By Barbara Capella Loehr

 

 

Today technology touches everything we do as a society, increasing job prospects in this ever-evolving and growing sector.

 

 

Decades ago only a mere visionary few could’ve imagined how far-reaching technology is now. In the past two decades alone, the rate tech has evolved and seeped into our daily lives has been astonishing. Tech keeps growing and changing, becoming more indispensable every day.

This has opened up a wealth of opportunities in the computer science and IT field. The five women profiled here have seized their opportunities in this sector. They share how they did it, and why they think others should follow in their footsteps.

 

 

Barrientos Puts the Customer First at Microsoft

Curiosity about how things worked and what made them tick is what drew Janet Barrientos to the computer science/IT field and what ultimately led her to earn her degree in computer science from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

“[From] a very young age, I’d always been curious about the inner workings of technology and why things worked the way they worked. I wanted to learn how things were made to improve on them,” recalls Barrientos, a software engineer who’s been working for Redmond, WA-based Microsoft for the past two years.

“I first discovered computer science in middle school through a program called MESA (Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement); I started learning really basic HTML. That very simple language interested me enough to want to pursue AP Computer Science classes in high school. After high school I decided to major in computer science in college where I worked as a tutor for the department of computer science,” she remembers.

Barrientos now works in data analytics, where she implements code that generates telemetry and analyzes how the system is doing “in the wild,” as she describes it. “I started in this field after I started working at Microsoft full-time, when the SDET role switched from testing to data analytics,” she explains about her current role.

She feels in her current job or in any computer science-related job, the most important skill is problem-solving: “[It’s] the ability to take a big problem and logically break it down into pieces and reason through it. Any task, as complicated as it may seem, can be broken down to a simpler set of instructions, which are [easier] to digest and solve.”

Barrientos’ favorite part of her job is “finding a bug, reading into the logs and tracing down the problem [and pinpointing] a single line of code where the problem lies. Being able to understand problems, and their code path[s], really helps developers resolve the bugs they’re encountering, and if I provide good logs, then problems can be solved faster and easier.”

Computer science and IT is constantly evolving, and the most profound change Barrientos has seen so far is the move to a more data-driven environment. She’s adapted by learning to switch to a mindset where the customers and their experience are top priority.

“Microsoft and other companies are truly reaching out to their customers to understand what they don't like about their products and how they can make them better,” she says. “The user is always first in every part of the conversation; it’s a really exciting time to be tech.”

Barrientos believes because tech is revolutionizing everything we touch, it’s a field with enormous opportunity: “Products built by people of diverse backgrounds are likely to meet the needs of a greater majority of people than those built by only one group of people. We all need to pitch in a little bit to this world of tech to shape it into the world we want to see.”

She advises: “Anything that’s worthwhile will take work and dedication, and trust me a career in tech is worth it. If you already know you want to be an innovator, [then] nothing else will ever satisfy that thirst; keep at it and you will get far.”

Find Microsoft career opportunities at careers.microsoft.com. Connect with the company on Facebook and LinkedIn.

 

Cisco’s Flores Feels Collaboration is Key

After flipping through a college course catalog, Jess Cornejo Flores, software engineer, infrastructure customer solutions for San Jose, CA-based Cisco Systems, Inc., found the one thing that stood out to her: “problem-solving.” It was part of a description for a general engineering course. The more research she did about it, the more she was drawn to it.

“Growing up, my dad taught us how to fix or repurpose things, teaching me to look at the world not only as it is, but also beyond to what it could be. The engineering course promised to teach me how things work so I could build new things myself, and I was sold,” explains the Ecuadorian Londoner who’s currently living in the San Francisco (CA) Bay Area with her husband.

Her family moved from Ecuador to London when she was five to seek a better life for her and her older brother. She studied electronic and electrical engineering at University College London, but her studies sparked a fascination with how all of the components in tech came together.

“[While at university], I was recruited by Cisco into their International Intern Program. After an amazing year-long internship at their headquarters in San Jose, I was hired full-time,” she says.

Flores currently works as a front-end developer, but when she interned at Cisco, she was offered a network engineer position. “I didn’t really know what to expect because I didn’t take any networking classes, but I was up for the challenge. I learned from my peers and studied to obtain my CCNA. Once I got comfortable with networking, I noticed areas where we could move faster by automating, so I taught myself Python and starting scripting,” she recalls.

This revealed her keen interest in software development, and when she was offered the full-time position at Cisco, Flores asked to be placed in a software team: “I love building beautiful, responsive websites to quickly communicate ideas to others.”

She feels the most important trait to have for tech success is empathy: “When we’re empathetic, we can communicate our perspective more effectively and build stronger partnerships.”

Flores loves tech culture and the tech field, watching products evolve in a few years from revenue-generating products into platforms that enable new ideas to flourish: “Now we have many businesses that develop really cool tech, but don’t profit from the tech itself, instead from the ability it gives them to share their ideas.”

It’s also inspired tech giants like Cisco to invest heavily in collaboration solutions to allow their employees to work better together, adds Flores, who’s on the board of Conexión, Cisco’s Latino employee resource group. “We’ve been working with the White House TechHire initiative to figure out how Cisco can help underserved people from the local community pursue a career in tech. This is key because there’s a huge skill gap to fill, particularly in operations roles. As companies and the public sector continue to [benefit from] tech, they need people who understand tech to…maintain and upgrade the systems they have.”

She feels that a career in technology no longer just means working for a tech company. “All companies have an IT department…so really a career in technology is anything you want it to be! You’re learning about a platform to share ideas with others; to automate processes so people can focus on our bigger challenges. You just need to figure out where you want to apply it.”

View Cisco career paths at cisco.com/c/en/us/about/careers.html. Connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

 

Moreno Puts Her Problem-Solving Ability to Work at CA Technologies

Her fascination with computers and how they work, her love of technology and affinity for problem-solving led Rosangela Moreno to a career she loves in the computer science and IT field.

“I’ve always been fascinated with the functionality of the computer. I’m attracted to all the new ideas, problem-solving and advancements in technology, which is used basically in all type of business and all areas of our society,” says Moreno, who was born in Arequipa, Peru, holds a master’s degree in computer science and currently works as a software engineer at New York, NY-based CA Technologies.

She joined CA technologies as she was completing her master’s degree. Now as software engineer, she’s “currently working on an Agile Scrum team to create a Java-based application for Web Viewer 14 using bootstrap and Angular that supports all types of devices. I started working under the mainframe platform as a quality assurance for one of the products at CA, but then I was moved to this product where we’re using modern technology.”

In Moreno’s job, the number-one thing she’s learned is how best to apply her problem-solving abilities. “There are many ways to solve a problem, but I do my best to find out what is the best solution possible.”

What she loves about her job and the career she’s chosen is being able to constantly learn about technology: “I’m in the field where technology is continually evolving; that’s why learning the principles and having practices in mind definitely will give me better options/views/ideas in any aspect of the software development life cycle process.”

Since joining CA, she’s had to adapt to different challenges. “One of the biggest and interesting challenges I’ve faced was when I started my professional career at CA. I needed to learn new programing languages that I did not learn in school - ones such as JCL, Assembler, Macros, Metal C, Rexx and so on. They are part of the mainframe platform. The great thing was that CA provided me with in-depth training on the mainframe before going to my local office to begin working on that. This was an excellent experience,” she notes.

What also helped, Moreno says, is having “a very nice workplace environment where everyone was willing to assist, explain, share knowledge and support. My company culture made me feel welcome - that was the key for everything else after [that].”

Moreno firmly believes tech is the place to be: “Computer science is one of the best fields to work since it has many options, [such as] computer programmer, Web developer, software QA tester, software system developers, network system engineer, database administrator, and so on. Technology is in high demand since technology is always advancing. Besides that, you can get a great salary too.”

To succeed, she says work hard, get your education and be persistent: “And if you find some programing classes difficult, be brave and work hard to learn it. In the end it’ll be well [worth] that effort.”

Learn more about CA Technologies job opportunities at ca.com/us/why-ca/about-us/careers.html. Connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Flipboard, SlideShare and Google+.

 

Howells & McCormack Make the Most of Opportunities at HP Inc.

For Jolene Howells, pre-sales technical consultant supporting federal accounts for HP Inc., it was the love of math that led her to tech. For Alicia McCormack, SAP IT systems analyst at HP Inc., it was a math professor who suggested she switch majors that began her tech career.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, but I continued enrolling in advanced math classes. One of my friends asked me to be his Calculus II tutor. He was in the engineering program and introduced me to engineering students and professors, who encouraged me to try out some of the engineering curriculum courses,” recalls Howells, who holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in engineering with a math minor.

“When I was in college taking my basic classes, I was still undecided on my major. One day, in one of my math classes, the professor…suggested…I consider a computer major. I’ve always liked to solve puzzles, so I [tried it] and…enjoyed it,” remembers McCormack, who graduated with her bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston (TX).

Both women were uncertain about their future career path at the start of college, but both found their passion quickly, ending up working at the same at Palo Alto, CA-based tech giant.

Howells interned at NASA Dryden following her freshman year at college and the following summer, too. She applied for other internships at Intel and Hewlett-Packard, she says, which gave her more insight into the tech field. In addition to her current role at HP Inc., Howells has worked in performance analysis of printers and as a technical writer for a tank inspection company.

“My current position….enables me to be a trusted technical and security advisor for federal customers and HP account managers. I’ve been in this position for nearly seven years. I was recommended…by a former engineering classmate and an HP employee,” she says.

After graduation McCormack applied for numerous entry-level IT jobs at various companies. Persistence paid off when HP Inc. hired her nine years ago to work in finance IT where she supported the company’s financial SAP applications. Now she works on developing and implementing global regulatory compliant solutions in various SAP applications.

“HP does business worldwide, so we frequently must update multiple applications to meet the laws of individual countries,” she says. “I work with my company’s users to determine what’s required, and I figure a solution to meet their requirements. In 2013 I wanted a change and my manager helped me find various positions to apply for, at HP, leading to my current role.”

Howells and McCormack feel there are numerous opportunities in computer science and IT, and believe to succeed you must never stop learning, be persistent, never be afraid to be challenged, and take opportunities presented to you.

“My advice is to apply for internships as early as possible in college, even if [as] a freshman. This experience is invaluable to getting a job later. The market is so competitive you’ll have a distinct advantage if you have this experience under your belt,” counsels Howells.

“There’s a shortage of people who are willing to make this their career, and the IT field keeps growing,” notes McCormack, adding. “You may not get the job that you want at first, but you need to start somewhere. I know many people in this field that have had small beginnings in IT, but they have continuously taken opportunities to get where they are now.”

For HP Inc. jobs visit www8.hp.com/us/en/jobs/index.html. Connect with the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.