Bootcamp grads, self-taught techies, a pianist, comic book artist, and everything in between. Celebrating the wins, revealing the struggles, and sharing the learnings on how they landed their first roles in software engineering, design, & product management.
I have an Earth Science background, and getting into tech was NOT easy.
I knew no one in the industry. I ended up sending over 500+ applications, writing a cover letter for each. That got me four interviews total. I didn't even know what the word "agile" or "server" meant. 😅
Ultimately though, through sheer will and luck, I ended up making my way into Product Management at Zynga, and then went to Microsoft and Github.
That was my path into tech. Luckily, I was a student, and at the very least I had the bandwidth to send all in all those apps I never heard back from.
Unfortunately, that's not the case for many other talented technologists out there today.
While there's no shortage of articles on “how to break into tech”, there are hardly enough stories - raw, personal stories - of one’s career journey, especially when coming from these more “non-traditional” backgrounds.
Sometimes it's those stories that we need though, that remind us to persevere despite the common-but-unspoken hardships and the personal self-doubt. The tales that don't just highlight the wins, but also showcase the struggles behind the success.
There is so much value in the different experiences and perspectives that each of us have. Bringing diversity of thought into the tech industry - that's how we'll solve problems with a truly global audience in mind.
In addition to these ones, there's countless more stories and valid paths into tech untold! We call on you to share yours - who knows who you'll inspire? 💛
I'm a big fan of increasing accessiblity to tech, so I think it's wonderful that you're making these stories more widely available. Afterall, it was a story that originally got me into tech!
Your website also looks great! How did you make it?
@itsdjklee Wow! Was it someone else's story that you read previously as well?
Thanks for the compliment. Shout-out to our developer Pravin for coding it up #lowcode style!
@herenhuang Actually, it was a novel called Microserfs. It's about a character named Daniel who forms a startup and sometimes visits the University of Waterloo. It was reassuring for me to visualize my career path in tech :p
Great work Pravin!!
@andreterron We hope this serves as an answer for the first few steps anyone needs to get into tech!
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Congrats on the launch! I know on my team at work we've got folks with backgrounds in music, psychology, and philosophy - just to name a few. Each of their journeys is inspiring and their diversity of thought is critical to drive the innovation & growth of our products and our culture. Empowering more people and making tech more accessible is absolutely a worthy venture. Can't wait to check it out!
@ali_vira In alignment with everything you've said, and now it's just about increasing the amount of companies and teams that also believe in that statement. Thanks again for the support Ali! Hope you enjoy the booklets too - we worked hard on them!
@ali_vira maybe we should interview your entire team. We are happy to do a panel haha.
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Congrats on the launch and for sharing the stories of peoples' paths into tech. While "How To" books are important, learning about the journey of those with non-traditional career paths into tech provides much more value and insight. Not only that, it provides hope and inspiration for others who are looking to follow in their footsteps.
@karen_swyszcz 100% this. It's like the chicken soup for the soul book series! Have useful takeaways... but include the realistic stories of how those takeaways were even taken away. 🥰
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