I want to know… how did you find your job in tech? What avenues did you take to get here? Was it difficult being black?

amazonrepresents.com event this Aug 24&25th tailored to invite Black and other diverse talent interested in Tech

Man this hit home. I’ve been applying with referrals and absolutely no luck. Have a solid background with 5 YOE in consulting

I got in quickly but in non-tech or “tech-ish” roles at Boutique companies. I found that using a more “info graphic” style resume increased my call backs by a ton. Since switching formats, I would say every company I’ve applied to (5 in the last few years) has interviewed me and I got offers for all but 1. Made it to finalist against an internal for that 1. Very impressed i made it that far given i had zero experience in the role, but some in the industry it was targeting.

Following. I am having a hard time after setting a goal to be there. There’s no many of us there to look out for each other

My situation is mostly luck, good positioning, and networking. Mech.E undergrad spent 5 or so years doing crap work in my opinion. 3 years in IoT sales and started a part time MBA. Ended up joining an association for black mbas and attended a conference. Had a few recruiters encourage me to apply to a sales internship and got fast tracked through the app. Just finished my internship and looking pretty solid for me to get a full time offer (got greenlighted for a co-op to kill time until FT offers roll out). I got lucky with the internship because it actually paid better than my previous role and I also saved a lot of money on the side just in case things didn't work out. My personal advice would be to figure out what roles you want then research and network to build out your skill gap list. For those that haven't converted in interviews, use that experience in your networking calls with those in the same or similar roles to figure out how you can fine tune your approach to land the job. It took me several years to break into tech and as I mentioned, my situation was maybe more luck in some ways but that's my advice.

Same

I got an internship while I was still in college and was hired on by that company after the internship was over. I'm happy where I am. But honestly, I've been scared to try changing companies.

My first (and second) tech positions I found by going to job fairs/networking events. I went in with a solid resume and having researched the companies in attendance. A lot of the events now will be virtual, so the prep will be a little different but can still be worthwhile.

This was a long time ago … but I leveraged an unpaid internship at a reputable company and instead of waiting on them to “maybe” offer me a full time position I started interviewing at other places with them on my resume. I burned a bridge by leaving early but it jump started my career.

I actually started with a BS in Accounting but didn’t like it. Not knowing what to do and only 17 I ended up joining the Army. It taught me discipline and structure. After 4 years in the Army I got a MS in Computer Science and went to work for an oil company left and went to PwC. I struggled because most of the good projects were not going to people like me. I decided to take matters into my own hands and got PMP certified made the client choose me to run the SAP project vs the other person. When PwC Consulting got bought by IBM I decided that I was going to do things my way. Be the best at solving client problems and being known for something rather than rely on the help of my White managers. I got lucky and found Partners who really wanted me and started using my value to my clients to get roles and promotions. I am a strong believer that you must drive things but leverage those that see the value you bring and if not you there are other opportunities you will take somewhere else. I am open and willing to mentor and refer anyone that is willing to be know. For something and will add positive value.

It really comes down to your network and getting your folks who know folks to help you. It’s fiercely competitive. It took me a minUte to get into tech and I took on roles that had digital components to get me the experience.. but no path works for everyone.

Campus recruiting - hired Learn programming concepts (SQL, Python, Data Analysis, Databases, etc) through projects, sponsored trainings, and mentors Left consulting after 4 years and landed with an in-house data analytics org with a Fortune 10 brand doing testing, stakeholder management, strategy, and managing a few software development cycles/developers