318: Learn From Your Communities and Remember That Learning Is Fun with Michelle Barker

In this week's show, Phil talks to Michelle Barker, a Lead Front End Developer for Atomic Smash and the author of front-end blog CSS In Real Life. She likes to build fun, creative websites and side projects that are also performant and accessible. She has written articles and regularly speaks about front end development at web conferences and meetups, covering topics such as CSS Grid Layout and CSS Custom Properties. Michelle talks about the value of community and how it can energise your career development. She also discusses why learning should always be fun, and the value of taking time out to realign with what lights you up.   KEY TAKEAWAYS:   TOP CAREER TIP Find a community – online or offline – and allow the people there to help and guide you. This can greatly accelerate your personal development and growth.   WORST CAREER MOMENT When returning from maternity leave, Michelle an extra sense of pressure in terms of proving herself, along with being exhausted and overwhelmed by new parenthood. Since then, she has recognized the value of not adding pressure to oneself unnecessarily.   CAREER HIGHLIGHT Working on a project for The Grand Appeal, a Bristol children's charity, a cause close to Michelle's heart due to her own experiences with her son.   THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T The IT community itself and the many ways in which people are innovating and pushing the sector forward. Community is everything in IT, and finding the right one is a constant source of inspiration.   THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – The intersection between creativity and technical knowhow. What's the best career advice you received? – Write down your accomplishments. What's the worst career advice you received? – That we must always be coding, even in our spare time, and make work our life. What would you do if you started your career now? –Michelle would put less pressure upon herself. Your career is not a race. What are your current career objectives? – Michelle is spending far more time on writing, particularly on her blog, and now in partnership with other publications. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Working in customer services and in the events industry so as to get a better understanding of how to interact with others. How do you keep your own career energized? – Michelle enjoys creative coding as an outlet. What do you do away from technology? – Netflix and playing the drums. FINAL CAREER TIP Learning should always be fun. If you're struggling to get motivated, put down the tutorials and try to build something for fun!   BEST MOMENTS (4:00) – Michelle - "A good way to learn is to pick things up and just keep building little side projects. Follow the paths that interest you" (5:52) – Michelle - "I made so many connections just through taking the time to learn from others" (13:24) – Michelle – "You need to push past things, keep going, keep learning, and know that there aren't any shortcuts. It's not a race" (20:41) – Michelle – "Every time I make something come to life on the screen I feel that sense of accomplishment"   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_PhilBurgess LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – MICHELLE BARKER Michelle Barker is a Lead Front End Developer for Atomic Smash and the author of front-end blog CSS In Real Life. She likes to build fun, creative websites and side projects that are also performant and accessible. She has written articles and regularly speaks about front end development at web conferences and meetups, covering topics such as CSS Grid Layout and CSS Custom Properties.   CONTACT THE GUEST – MICHELLE BARKER Michelle Barker can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/MicheBarks LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-barker-02819230/ Website: https://michellebarker.co.uk/ Website: https://css-irl.info/