This is my Professional Development Pre-Work

JacobOgren-PD-prework.md

What is your greatest strength and how do you know?

My top strength, according to Pairin, was Professsionalism, which comprised the following 5 key skills: Initiative, Leadership, Grit, Productivity, and Accountability. Of these 5 skills, Grit really stuck out to me as a strength that I embody at my place of work, when playing a sport, and in my personal life. Grit ties into my value for positivity, can-do atitude, and achiever mentality. Throughout my time in Latin America, for over 2 years I encountered adversity in a variety of forms, including language, culture, and prejudice. I'm currently battling adversity with a recent surgery to my meniscus. Whatever obstacle it is that I'm faced with, I am able to show grit and determination, find positivity, and make the best of any situation.

How do you work best?

When I work I like to make the most of my time by being as productive as possible. Throughout my educational career, I've found that I'm most productive when studying in ~3 hour spurts with short breaks in between - when I'm confronted with a brain block, I move locations from my house to a coffee shop or visa versa. I find it easy to put my head down and work alone, but I also enjoy working in small group collaboration. In past projects, I have demonstrated an ability to lead but also follow. I can both play a central organizational role in the project or more of a utility player - whatever the case, I have an ability to bring people together and promote collaboration.

What is your greatest area of improvement?

I would like to see myself grow as an inspirational and influencial leader throughout my time at Turing. While I work very efficiently alone and in a team environment, I see that future success can depend on being able to lead and influence larger groups. A few things that I would like to focus on going forward are stepping outside of my comfort zone, public speaking, and project management. This month I've tasked myself with improving my speaking fluidity by creating personal videos explaining simple concepts, ideas, or processes. Thus far, I've found this to be very helpful. An additional area that I'd like to grow in is my entrepreneurial skills. Maybe this is as simple as allocating 15 minutes per day to brainstorming ideas - I hope to ultimately use software programming to develop products which solve problems in our society.

How do you hope to maximize your strengths for your new career in software development?

I hope to use my initiative, grit, and productivity to quickly pick up concepts and develop a real knack for programming in various languages. I truly believe I bring a unique set of skills which will allow me to collabroate well in teams and build lasting relationships in the industry. I hope to join a visionary and strategic organization that positively impacts people (customer/clients/team members) and the world! According to the StrengthFinder Assessment, my number 1 strength is Learner. I'm excited to start this lifetime of learning and hope to maintain the same level of interest in learning new languages as my career goes on.

How might knowing about your strengths and working preferences benefit you as a software developer?

I believe that knowing and understanding your own strengths is incredibly valuable in any work environment, and especially as a software developer. This knowledge allows one to pursue paths which best align with their skills. When you pursue what you're good at, you'll have more success and also be happier - work is typically more fun when it comes naturally. It's easy to go about your career acting somewhat impulsively, but it's incredibly important to have answers for these questions, reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, and work preferences, so you're able to take steps in the direction of happiness and success.