Do you ever take a break from
tech and then realize that most of what we do doesn't fucking matter or am I just dangerously close to burning out?
Carolyn Stransky
@carolstran
Carolyn Stranskyโs Tweets
wfh milestone: My neighbors are having sex so loud that someone heard it through my video call ๐
Iโm looking for my next role!
๐ป Frontend developer
๐ Remote or Berlin
๐ฑ A place to grow and learn
๐ Values that go beyond coding skills
About me:
๐ฉ๐ผโ๐ป 2+ years dev experience
โ๐ผ Former technical writer
๐ Pair programming, a11y, docs
โก๏ธ
Anyone else's GitHub account literally just a graveyard of good intentions? ๐โโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ
Does anyone else also read 3-4 different books at once and alternate between them depending on your attention span and mood?
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Published my first NPM package EVER ๐ฉโ๐ป๐๐ค๐
It's teeny tiny and not useful for anyone but my company but I DID IT and it feels oddly satisfying to `npm install` your own package.
Lmao at the amount of men in my DMs since GraphQL Summit telling me how much better Iโd look without tattoos ๐
not really the point of the panel my dudes
Does anyone else in software hate the "move fast and break things" concept or is that literally just me?
Signed, sealed, delivered - your girl is no longer a junior dev! (on paper at least)
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Not normally one to jump on coding discourse, but itโs wild how many replies think choosing โambiguous sectionsโ over semantic HTML is a vibe or personality trait and not justโฆ bad web development ๐ฅด
Holy shit my hackathon team won first place????? People want to see fingering elevated???? I'm losing it
Signed a contract today for a job that starts in December and honestly Iโm so relieved.
Thanks to everyone who reached out, passed along my CV, etc. I appreciate it โค๏ธ
Iโll probably blog about my job hunt but for now, Iโm unpinning my original tweet and taking a day off ๐๐๐ฅ
After 80 (6) years of living in Berlin, I finally did one of those street photobooths and it turned out pretty well I think ๐
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Just realizing that this is my first pride month with a giiiiirlfriend ๐ฅฐ
Alright I can officially confirm that starting your second engineering job is way more scary than your first (sorry junior devs)
Letโs see how this goes!
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Wild Friday night making a browser extension that replaces all of your web images with brussels sprouts ๐ซ
๐ป github.com/carolstran/see
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I always lose a bunch of followers when I do threads on something sex-specific and I just imagine all of the javascript dudes who follow me after a react conf or whatever and then feel scandalized ๐
One surprising part of this salary convo is that people have stock options/equity that actually makes them money?!
Iโve been working in startups too long because when I see โ500 sharesโ it might as well say 500 dreams or 500 nice thoughts ๐
Iโm going to get hundreds of these stickers and wear them to every tech event so dudes stop assuming Iโm โnot technicalโ
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Starting today, Iโm officially full-time remote โจ๐ฉโ๐ป๐๐
Can I put โdigital nomad child of the worldโ as the title of my CV yet?
Todayโs my birthday ๐ฐ
Being 27 largely sucked for various reasons so thatโs why today Iโm shamelessly asking for compliments to start my 28th year thank yooou โค๏ธ
(Almost one month later) I published a summary of my learnings from a #Hacktoberfest dedicated to removing words like 'simple' and 'easy' from docs - including a step-by-step guide for how you can do it too! ๐โ๏ธโจ
via @MeeshkanML
Every time I use my airpods I think of this building and now you do too
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The biggest lie I was told when I first started coding was that I needed a personal website/portfolio to get a job.
So I really like that added this disclaimer to her talk about building portfolios with Gatsby ๐ #GraphQLDay
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๐ Who of you out there is on dev.to? I'm trying to get more into it and need some nice folks to follow ๐
Iโve gained like 70 followers after tweeting about my neighbors having sex and I honestly donโt know what any of you expect from me
This article is pretty accurate to my experience with and knowledge of engineering salaries in Berlin as well.
๐ TLDR ๐
Junior: 40 to 50k Euro
Mid: 50 to 70k Euro
Senior: 70 to 85k Euro
Managers: 85 to 110k Euro
...with about a 5k buffer more or less.
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Some Berlin software engineer salary info medium.com/@DroidAlexandr
For this yearโs #Hacktoberfest, I want to focus on eliminating isolating words like โsimpleโ and โeasyโ and any variation from open source docs.
If you run into any instances, please send them my way! ๐๐ปโ๏ธ
Making my first ever YouTube video pls send prayers
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Frontend devs: What are some tools/technologies/buzzwords that people describe as โsimpleโ or โeasy to pick upโ but you just... donโt get?
My DMs are also open if you want to privately tell me the things you pretend to know ๐
Having one of those days where being a woman in tech is really fucking difficult. I'd love to hear some inspiring stories of women succeeding or see some cute animal photos pls & thank you ๐
aaaand now Iโll never look at martinis the same way
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So I work remote and I just met a couple of my colleagues for the first time and I was so nervous????
It was like a sort of weird professional first date? Except where I was two glasses of wine ahead? Yikes ๐
First time at the new Berlin airport and holy shit this is like... a real ass airport with actual seating at the gates I wasnโt ready
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My permanent residence card arrived aka Germany is never getting rid of me ๐ฉ๐ชโจ๐
Iโm currently playing a game about the Berlin airport that was supposed to open in 2011 but never did. The goal is โto spend as much tax payer money as possibleโ ๐ #flughafenspiel
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Any other women in tech out there feel this intense pressure to be THE MOST TECHNICAL and dedicate your work to being an expert, etc - even though coding 100% of the time sounds boring and you feel like you could make a more meaningful impact doing things beyond producing code???
It bothers me how people talk about being a junior developer like itโs something to be ashamed of.
Being a junior has its challenges, but it also encourages growth and needs more representation. Juniors have a perspective that deserves to be heard, stop telling us to โhideโ it.
In honor of #Hacktoberfest 2020, I pinned my tutorial about how to remove condescending language from open source documentation on my DEV profile!
Definitely recommend it as a high impact, low commitment way to get involved.
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Itโs wild to be back at a JavaScript conference because Iโm soโฆ out of the loop.
Wtf is remix? Is Svelte still a thing? Why are these perfectly reasonable looking components code crimes? Where is everyone even working now? Iโm like 3 jobs behind.
I FINALLY MADE A SURVEY ABOUT CRYING AT WORK ๐
๐ PLEASE TAKE IT ๐
carolynstransky.typeform.com/to/wB5kpv
Designed for:
- People who have cried at work
- Managers and colleagues of work criers
All questions are optional and answers are anonymous unless you give me your info at the end.
Normalize having platonic sleepovers with friends who live in the same city ๐ฅฐ
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I find it funny how many people think my years in tech before becoming a developer โdonโt countโ ๐
What they fail to realize is that Iโve found success as a dev *because of* those other years of experience. Learning to code is only part of the job.
Feeling cozy and on-theme for tonight #WomenOfReact2020
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Only one person at this conf noticed my nails so now turning to twitter for validation hello โจ๐
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Cut off all of my hair yesterday and lowkey regret it but hereโs a (rare front-facing) selfie anyway ๐
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Happy Berlin pride weekend from your favorite sapphic tech couples ๐ณ๏ธโ๐๐๐ฅ๐ทโจ
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Confession of a remote worker: I actually miss commuting?
Took the train for the first time in forever today and I was able to listen to a podcast, meditate, watch whatโs going on outside and collect myself a bit before my meeting. Felt good ๐คทโโ๏ธ
Two different people referred me as an โevents managerโ today at my own JavaScript meetup so I just want to set the record straight that I am - in fact and against all odds - a software developer ๐ฒ๐
โจ๐ขโจ
Iโm now an open source engineer at @MeeshkanML - a smol, Finnish machine learning company.
To start, Iโll be maintaining, building features and writing docs for their Unmock repos - orrr whatever else comes up because there are only 4 of us ๐
๐ github.com/unmock
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Having your partner as your phone background - cute or cringe? ๐
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For the first time in my tech conference history, no one has assumed Iโm not technical and instead, 3 people have mistaken me for senior.
Should I move to Finland????
Smol win but I passed the probation period at my day job (in Germany itโs typically 6 months) and now is stuck with me ๐ฅณ
Year one as a developer: DONE โ
๐ฅ๐
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A big (and donut-worthy) day! Iโve joined the @Blacklane team as a frontend developer 

If anyone has tips for surviving your first engineering role, please send them my way 
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In a mood to brag about how cute my relationship is ๐โจ
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If you think communicating technical topics is just as important as writing code, start paying technical writers as much as you pay developers ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข
I've received so much love and support since my talk, I'm actually a bit overwhelmed (in the best way) , you're a wonderful crowd ๐ฅฐ๐๏ธ๐ฅ๐ป
Not sure if these are useful, but here's a link to the slides just in case!
#reactindia #reactindia2019
My first keynote y'all ๐๐๏ธ๐
Is this finally my opportunity to talk about crying at work on stage??!
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โThe way you do anything is the way you do everythingโ @carolstran โ upfront we asked your #jskongress keynote speaker some questions, read on buff.ly/2luvHpw
Please admire my latest body art (and first cover up - before on right, after on left)
๐๐น by Bobby Anders at Sticks & Stones Tattoo in Berlin
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Fun weekend news: Iโve procured the finger extender
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Happy pride from me, my gf and my new fav shirt ๐๐๐
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Deleted my salary tweet because I donโt want to forget and have it used against me later in future negotiations (sad reality we live in) - but donโt mind sharing my ๐ซโณ๐ท๐๐ธ via DM.
Iโll also drop this here re: Berlin engineering salaries โฌ๏ธ
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This article is pretty accurate to my experience with and knowledge of engineering salaries in Berlin as well.
TLDR
Junior: 40 to 50k Euro
Mid: 50 to 70k Euro
Senior: 70 to 85k Euro
Managers: 85 to 110k Euro
...with about a 5k buffer more or less. twitter.com/ambrwlsn90/staโฆ
Eeeekkkk Iโll be giving a smol talk at the Women of React online conference about one of my all-time favorite topics: Self-care ๐ฑ๐๐ปโก๐โโ๏ธ
See you Saturday? womenofreact.com
Apparently posting a selfie with your setup is a thing this year? So hereโs mine, with all the essentials: ๐โ๏ธ๐น๐ฅ๐ฅค๐๐ป๐ฆ๐ (in that order)
Excited to be your MC the next two days #writethedocs ๐
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Itโs my one-year anniversary of working fully remote ๐ฉโ๐ป๐
If you have any questions about remote life beyond corona times, AMA.
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Have I mentioned that I went out the other night? Like out out?? Ate at a restaurant? And drank at a bar? Basically had a โnormalโ night???
It was wild hereโs proof
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Itโs my one year anniversary of getting fired in the middle of a global pandemic ๐
But while that absolutely sucked shit, it turned out to be a net positive! I participated in Google Season of Docs, my day job finally fits my lifestyle, Iโm writing regularly again. Iโm happy ๐ฅฐ
If your technical challenge (during an interview process) requires Redux, youโre asking for too much.
Why doesnโt Berlin have theme parties? Berlin should have more theme parties ๐บ๐ผโจ
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Mondays can be rough, that's why you should treat yourself & read through my list of Twitter bots devoted to self-care.
Follow one (or two or five), you won't regret it ๐ค๐ฑ๐ธโจ
Replying to
Also... Iโll never understand what these trolls expect to happen when they send messages like this??
Like Iโm over 1/3 of the way through a sleeve but now that YOU random man on twitter told me you donโt like it, Iโll spend thousands to get them removed??? Wut
I'm officially one month into my job hunt and the most informative question I ask BY FAR is:
"How would you describe the culture here? What type of people tend to really thrive and what type donโt do as well?"
More good ones: thecut.com/article/questi
Looking at your CV and realizing over half of the companies no longer exist is such a weird, wild, grim part of working for startups ๐ฅด
TIL that you can write "say" in the terminal and then it reads whatever you type after OUT LOUD.
Machines are wild y'all ๐ค
Learned this morning that my bf has been putting the thermometer that I always put in my mouth IN HIS ARMPIT.
Truly horrifying quarantine discovery ๐
Cute or cursed: Wearing the same outfit to present at a conf that my girlfriend wore when she presented at the same conf three years ago
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For anyone hesitant about posting their salary or wanted to post and delete later, beware that this exists ๐ฌ
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Developer Salaries: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d
Bought myself flowers because I deserve it ๐โโ๏ธ
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Is it bad that Iโm always genuinely shocked when people say they use safari as their main browser?
Big fun slightly scary exciting update: I'm stepping in as the new acting editor of โจ
๐ Pitch me: editor [at] futureofsex [dot] net
Todayโs my birthday ๐
So here are some of my favorite, unpublished toilet selfies from the past month that you all must enthusiastically enjoy!
Then later Karneval photos ๐
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I got COVID and missed the actual dates, so girlfriend and I decided to do a little delayed christmas/nye fusion this weekend ๐ฅฐ
Feeling especially grateful because arguably the best thing to happen to me in 2021 was her.
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For the record the GraphQL Summit team is so lovely and strongly enforces the Code of Conduct so nothing but praise from me on that ๐ฅฐ
This happens any time I give a talk with my tattoos visible and itโs annoying so this time I complained about it out loud here ๐
Have I ranted on this website about how much I hate the term โsoftโ as a descriptor for any skill or content topic that isnโt just writing code? Because I do
A funny thing about openly tweeting about sex and sex tech is that people tend to assume that you have zero issues or sexual trauma.
Spoiler alert: I have plenty! I have a very complicated relationship with sex! Thatโs actually why Iโm interested in these topics.
๐โโ๏ธ Anyone else always work on two tasks at the same time - one thatโs hard and one that you know you can do so you can use it to feel good about yourself when the hard one is too hard?
First conference weโve attended together as the nerdy little software queers we are ๐
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First thing: My permanent residency was approved today ๐ฉ๐ชโจ
After 7 years in Germany, a career change, 5 different visas (each with their own weird wild issues) and an uncertain summer leading up to it - this is honestly such a relief.
Feeling exhausted but also very proud ๐ฅฒ
๐นโผ๏ธโจ ALRIGHT FRIENDS โจโผ๏ธ๐น
Here's the intro video to my new series: wtfuzz.
These will be 5-min videos about testing fundamentals, fuzz testing, using & everything else I don't know yet.
Videos are new for me so let's see how this goes ๐ฌ
youtube.com/watch?v=JC2mbv
We have a tendency to only share good news here so I want to be open about something different.
As some of you know, I applied for a Mozilla Fellowship focused on machine learning, journalism and ethics. I made it far in the process but...
I didnโt get it.
Working for an early-stage startup is always hard, but Iโm finding it especially difficult the last few weeks. Everything is still go go go and meanwhile, Iโm barely able to get out bed some days ๐
If anyone else feels like theyโre struggling, youโre definitely not alone.
Itโs 4 AM in Berlin and I just got home - not from clubbing or karaoke, but from playing video games at a friends place ๐ฎ๐ฅ
Next step is to find someone to play D&D with ๐
Wrote my first unit test today! ๐๐ผ๐ฅ๐๐ต๐ปโโ๏ธ๐พ๐ฅ๐ Small victory, but Iโm excited about it ๐
#codenewbie
So uhhhhh if you go to the Google Season of Docs accepted projects page, you'll see a familiar name! I'm going to be building a new FAQ page for
!!!!!!!!!!!!
developers.google.com/season-of-docs




