Non-Traditional Skills Validate Tech Careers, Mentorship Bridges Hiring Gaps

Key Quotes

"my last job before my career change was a middle school librarian and i had summers off and what so i was i had gone through a process called national board certification which is basically like an extra certification that teachers can do and it is very time consuming and it takes a lot of energy and i completed the process and suddenly had all this free time um that i didn't know how i was going to fill up so that summer um because teachers need summer jobs and it's just how it is i found a summer job um working with a an organization that many people have probably heard of girls who code and at that time um they had a long summer program it was like seven weeks and the um there were like tech companies would host classrooms so i was the like lead teacher in a classroom of girls who code hosted by a local tech company and so not only was i like teaching them you know basic coding and helping them to work on things but we were also going on field trips and talking to all sorts of people at this tech company about their jobs and their career paths and um it was just such a great program and i am not sure how many of the girls got convinced to go into software engineering but i got convinced to go into software engineering so that was kind of like the final point"

Tammy Metz explains that her transition into software engineering was catalyzed by a summer job teaching for "Girls Who Code." This experience exposed her to the tech industry and its professionals, ultimately convincing her to pursue a career in software engineering herself. Metz highlights that this was a deliberate choice, distinct from previous accidental forays into tech roles.

"so you know i was able to immediately like be able to write a good pull request and explain things in writing and in an organized fashion i was able to like run meetings and collaborate cross team with different people and all of that was just stuff i had been doing forever as a librarian so it wasn't anything special to me but i think maybe those types of skills aren't emphasized so much in like your standard computer science undergrad program and then i've always liked troubleshooting i just i can't stand not knowing why something is the way that it is or why something is broken so i really enjoy like figuring it out and i really enjoyed doing that as in tech support and that's really also helped me as a software engineer because even though i may not be the most like you know knowledgeable experienced like coder i fill in a lot of gaps with being able to figure out why something's broken or um just it's it's it's just very helpful to have other skills that i've been able to just slide into"

Tammy Metz emphasizes that her prior experience as a librarian provided her with valuable transferable soft skills, such as clear written communication, meeting facilitation, and cross-team collaboration. Metz notes that these skills, often overlooked in traditional computer science programs, were instrumental in her ramp-up as a software engineer. She also points out her innate enjoyment of troubleshooting as a key asset in her current role.

"i had a lot of trouble getting a foot in the door or finding that very first position were at i mean so now it's like not a good time to be job searching but back then there were jobs to be had and there were entry level jobs to be had but they were very geared toward like new grads like there was a pipeline you got your computer science degree you got recruited those were the positions for those people there were just starting to be some like apprenticeship programs so i was applying to those but i didn't get any of them and it was just very difficult to convince anybody that like somebody with no experience could do the job yeah and that that was my my hindrance so i'm really lucky that i was able to take the path that i took and at the time that i took it because i i got i started at github the week that covid basically shut everything down so it was a huge relief to know that like i had a job it was already remote you know everything was going to be fine"

Tammy Metz describes the significant challenges she faced in securing her first software engineering role, noting that entry-level positions were heavily biased towards recent computer science graduates. Metz explains that convincing employers of her potential without direct experience was a major hurdle. She expresses gratitude for starting at GitHub just as the COVID-19 pandemic began, as the remote nature of the job provided immediate security.

"it's a complete shock to students when they first realize that the thing that they're working towards right now and majoring in and think they're going to be doing when they get out of college is probably not going to be the thing that they're going to be doing in 20 years and that they can have twists and turns in the road and especially in the case of like you know people in technology they're probably going to be in a job that doesn't even exist now because i mean there are a lot of jobs that didn't exist when i was in college now that uh for like machine learning engineer you know so it's okay like they're not gonna no no choice they make is wrong they're not going to end up stuck somewhere that they can always pivot and that kind of like mind shift i think is helpful for them and it's something i see with a lot of students that i talk to"

Tammy Metz observes that many students are surprised to learn that their initial career path may not be their final one, especially in rapidly evolving fields like technology. Metz highlights that jobs that exist today, such as machine learning engineer, did not exist when she was in college. She emphasizes that this realization should be reassuring, as it indicates that career pivots are possible and that no single choice is irreversible.

"my message is to just like you know when you're working somewhere like github that you can that has a benefit where you can get money to donate based on how much you volunteered so like just track the hours that you're volunteering and be able to do that and just take advantage of that benefit but i truly believe that like a large number of people are already doing something that already fits into their life and that's kind of you know what you need to look for is something that fits into your life and that you enjoy and if you're not going to enjoy it don't do it don't do don't ever do something just because you feel like you're not contributing enough to the world whatever like the right fit is there for everybody"

Tammy Metz advocates for individuals to identify volunteer opportunities that naturally fit into their existing lives and bring them enjoyment. Metz suggests leveraging company benefits, such as donation matching for volunteer hours, as a practical way to contribute. She believes that many people are already engaged in volunteer activities without consciously labeling them as such and encourages finding something personally fulfilling rather than driven by obligation.

"i would advise to sift through all the advice from people and take the good and leave the bad there are just really out of touch people that give advice and it's just not helpful and even like advice that i could give now based on my experience from like pre covid it's just not relevant anymore like i don't really know you know what it's like