Breaking into Tech: From Medicine to Software Developer @ Google

Photo by CareerKarma

I am often asked about how and why I made a journey from medicine to tech. Well, last week I had the opportunity to share my experiences as a guest speaker for an event with Career Karma! During this hour-long discussion I answered questions from the host, Tondaylea, and audience members on the topic of Breaking Into Tech. You can listen to the full audio recording of this discussion here! There are also tons of other insightful recorded conversations and live events at
CareerKarma from other people in tech if you’re interested!

The audience for my event primarily consisted of people considering a career switch into tech. It was great to have the opportunity to speak with people who were in my shoes about 2 years ago. A lot of topics were covered over this hour-long conversation, such as what to expect at different stages a career switch, how I overcame some of the biggest hurdles along the way, how much this transition costs, what it’s like working for Google, how my background in STEM helped me to become a developer, etc. However, a recurring theme throughout this discussion was the importance of perseverance and continuing to learn with an open mind.

Like many others who were in my position, I experienced imposter syndrome at all steps of this transition. Whether that was picking up new coding languages and technologies at my bootcamp, interviewing for jobs, or even starting my current role, I had moments of not fitting in all along the way. However, as I continued to learn and grow, that sense of belonging came natural. Each new thing I learned made the next thing easier, and my confidence grew. I did mention in this talk that the first month of this career transition was by far the most stressful, because I was flooded with new material and a lot of uncertainty. I was lucky enough to have a support system of family and friends which held me to my commitment of not giving up.

I also discussed the different paths to a career in tech as a developer such as BS or masters degree in CS, bootcamp, and self taught. One big misconception about breaking into tech is that you need a degree. This simply isn’t true. While a degree may be helpful by offering a strong foundation and may certainly help you land a job, many companies don’t consider it necessary. What is more important is your willingness to invest time and effort into learning and growing in the industry. Self-taught, on the other hand, is very much without structure. This is actually the route I initially went down before enrolling in a bootcamp. I quickly became demoralized when I realized that I don’t have a clear path of what to learn and no one to keep me honest about learning it. So, I found the route of bootcamp a good middle ground between a degree and self teaching, as it offers just enough support and information to keep you productive and successful, but without the financial and time requirements of a degree. I will add that any developer that wants continued growth and success in this industry still needs to self teach themself continuously in order to stay ahead of new technologies, which is what I still do.

Later in this discussion I began talking about the bootcamp that I participated in, called “App Academy”, where I learned how to build full stack web applications. I discussed the details of this camp, including how intense the workload was. It was essentially a full-time job, with 40–80 hours of work each week. It was stressful at first, but it was a good way to become fully immersed in the material. The first couple of weeks of the bootcamp will determine whether you like it or not. If you find enjoyment in making algorithms work or building something, then it’s a sign that tech is the right industry for you. The seemingly endless material can become frustrating at times, but accomplishments like building an application or fixing an algorithm makes it worth it. I talked about the applications I built during App Academy and what that process was like. At first, the coding instructors offer a lot of guidance and assistance, and you build several projects in this helpful atmosphere. Towards the end of the 6 month program, however, I was building applications completely by myself and/or collaborating with a small group of developers at my skill level. This sense of ownership and accomplishment was truly rewarding!

Next, I talked about my life post-graduation: For two months I was extensively networking, preparing for interviews, polishing my current applications / building new ones, and applying to jobs. After ~ 150 applications, a couple dozen phone screens, and a handful of interviews, I finally received 2 job offers. Of course, landing a job was the whole point of the career switch, bootcamp, and months of preparation in the first place, so landing those jobs was one of the most exciting moments of my life.

In addition to this general process and journey, we also discussed some of the details of coding bootcamp. For instance, I explained the payment model that I opted for in App Academy: Income Sharing Agreement (ISA), which essentially means that I owe a percentage of my salary after I land my first job (provided that this first job meets a minimum salary of $50,000). This agreement continues until I either pay the entire value of the bootcamp, or the time limit runs out (2 years), whichever occurs first. I explained to the interviewer and the audience why I preferred this model, over paying up front: I saw it as a way to avoid being scammed. At the time of my enrollment I was skeptical of many coding bootcamps and their promises of landing people jobs in the tech industry. I mainly wanted to avoid any organization from taking my money and running and/or offering a sub-par education that would not serve as an adequate launch pad into a SWE role. I saw the ISA model as a good guarantee that App Academy is investing in my career and does not take any money until I actually land a job. I still hold this opinion, which is why I still generally recommend this payment model to people who are considering coding bootcamps.

In conclusion, it was a lot of fun talking with the folks over at Career Karma and I really enjoyed sharing my journey from science & medicine to software developer! although this path has been challenging, it’s also been incredibly rewarding. If you’re considering breaking into tech, my advice is to convince yourself that it’s possible. Anyone who has a job in the industry got there because they invested time and effort. Never stop learning and don’t give up!