Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Sharon DiOrio This week on My Angular Story, Charles speaks with Sharon DiOrio who is a lead software engineer at Achievement Network (ANet) and lives in Massachusetts! Chuck and Sharon talk about how she got into programming, her education, career highlights, and more! Check it out. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 0:00 – Advertisement: Get A Coder Job! 0:41 – Chuck: Say “hello!” You were on episode 2 back in the day! 1:16 – Chuck: Can you tell people what you are up to? 1:19 – Sharon: The Angular landscape has changed quite a bit in the past 4 years. I am still using Angular! 1:37 – Chuck: It’s nice to hear people’s backgrounds and their thought process. Let’s talk about your story. To start out how did you get into programming? 2:03 – Sharon: I have a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts. The web wasn’t a thing, yet, and it wasn’t an option. 4:04 – Chuck: How did you go from there to Angular and JavaScript? 4:12 – Sharon: I have a soft spot in my heart for Code Fusion. I did Code Fusion and PHP and that paid the bills for a long time. In the mid-2000’s that some of this stuff was going away and the idea of “old is new.” What is going to be my evolution of a developer? The frameworks (at this time) were starting to mature. 8:01 – Chuck: You run an Angular Meetup, so how did that get started?  8:05 – Sharon shares her story. 9:25 – Chuck: I would like to find a group that does this or that – and people find their niche and get together. If it grows great – if not then you begin some great friendships. I would like room for more intimate Meetups. 10:18 – Chuck. 10:23 – Sharon. 10:27 – Chuck: You spoke at NG-Conf in 2014 and what are your tips for people who want to speak at these conferences. 10:50 – Sharon: Get experience talking in front of large audiences before the ACTUAL conference! Also, start with Meetups! 12:29 – Chuck: Just the practice of building good habits and making sure that you are really prepared. Don’t they offer coaching now? 12:45 – Sharon: Yep! 12:53 – Chuck: What other things have you done with Angular? 13:01 – Sharon: I have been mostly in applications. Then I moved into educational technology. 13:55 – Chuck: Yep I identify with that a lot – getting a better career, making a better life for yourself, etc. 14:15 – Sharon: Yep! 15:34 – Chuck: I have seen things like Common Core and seeing what my kids are doing in school. 16:00 – Sharon: Most of the criticisms that people have about Common Core are... 16:35 – Sharon: I have been working in the educational space, too, yes! I have been here for 3 years now and I have “tenure” in technology. 17:18 – Chuck: What are the things that you are most proud of? 17:21 – Sharon answers the question. 19:37 – Chuck: We have shows on React, Angular and others. It’s interesting to see how people are assessing these things. 19:56 – Sharon: Yeah the landscaping is so different from not that long ago! 20:10 – Chuck. 21:03 – Sharon: Yeah our management is using version 6. I am going to do it and not tell them. 21:35 – Chuck: Anything else that you want to shout-out about? 21:37 – Sharon: How you get answers to questions will shift in your life. Learning how to ask a question well is underestimated – it’s an art. What to provide, so you know exactly what to provide to him/her. 22:21 – Chuck: Yeah my brothers 22:47 – Sharon: My father told me the same thing: you need to speak well and write well. No matter what field you are going into. Also, empathy and soft skills are great skills to have, too. 23:35 – Chuck: It is easy to work on the technology b/c it’s either right or wrong. 23:48 – Sharon: I would love to see people wanting those skills within job posts.