Michel Billard

Back in 2007, when I was about to complete my undergraduate degree in software engineering, I applied for a position at Google. They had just opened an office in Montreal and since I had excellent grades I thought I had a chance.

My friend Simon also applied at the same time and we both received emails informing us that we would be going through a few interviews, starting with the phone interview.

The phone interview

The interviewer kept asking me about network related stuff and heavy performance oriented problems. After the interview (which didn’t go well since I couldn’t answer most of the questions because they were all about things I don’t like doing), they informed me that I would not be doing more interviews because I was not a good fit for the position they were considering me for. I’m glad I didn’t go for that job, I would’ve hated it though I would have liked to be considered for a position where my skills were useful. I prefer working on the front-end part of applications, creating features and working on improving the usability. I asked them about other positions, but they wouldn’t reply to my emails (not because I was harassing them, just because my emails seemed to get lost in my contact’s inbox).

Letting go

In the end, I found a great opportunity at Oracle (what seemed like a great opportunity) and decided to focus on that instead. Since that didn’t work out I finally landed a great job at Hint Innovation.

I’m glad I failed that interview: at the time, Google seemed like the ultimate workplace, but I would have missed on something even better.

That’s the name given to a special program at the Polytechnique de Montréal. I haven’t been able to track down the exact meaning of the acronym because all the references to this program have been deleted. The best approximation I can get is “Apprentissage Assisté par Portable de Polytechnique” which roughly translates to “laptop assisted learning”.

I got into the program when I started Polytechnique because it just made sense. I was studying software engineering and having a laptop with me at all times would help me do my homework anywhere I want. However, Polytechnique didn’t handle the program too well so it fell apart after the first year. This was their second attempt at such a program. Lucky for me, this time the failure of the program did not affect us as much as it did for the students of the previous trial.

Impact

Having a laptop with us at all times meant we could see the notes the teacher put online for us and we could experience the code snippets the teachers were showing. However, we also had access to the Internet and all its distractions. A lot of people from the group couldn’t handle the distractions and more than a few failed and dropped while others had trouble getting passing grades. There is so much that can be done online that is way more entertaining than listening to a boring teacher. Only the best teachers had the luck of having our attention.

Errors

Most teachers didn’t adapt their class to make use of the laptop. Most of them just released their notes online and allowed the students to open the laptop in their class. Furthermore, the group was a merge of students from many fields: some were studying computer and software engineering while others were studying civil or industrial engineering. Usually, the classes are grouped by domain to encourage the students to participate in their student committee. The year of A2P2 was the worst year for participation, only 3 or 4 of us were ever active in the committee instead of the usual 10 to 15 (I’m not talking about having a position in the committee, I’m talking about going to the events and helping the committee organize the said events).

Program termination

Fortunately for us, unlike the guinea pigs from the previous program, we bought our own laptops so when the program got canceled we were stuck with whatever laptop we had decided to buy instead of the one chosen by the school. We could still bring them to class and use them instead of the computers in the computer laboratories which were always full of students near the end of the semester. It was very helpful to always have access to a computer from anywhere in the school.

Lesson

Having a laptop during class can be beneficial so long as the teacher and the students are aware of the impact it can have. If the teacher is just a note reading machine then the students won’t pay attention and will either waste time on the Internet or work on their school projects. So long as the student doesn’t waste too much time, having a laptop can help, especially near the end of the semesters.

I didn’t get where I am all by myself, I’ve had the help and support from many people and organizations. Some came from friends and family, some came from the various schools I went to and a lot came from the online communities and blogs that helped me find the answers to many programming issues and the inspiration to improve my skills.

Without them, I would not be doing what I do today, nobody would be doing what they are doing today without mentors. We all need a starting point and a way to learn more about something (in the form of a book, an Internet article or a person). Now that I am a qualified Web developer, I still need the help from my colleagues and from the online communities more than ever. I still read plenty of blogs and articles about Web and software development practices and I still don’t know everything about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C#, SQL, etc. (I’m working hard on that).

If I need them, I thought that maybe my help could be valuable. That’s why I try to do my part and participate in helping others learn and get better.

This is how I try giving back to the development community.

Blogging

The first way is via blogging. I’ve started this blog here mostly for logging the important events in my career, but I’ve also started writing in a more technical blog which I hope will help others become better developers. I’ve been reading various development blogs for a few years now and it has had a big impact on the way I think and develop. By blogging here and at Crossbrowser, I feel like I can reach and help many people at once.

Academos

Academos is a web site built to help young students (high school) learn more about the jobs they are interested in. They contact someone who does a job they consider for their future and ask questions about what qualities are important to do that kind of work, what formation is required, the work environment, etc. No one knows what work is really like more than the people doing the job, so us E-mentors can really help them choose the right career.

Development communities

I’ve always wanted to help others on development forums. However, until recently I never had a community that I felt I could really connect with. That place is called Stack Overflow (think experts-exchange, but free) and helps developers around the world find answers to their problems. Anyone can ask a question and anyone can post their solution and comment. There’s a reputation system encouraging people to answer which means a question rarely goes unanswered. There is still the problem of very specific questions that no one really knows the answer of, but so far all my issues have been resolved. I do my part there by contributing answers and comments on questions in my field of expertise.

Web education

Web development education has been lacking at University level (there was nothing about the Web where I graduated). During the Wine & Cheese of January hosted by the Polytechnique de Montréal, a great teacher I had mentioned the new class they had which is an introduction to Web development. He wanted to create three more classes about different Web development subjects but said that school needed to feel the need and support from companies.

Shortly after I came across two articles from A List Apart which were talking about Web education. The first article mentions a few groups trying to help build the curriculum and talks about the state of Web education at University level (it’s pretty much nonexistent at most universities). The second article talks about what we, Web development professionals, can do to help improve that.

So after talking with my colleagues and bosses, we decided to offer our help and support to the local university in building their curriculum or for anything else they might need us.

Giving back

It’s important for me to help others as I was helped now that I am in a better position to help. There are other ways to help, this is how I chose to do it and I’ll be on the lookout for other opportunities to give back. It feels good to help and if you have the tools to do it, you should.