Kathyleen Beveridge

Personal

  • Started in finance, did not feel like it was for her
  • Switched career to high-tech
  • Took a 6 month break, then worked at Qualcomm
  • Senior director of sales at Thermo Fisher Scientific

Insights

  • If interested in software engineer, look into HP, Qualcomm and Thermo Fisher Scientific:
    • HP Inc: Create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere
    • Qualcomm: Inverting the tech the world loves
      • Qualcomm is a world leader in serving science
    • Thermo Fisher Scientific: Enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer
  • High tech has a macro impact on people all over the globe
  • Before developing there are stage gates to go through… directors of engineering go to directors of sales to discuss voice of sales
    • Every division works together to make something happen

Kris Porter

Personal

  • Software engineer
    • SRE, DevOps, Infrastructure
  • Enrolled in UCLA for Electrical Engineering
  • Master’s Degree in EE at Cal State LA
  • Learned to code for a class, but failed the class
  • Research at Center for Embedded Networked Sensors
    • Network Infromechanical Systems
      • Robot that gave biological readings and worked with AI
    • Here, he learned the Linux system, an important skill
  • Intro to DevOps work at a start-up
  • DevOps at Qualcommm
  • Now working at Twitter
    • First High tech company

Insights

  • Keep experimenting with what you want to do
  • Something that you are not initially good at or enjoy may end up being the opposite
  • Contniuous learning is important, especially in high tech

Additional Insights

  • Agile methodology is used differently in every company
  • Business landscapes can change, so sprints are important to stay on track
  • Most important skill in technical field is continuous learning
    • Expect to learn new programming and infrastructures everywhere you go
  • Nothing is a waste if you learn from it in any way
  • Best people to work with listen, understand the reqirements, and can translate and explain how technology can solve these requirements
  • Biggest challenges in tech industry:
    • To be adaptable
    • Coding tests in interviews
  • Coding skills can be applied in critical thinking, and problem solving
  • The PROCESS of deriving result is most important

Reflection

I want to continue to pursue computer science, but I know that if it doesn’t end up being for me, it’s ok. The skills I learn doing computer science can be valuable in many other careers, as Kathyleen Beveridge mentioned, and is currently experiencing. Learning computer science is all about being adaptable and learning critical thinking, and this is the best type of employee in any sort of workplace, so I will work on these skills.