Local West Michigan Technology Groups#

  • West Michigan Linux Users Group

    • FREE
    • Primarily Linux and open source focused
    • Meets in Jenison at Georgetown Public Library
    • Register by emailing president@wmlug.org and ask to be added to the mailing list

  • Grand Rapids Python Users Group

    • FREE
    • Python focused group that meets downtown Grand Rapids
    • Meetings are usually a time to talk about projects and tools people like using. Sometimes they have scheduled presentations

  • Cloud Security Alliance

    • FREE for most events
    • They host a few events throughout the year, mostly at LMCU ballpark
    • People from all over the tech space come (executives, systems people like me, developers, students, etc.)
    • The average event consists of a vendor doing some sort of pitch/fireside chat, and then the rest of the time is for food and networking
    • Registration required, and some events fill up fast

  • GRWebDev - Grand Rapids Web Development Group on Meetup

    • FREE
    • Meets downtown GR

  • Software GR and Merge on Meetup

  • Citizen Labs on Meetup

    • FREE
    • They use their skills to build projects the GR community can use
    • Great way to give to your community and put something tangible on your resume

  • Meetup App

    • Download the Meetup app, lots of groups and events on it

Skill Building#

  • LinkedIn Learning - GRPL
    • Free access with Grand Rapids Public Library Card (Kent District Library also offers this service)
    • Tons of great training courses for a variety of technical topics

Resumes#

  • Sheets Resume Builder
    • One time fee for full version, or they have some free templates
    • Contact them and ask about student rates
  • CONTRIBUTE to open source projects on GitHub
    • Find some issues you think you can fix, fix them, submit a pull request. Put THAT on your resume :)
    • Some projects will have issues flagged for beginners. This is a great way to get started! The Immich project has some good first issues that can be found here
  • Make a website
    • Tools like Hugo and Pages CMS make it super easy to create, write, and host a FREE website entirely on GitHub
    • Get a domain name for super cheap at Porkbun and point it to your GitHub site (also free)
    • Add information about yourself, your current/past projects, link to your resume, etc.
    • If you link to your website on your resume, make sure it has content and is online.