entrepreneur with an idea you want to build from scratch, or a recent undergrad ready to ramp up your technical skill set, you likely have a number of questions about the best way for you to learn web development.

Here we’ve compiled a list of most frequently asked questions about our flagship Web Development Immersive course — also available online — to help give you a better sense of what this full-time, 12-week program is all about.

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A Guide For Non-Technical Startup Founders In Need of Web Development

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As one of the partners of a Ruby on Rails software development agency, I speak with dozens of non-technical startup founders every week who are in various stages of building their first web or mobile application. The range of technical acumen, willingness to learn, and time and resources varies widely among the group.

As a firm, we’re not just competing with other NYC based agencies for their business, but also offshore devshops, freelancers, and in some cases, the prospective client who may want to execute internally.

At the end of the day, a non-technical founder who has decided that they must build something has two options: Pay someone else, or partner with people. Below are the pros and cons.

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