Every Friday we get to visit a different tech company in Las Vegas. And every tech company I've seen has been completely different than the one before it. Not better, not worse. Just very different. And that has been one of the treats of this bootcamp.
I've worked in hospitality ever since coming to Las Vegas. On the strip most hotels are run by a small handful of companies, each with its own corporate culture. And each hotel within each company has its own subculture as well. But overall they are very similar in a lot of ways. If I worked at Wynn I could easily go work at MGM. Differences usually come down to the benefits (one place has better insurance, another pays better hourly wages...). But the work environment and the job expectations are basically the same.
But that hasn't really been the case for the tech companies I've seen. The work environments and expectations are so different. The only connecting threads have been that team members know how to code and team members know how to be flexible. Otherwise, everyone comes from a wide range of backgrounds and skill sets.
We were able to visit AFWerx today. AFWerx is a tech company that partners with the Air Force and works with other defense agencies to provide solutions to the military. So the people in the AFWerx office space are a mix of Silicon Valley tech enthusiasts, military life-timers and people somewhere in between. Our class was able to sit in on a livestream of a discussion involving cyber-security in the civilian world and in the military. It was extremely interesting and its starting to pique my interest in the field. One good thing about being so new to programming is that I could go in any direction at this point. These company visits are really helpful for helping make that decision.
Next week we begin learning about back-end technology. Databases and the like. I've always thought I'd be a good front-end developer. I have an eye for details. I like art and design. I just assumed that working in UX/UI would be the perfect fit for me. Even with our current projects, the only parts I truly enjoy are the ones that involve the look of the project. But I wonder if I'll be pleasantly surprised by working with SQL and Express and discover that maybe I really enjoy the back-end side of developing. Stranger things have happened. I'm sure I will know by the end of Monday.
