Utility of Quantitative & Technical Skills with a Liberal Arts Education
Class to Careers Conference, American University, January 10, 2016
Hello!
About Me
- Independent web developer and digital strategist
- Public speaker
- Community Representative, WordPress Training Team
- Co-Organizer, WordPress DC Meetup
- Co-Organizer, WordCamp DC
- Co-Organizer, DCFemTech Inspire
- Co-Organizer, DCFemTech Hack for Good
My Time At AU
Freshman Year
- Intended Women's & Gender Studies and Psychology double major
- Switched to Psychology and Fine Arts (Painting) major in second semester
- Joined and became President of Active Minds Chapter
- Summer job: receptionist at dental office
Sophomore Year
- Switched back to Women's & Gender Studies and Psychology dual degree in second semester
- Became an AU Ambassadors tour guide
- Joined Alpha Phi Omega community service fraternity
- Summer job: tour guide at AU
Junior Year
- Served as Day & Overnight Hosts Chair for AU Ambassadors
- Served as a teaching and research assistant in the Psychology Department
- Volunteered with the Barker Foundation
- Stopped working with Active Minds chapter at year's end
- Summer job: tour guide at AU
Senior Year
- Served as Coordinator for AU Ambassadors program
- Wrote thesis on the impact of health and beauty norms in the wedding industrial complex
- Graduated with B.A. in Psychology and B.A. in Women's & Gender Studies
After Graduation
- 2008 - 2010: Executive Assistant & Online News Editor, Feminist Majority Foundation
- 2010 - 2012: Online Communications Manager, Feminist Majority Foundation
- 2012 - 2013: Web Developer, Feminist Majority Foundation
- 2013 - 2015: Front End Developer, APCO Worldwide
- 2015 - 2016: Senior Web Developer, CHIEF
- 2016 - present: Independent Developer & Digital Strategist
My Learning Curve
- Accessibility
- Ajax
- API Integration
- Code Inspectors
- Command Line Tools
- CSS
- CSS Preprocessors
- Data Migration
- DNS Management
- Font Management
- FTP
- Git
- Google Analytics
- htaccess
- HTML
- Illustrator
- Image optimization
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- Local servers
- Photoshop
- PHP
- SEO
- Security
- Server Management
- Sketch
- SSH
- SQL
- Task Runners
- Text editors
- Webmaster Tools
- WordPress
- XML Sitemaps
Quantitative Skills
"Quantitative skills (QS) involve the ability to handle data and use numerical evidence systematically. QS can include anything from the ability to design surveys or experiments to assess and use quantitative evidence from surveys, digital media, archives and open data."
Stand Out and Be Counted: Quantitative Skills, by British Academy
Examples: Quantitative Skills at Work
collecting and interpreting data from email, social media, and digital advertising campaigns
Examples: Quantitative Skills at Work
interpreting polling to allocate resources for political campaigns
Examples: Quantitative Skills at Work
surveying hundreds of schools to analyze the state of women's studies programs in the U.S.
Examples: Quantitative Skills at Work
collecting and interpreting data on website traffic and user's interactions with websites
Examples: Quantitative Skills at Work
managing budgets and forecasting the implications of financial decisions
Technical Skills
"Technical skills are abilities and knowledge needed to perform specific tasks. They are practical, and often relate to mechanical, IT, mathematical, or scientific tasks. Some examples include knowledge of programming languages, mechanical equipment, or tools."
Technical Skills List, by Alison Doyle
Examples: Technical Skills at Work
editing a document so that it is formatted properly
Examples: Technical Skills at Work
knowing how to use the admin panel of a website to update content
Examples: Technical Skills at Work
building websites, adding on new features when necessary and fixing errors when they happen
Examples: Technical Skills at Work
using customer relationship software to manage member and donor records
Examples: Technical Skills at Work
interfacing with vendors who manage mail servers, internal office networks, and other technical pieces of a business
Quantitative and technical skills are often "hard" skills.
"Soft" skills make people successful, regardless of "hard" skills.
Vital Soft Skills
- Critical thinking
- Writing
- Editing
- Listening
- Public speaking
- Collaborating with other people
Advice on Skill Acquisition
Absorb all you can from every position, even the unexpected/unrelated skills.
Advice on Skill Acquisition
If you have the opportunity to learn a skill, embrace it even if it is hard/scary.
Advice on Skill Acquisition
Identify the skills you need and then seek out opportunities to acquire them.
Advice on Skill Acquisition
People will frequently tell you what you're good at.
Learning Resources
Books
- The Missing Manual series
- The A Book Apart Books
- CSS and HTML Web Design, by Craig Grannell
Blogs and Such
Online Courses
DC-Specific Things
- Lots of things through Meetup
- Technical.ly DC
- Follow #dctech on Twitter
- Resources at AU!