guest post Tag Archives - General Assembly Blog

Getting Started With Front-End Web Development

So, you want to learn to code? Awesome! Knowing how to code can help you level up in your current role, open new career opportunities, and empower you to make your app or website ideas come to life. But where should you start?

Although hotly contested among developers, most novice coders begin their education by learning the basics of front-end web development, or the client-facing side of web development. The front end involves what the end user sees, like the design/appearance of the web page.

In order to become a front-end developer, there are three “languages” you need to master: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or as I like to call them, “The Holy Trinity.”

Below, I explain the difference between these three languages, and how they work in concert to get a simple website up and running.

Continue reading →

4 Exercises To Help You Unlock Your Dream Career

By Michelle Ward

Live your passion. Follow your bliss. Do what you love.

You’ve probably heard advice like this when it comes to finding and achieving your dream career. But what if you’re not sure what your passion is? Or what if you have many passions? If either scenario is the case for you, then this advice remains vague and largely unhelpful.

I’ve worked with thousands of creative people on their dream career development since 2008, and what I kept finding was this:

It’s not about doing what you love or loving what you do. It’s about getting clarity on your lifestyle goals, and then figuring out what you need to do to bring them to life.

Simply put, a “dream career” is one that allows you to wake up in the morning, think about the day ahead, and look forward to at least 70% of it. If you’re doing work you enjoy with people you like being around, and it leaves room for your personal priorities, then you’re in the sweet spot.

Do you want your lifestyle to allow you to pick up your kids from the bus and spend quality time with them until bed? Then that’s a piece of your dream career puzzle.

Do you want to be able to work from anywhere, filling up your passport quickly? Then that’s a piece of your dream career puzzle.

Do you want to be able to attend a lunchtime yoga class every weekday? Then that’s a piece of your dream career development puzzle.

Continue reading →

5 Hard Things You Have To Do When You Redesign

By Sally Simms

Members of the Buster team mapping out their redesign. Photo by Adam Brodowski.

We recently completely redesigned Buster, our online booking site for buses, limos, and vans, after the first version (v1) of our website had been live for about a year. It was our first big review of what had worked in our early product, and what hadn’t, and our biggest chance so far to refresh our thinking about the business we’re growing. Rethinking our product was both cathartic and grueling. Here are the hardest things we had to do to make it happen.

Continue reading →

How to Say “No” to Your CEO’s Random Product Ideas

By Brian de Haaff

Here is how it happens. You see the CEO in the hallway and he stops you. He then says, “I was thinking about this the other day—I have a great new idea for a feature.” You nod politely and walk back to your desk—feeling sick to your stomach along the way.
Continue reading →

How To Have an Awesome Product Launch

By Lauren Maffeo

It feels invigorating to build awesome products. If you are a product manager, you have the unique chance to lead an idea from conception through completion. This opportunity inspires product managers to get out of bed excited each day.

A major achievement for any PM comes on the day that they launch their product. This is the day when months of hard work is placed into customers’ hands. There is little more rewarding than watching an idea come to life for end users.

But make no mistake — product launches are stressful. Product managers are pulled in several directions at once and have endless people to please. In the lead-up to launch, this can cause burnout.

Before you get in over your head, take a moment to step back and reevaluate. Product launches are most successful when you plan ahead for them from the start — well before your product goes to market. Continue reading →

3 Components of Every Great Product Strategy

By Lauren Maffeo

If you are a great product manager, you know a secret that others ignore: managing relationships is essential to your job and overall business strategy component. As the “mini-CEO” of your product, sometimes it might seem like your main job! Teams from sales to engineering all have a stake in your product. And they often want to see updates presented “their way.”

Continue reading →

5 Ways to Follow Up After a Job Interview

By Lauren McGoodwin

Landed an interview at a company? Congrats! Dedicated time to research the role and prepare questions to ask your interviewer? Smart! Assuming they will let you know what happens next? Nope.

Following up after your meeting matters almost as much as the interview itself, and yet many people opt to do nothing for fear of making the wrong move.

But doing nothing is the wrong move because it increases your chances of being forgotten. With the right tactics, you will stay top of mind, and impress the hiring manager.

These five tips will help you follow up tactfully and effectively after your next interview:

Continue reading →