5 Ways to Get Into Tech — Oklahoma City Edition
As a tech entrepreneur, coding instructor, and stakeholder of the Oklahoma economic landscape, there’s no way around it: we need more developers.
The same could be said about entrepreneurs and technology leaders and innovators. In reality, we benefit from anyone interested in and working in tech.
The energy is here — there just needs folks with the keys to unlock it and do that hard work of building companies, investing in startups, engineering innovative solutions, and ushering in new waves of technology.
Thankfully, many of the leaders of our ecosystem are making this happen and I love to share about the work they are doing.
It’s because of this I wanted to share the resources you need if you are on a journey learning to code, starting a business, or transitioning into a more future-proof career.
NOTE: Now, of course in addition to what I say here, there are many other options: books, trade schools, university, online materials, and more. My intention is to highlight a few local and (mostly) in-person options.
1. OK Coders
There’s a lot to the discussion about job opportunities, talent attraction/retention, and economic development, but it’s clear to me (and many others in this community) that code education is of immense importance.
Code allows folks to literally redefine their trajectory, escape out of cycles of poverty, break glass ceilings put on them due to gender/class/race, and overall contribute to the evolution of their local economy.
The beauty of tech skills, however, is that you don’t need to love code in order to be a part of this wonderful industry.
Opportunities in product (product marketing, product design, product management, etc), customer success, etc. are very crucial and more of these types of positions are open here. And knowing how technology products/services are executed can help you build a business, if that’s more your speed.
So OK Coders has a web development course as well as a product management course that are well worth exploring. I recommend connecting with this program or — at the least — signing up for the newsletter to get news in the future.
You can apply to a bootcamp here or email them to help mentor, instruct, or be a guest speaker.
2. freeCodeCamp OK
freeCodeCamp is is a website dedicated to helping people learn through exclusively free, volunteer-driven content.
It’s great because all of the content is practical, like tutorials for learning a specific language/framework or conversations about how to approach your first technical interview.
In the past, Techlahoma has had user groups in Tulsa, OKC, and Norman, but as of last year the organizers have combined them into one state-wide user group.
If you are learning, hop on to the Techlahoma Slack channel called #ug-freecodecampok. And Speaking of…
3. Techlahoma Slack
If you are a technologist or technology student of any sort and you are not a part of the Techlahoma public Slack workspace, you are missing out on perhaps the greatest resource the state has to offer.
It is an organically curated community of technologists of all sorts, talking about the technologies they are passionate about using. They are there paying attention and at-the-ready to help out in whatever way they can.
If you are learning these technologies, hop on and peruse the #javascript, #devops, #php, #pythonista, #react, #golang, or #graphql channels, among many others.
If you’re interested in concepts outside of coding there’s also the #product_people, #project-management, #datascience, #consulting, and #ug-okc-design-tech channels.
The Slack is public and you can get the free invite here and check out user group meetups on the website to attend.
4. Oklahoma City Tech++ Events
One of the exciting new initiatives here in the City is Tech++.
Now, this is explicitly NOT a new organization or new group, but rather a coalition of folks from across the community, representative of a variety of companies, technologists, business people, and community leaders.
The whole goal is to see bridges built and cooperative energy infused amongst the various crews of people doing awesome work in Oklahoma City.
I can tell you first hand that this group of people are all stellar and extremely passionate about seeing this broader Tech & Entrepreneurship community being built here in OKC. They are giving a ton of effort to make this a reality.
Whether you are a coding student, experienced software architect, fledgling entrepreneur, or successful founder — we want you at this event.
This provides me an opportunity to advertise the first kickoff event — a mixer where we gather anyone with any level of interest to mingle and connect.
5. Companies and People
Whether through LinkedIn, Techlahoma, Tech++ events, creating a company and serving clients, or just a friend of a friend, the companies and people here in Oklahoma City are great and do want to help.
If you are serious about the industry and the work, there is no better way than to connect with folks doing that work. Ask for mentorship, propose an apprentice program, boldly ask to shadow someone doing what you want to do, offer free consulting services in exchange for the experience, take classes, find someone to coach you as you learn.
There’s a variety of ways to go about getting the experience you need, but it simply is outside of the box of traditional employment — but there’s your first step. People need teammates who think outside of the box and get uncomfortable. Think of it as your first step in the training.
“Always be throwing darts, even when you don’t think you need to” — advice I received from a friend about garnering opportunities for myself.
Throw stuff out there, find projects, ask for help. Trust me — eventually something will stick.
I am passionate about the growth of this technology community. Stay in touch as we make this happen.
